News soon spread from the palace that the queen had knelt in front of the Hall of Diligent Government all night, having removed her hairpins. She also sealed up her queen's seal and imperial edicts on the grounds of moral deficiency. Moreover, she voluntarily relinquished her power over the six palaces and was willing to chant Buddhist scriptures and pray whole - heartedly for the royal family.
The next day, the emperor granted the queen's request. He appointed Concubine Jing to take charge of the six palaces and Concubine Qi to assist. However, he did not agree to the queen's request to move to the Buddhist hall in the palace but only allowed her to pray in the small Buddhist hall in the Guanjv Palace.
As for Sheng Chenyi, who had been deposed as the crown prince for many days, he was finally summoned by the emperor to enter the palace for an audience. In the evening, an imperial edict was issued to confer the title of Prince Chen on the eldest prince.
Although he was only made a prince and not reinstated as the crown prince, it was still much better than being just called the eldest prince in the previous days.
A few days later, it was the emperor's birthday in early June. Due to the unpleasant incident at the Spring Banquet, the emperor was not in the mood to hold a grand celebration. It was only arranged by the Imperial Household Department. After all, it was a major event and could not be omitted.
Accordingly, all the officials' wives and noblewomen should enter the palace at the appointed time.
Compared with the grandeur of the Spring Banquet, the emperor's birthday celebration seemed rather desolate. Since Prince Xiao had been stripped of his title and Prince Qishan was in a precarious situation, the other royal families were extremely nervous, fearing that any mistake might anger the emperor and lead to the loss of their titles.
Among the two dukes, the He family, the former Duke of Fuguo, had been reduced to the rank of earl, and the Fu family, the Duke of Zhongyong, had lost their title completely. Many families related to these two were also punished, which made other families panic - stricken. However, they had to force smiles on their faces.
Fortunately, several maids around the queen were very sensible. They walked around the seats, greeting guests and enlivening the atmosphere. Moreover, the crown prince wrote a calligraphy work of "May Your Happiness Be as Boundless as the Eastern Sea" on the spot and presented it to the emperor. He also tenderly held his young brother in his arms and personally fed him soup.
Such a harmonious scene cheered the emperor up, and his tense face relaxed.
Seeing this, Concubine Qi joked with a smile, "Your Majesty, although Prince Chen was a bit muddle - headed before, he is actually a good boy. Look, how amicable he is with Prince Ba!"
The emperor raised his eyebrows and nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad."
Sheng Chenyi quickly knelt down and bowed deeply, "Father, I made a great mistake before. Greed for power is indeed a great taboo for a man of ambition. I have been reflecting on my past days and deeply feel that being deposed as the crown prince is far from enough. I should be severely punished. Please convict me, Your Majesty..."
The emperor frowned slightly, "What kind of day is it today?"
Concubine Qi quickly laughed again, "Prince Chen is really! Today is your father's birthday. We should be happy. Why mention such a disappointing thing? Your Majesty is reluctant to punish you, but I can't stand it. I have to punish you. Prince Chen, come here. You must drink three cups of wine as punishment."
Sheng Chenyi stood up and bowed, "It's my fault. I hope Father can forgive me. Thank you, Concubine, for your reminder. I am willing to accept the punishment."
He was so sensible and considerate that the emperor smiled with his eyebrows lowered, "All right. Chenyi, sit down."
The queen looked thinner. She waved to Lu Wanning, "Ning'er, come here to your aunt."
Lu Wanning blinked her eyes for a while and didn't hesitate too much. She walked obediently to the queen and called out, "Your Majesty the Queen."
The queen looked at her lovingly, "Ning'er, be good. You are my niece. You don't need to call me 'Your Majesty'. Just call me 'aunt'."
Lu Wanning shook her head and said, "Etiquette cannot be neglected."
The queen covered her mouth and laughed softly. She turned to look at the emperor, "Your Majesty, look. My niece is good in every aspect except this one. In front of others, she must be very clear - cut, for fear of making a mistake in etiquette."
The emperor glanced at Lu Wanning, "Zhaoyang, you don't need so many formalities. I've said that although you are not my daughter, you are no different from my daughter."
Lu Wanning nodded with a smile, "Your Majesty is right. But in the past... Empress Dowager always told me that one should act according to one's position. As a princess or a princess consort, how can one be ignorant of etiquette? Although Zhaoyang was ignorant before, she also knew that etiquette cannot be neglected. Your Majesty is so noble. I will never be lawless just because of your favor."
After hearing this, the queen's face showed no change. She sighed, "Your Majesty, the children are all growing up and becoming sensible. I should be getting old."
The emperor laughed, "Queen, you are talking nonsense. If you are old, wouldn't I be even older?"
The queen pursed her lips and smiled. She reached out to pick up a cup, "I was wrong. I'll punish myself with a cup of wine."
Lu Wanning was curious. Originally, the emperor and the queen were like strangers. But after the queen was reprimanded, their relationship seemed to have eased a lot.
This was not a good sign. Now Prince Yu was not in the capital. As the saying goes, "Meeting each other will arouse some feelings." Prince Yu couldn't see the emperor every day, but Prince Chen could. As time passed, it was inevitable that the emperor would be partial to Prince Chen.
However, even if she wanted to help Prince Yu, she didn't know what to do.
Just then, Princess Qin came over with a plate of selected fruits and presented them to the emperor, with her head bowed submissively, "Father, these are the fruits I selected. Please taste them."
The emperor said "hmm", "Sit beside me."
Princess Qin walked over as told. Since Sheng Chenyi was originally sitting on the right side of the emperor, he had to stand up and give up his seat.
Sheng Chenyi showed no sign of dissatisfaction. He even helped Princess Qin when she came over, "Be careful, sister."
Princess Qin's body stiffened for a moment. She sat down with her head lowered in a dull manner.
Sheng Chenyi didn't mind. He just smiled at the emperor, "Father, it was my fault before. I took care of my younger brothers to some extent, but I really had little contact with my sister."
Princess Qin blushed and didn't dare to raise her head.
Lu Wanning's eyes flashed slightly. She looked up and smiled, "Prince Chen is right. Princess Qin doesn't like lively occasions. She usually only likes to stay in her own palace. It's normal that Prince Chen hasn't seen her much."
Sheng Chenyi quickly said, "Yes. In the future, sister should come out more often. We siblings should get together more."
Princess Qin replied in a muffled voice, "Yes."
Lu Wanning intervened, "Since Princess Qin doesn't like lively occasions, why does Prince Chen force her against her will?"
Sheng Chenyi was taken aback. He stood up and bowed to Lu Wanning, "Zhaoyang is right. It's all my fault."
Lu Wanning felt uneasy. It seemed that Sheng Chenyi was trying every means to get rid of his former aloof attitude. At least for now, he wanted to show an amiable image. Originally, he was just mediocre and didn't have any major faults. Now he was going to take the amiable and gentle route...
Amiable and gentle. Wasn't that what Fu Rongxuan used to be like? When Fu Rongxuan was around, it was he who helped Sheng Chenyi win over those people. Now that Fu Rongxuan was gone, Sheng Chenyi decided to do it himself.
But Sheng Jinyu was as cold as a judge. In this way, wouldn't he be at a disadvantage?
Lu Wanning waited and waited, but Princess Qin didn't take any action. Did they just plan to do nothing? You know, although Sheng Chenyi was a deposed crown prince, who could be sure that one day the emperor would be happy and make him the crown prince again?