Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 267 Let's Get a Divorce

When Lady Ningguo woke up, almost everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this was someone His Majesty had personally ordered to be saved. If something had really happened to her, none of them would have been able to escape responsibility.

Prince Ning rushed over and helped his mother up. The Duchess of Ning, who had just regained consciousness, was still somewhat surprised and bewildered; why were there so many people here?

But she quickly remembered what had happened before she fainted, and her eyes turned to the old Duchess of Ningguo with extreme wariness. Her relationship with this mother-in-law was not good; after all, who would like a mother-in-law who was obsessed with getting her husband to take his cousin as a concubine? Moreover, because of Concubine Sun and the child she had given birth to, the Duchess of Yingguo had hardly had a single good day in recent years.

Even if their relationship with their mother-in-law was strained, there was no need to kill her, was there? The Duchess of Yingguo clearly remembered that she had fainted because she had drunk half a mouthful of the health-preserving porridge that the old Duchess of Ningguo had brought her.

"Yingzhao, you scared your mother to death! Are you alright? I have no idea how there could be poison in that bowl of health porridge. It must have been the servants who had ill intentions. I'm not trying to criticize you, but you're usually too harsh on the servants. They must have been harboring resentment for a long time, and they just found an opportunity now. In the future, please listen to my advice and be more lenient with the servants..."

"grandmother!"

Prince Ning could no longer bear it, so he stepped forward and grabbed the old Lady Ning from the bedside with both hands, and then pushed her against the old Duke Ning.

The old Duke and his wife were all stunned! How could children lay a hand on their elders? Has Prince Ning gone mad?
Like a little beast, Prince Ning firmly protected Lady Ning, who was leaning against the headboard and unable to move easily. In the past, when he was young, he had no way to protect himself, and his mother always shielded him. Having lived under his mother's wing since childhood, he had now grown up and would never let his mother suffer such humiliation again.

“I have seen all the discord between you and my mother over the years, but to slander my mother like this in front of two imperial physicians is going too far.”

"Lu Yuan! You unfilial son, what do you think you are doing? How dare you lay a hand on your own grandmother? You are indeed your mother's biological son, just like her, disrespectful to elders."

“Grandmother, there’s no need to point your finger at me. You’ve never liked me anyway, and neither have Grandfather and Father. But you’re all used to letting Grandmother take the lead while you stay in the background and play the good guy. Since you all like Consort Sun and her second, third, and fourth sons so much, I’ll submit a memorial to His Majesty requesting that the position of heir be passed on to my second son. I, the unfavored heir, will naturally leave with Mother.”

"Where do you think you're going? Parents are alive, so don't travel far. Your father isn't even dead yet, and you're already thinking of running away from home?"

It's clear that the Prince of Ning's actions have enraged the Duke of Ning. If it weren't for the presence of the two imperial physicians, he would have already killed him. What a disgrace! He's embarrassed himself in front of outsiders; it's utterly incomprehensible.

However, Prince Ning had already endured enough, and now he completely ignored the hints from Duke Ning and let out a cold laugh.

“Naturally, I will take my mother with me when we divorce. I am now an adult. Since my father and mother have a bad relationship and have harbored resentment for many years, it is better to part ways amicably and wish each other well. My father has two sons and a daughter, while my mother only has me as her child. I suppose my father does not care for me to be his child, so naturally he will leave with my mother.”

"You, you, Lu Yuan, have you gone mad?! All those years of studying Confucian classics have taught you how to persuade your mother to divorce me?! Look all over the capital, what son has done what you've done? Who doesn't long for their parents to be at peace?"

"No father in the entire capital has ever acted like this!" Lu Yuan roared, unable to contain his anger any longer. From beginning to end, no matter how much the old Duke Ningguo and his wife pushed, shoved, and scolded the Duke Ningguo, he refused to back down an inch, because behind him was his mother, who had just woken up and was still extremely weak.

“Since Father dislikes Mother so much, why not let her leave? In the end, isn’t it all for your sake? Just for your sake, you’ve watched Mother suffer in the inner quarters all these years. Just for your empty pride, you even disregarded the fact that Mother was almost poisoned to death, only thinking about suppressing the matter at home. I’m sorry, Father, you can do it, but I can’t, because this is my mother, and I want her to live, to live well.”

After saying this, Prince Ning stopped looking at his father and grandparents, whose faces were grim, and turned to give them an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I've made Dr. Lu and Physician Liu laugh at me. My mother has woken up, does that mean she's alright?"

Judge Lu watched a good show, his expression unchanged, but inwardly he sighed. From now on, it seemed that the Prince of Ning would be completely severed from the Ningguo Duke's mansion. But this was for the best; although he had only overheard a few words, he could tell that the Ningguo Duke's mansion was just another den of wolves.

"He will be out of danger after taking three more doses of medicine. However, he must be carefully cared for afterward and must not get angry or upset again."

Prince Ning had anticipated this, so he nodded. Just as the Duke of Ning was about to say something, he promptly handed over the evidence he had already collected.

"These are the witnesses and physical evidence that my mother withheld when she was in trouble. I am handing them all over to you, and I hope that Judge Lu will report this matter to His Majesty without missing a single word. The hatred for killing one's mother is irreconcilable, and whoever did it must pay the price! My mother is alive now, but what if she had drunk a few more sips back then? Just a sip was almost enough to kill her. If she had drunk half a bowl or even the whole bowl, wouldn't she have died on the spot?"

The old Duchess nearly fainted as she looked at the witnesses being brought forward. She wondered why she couldn't find her personal maid after the incident; it turned out her unfilial grandson had been detaining her. If this matter really reached His Majesty's ears, would she, the old Duchess, still be able to go out and meet people?

He doesn't even understand the basic principles of life, no wonder I've never liked this grandson. Look at him, what's so endearing about him!
Just then, Lady Ningguo, who had been silent all along but had already figured out what was going on, finally spoke.

"Yuan'er."

The old Duke and Duchess of Ningguo and the Duke of Ningguo immediately went to see her. Even the elderly Duchess had hope on her face at this moment. Although she would sometimes tease this daughter-in-law, she actually knew in her heart that this daughter-in-law was really good. She was usually gentle and respectful to her. She thought that she wouldn't reveal the affairs of the household and make others laugh at her, right?

However, the old lady's delusion was shattered the next moment.

Because the Duchess of Ningguo nodded firmly and forcefully.

“Indeed, I’ve long since decided I didn’t want to live with him anymore. Let’s pack our things and leave now. I’m afraid if I stay here any longer, I won’t survive until tomorrow.”

(End of this chapter)