Chapter 61: Facing the Emperor (Second Update)
If it were in the past, it would be fine. But just after the incident with the Crown Prince and the Sixth Princess, the Empress Dowager was still grieving, so she paid extra attention to the few dragon sons and imperial grandsons, even those who were not favored on ordinary days received special treatment.
Now that Princess Qianqiu has pushed the Seventh Prince into the pond, the Empress Dowager will no longer turn a blind eye like before!
Qianqiu Gongzhu looked up with discontent, "Who let him provoke us first! He's just a bastard born to a lowly woman, and he dares to talk back to us? Isn't he tired of living?"
The imperial concubine was so angry that she couldn't move, but now wasn't the time to lose her temper, so she had to hold back for the moment and asked: "Where did you push him down? Was anyone else there?"
The emperor must have known about this matter, but he should still be unaware of who did it, otherwise he would not be looking for the empress dowager, but her.
The current priority is to deceive the Emperor.
Qianqiu Gongzhu shook her head and said firmly, "No one saw it. I and Xiao Qi pushed him down and then called Chen Gonggong to rescue him. After that, we left. Throughout the whole process, no one was seen."
"That's good." Consort Duan nodded slightly, and if anyone had seen this scene, don't blame her for being ruthless!
"When your father asks you later, just say he fell into the water by accident or pretend to know nothing. Anyway, your imperial grandmother will still stand on your side."
The empress's punishment is nothing to be concerned about, what I fear is the emperor...
The Emperor's doting on those two lowly mother and daughter is simply inexplicable!
She thought of Lin Ruoyan in the outer hall, and the coldness in her eyes grew thicker.
The people of Jian'an Marquis's estate, you'd better have someone entering the palace. Otherwise, she will never let it go!
Inside the main hall of Cining Palace. A middle-aged man wearing a blue-ground golden dragon robe is looking at the Empress Dowager with a pained expression.
He was the most noble man in the Great Yan Kingdom - Emperor Huiyang.
"Empress! How long will you continue to favor them? Rui'er is also the imperial grandson, your own grandson. What did he do wrong to deserve such treatment? Those trivial matters in the past can be overlooked, but this time it almost cost lives!"
The empress's expression was pale, "Who told you that he was harmed by someone? This matter has not been investigated clearly. You just ran over to question me, do you still have me as your mother in your eyes?! Or are you being bewitched by that woman, forgetting not only the dignity and responsibility of being a ruler, but also the filial piety of being a son?"
This is bringing up old scores again.
His Majesty was even more furious, "Those were all things that happened over a decade ago. Now, one code returns to one code. A person who can do such cruel and ruthless things will become an even greater calamity when they grow up. The Great Yan Imperial Family cannot keep such a calamity!"
The empress dowager saw the emperor's resolute and indignant gaze, and thought of how he had said almost the same words with the same expression over the past decade or so.
The imperial family of Yan cannot leave behind descendants with unclear bloodlines, so they have to put to death the infant who was born just a moment ago.
"Ruthless and cruel? Heng'er, if we're talking about being ruthless and cruel, no one can surpass you, Empress Dowager!" The empress dowager slowly spoke up.
When he first ascended the throne, he eliminated his brothers who were unfavorable to him. He killed some and expelled others, leaving only one Prince Xiao in the entire Shengjing.
It was she who persuaded him again because Xiao Wangye had a strong army in his hands, he feared that he would be sealed as king in his fiefdom, so he kept him in the capital to monitor him.
"I know that the Empress Dowager has always looked down on me. Even though I have been on the throne for many years, in your heart, there is only my fifth brother! You think he is the one who can truly inherit the great legacy of our father!"
The Fifth Brother mentioned by His Majesty is none other than the current Xiao Wangye.
The empress dowager sighed bitterly and said sorrowfully, "For so many years, I have done everything for you. Your fifth brother has endured and yielded for your sake. Are you still not satisfied? Heng Er, man proposes but heaven disposes. Do you want to push me to what kind of situation?"
The emperor looked at the empress dowager, saying nothing.
The empress dowager said, "I even went so far as to satisfy your selfish desires, doing things that are harmful and unjust, without regard for face. Yet you can't even fulfill the slightest wish of your mother?"
The emperor coldly said: "The humiliation that Rui'er and her mother have suffered over the years, I have turned a blind eye to it all. This is the greatest concession I can make for the sake of repaying my debt to the empress dowager. If this time I do not punish them, next time what I will see is probably Rui'er's corpse."
He suddenly used "Zhen".
The empress dowager knew that this time the emperor had made up his mind to investigate thoroughly.
"How will you investigate?"
"Those palace maids said that the two refined ladies who found Rui'er fainting in the bushes were definitely the young ladies invited by Empress Dowager to attend the banquet. So..."
"All right, don't say any more, I understand." The empress dowager interrupted the emperor's words. "Which two young ladies? You can go ask, you can go investigate."
The emperor summoned the two palace maids standing outside the door into the house, "You will go to the Cining Palace annex in a while and bring over the two ladies who discovered the seventh prince today."
That palace maid replied and backed out of the room.
Only the empress dowager and the emperor were left in the house, the empress dowager looked at the emperor, looking at his firm and cold face, a strong sadness arose in her heart.
"What can you do even if you find out? If it's really one of the other princes or princesses who did it, are you going to kill them too?"
The emperor says nothing.
The Empress Dowager said, "You also said that Rui'er is my grandson. Then, the other princes and princesses are not your children, your flesh and blood? In your eyes, isn't it that as long as they're not the ones you care about, you can abandon them all?"
It's just like Empress Zhou, when the Zhou family was powerful, her brother commanded the Imperial Guard and her father served as Governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, making him an object of fawning attention for everyone.
The Emperor used every means to marry Empress Zhou, and indeed got the help of the Zhou family to ascend to the throne smoothly. However, after ascending to the throne, he worried about the interference of his in-laws in politics, so he took some "measures" to prevent Empress Zhou from becoming pregnant with an heir.
To know a woman, especially the queen in the palace, her greatest wish for life is to give birth to children, but the emperor has deprived Queen Zhou of her right to give birth.
She thought of how Empress Zhou had searched everywhere for doctors and medicine but still passed away, and her heart ached with sorrow and regret.
Later, the Zhou family fell, and the emperor still had a thread of benevolence in his heart. He did not depose Empress Zhou but allowed her to give birth to the crown prince. However, he never carefully taught or protected him with all his heart.
The death of the crown prince, who says it's not the emperor's fault?
But such a heartless and ruthless emperor, who even made his own mother feel afraid at times, would go to great lengths to please a woman, doting on her with favoritism, and even disregard the most basic principles of ruler-subject relationships.
She really doesn't know whether it's good luck or bad luck?
The emperor remained silent for a while before finally speaking up, "If we find out who is responsible, we naturally cannot let them off easily."
The empress dowager smiled wryly, she had known it would be this answer all along, yet couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Xin'er, Mother asked you, if Rui'er's sister didn't die, what would you do?"
"What?" The emperor's eyebrows jumped.
The empress dowager had to change her questioning method, "Empress mother is just curious, if she didn't die, now at the age of thirteen, should be a slender and elegant big girl. Maybe, she would also please Empress Mother like Xiaoliu did. Empress Mother only wants to know, do you regret that decision back then?"
His Majesty's face turned cold, and a hint of disgust flashed in his eyes.
That's really disgusting.
"I still don't know whose descendant it is, Empress Dowager, let's not mention this again!"
He found it strange that something from so many years ago was suddenly brought up today, and he was still so choked with emotion.
The empress dowager shook her head in distress.
In the midst of drawing swords and tightening bows, a palace maid outside the door reported that the two had discovered that the young lady from the Seventh Imperial Prince's household had arrived.
"Let them in." The Emperor collected his thoughts and then said to the Empress Dowager, "Mother, you may move to the side hall to listen."
The Empress Dowager shook her head, "No, I'd better go back first. Those foreign ladies are still waiting for me to arrive."
His Majesty knew that the Empress Dowager would definitely go to make amends.
He didn't really want to harm his own son and daughter, but if he didn't scare them like this, he was afraid that Rui'er would still be bullied in the future.
The palace maid pushed open the door and led Lin Zhaoyan and Zhou Wanyu in.
"Your Majesty, Miss Lin Si and Miss Zhou Liu have been brought here."
The empress dowager, who was just about to leave, immediately looked towards the door upon hearing this.
The two girls standing outside the door, one of whom is not Lin Zhaoyan, who else could it be?!
"What did you say?" The Empress Dowager exclaimed in shock.
Lin Zhaoyan hastily bowed and said, "The young lady pays her respects to Her Majesty."
Zhou Wanyu on the side also followed suit and paid her respects.
"Does the Empress Dowager know her?" The Emperor wondered in his heart.
The empress actually called out this girl's given name, obviously they were very familiar with each other to do so, but he had no impression of this face at all.
The Empress Dowager did not respond to the Emperor's words, but instead furrowed her brow and gazed at Lin Zhao Yan, "Was it you two who discovered that the Seventh Prince had fallen into the water?"
Zhou Wanyu was about to respond when Lin Zhaoyan intercepted her and spoke first, "In response to the Empress Dowager's words, I did not see the Seventh Prince fall into the water. I only found the Seventh Prince, who was soaked from head to toe, in a cluster of flowers by the side of the Imperial Garden."
Lin Zhaoyan felt very depressed in her heart, she never wanted to get involved with the royal family, nor did she want to get entangled in the intrigue and infighting of the palace women, all she wanted was to keep a low profile, but fate always seemed to be playing tricks on her.
The incident of these seven princes falling into the water was mishandled and would be enough to offend anyone.
"Really?" The empress dowager also collected her thoughts and hastily asked back.
She also thought she had really seen Ling'er push Rui'er into the water with her own eyes, but it turned out that wasn't true.
"It's true." Lin Zhao nodded, "If the Empress Dowager has any doubts, she can go ask Madame Hou or Madame Chengnan, they also know about it."
Zhou Wan Yu hastily nodded her head, "Replying to Your Majesty, it is like this."
She couldn't help but admire Lin Zhaoyan's meticulousness, thanks to the fact that they had already cleared the air with their two elders, otherwise, being called over in such a hurry, where would there be time for explanations?
The empress dowager had no time to speak, and the emperor stepped forward, saying coldly: "Do you know that deceiving the monarch is a capital offense?"
The emperor's majestic appearance was awe-inspiring, and he had an intimidating aura that made people tremble. Zhou Wan-yu was startled by him and her face turned pale.
