Chapter 295 The Old Concubine Dies

The Tenth Prince only knew that he had been unconscious for a long time. The last image in his mind was of a little girl, like a celestial fairy, standing behind the artificial hill...

When he woke up, he was in a corner of the Dowager Consort's palace.

The hall was in chaos just now, and no one noticed him.

He only emerged from the corner after the emperor mentioned him.

Seeing this, Yuan Hongqu feared that she was about to reveal many royal secrets. If she heard something she shouldn't have, and some powerful figure suddenly decided to silence her, she would be among them.

Therefore, she gestured to the Empress that she would leave first.

The Empress did want to keep Yuan Hongqu here, but she knew Mr. Yuan's personality and that he would definitely not want to get involved in such matters, so she did not stop him.

"Sir, please tell Daiyu that I was careless today and caused her an undeserved disaster. I will apologize to her another day." The Empress said apologetically.

"What are you saying, Your Majesty? She was lured here by someone with ulterior motives. What does it have to do with you? You don't need to take all the blame upon yourself. Daiyu is a child who can distinguish right from wrong. She knows exactly where the problem lies. Your Majesty need not blame yourself; this is not your responsibility." Yuan Hongqu frowned slightly. When did Zhao Huajing develop this habit?

With the Emperor right there, did she consider her status as Empress when she said those words? Wouldn't the Emperor think she was too weak if she lowered herself like that?

Yuan Hongqu added a few words to smooth things over.

Zhao Huajing is the Empress. Even if she made a mistake today, it was only a momentary oversight that allowed the villains to take advantage of the situation.

The actual fault did not lie with her, so it was inappropriate for her to rush into admitting it, as it would damage the Empress's dignity.

"Sir, at least go back and comfort your junior sister first, so she won't be afraid of this place and never come to visit me again."

"Don't worry, she's very bold. She won't take these little things to heart."

Yuan Hongqu was absolutely right. When she returned to the Lin family, the carefree Daiyu had already taken a warm bath and was sleeping soundly to the sound of Wangqiu reading aloud.

The Lin family was as quiet as ever that night.

However, many families in the capital city spent the night without sleep.

At dawn, the curfew was lifted, and a message was sent from the palace to various parts of the capital.

The Dowager Empress has passed away.

This Dowager Empress is of a higher generation than the Emperor Emeritus, and her network of relationships is intricate and complex, where a single move can have far-reaching consequences.

Her sudden death surprised many of the elders in the powerful families of the capital.

During the first month of the lunar calendar, they went to the palace to pay their respects to the Dowager Empress. At that time, the Dowager Empress was in good spirits and had a rosy complexion, not at all like someone who was about to die.

Life is unpredictable!

I heard that he only caught a gust of wind while strolling in the garden, and after returning home, his mouth and eyes became crooked. The imperial physician tried to save him all night, but could not.

Such a rush, I'm afraid you caught a chill or encountered something unclean, right?

Before the funeral of the Dowager Empress was over, almost all the amulets and statues of gods that could be taken home in the Taoist temples and monasteries near the capital were cleared out.

Later, even the flowers and plants inside Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries were dug up and taken back.

This farce lasted until after the Dowager Empress's 100th day memorial service before slowly dissipating.

The truth about the Dowager Empress's death was thus covered up, and the world only knew that she had suffered a sudden stroke.

In fact, the evidence that the Tenth Prince obtained that night had been destroyed by the two palace maids sent by the Dowager Consort. The Tenth Prince also lacked the confidence to convince the Emperor so that he could avenge his mother.

The Tenth Prince was unaware that he wanted to avenge his mother, and the Emperor also wanted to seek justice for his mother!

Regardless of whether the evidence exists or not, the Emperor now has the time to deal with the Dowager Consort, and it's impossible for him to give up halfway.

That day, the Dowager Consort was first given a beating by Lan Su. Although Lan Su had held back her strength, the Dowager Consort had always been pampered and her physical endurance was far inferior to that of people who were active.

Lan Su only used three-tenths of her strength, but the Dowager Empress felt that she had already suffered seven-tenths of an injury.

Add to that the fear and anxiety that followed, and the beating she received from the Emperor, and the Dowager Consort, at her age, could hardly withstand such torment.

Before the emperor could even have her thrown into prison, she started to look crooked and her eyes were distorted.

It was the Empress who reminded the Emperor that even if the Dowager Consort was imprisoned, it would be nothing more than keeping her alive for nothing. Without substantial evidence, they could not convict her. It would be better to let her live like this, wishing she were dead.

Before midnight, the Dowager Empress died.

When the Emperor found out, he felt both pleased and relieved that she had gotten off easy!

The Dowager Empress died in her own palace. Although she had been interrogated the day before, she was not convicted.

Since she passed away so suddenly, we can only hold a funeral for her according to the proper protocol.

Although the emperor gave the instruction to "keep everything simple," matters concerning the royal family cannot be simplified simply by saying so.

Although the Emperor was unhappy, he still had to grit his teeth and hold the funeral for the Dowager Consort!

With the Emperor's approval, the funeral was naturally not as grand, but it still met all the necessary standards and was barely passable.

After this matter was over, the Empress began to frequently visit the Lin family again.

She and Daiyu worked together for half a month and finally managed to organize the rules and regulations and teaching content for the adult women's class.

Yuan Hongqu took the plan to the academy for the teachers to discuss and supplement, and finally attracted a lot of investment with this plan.

Yuan Hongqu simply built another courtyard next to the girls' academy, separating it from the girls' academy, but not completely separating it.

This courtyard is the adult girls' academy.

Less than a day after the listing, all thirty spots were filled...

As June arrived and the days grew hotter, the girls' academy's summer study tour group set off.

This was the first time the academy had organized such a large-scale study tour, which was somewhat unconventional for many young ladies from well-to-do families who rarely left their homes.

But in reality, it was only Daiyu who wanted to travel and study, and wanted to see the grassland scenery more than 300 miles away from the capital.

After she mentioned the study tour at the academy, Liu Qianrou was the first to say she wanted to join, and in the following days, many female students asked to go together.

At first, Yuan Hongqu was unaware of this until the study tour group expanded to nearly a hundred students.

When Yuan Hongqu found out, it was unclear whether she praised Daiyu's organizational skills or thought that ancient parents were not feudal at all.

How could they allow unmarried women to go with the academy to the grasslands hundreds of miles away?

Is this something that feudal patriarchs in ancient times would do?