The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1472: 719 Mother and Child Share One Heart (second update)

Chapter 1472: 719 Mother and Child Share One Heart (second update)

Regrettably, Prince Ming couldn’t disclose that he had gone to meet a master in place of the Crown Prince—

The look in the monarch’s eyes was almost an outright accusation, “Did you go to assassinate your aunt?”

Prince Ming felt like crying, “But you haven’t announced aunty’s disappearance! How could I have known—”

The monarch nodded, “Indeed, I haven’t announced it, so you must have planted a spy by my side!”

Prince Ming: “I did not!”

Shangguan Yun added fuel to the fire, “You did, I saw it.”

What did you see—you saw!?

How can you lie with your eyes wide open!

Prince Ming clenched his teeth and pointed, “Aunty remembers me! She called me her nephew! She was feigning amnesia!”

With a snort, the monarch said, “Shangguan Yun would call you nephew? Then she really must have lost her memory because she never bothered with you.”

Prince Ming: “…”

Can you stumble into a trap like this?!

The monarch ordered Prince Ming to roll back to the Crown Prince’s residence and placed him under house arrest for three months, then angrily had Zhang Deqiang summon the Crown Prince to the palace and rebuked him fiercely.

A father’s dereliction in teaching is his own fault, regardless of what Prince Ming did in the Opera House, it was his failure as a father to discipline him.

The Crown Prince thought to himself, then isn’t this your fault, Father?

It was enough to entertain the thought, but uttering it would have led the monarch to kill him.

Thanks to Prince Ming drawing the monarch’s ire, the punishment for Shangguan Yun wasn’t so severe; at least, the monarch didn’t actually kill her with a sword.

But she was put under house arrest as well.

After all, for tricking the monarch into becoming bald, there was no way he was going to let that go easily.

“Where is Qingqing? Speak, and I will deal with you more leniently,” the monarch said.

Shangguan Yun remained silent.

The monarch coldly said, “Shangguan Yun, I didn’t keep you in the Imperial Palace to protect you. It’s only because the truth behind the Imperial Mausoleum’s desecration isn’t out yet. Once everything is clear, you will immediately roll back to the Imperial Mausoleum!”

Suddenly, someone from the external court reported, “Your Majesty! There is progress concerning the Imperial Mausoleum!”

The monarch: “…”

The monarch almost choked on his breath.

Shangguan Yun didn’t fare any better.

She couldn’t return to the Imperial Mausoleum just yet.

The monarch waited for her to beg for mercy.

She stubbornly refused to ask for mercy.

The atmosphere became awkward for a while.

It was Zhang Dequan who quietly exited, negotiating with the officials from the external court’s ministry of justice for a moment before returning with a smile to report, “It’s a mistake, not related to the Imperial Mausoleum case.”

“Heh.”

“Hmph!”

The monarch and Shangguan Yun turned their faces away in different directions at the same time.

Shangguan Yun returned to Zhaoyang Hall to remain under house arrest, while the monarch summoned Wang Xu from the Duwei Prefecture to investigate the whereabouts of Shangguan Qing.

“Yes.”

Wang Xu accepted the order.

Weary, the monarch leaned back in his chair, the oppressive heat causing sweat to trickle steadily from the top of his head.

Zhang Dequan sent the palace maids and eunuchs away, then looked toward the monarch’s head and suggested, “Your Majesty, take this off.”

The monarch hummed faintly in agreement.

Zhang Dequan walked over and removed his toupee.

The monarch by now was certain that Shangguan Yun lured him out to save Shangguan Qing. He did not anticipate that the opponent would cleave him into becoming bald with a single sword strike, but to say he was not angry would be a lie.

The monarch coldly said, “Couldn’t she just tell me directly that someone was going to harm Qingqing? Does she really think I would not care about Qingqing’s life and death?”

Zhang Dequan thought, You have exterminated her maternal family and reduced her to a commoner, how could she possibly trust you as a father or as a ruler?

Everyone understands the reason; it’s just unacceptable.

Zhang Dequan poured a cup of cool tea for the monarch, “Please, calm down.”

But calming down was out of the question.

After taking a sip of tea, the monarch thought of the Little Princesses and asked, “Has the Little Princess not returned yet?”

Zhang Dequan hurriedly said, “You were worried she wouldn’t keep up with the Genius Class, so you had someone from the Academy tutor her.”

“That’s right, I did remember that,” the monarch recalled and did not press further.

But he could not concentrate on reviewing petitions.

He paused, then said to Zhang Dequan, “Bring me my Thrush.”

The monarch had two great hobbies in his life: playing cuju and raising birds.

He had recently had his people buy a beautiful multicolored Thrush from Jin Country. He treasured it dearly, visiting it every day.

Zhang Dequan went to instruct a junior eunuch. Before long, the small eunuch rushed in with a panicked look, fearfully stating, “The Thrush… it’s gone!”

“Who has been in the bird room?”

“Aside from the Bird Trainer, it was… the Little Princess.”

…

Yesterday, the Little Princess promised to compete with Little Jingkong’s bird, being one to keep her promises as an elder. So, she scooped up Uncle Emperor’s bird into her pocket and took it out of the palace.