Shen Qing pretended to talk about her family affairs, but actually implied to Li Zhongman that the Gao family's house was no longer under her control, and killing her would be useless. If he wanted the house, he should go to the Qi family.
Not to mention that Master Qi is an important official in the court, a eunuch like Li Zhongman would not dare to ask Master Qi for a house. Even if he did, Master Qi would not give away his wife's ex-husband's house so easily. He would definitely refuse Li Zhongman with a cold face.
Li Zhongman tried to find his family, but was turned away at the door.
As expected, Li Zhong stared at her with hatred for a while, then swung his whisk and walked forward.
Shen Qing followed and breathed a long sigh of relief.
After passing through the courtyard and climbing up a covered walkway, we arrived at a house with cranes on both sides of the entrance. The plaque above the door read "Hall of Joyful Longevity".
This is the right place.
Shen Qing's entire body tensed up.
Eunuch Li stepped forward to report: "Your Majesty, Qi Shenshi, the third daughter-in-law of the Qi family, has arrived."
A slow, leisurely voice came from inside: "Come in..."
Eunuch Li glanced at Shen Qing and said in a sissy voice, "Go inside..."
Shen Qing bowed slightly: "Thank you, Eunuch."
She followed Eunuch Li into the Hall of Joyful Longevity, quickly glancing at the only person sitting in the room.
On the throne bed sat an old woman dressed in a dark blue cheongsam and with her hair styled in a large, elaborate updo.
Although she is getting old and has obvious wrinkles on her face, you can still see her delicate features and facial structure.
Shen Qing only glanced at it briefly, not daring to look any closer, and quickly knelt down with her face down.
"This humble woman, Qi Shenshi, greets Your Majesty."
"Raise your face..." the Empress Dowager said slowly.
Shen Qing then raised his face.
The Empress Dowager glanced at her, then pressed Eunuch Li's hand and got off the throne, asking, "How many years have you been a widow?"
Shen Qing did some mental calculations for a few seconds and replied, "I was a widow for more than six years before I remarried my current husband."
The Empress Dowager, lost in thought, stared out the window, took Eunuch Li's hand, and walked halfway around the room before saying, "I heard that when you were a widow in the Gao family, you made the Gao family business very successful and even adopted a child. Logically speaking, your good days had just begun, so why did you remarry later?"
Shen Qing was at a loss for words.
Everyone was curious as to why Qi Zhenheng would marry a widow, but no one ever asked her why she wanted to remarry Qi Zhenheng.
She remarried Qi Zhenheng because her two children needed protection, but she couldn't tell the Empress Dowager this.
"My first husband passed away less than half a year after our marriage, leaving me to struggle to support the Gao family. But the Gao family wanted to take advantage of my childless status, so they falsely accused me of adultery and drowned me in a pig cage."
At that time, the woman's second husband was the prefect of Jiangzhou. He rescued her from the river and upheld justice for her. He had been helping her for many years, which prevented her from being bullied to death by the Gao family.
The woman was grateful to him and bore him children. She originally only wanted to be his concubine, but he was kind-hearted and didn't want his children to be born of a concubine, so he married her.
These words were half true and half false. After Shen Qing finished speaking, he was afraid that the Empress Dowager would become suspicious, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
The Empress Dowager glanced at her again, seemingly lost in thought. After pacing around the room for a while, she said, "Your second husband is a good man. Live well."
Shen Qingsong took a deep breath, knelt down and thanked her, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The Empress Dowager sat back on her throne and looked at her: "You are lucky. So many women are widows for life after their husbands die. Not only did you remarry, but you also became a legal wife. You are truly lucky."
She said twice that Shen Qing was lucky, her envy evident in her words.
Shen Qing was somewhat apprehensive and knelt down to express her gratitude again.
The Empress Dowager looked at her and asked, "Do you know why I know your second husband is a good man?"
Shen Qing shook her head: "This humble woman does not know."
"Back then, you were implicated in the military supplies case and detained at the provincial judicial office to await execution in the autumn..."
Shen Qing was startled and looked up.
The Empress Dowager was looking at her, so she quickly lowered her head again.
"The third young master of the Qi family went to see the emperor and took all the blame upon himself. He knew that this was a capital offense, but he still wanted to take the blame for you."
Shen Qing swallowed hard.
She knew that Qi Zhenheng had come to Beijing to mediate for her.
That day, Qi Zhenheng went to the provincial judicial office to see her, calling her "little sister," but before leaving, he told her that he loved her.
Later, she was rescued by Cheng Zhiwen and moved into the Cheng family home. At that time, Qi Zhenheng was still in Beijing.
That must have been the time he took the blame upon himself.
Even after he followed her to the Cheng family, and because of her many conflicts with Cheng Zhiwen, he never mentioned that he had taken the blame for her.
"Do you think it's so easy to exchange a death row inmate from the Judicial Office? It's just that the court turns a blind eye because of the Qi family's past contributions."
It turns out that the Empress Dowager knew about her faked death.
Fearing that this matter would implicate Cheng Zhiwen, Shen Qing hurriedly kowtowed and said, "This humble woman thanks Your Majesty and Empress Dowager for sparing my life. My husband saved me without any other choice. I hope Your Majesty and Empress Dowager will show leniency."
For now, the only thing left to do is to pin the blame on Qi Zhenheng for the incident of abducting her from the provincial judicial office.
The Qing court values the Qi family and would certainly not make things difficult for Qi Zhenheng over this matter.
However, if the Qing court finds out that Cheng Zhiwen was responsible for this, it would likely add another capital offense to Cheng Zhiwen's list.
"Women really have it tough," the Empress Dowager sighed. "They choose women for political marriages, and they choose women even when they're defeated in war. These grown men lose battles, and in the end, it's all the women's fault."
She didn't explain it outright, but Shen Qing still understood that the Qing court knew she was a scapegoat.
Thinking back to that dark month spent imprisoned in the provincial judicial office, and remembering how her body was ruined during that time, Shen Qing felt hatred!
But she couldn't show it; she even had to kowtow on the ground to thank the Qing court for sparing her life.
At this moment, she understood even more why Cheng Zhiwen insisted on pursuing that ideal that could cost him his life at any moment.
"Alright, let's not talk about those things anymore. The reason I summoned you to the palace this time is because I heard that you can make warm clothes. Get up and help me see if this cheongsam can be made warmer."
Shen Qing snapped out of her daze, stood up and walked forward, carefully examining the court robes worn by the Empress Dowager.
All of them were made of the finest silk, with the only warm garment being a layer of mink trim on the outermost side.
Shen Qing then opened his leather suitcase, took out a down vest and a sweater, and presented them to the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager then handed the clothes to her personal maid for inspection. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the two garments, she went into her room and changed into them with the maid's help.
Shen Qing waited anxiously.
If the Empress Dowager is satisfied with these two items for keeping warm, perhaps she will be able to leave the Qing Palace.
If the Empress Dowager is dissatisfied, or even gets angry, then she doesn't know what awaits her...
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