Looking at Gu Jiangli's expression, the Empress Dowager felt an even stronger sense of unease.

Could it be that her only trusted and reliable brother has also met with an accident?

And it was this woman who did it?

Ignoring the Empress Dowager's fear, Gu Jiangli smiled faintly and calmly picked up the square box on the table.

Seeing the Empress Dowager on the verge of collapse, Gu Jiangli finally felt a slight sense of satisfaction.

However, her suffering was far less than one ten-thousandth of what the emperor had experienced back then.

Gu Jiangli's cold gaze swept across her face, and he spoke slowly:

"Your Majesty, do you still remember? Back then, when the fire engulfed Mingyang Palace, Consort Yu was inside, and you were outside."

Upon hearing the woman's address, the Empress Dowager visibly trembled.

“You held her child in your arms, the little prince who was just one month old, and then, in front of Consort Yu, you tossed the little prince into the sea of ​​fire with both hands.”

"What...what exactly do you want to do..."

The Empress Dowager's voice trembled.

Gu Jiangli smiled wickedly, his icy voice seeming to come from hell:

"I'd like to try and see if the same action can stimulate you."

Gu Jiangli opened the square box and tossed it forward.

The prime minister's head slid past the empress dowager and landed on the ground with a thud, rolling several times.

The Empress Dowager turned pale and looked incredulously in the direction of the head.

Although the head had turned gray and white, it was still easy to recognize that it was her brother.

"Ah—!" The Empress Dowager screamed repeatedly, whether from the fear of seeing the head, the grief of discovering the dead man was the prime minister, or both.

Gu Jiangli sneered, "So even the Empress Dowager has emotional fluctuations. You too can have a mental breakdown. Back then, you so calmly threw the little prince into the fire without even blinking. I thought you wouldn't be afraid or terrified."

The Empress Dowager crawled towards the Prime Minister's head, trembling and completely unsure how to lift his head.

"Ahhh—Gu Jiangli! How dare you!"

She knelt on the ground and screamed in anguish.

"Why wouldn't I dare? Even the Empress Dowager dared to burn down the Mingyang Palace. I'm just bringing my head into the palace. What's there to be afraid of? Oh, I forgot to tell you."

"The prime minister's reputation is not good now. Everyone says he is a treacherous minister in the court and deserves his punishment. People spit when his name is mentioned."

"His fate is inextricably linked to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager."

The Empress Dowager roared in fury, "Shut up!"

She stood up shakily, her face contorted as if she wanted to devour someone. "You killed Xun'er and then murdered my Tan'er because they were indeed your enemies, but the Prime Minister... the Prime Minister had no grudge against you! Yet you committed such a cruel act! You are utterly devoid of conscience!"

She reached out her hands to grab Gu Jiangli's neck, but Gu Jiangli pushed her to the ground.

The Empress Dowager's eyes were bloodshot, and she had completely collapsed. When she went mad and screamed after her death, it was somewhat similar to her younger self.

Gu Jiangli recalled Consort Yun, who had confronted the late emperor, and then looked at the deranged Empress Dowager before her; everything felt so familiar.

"The Prime Minister's death was also His Majesty's decision. He may not have offended me, but he always offended His Majesty."

"On the day Consort Yu died, didn't the Prime Minister join you in stopping His Majesty from saving her?"

The Empress Dowager was panting heavily, anger controlling the expression on her face, but reason forced her to suppress her rage. She said fiercely, "Gu Jiangli, the Prime Minister would never tell you about the burning of Mingyang Palace! What exactly do you want to get out of me!"

Gu Jiangli's eyes darkened; he had finally gotten to the point.

She crouched down, meeting the Empress Dowager's gaze, and asked coldly:

"Your Majesty, Consort Yu walked into the fire on her own. Before she threw herself into the flames, she said something to the young emperor. You were close enough to hear clearly what she said."

The Empress Dowager's eyes were wider than the lanterns outside the house.

Her shock outweighed her anger.

"You...you even know that Consort Yu committed suicide. The Prime Minister couldn't have told you, and neither could the Emperor..."

"That's not the point. The point is, what exactly did Consort Yu say?"

Gu Jiangli can only see the emperor's memories.

The emperor didn't hear what Consort Yu said clearly, and naturally she couldn't find it in his memories either.

However, in the emperor's mind, he always believed that Consort Yu had not heard his explanation, so Consort Yu must have believed that he was the one who set the fire and that he was the one who killed the other princes and princesses.

Although the emperor did not hear what Consort Yu said at all, he felt that it was Consort Yu's words of resentment towards him, spoken out of extreme disappointment.

This was also one of the emperor's unresolved issues.

At that time, the person closest to Consort Yu was the current Empress Dowager.

The emperor and prime minister were too far away to hear, but the empress dowager must have heard.

The only way to get the answer is to start with the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager stared at her blankly, her eyes strange, as if exploring or questioning.

"Gu Jiangli, why do you need to know what Consort Yu said?"

Gu Jiangli remained expressionless. "The Empress Dowager's reply is sufficient; there's no need to ask for reasons."

"Why are you helping the emperor? Do you love him so much that you're willing to become my enemy just to help him resolve his inner conflicts?"

"Rather than you wondering why I love him, I'm more curious about why you don't love him. Isn't he the child you carried for ten months?"

The Empress Dowager's brows furrowed with anger: "He's completely devoted to Consort Yu, and he'd love to recognize her as his mother! My son is siding with outsiders; how can he expect me to treat him well?"

"But you were the one who hit and scolded him first."

"Gu Jiangli, why are you so protective of him? Is it really because you love him?" The Empress Dowager's eyes revealed disbelief. "But emperors are all fickle and heartless. He only dotes on you because you are beautiful and somewhat different from the other concubines in the harem. How could he possibly truly love you?"

"Is the Empress Dowager so fixated on this because the late Emperor favored Consort Yu, while you never received his love?"

"Shut up!" The Empress Dowager suddenly erupted in anger again. "I don't need his love! I am the Empress Dowager of the nation! I am above all others! Even the Emperor has to bow down to me when he sees me!"

"Hmph, the late emperor loved Consort Yu, and my son loved Consort Yu too, so what? Consort Yu is still dead, so isn't the one who won the game still me!"

The Empress Dowager glanced at Gu Jiangli and said fiercely, "You just want to know what Consort Yu said before she died, but you don't need to go to such lengths! I can tell you, or I can tell him in front of the Emperor!"

"Consort Yu said she hates the Emperor to the core! She never expected him to be such an ingrate! She will never forgive him! Hahaha, are you satisfied with this answer?"

The Empress Dowager was utterly deranged, gloating and arrogant. "Go tell the Emperor! Tell him why he hasn't been able to sleep well all these years—it's because Consort Yu and her son and daughter are cursing him from the afterlife! They'll never let him go, even in death!"