I Am This Type of Woman

87.1

The Empress sat down desolately for half a shichen when she heard the Crown Prince was reprimanded by the Emperor, but all she did in the end was sighing in helplessness. She did not go to plead at the Great Moon Palace, neither did she bring it up in front of the Emperor.

Until she heard that Ban Heng had come to the Palace, she let both Ban Heng and the Crown Prince brought up to her. She couldn't resist smiling to see Ban Heng's pleasant face, "Heard you come to the Palace to thank someone, what is it for?"

T/N – A shichen = 2 hours.

"Weichen has met Empress niangniang," Ban Heng was full of smiles as he saluted, "A few days ago His Highness the Crown Prince ordered palace attendants brought us a lot of gifts. Weichen is here to thank His Highness. Weichen should have come earlier, but Father has not been well these two days, hence the delay."

"What is it to thank in the family." The Empress smiled and turned, but the question on the Crown Prince's face made her felt something was not right. "Crown Prince, what have you gifted to Duke Jingting that the child comes all smiling?"

"Erchen....." The Crown Prince dared not meet her eyes, "It's nothing special."

The Empress' eyes swept over him, then she smiled at Ban Heng, "You've heard what he said. Nothing special, it's not worth you coming here to say thank you. If you are still so polite, I'll be angry next time."

Ban Heng gave her an embarrassed smile, "We have troubled the Crown Prince for Father's sake, and it also comes to....." He peered at the Crown Prince, swallowed awkwardly, "Had we known it would be this big, weichen would have persuaded the family."

"What is there to persuade?" The Empress shot a glance at the Crown Prince, her voice was a little cold, "An offense  should be met with punishment. Your family are relatives, if impudent people playing dirty are not curbed, one day they will try to play tricks against His Majesty and bengong too."

The Crown Prince's face became a little unnatural but the Empress seemed not to notice, she continued, "In the future, don't you speak like this, or I will be angry."

Ban Heng was not good at anything else, but being around his mother and sister for long, he was an expert at making women happy. In just a short time, the Empress was smiling and laughing again as if the Crown Prince had not still been there.

The Crown Prince was gentle in nature, instead of resenting the treatment, he tried to think of what had possibly made his mother unhappy.

He had gone to plead on behalf of Shi family after listening to the Crown Princess because she made him feel that they were innocent.

However after a few days of shutting himself in the study in order to carefully ponder over it, he came to think that Shi family being wrongly accused was a possibility, but that they had lied was also another possibility. The Crown Princess had described her younger sister as a weak woman who only knew poetry and paintings, but people he sent to enquire had came back with a different result.

She had dallied with multiple men, including having an ambiguous relationship with Hua Hua's second fiance. She was also rumoured to fancy Ban Hua's current fiance, Count Cheng'an. The Crown Prince could not help but suspected that Second Miss Shi had an unscrupulous heart, and that Ban Hua had been set as a target. So many young men in the Capital, why was she always drawn to the men Ban Hua was engaged to?

Most significant was, his second brother was meeting her on his grand wedding day. What kind of charm she possessed to make Second Brother neglected his bride for her? Second Brother kept clashing with Ban Hua to the point of bullying, could that be the result of him listening to Shi Feixian?