Forced Into the Palace: Becoming the Emperor's Favorite-Chapter 490 Confrontation in Person

The mouth of the Tianyi Taoist was stuffed with cloth, making it impossible to speak.

But his eyes looked at Princess Hui Xian, full of a plea for help.

However, the princess herself was now unable to protect herself, how could she have any means to pull him out of trouble?

She could only sacrifice the pawn to save the king.

When the Fourth Prince heard what Princess Hui Xian said, his expression became more inscrutable.

Then he raised his voice and asked.

"Hui Xian knows this person?"

The princess nodded and immediately expressed.

"I know him, he once treated the Prince Consort, and over the years, there have been many interactions, the Prince Consort took the Soul Reviving Pill he provided and improved significantly, though not completely recovered, he could at least get up."

"So, the Princess Mansion has always been in contact with him."

A mixture of truths and half-truths.

Neither completely denying nor completely admitting.

She knew how to exploit loopholes.

Using the Prince Consort as an excuse, she managed to evade the responsibility.

The Fourth Prince glanced at the lifeless Prince Consort.

Unable to help but remark.

"The Prince Consort truly was a good man, even in death he protects you, isn’t it, Hui Xian?"

The Eldest Princess forced a smile, then immediately asked.

"What does Fourth Uncle mean by this? The Prince Consort and I have been married for over ten years, naturally sharing in glory and loss. He protects me, I protect him, isn’t that how it should be?"

Even at this moment, she continued to argue.

That attitude was truly sickening to the Empress Dowager.

When she learned the whole truth, she sat quietly for a night.

She kept thinking, wondering why her own flesh and blood had come to this.

After much thought, she realized the problem lay with herself.

As a child, she didn’t have the energy to care much; as a teenager, she indulged excessively.

That’s why the two sisters turned out like this.

One greedy and insatiable, the other with malicious intent. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Thus, her eyes were filled with disappointment.

She decided not to let the Emperor and the Fourth Prince interrogate indirectly, straightforwardly asking Princess Hui Xian directly.

"Hui Xian, I have raised you for over ten years, always believing I knew what kind of person you were. But now you’ve married and had children, I find I can no longer discern what’s in your heart. Today, with the Emperor, I just want a truthful word from you—do you harbor treacherous intentions?"

She didn’t want to spar with Hui Xian, it was better to lay all cards on the table directly.

This bit of shallow mother-daughter affection was also diluted by imperial power.

She felt it was a great pity.

If Hui Xian could give a straightforward answer, confessing and accepting punishment.

The Empress Dowager might still regard her highly.

If not, then there was no need to consider the royal face any longer.

Faced with such a sudden question from the Empress Dowager, Hui Xian’s heart skipped a beat.

She had thought about how to speak to the Emperor, how to deal with the Fourth Prince,

and even how to plead for help from her mother.

But she had not expected her own birth mother to be the first to question her.

Suddenly, a mix of past resentment and unwillingness surged up.

The feelings of being neglected and doubted over the years filled her clearly once more.

By now, she did hold on to a glimpse of fluke.

But now it seemed, it didn’t matter anymore.

With the Tianyi Taoist here, they must have investigated nearly everything.

After a long silence, Hui Xian burst into laughter.

Laughter filled with helplessness, sorrow, and a resolve to face death.

When she lifted her head again, her eyes met the Empress Dowager’s.

But there was no longer a pretense in her eyes, more of disdain and taunt.

"Treacherous intentions? Mother, when have I ever harbored such intentions? Or rather, how could my intentions ever be called treacherous?"

Then she gathered her plain clothes around her.

She glanced at the Emperor standing alongside the Empress Dowager, her eyes for the first time emitting boundless hatred.

And she said to the Emperor.

"You truly are favored by fortune, Father loved you, Mother too, even after losing your birth mother, so what? Didn’t heaven also give our mother to you and Hui Yue?"

After speaking, she gave a cold smile.

Ignoring any etiquette, she walked straight to a stone table and sat down.

This sort of behavior would never have been seen in Hui Xian before.

After all, she was the Eldest Princess of Da Wei.

Then Hui Xian continued to speak.

"Since childhood, I told myself, since Mother didn’t have the Emperor’s affection, I had to be even more obedient and sensible to put her at ease. But when Hui Yue was born, I felt both happy and disappointed, happy for another sister, disappointed because it was a sister."

"I knew, Mother wanted a prince, so she could sit firmly as Empress with legitimacy. Unfortunately, Heaven was playing a joke, after giving birth to me and Hui Yue, she never conceived again."

"Instead, a newly arrived Consort Xian gave birth to a boy in one go. I once thought this brother came at the wrong time, perhaps threatening Mother’s status, and was very nervous about it, but as it turned out, this brother threatened my and Hui Yue’s status instead."

Her gaze no longer focused on anyone in particular.

Instead, it looked far away.

More of a helpless retracing of the past.

"You were not born by Mother, yet received all her love and attention, while Hui Yue and I, though born to her, seemed like pawns to be discarded at any time. Yu Wenhong, tell me, whose heart truly harbors treachery?"

As she spoke, she suddenly laughed again.

Laughing while shedding tears, filled with indignation.

The Emperor looked at his elder sister, who was a few years older than him.

Suddenly finding her inscrutable.

As if over the years, she had always been hiding her hatred.

Clearly, she and Hui Yue both resented him deeply.

Yet they had to act extremely kind.

Recalling how, as a child, Hui Yue once treated him so maliciously.

He couldn’t help but wonder if it had all been Hui Xian’s instigation.

Soon, he got his answer.

"Hui Yue was foolish, I merely showed a little bit of grief and unfairness regarding Mother in front of her, and she would rush to provoke you, the more she did so, the less Mother would favor her."

"On the contrary, hiding at the back, because I was obedient, considerate, generous, and proper, I gained Mother’s scant praise."

"But I was not convinced, why could we only receive a little bit of affection after trying our hardest, while you could easily obtain it, why?"

When the phrase ’why’ appeared, there was a trace of guilt in the Empress Dowager’s eyes.

She had lived unattached since childhood.

If not for the vow to her beloved, she wouldn’t have lived so fearfully.

Indeed.

She had cultivated an enlightened monarch who could benefit the people.

But at the same time, she lost two once lively and intelligent daughters.

For a moment, she did not know how to respond, making Hui Xian and Hui Yue understand her desire to make amends.

"Past matters arose from a mix of causes, I won’t make excuses for myself."