Chapter 323: Natural Disaster Strikes

Chapter 323: Calamity Approaches

The Empress shook her head in fear. "I do not know."

"I will not affix the seal," Empress Dowager Xie stated bluntly. "I cannot commit such disgraceful and despicable acts."

"Go now."

"I understand your predicament and will not make things difficult for you."

Disregarding her status, the Empress threw herself to her knees, kowtowing while sobbing uncontrollably. "I beg for your compassion!"

"The Emperor has decided. If I fail to fulfill his wishes, he will surely punish me. I implore you, considering my years of loyalty, to grant my request."

"Please, have mercy on me!"

Empress Dowager Xie's expression turned ice-cold as she hurled the Buddhist prayer bead clenched in her palm at the Empress. "How dare you!"

"Empress, do you even realize what you are doing?"

"You are begging me to condone the Emperor forcing a common woman into the harem?"

"I refrained from making things difficult for you, yet you dare impose on me in return. Absolutely ridiculous!"

"As the Empress of the Central Palace and Daqian's Empress, you should understand what it means to be a model for the empire, to advise the Son of Heaven to seek virtuous counsel and reject wickedness, and to know what is right and what is not."

"If you cannot fulfill your role as Empress, then relinquish your position."

The Buddhist prayer bead struck the Empress squarely on the forehead, leaving an immediate red mark.

Wincing in pain, the Empress, tears streaming down her face, crawled to Empress Dowager Xie's feet and pleaded desperately, "Your Majesty, I have no other choice!"

"I have no family or brothers to rely on, nor do I have princes or princesses to secure my position. Though I occupy the title of Empress, in this palace, I am but a rootless duckweed, existing only by His Majesty's grace."

"Year after year of obedience has barely earned me the reputation of being virtuous. If I anger His Majesty or disappoint him, there will be no place for me in the imperial harem—either a cup of poisoned wine or a silken noose, or a life of seclusion in the cold palace until my miserable end."

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is the most exalted figure in Daqian. For the Yongning Marquis's adopted daughter, entering the harem may not be a misfortune."

"With His Majesty's favor, and perhaps even a child, she could enjoy boundless wealth and privilege."

"Perhaps... perhaps the Yongning Marquis's adopted daughter would willingly accept it..."

"Silence!" Empress Dowager Xie snapped, interrupting the Empress.

Lu Mingchao is Xie Yan's wife!

"Leave at once!"

"You are banned from entering Changning Palace."

"Your Majesty..." The Empress still refused to give up.

Empress Dowager Xie said coldly, "I am ashamed by this."

"Go tell Xiao Yao that if he no longer wishes to sit on the throne, he should step down at once. He has brought shame upon his ancestors."

The Empress left Changning Palace, glancing back every few steps.

Her gaze held helplessness, fear, envy, and bitter resentment.

Empress Dowager Xie stood by the window, watching the retreating figure of the empress, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter. Her mind wandered further, growing more tangled.

Why was Xiao Yao so determined to take Lu Mingchao as a palace consort?

Was he blinded by desire?

Or was it a deliberate test?

The murky fury in Empress Dowager Xie’s heart swelled uncontrollably. With a furious swipe of her sleeve, she knocked over the vase on the table beneath the window.

With a loud crash, it exploded into shards.

On one hand, he scorned Cheng'er for his affinity for men, yet on the other, he sought to force a common woman into the palace. Xiao Yao truly had no shame.

Fortunately, her wait wouldn’t last much longer.

The palace’s political storm had yet to reach the rain-soaked Wanxing County.

Water rose higher and higher in the streets, forcing the people, clad in straw raincoats, to evacuate to higher ground.

At Lu Mingchao’s urging, Prince Duan dispatched officials and guards to repeatedly warn the people: don’t drink unclean water, don’t pick up items from the filthy floodwaters, and don’t consume flood-contaminated food…

All efforts were made to minimize the risk of an epidemic.

During the storm, anyone lacking food or clothing could turn to Chaofu Trading Co. for help.

Meanwhile, in private, Lu Mingchao had already prepared large quantities of disinfectants and basic epidemic prevention supplies.

In the elevated streets where people gathered, army field cauldrons boiled medicine to prevent typhoid fever. Every household could collect it for free during lulls in the rain.

The same measures were implemented in Beiba County.

Chaofu Trading Co.’s flag held fast amid the raging storm.

The relentless downpour, like the sky had split apart, was terrifying.

But when everything proceeded in an orderly manner, with food and shelter secured, it became less frightening.

The prophecy foretold half a month of continuous rain.

They only needed to count down and endure fifteen days.

A calm heart brought peace.

By now, Lu Mingchao and her companions had moved from Wanxing Courier Station to the Wanxing County Office.

“Chaochao, are you feeling better?” Lu Yao asked, his face full of concern.

The heavy rain had left the roads slippery, and during the relocation, Lu Mingchao lost her footing and nearly fell.

Though Liu Yue caught her in time, the jolt wrenched her belly.

Immediately, cramps stabbed her lower abdomen, her calves swelled slightly, and her face turned as pale as paper.

Qing Tang’s medical kit contained various pills to prevent miscarriage. After taking two, Lu Mingchao gradually recovered.

“Second Brother, I’m fine,” Lu Mingchao replied, though she still seemed drained.

But it wasn’t illness or fear—just exhaustion.

"How could you be fine!" Lu Yao snapped irritably, his voice tinged with anger. "There's a torrential rain outside, the streets are flooded, what if—"

Lu Mingchao blinked.

Her dimensional storehouse was stocked with every possible medicine she might need.

Even if Liu Yue hadn’t caught her in time, she could have used the dimensional storehouse to break her fall.

Seeing Lu Yao’s furious expression, Lu Mingchao didn’t argue or explain. Instead, she replied gently and obediently, "Second Brother, I’ll be careful."

"Everything, major or minor, has already been arranged. Until the rain stops, I’ll stay safely in the county yamen to focus on my pregnancy. I won’t leave the yamen, so you don’t have to worry."

Lu Yao pressed his lips together, as if he wanted to say more, but the words on his tongue turned into muttered grievances against the emperor. "That bastard emperor!"

"What kind of emperor sends a pregnant woman into the calamity-stricken area?"

Lu Mingchao lowered her head guiltily.

She didn’t dare say that she had arranged for the emperor to issue the order.

Only by coming here herself could she ensure that Wanxing County would escape its doomed fate of siege and slaughter.

With her here, there would be a steady flow of resources.

"He really is a bastard emperor," Prince Duan said as he strode in, storm-drenched, clutching a rain-blurred secret letter in his hand.

Lu Mingchao frowned, giving him an odd look. "Your Highness, that’s your father."

"If your father is—"

Prince Duan sneered. "You're well aware who I am."

"Read it yourself."

He tossed the letter onto the desk in front of Lu Mingchao.

"Even after days of heavy rains, the secret letter still made it here," Lu Mingchao remarked as she picked it up. But after just one glance, the smile vanished from her face.

Bring her into the imperial harem?

The audacity!

"To commit such shameless acts with such confidence is a skill in itself. At the very least, most people don’t have the shamelessness for it."

"Lu Mingchao, if my father has set his mind on this and even sent the empress to persuade Her Imperial Majesty, it means he won’t stop until he gets what he wants. He’ll resort to any means to compel your compliance and bring you into the imperial harem."

"You mustn’t let your guard down. Don’t stumble at the last hurdle."

Prince Duan admonished solemnly.

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father—but the same goes the other way. If a father knows his son, how could the son not know his father?

"Chaos has erupted in the north."