RETURN WHAT WE BORROW

Returning to her original title as a concubine in the empire wasn't just a simple forfeit where she no longer held the title of the Empress of the empire. She suffered a heavy loss after the title of Empress was robbed from her hands.

Starting from her clothes, she could still wear the phoenix embroidered clothes even after she got down from the Empress seat, but the number of phoenixes embroidered on the dress decreased because her status also lowered since last night. It sounded like a simple change, but it was not small at all for her. Even if she only lost a single phoenix on her clothing, it was enough to constantly remind her that everything was back to square one this time.

Aside from clothing, another major change had also occurred to her, and that was how she had to leave the Empress's palace and move into the concubine's quarters. At Xinyang Imperial Palace, the Empress lived close to the Emperor, while the concubines had their own residence which was quite far from where the Emperor lived. It was enough to show that the Empress did indeed have the privilege of spending time with the Emperor, and she could also try to win over the Emperor's heart. But now she had to live far away from the Emperor, and that's why her dream was also getting further and further from her reach.

"This is all your son's fault!" Someone suddenly broke the silence in the concubine's quarter.

Currently, Xinyang Imperial Palace only had one concubine, and that was why only one building was occupied. Wu Shun only had one concubine, and that concubine was none other than Zhu Ruolan.

Zhu Ruolan was not alone in her quarter. She was sitting at a square table within her quarter, and sitting across from her was an old man in red. The old man was none other than Prime Minister Zhong Enlai.

"I didn't even expect that my son would turn his back on us, Uncle Zhong," Zhu Ruolan angrily replied to the old man. "You know how he listened to us all these years, right? He was very obedient to us, and he was also doing well in his duties as the Crown Prince until two weeks ago. I don't know what made him change."

It seemed that the two of them had a headache, and the one who was causing the discomfort was none other than the Second Prince, Wu Jingguo.

"Maybe someone has sabotaged his brain. Maybe someone has persuaded him to turn his back on us," Zhong Enlai responded to his niece.

Hearing what the old man had just said, Zhu Ruolan frowned further before replying, "Perhaps it was Wu Jinhai who forced my son to renounce the title of Crown Prince?"

Zhong Enlai didn't answer immediately, but he raised an eyebrow after hearing his niece's opinion. It was clear that Wu Jinhai was a public enemy of the people from the East Faction. Wu Jinhai was the son of a woman from the West Faction, and the West Faction was their biggest obstacle to achieving their goal of becoming the ruler of the empire. Thus, they had been trying to get rid of Wu Jinhai, and even if they didn't kill the man, how they had managed to push the man away from the seat of the Crown Prince over so many years could be considered a success.

It seemed they had managed to freeze Wu Jinhai for so many years, but just like ice that would also melt when the temperature got too warm, Wu Jinhai was finally able to break free from the ice that trapped him.

Unfortunately, before Zhu Ruolan and Zhong Enlai could get answers to their questions, the guard announced the arrival of the Second Prince, and not long after, the pavilion door opened from the outside, revealing Wu Jingguo's figure calmly walking towards the table where the two people sat facing each other. The two of them turned to the young man upon noticing his presence, but the young man didn't say anything as he continued on his way.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Wu Jingguo quietly apologized, and his apology was addressed to the two people sitting at the table.

"Please sit down," Zhong Enlai was the one to answer the young Prince, and the Prince nodded before complying with the order.

Wu Jingguo was sitting on a chair, but the two people still glared at him instead of leaving him alone.

"Why would you do something like this to us, Xiao Guo? Are you uncomfortable sitting on the Crown Prince's seat? Why did you choose to step down?" Zhu Ruolan finally asked her son.

In truth, it had been two weeks ago that she had heard about her son's decision to relinquish the title of Crown Prince, but she had not had the chance to ask the young man for an explanation. She wasn't sure whether it was on purpose or not, but Emperor Wu Shun had kept Wu Jingguo by his side for the past two weeks, not allowing the mother to have a good chat with her son.

Could it be intentional so that the mother couldn't change her son's mind?

"You're right, Mother. It's really uncomfortable sitting in a chair that isn't mine," Wu Jingguo answered his mother's question, but his mother looked dissatisfied with the answer.

"You've been sitting in that chair for so many years, and that means it's yours, Xiao Guo! If you don't want to let go, no one can take it from you!" Zhu Ruolan was starting to lose her temper as she slightly raised her voice at her son.

Zhu Ruolan must have gotten emotional, and she even moved her hand to grab her son's hand on the table. She squeezed the bigger hand, but the owner of the big hand didn't budge. Instead, Wu Jingguo carefully withdrew his hand from his mother's grip.

"That is not true, Mother," replied the young Prince. "Maybe it's true that I've been sitting in that chair for years, but I only borrow that chair. In the past, Mother always told me to return what we borrowed, right? Have you forgotten about that, Mother?"