0p0 Chapter 253 The Empress Dowager's Decree
Chapter 253 The Empress Dowager's Decree
After dealing with Cui's matter, the Empress Dowager looked at Lan Zhi.
"You deliberately concealed your identity before marrying the Crown Prince. This is indeed despicable. I will let it go for now because you are carrying the royal child. However, I want you to find your biological parents before you give birth to this child to ensure that you come from a respectable family. Otherwise, I'm afraid you will not be able to hold your position as the Crown Princess."
Upon hearing this, Consort Liang immediately revealed a smug smile.
More than 20 years have passed, and her biological parents have not come looking for her. Now that she has become the Crown Princess, her biological parents still have not come looking for her. This suggests that either her parents have passed away, or she is an illegitimate child.
In short, it's simply impossible for her to find her biological parents in the short term.
She immediately reminded him, in the capacity of an elder:
"Lan Zhi, you must remember what the Empress Dowager said in front of so many people. Even if Ning'er has feelings for you, your family background is not clean, so you can no longer be the Crown Princess. Don't blame me for not making things clear to you today."
Lan Zhi didn't have much hope for this.
Because she understood that finding two people in the vast Northern Wei Kingdom who had no idea where they were was harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
However, she is not the type of person who likes to cry and beg for mercy.
She readily nodded in agreement.
"I've got it. Thank you for reminding me, Lady Liang."
She didn't call her "Mother Consort," which caused the Empress and several concubines present to sigh in dismay, and they even looked at Consort Liang with disdain.
Consort Liang's face immediately turned ashen, and she wished she could step forward and berate Lan Zhi.
After the Empress Dowager ordered Granny Sun to personally escort Cui out of the palace, she returned to Changshou Palace.
The rest of the people also left.
As soon as Consort Liang stepped out of the gate of Zhenlan Garden, she stopped and turned to look at Lan Zhi.
"Zhu Fangfei is the daughter of a first-rank Grand Commandant in the imperial court. You'd better be polite to her in the Crown Prince's residence."
Lan Zhi retorted without hesitation:
"I remember telling you a few days ago that I am the mistress of the Crown Prince's residence. Whether I am polite to her or not is none of your concern, Lady Liang. You should mind your own business!"
After leaving those words, she turned to leave, but was stopped by Consort Liang.
"and many more……"
Lan Zhi stopped and turned her back to her, waiting quietly for her to speak.
Consort Liang walked around to stand in front of her, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
"I used to think you were just an uncultured country woman, so it was normal for you to be rude. But I never expected that you wouldn't even qualify as a country woman. Now it seems that you might be the illegitimate daughter of some unmarried young lady? Or perhaps your parents are no longer alive, or perhaps..."
"Your Highness Consort Liang!"
Lan Zhi interrupted her, displeased.
"At your age, aren't you afraid of retribution for saying such vicious things?"
"What did I say that was malicious? If you're not convinced, then spend five months finding your biological parents. But don't try to fool them with a fake one. They'll have to do a blood test and examine you with the imperial physician."
"I'm not as despicable as you..."
"presumptuous!"
Consort Liang suddenly flew into a rage, but then her tone softened.
"Who are you calling despicable? What kind of daughter-in-law are you? I tried to reason with you, but you responded with cold words. How could you possibly repay my good intentions?"
Consort Liang's sudden change in attitude left Lan Zhi completely bewildered. Aqi whispered a reminder in her ear.
"The Crown Prince has arrived."
It turned out to be the case.
She saw her son arrive and was pretending to be a good person.
Lan Zhi didn't turn around, but instead glared at her defiantly with a smirk.
"Empress Liang, your acting is so good, why don't you go and perform on the stage!"
"you……"
Just as Consort Liang was about to reprimand her, Wei Jianning came to her side and asked with concern,
"My lady, I heard you went to the palace, so I rushed here to find you. What happened?"
Lan Zhi glanced at Wei Jianning, raised her hand and pinched his chin, and replied softly:
"Someone falsely accused me of poisoning Consort Liang, but I'm fine now. However, everyone knows about my background."
Upon hearing this news, Wei Jianning looked at her with great anxiety.
"Has anyone made things difficult for you?"
Lan Zhi glanced at Consort Liang, smiled, and shook her head.
"No, but the Empress Dowager has said that if I cannot find my biological parents and prove my innocence before giving birth, the position of Crown Princess will no longer belong to me."
Wei Jianning immediately took her hand with a serious expression.
"Let's go find the Empress Dowager now and ask her to withdraw her imperial decree."
Seeing the two people being so intimate in front of her, Consort Liang immediately gave a warning with a grim expression.
"Ning'er, you only have eyes for Lan Zhi. Can't you see your mother standing right here?"
Wei Jianning then looked at her and nodded, saying:
"I saw you and even nodded to you in greeting."
Consort Liang was speechless at what her son had said.
He merely nodded to her, without even calling her "Mother".
However, he showed concern for Lan Zhi and even offered to go to the Empress Dowager on her behalf.
"Hmph! They really have forgotten their mothers after marrying a wife. Fine, I won't get in your way anymore."
After saying those words, she waved to the maid behind her and left.
Wei Jianning shrugged helplessly.
"Mother, what's wrong? By the way, has your relationship improved a lot? When I came here just now, I saw you two chatting and laughing."
Lan Zhi nodded and smiled.
"It has indeed eased up a lot. By the way, do you still have official business to attend to? I'll head back now."
"Let's go back together later. I still have a few memorials to review. Wait for me a moment."
As he spoke, he took her hand and headed straight for the Imperial Study.
In the past, when Lan Zhi came to the Imperial Study, she would only say a few words to the Emperor and then leave. This time, Wei Jianning arranged for her to sit on a soft couch in the inner room and forced her to lie down, but she refused and struggled to sit up.
"My love, I want to stay by your side."
He pressed her down again.
"No, you're too heavy right now, you need to lie here."
"I'm not tired. If you don't let me watch over you, I'm leaving."
Seeing that she was determined, he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"Alright, I'll find you a softer chair."
As he spoke, he gave instructions to the people outside:
"Bring in a soft chair for the Crown Princess, and also prepare grapes, bananas, and pastries."
Hearing the response from outside, Lan Zhi couldn't help but smile.
"Husband, are you worried about me going hungry, or about the baby in your belly going hungry?"
He gently stroked her lower abdomen, smiling tenderly with his eyes full of affection.
"He hasn't been born yet, so naturally I'm worried you'll go hungry. No matter what, you'll always be more important to me than my own life."
At this moment, several guards carried in a soft chair. He quickly helped her sit down and then waved for Ah Qi to come in and serve her.
Lan Zhi quickly pushed him.
"Alright, husband, go ahead and get busy! We can go home when you're done."
He nodded slightly, then went behind the desk and began to carefully review the memorials.
She sat very close to him, quietly watching him work with his pen, feeling a sense of contentment and ease.
This man is not only of high status, but he also dotes on her to the extreme. What more could she possibly want in this life?