Chapter 260 - Imploring Notions

The next day.

After receiving constant reports all day about the Empress dowager refusing treatment and food, the Emperor finally gave in under Eunuch Li's pleading gaze and went over to see her that evening. 

He arrived in her room to find the Empress dowager still lying on her bed with the same bloodstained clothes from the night before, looking pale and miserable. The Emperor felt bad seeing her like this, but then she opened her mouth and spitefully spat out, "You ungrateful son!"

And with that statement, the Emperor's feelings of pity flew out the door, "If that's all you have to say, then I'm leaving." He said turning to leave.

"Stop!" The Empress dowager went as she pushed herself off the bed and ended up crumbling to the ground. The Emperor stopped, turned back to her, and then let out a breath, and then went over, picked her up and sat her down on the bed. 

"Is it such a great crime to have had you?" The Empress dowager said in the same spiteful tone as she grabbed onto his arms so he did not leave as she glared at him.

The Emperor sighed and looked at her, "I don't hate you...I never have. Y-"

"Then why are you doing this to me?!" The Empress dowager barked, throwing his arms and shoving him.

The Emperor sighed and was about to turn to leave again, trying to reason with her did not seem to be possible so why waste his energy? But he stopped and turned back to her, "You being here is me sparing you from making a fool of yourself and showing the world your weakness...." He said using the same logic and words she had always drilled into his head as a child.

The Empress dowager silently glared daggers at him and did not say anything. Even she could not deny that she was a wreck at the moment. The Emperor let out a breath and then made his way out of the room. 

"I need that monk." The Empress dowager shouted before he could reach the doors. The Emperor stopped and turned back to her. 

The Empress dowager was no longer glaring at him, she was not even looking his way. She frowned off to the side and irritatedly said, "Chen You and that maid, Chun - something knows where he is...I need him." She bit out.

"What for?" The Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just make yourself useful and find him!" The Empress dowager fiercely barked as she turned her glare back on him. 

The Emperor quietly scrutinized his mother for a bit and then sighed. It was best to meet her halfway so she could remain somewhat reasonable. He did not want her death on his hands so he said, "I can...As long as you restrain yourself..." He finished and then left the room.

For this request, he would most likely need to demand Zou kingdom send Chun Hua back. The main problem here is that he already said that he would let Zou kingdom handle deal out the punishment. And he knew Prince Rui already sent out the message to Zou. Going back on his word now was not ideal, it will make him appear fickle. This will give those against him a point to use to attack him.

What's more, the Zou people could perceive his backtracking as an insult and could refuse and refusal will mean war, which he wanted to avoid. He was not afraid of war but he wanted to avoid it. So the real question here was whether or not he was willing to go to war to satisfy his mother's whims...and the answer to that was no. 

For now, he would have to amp up the search in the country in hopes of finding the runaway enemies before they left his borders. At the same time, he would get a unit to resume the search for this Monk Du and that Taohua temple the Empress dowager seemed to be obsessed with.

***

A few days later.

"...If you don't have anything else to say then I'll leave. I am very busy you know." Princess Nalan said, haughtily folding her arms across her chest. 

Prince Rui let out a breath in irritation. Princess Nalan had barely been talking to him since that incident with Prince Yi.

Prince Yi also had not shown his face here, which was good because Prince Rui did not have the patience to deal with him at the moment. Corresponding with his father has already been draining him.

Prince Rui was not sure what was going on with his father, but he was being unreasonably stubborn right now. As expected, Prince Houyi denied every knowledge of what the Chun siblings were doing here and even offered to capture them himself. Bao Zhun's father also claimed that Bao Zhun was young and immature and so was easily led astray by the Chun siblings. 

But this issue was not Prince Rui's problem right now, his father was compliant and agreed to mete out an appropriate punishment to satisfy the Long Emperor. He even said he will add on more congratulatory wedding gifts to further appease the Long Emperor's anger. 

The part Prince Rui was having an issue with was regarding their return.

Their father approved and even ordered for Prince Rui's immediate return, but then he told him to leave Princess Nalan behind. To make it worse he also instructed Prince Rui to find a way for the Long Emperor to accept Princess Nalan into his palace. 

Prince Rui sent a message back trying to reason with his father, but then the messenger bird returned with an even stronger order to obey.

Prince Rui was torn, the reason he had was his father's favorite was that he never argued with him and gave him the respect that his brothers did not. 

It seems that his father was set on having the Long Emperor as a son-in-law. Prince Rui could understand what his father was trying to accomplish with this. It was no secret that his power over the Zou lords was slipping with Prince Houyi and his uncle getting stronger. 

Aside from the fact that the Long empire was the strongest country around, the current Long Emperor had a golden reputation in war which had spread far and wide. Even the enemies held him in high esteem and were wary of his presence on the battlefield. 

What's more, as soon as the Zou king had accepted this notion of a peace treaty between them, the Long Emperor released the Zou prisoners of war, who were all kept in good health back to their country to show his good faith. Making it clear that unlike his father who ruled with an iron fist, he had compassion for the enemy as people. Therefore, he was a valid ally.

Prince Rui could see that his father believed that if he could make such a tie with the Long Emperor then that would help him in regaining control over the Zou lords. He simply wanted to attach himself to a stronger tree and he saw Princess Nalan as his rope to cling onto that tree. 

This was the reason why his father quickly latched on to the Long Emperor's proposal for peace.

But Prince Rui was having trouble going along with this plan knowing that his sister did not stand an actual chance with the Long Emperor.

"Nalan, we're going home in two days..." Prince Rui finally decided, after getting over his internal struggle. He could not allow Princess Nalan to become a sacrificial lamb here. He will deal with his father's wrath when they return.

"Two days?" Princess Nalan turned to Prince Rui in surprise, "Father said I can stay as long as I want."

"He what?" Prince Rui asked with a frown, "Have you been the one telling him nonsense?" Now it all made sense now why their father was being so insistent on this, "Nalan, did you - Do you want to marry the Long Emperor?" Prince Rui asked blinking at her in disbelief.

"No, of course not." Princess Nalan swiftly responded, "I like Lei Xing and I don't want to drag her man with her. I naturally want my own man." She said raising her head up proudly.

"Then why do you want to stay here? You know what father's plans are!" Prince Rui said with exasperation. 

Princess Nalan knit her brows, hesitated, and then went, "Father's plans are none of my business. It's just -...just that Lei Xing is our friend and I want to stay for the wedding, it will be wrong for us to just leave and not attend..."

Prince Rui's worries calmed down and he went, "Nalan, you can't rea-"

"I'll return after the wedding with the envoys...It's just a few weeks and I'm not a child anymore so I can obviously look after myself. I'll be fine. You can leave in peace..." Princess Nalan said rolling her eyes. 

Prince Rui frowned and did not respond. Princess Nalan glanced at her brother and then sighed and said, "I know you're worried about me, but you truly don't have to be. You shouldn't disobey father and cause issues between the two of you. You know your situation is not stable at the moment. If you upset father..." She paused and knit her brows and then said, "If it really worries you...you can leave Molin behind. I'll be perfectly fine." She finished with a reassuring imploring smile.

Prince Rui looked at her and then looked away with a frown, obviously not convinced. He had always been protective of her and she understood that it was because he always worried about her. She truly appreciated this but she was no longer a child and this sort of overprotectiveness can be more of a hindrance than help now and it had been suffocating her since they arrived.

Her father had written to simply ask her if she was unhappy in Long country. She had responded that she was not unhappy but she had mentioned not being able to fully explore because of Prince Rui's overprotectiveness.

And as much as she loved her brother, Prince Rui was in the way and her father understood that. So it seemed calling Prince Rui back was her father's response to her complaint. After all, in her father's mind, Long country was to ber her home in the future and her brother naturally cannot stay with her. If he was in the way of "their" progress then he needed to be removed.

Although Princess Nalan did not care for her father's plans, she was not quite ready to leave yet. There were some things here that she needed some more time on in order for her to be able to come to a comfortable conclusion.