Female Novel
Chapter 568 Felix's Mad Behavior (Part Two)
"I've confirmed it with the imperial physician. The imperial physician said that Francis has long sufferedfrom a serious chronic illness, and his current condition is just a momentary improvement before death.Some days ago, he was seriously ill, and it was doubtful that he would survive past New Year's Day.Strangely, he has become much better after leaving the Imperial Palace. He even had the strength toward off the sword which would have killed Father. His illness... Don't you think it's rather hard toexplain?" said Felix.
"I have also heard from the imperial physician that he was born a very weak body," answered theempress, her eyes lighting up.
"Mother, do you find it believable?" Felix was obviously unimpressed by what she said. If Francis wasreally born with a weak body, how could it be possible for him to recover as soon as he moved out ofthe Imperial Palace? There must be something he didn't know.
Holding her teacup in her hands, the empress fell into silence. She had guessed what was going onwith Francis' body, but she didn't have any evidence to prove that Francis' weakness was just apretense. On her second thought, it seemed to her that Francis could not possibly be a threat to herand her son. After all, a prince with so little time left to live surely couldn't be the next emperor.However, she was still worried that the Bu Clan would be foolish enough to support Francis.
"What is the Bu Clan's position?" the empress asked in a contemplative voice. The Bu Clan held thegreatest prestige among the civil officials. If they supported Francis, then he would be competitivedespite his poor health.
"The Bu Clan was summoned to visit Francis," Felix said as a surge of resentment arose from hisheart. He was also the emperor's son, and had been proclaimed to be the crown prince by the emperorhimself. But over the years, the emperor had shown him very little favor, and had even been on hisguard against him. The two of them were not at all like father and son.
"Oh, I see. In other words, His Majesty did so, in order to fool others," the empress commented. A coldand calculating light flashed in her eyes. "In that case, Francis is indeed no threat to us. We should bewary of Matthew instead."
"Today, I went to Uncle Matthew's mansion. He and his wife treated me with extraordinary hostility,"Felix said, gritting his teeth. He ached with resentment whenever he thought of the big pearl on thedog's neck.
"Oh, really? What happened?" the empress asked, with her face darkening instantly.
"Yesterday I sent a bead of pearl to his mansion. But when I paid a visit today, I found the pearlhanging on the neck of a black dog." In his wrath, Felix clenched his fists as if he were about to tearMatthew apart. Still, he had no choice but to be patient because he knew perfectly well that he had nomilitary power and was no match for his uncle.
"What? That arrogant bastard has gone too far this time!" the empress growled upon hearing that. Shefelt so provoked by that story that she immediately smashed the teacup in her hand onto the floor. Themaids were so scared that they kneeled on the floor at once. Hearing the chaos inside the room, Nancyquickly came in, cleaned away the porcelain fragments from the floor, wiped up the tea on the floor, andthen made another cup of tea for the empress. After doing all this quickly, she waited quietly outside ata distance, to prevent anyone from getting close or eavesdropping.
"Mother, we can't just sit still and wait for death. When Hoffman offended Uncle Matthew before, UncleMatthew partnered with us to get rid of him. Now I'm afraid he has us in his target. If we just sit still,we'll be in trouble," Felix reasoned. "Francis is on good terms with Uncle Matthew nowadays. If hewants to use Francis to deal with us, we will both be in danger."
The empress of course fully understood what Felix meant. Matthew was good at using the hands ofothers to get rid of his enemies. And even if they were killed directly by Matthew, it was highly unlikely
that the emperor would bring justice to them. Maybe the emperor would even create an accusation oftreason in order to assuage Matthew. In such a situation, they would be totally out of luck and have noway to prove themselves innocent.
"Your father's birthday is coming soon," the empress remarked after a long silence.
"Father's birthday party will be held on the second of February. We still have more than two months toprepare," Felix said after a long, thoughtful silence. "Mother, what do you think?"novelbin
"How about that certain person you have prepared?" the empress inquired softly, looking at him.
Felix's eyes lit up. "Good. Even I cannot tell them apart. I don't think Harper will ever expect that thereis such a person in the whole world who knows her so well."
The empress smiled to think of it. "Tell her to get ready. The second of February is a good day."
"Yes, Mother."
"You must prepare a lavish gift as well. This is your father's fiftieth birthday, and all the princes andprincesses will be there to present him with gifts in his honor. All the officials of the country will presentbirthday gifts as well, so you must make sure that your gift is really unique and outstanding," theempress suggested, with excitement lighting up her eyes. They were going to take advantage of thismagnificent birthday party to send a grand "gift" to Matthew.
"I've got an idea for the gift," Felix said. He whispered a few words into the empress's ear, but then thelatter frowned a bit.
"Is it reliable?" asked the empress. Somehow, this idea seemed too bold. If anything went wrong with it,they would all be doomed.
"Of course it's reliable. I've been informed that the physician, who is highly skilled, has been working onthis all his life. It's almost completed. When I visit him, I can get that very gift for Father as his birthdaypresent. I'm sure he will like it," Felix replied firmly. The gentleness of his smile at that moment wasrare, but the coldness in his eyes was permanent. He was absolutely determined to win the emperor'sfavor this time.
"Well, then I will take your word for it. Take care of yourself well, and prepare the birthday present.Don't let others take it before you, and don't tell anyone. After all, this is the most important thing," theempress said softly. "Since we don't need to beware of Francis, we can just focus all our attention onMatthew."
"Mother, don't worry. It's all in my hands and everything will be taken care of well," Felix repliedobediently, keeping the sinister smile on his face.