Chapter 680 The Empress Dowager's Passing
"My mother is always so perceptive."
Wei Jia smiled and explained, "There's an inconspicuous third-class maidservant by Old Madam Qian's side who's one of ours."
"She is the one who secretly helped Miss Qian."
Otherwise, Qian Yulan alone could not have managed to drug Old Madam Qian's food every day, let alone drug the people who served Old Madam Qian without anyone noticing.
"I see." Qiao Qinghe nodded in understanding.
As someone close to Old Mrs. Qian, he naturally kept a close eye on the people and things around her.
She was the one who administered the drug. While others were unconscious, she remained awake, so naturally she knew things that others didn't.
Although the culprit was Miss Qian, it's hard to guarantee that those around Old Madam Qian won't be blamed for the incident.
"Let her find a chance to withdraw from this situation."
Wei Jia shook her head, "That girl has already caught the eye of Miss Qian. If nothing unexpected happens, she will follow Miss Qian from now on."
Qiao Qinghe frowned slightly. "So, Miss Qian had already made contact with that girl beforehand?"
Wei Jia nodded: "Yes. That girl made up a backstory, saying that Old Madam Qian was her mother's killer, and that she entered the Qian family to avenge her mother."
"Fine, you can handle these things yourself. I won't interfere." Qiao Qinghe sighed and didn't continue the topic.
Compared to the death of Mrs. Qiao, the death of Mrs. Qian did not cause much of a stir.
However, some people were whispering that just half a month after Old Mrs. Qiao died, Old Mrs. Qian died. Could there be some hidden story behind this?
Some people have also discovered that Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Qiao had contact before their deaths, and their relationship seemed to be quite good.
Naturally, some people also dug up the story of how the Qian family and the surrounding neighbors had blocked the Qiao family from renovating their house.
So, conspiracy theories started circulating again.
How did two old ladies who were clearly enemies become close again? And why did they both eventually pass away one after the other?
Could it be that Old Mrs. Qian truly considered Old Mrs. Qiao a close friend, and so, upon seeing her friend die, she followed her in grief?
But it's more likely that Old Mrs. Qian did something to offend Old Mrs. Qiao and caused her death, so she scared herself to death.
After all, everyone knows that Old Mrs. Qian and Qiao Qinghe have a feud.
No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like Old Mrs. Qian had any good intentions in approaching Old Mrs. Qiao.
However, no matter how much people discussed it, only a minority paid attention to Old Mrs. Qian, and her death did not cause any ripples.
Recently, there has been some tension in the capital because Emperor Xiaozhao has lost his temper, ordered a thorough investigation of the palace, executed a number of people, punished a number of people, and expelled a number of people from the palace.
Many spies planted in the harem or secret agents bribed within the harem were eliminated.
Many families were living in fear, wondering when Emperor Xiaozhao's fire would reach them.
Just then, news spread from the palace that something had happened to the Empress Dowager.
However, less than a day after the news broke, news of the Empress Dowager's death followed.
Upon receiving the news, Qiao Qinghe felt her mind go blank. She was stunned for a long time.
The Empress Dowager is dead!?
How could the Empress Dowager have died so suddenly?!
Although she did not see the Empress Dowager many times, the Empress Dowager was always kind to her because of Madam Zheng.
Although the Empress Dowager did not openly help her in any way, she and the Qiao family received a lot of protection from the Empress Dowager through the connection with Madam Zheng.
Thinking of this, Qiao Qinghe felt a surge of sadness.
After receiving the news, Wei Jia also rushed to the main hospital.
Seeing that Qiao Qinghe's expression was strange, Wei Jia quickly came up to attract Qiao Qinghe's attention: "Mother, the Empress Dowager has passed away. Should we send someone to the Duke of Jin's mansion to check on Madam Zheng's condition?"
Upon hearing this, Qiao Qinghe nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, you're right. Zheng Yao and the Empress Dowager were close friends, even sworn sisters. The Empress Dowager had also been of great help to the Duke of Jin's mansion. Now that the Empress Dowager is dead, I don't know how sad Zheng Yao will be."
"Send someone over there immediately to take a look."
Wei Jia quickly had someone summon He Shi and, in front of Qiao Qinghe, made arrangements for the matter.
He then gave the order to replace the pair of lanterns at the entrance with white lanterns and to have everyone in the mansion wear plain clothes to mourn the Empress Dowager.
"Mother, should you and Qian-ge be prepared to enter the palace at any time to mourn the Empress Dowager?"
Qiao Qinghe nodded repeatedly as if she had just remembered this: "Yes, yes, we need to start preparing."
As is customary, all officials of rank and their families are required to enter the palace to offer condolences.
Even she, a second-rank official, was no exception.
As Wei Jia arranged one thing after another, Qiao Qinghe, who was still immersed in the shock of the Empress Dowager's sudden death, suddenly had no time to dwell on the Empress Dowager's death.
Soon, the people who went to the Duke of Jin's residence returned.
"Madam, First Madam, when I arrived, the Duke of Jin's mansion was in complete chaos. Madam Zheng was not in the mansion either."
The servant reported the situation at the Duke of Jin's residence: "I made some inquiries and learned that Madam Zheng has been invited to the palace."
"I don't know the specific reason."
After a pause, the servant continued, "According to the servants of the Duke of Jin's mansion, when the palace came to invite people, the procession was very grand. It didn't look like they were inviting people; it looked more like they were arresting criminals."
"They didn't even let Madam Zheng change her clothes before taking her away."
"So the Duke of Jin and his wife were both flustered, and the Duke of Jin's mansion was in complete chaos."
"Fortunately, the heir of the Duke of Jin returned before I left. That heir seemed much calmer than the Duke and Duchess of Jin. He should be able to stabilize the situation in the Duke of Jin's mansion."
The news from the Duke of Jin's mansion made Qiao Qinghe feel uneasy.
When she first heard that Zheng Yao had been invited to the palace, she thought that Emperor Xiaozhao was letting her see the Empress Dowager one last time because of Zheng Yao's relationship with the Empress Dowager.
But then he heard about the attitude of the people from the palace and realized that things were not so simple.
It doesn't look like something good; it's more like the calm before the storm.
Qiao Qinghe paced back and forth in the room, her mind uneasy. After a while, she suddenly said, "Quickly, send someone to Princess Huaiyang's residence to inquire about the situation."
"While you're at it, take a look at the situation at the Qi Prince's residence, the Chu Prince's residence, and the Yongchang Marquis's residence."
Wei Jia hurriedly went down to make arrangements.
An hour later, the messenger who went out to gather information returned and reported that Princess Huaiyang, the King of Qi, and the King of Chu had all entered the palace.
There was no activity at the Yongchang Marquis's residence. No one went to the palace, and no one went out. White was hung at the gate, and the servants in the residence had all changed into mourning clothes.
So, is she overthinking it?
She's probably overthinking it!
The reason the palace invited Zheng Yao to the palace was probably simply because she had a good relationship with the Empress Dowager!
That should be it, yes, that must be it!
Seeing Qiao Qinghe's worried expression, Wei Jia finally waved her hand to dismiss all the servants in the room except for A Shuang, and lowered her voice to remind her, "Mother, don't worry, Madam Zheng will be fine."
Qiao Qinghe suddenly looked at Wei Jia, "How did you know?"
She looked at Wei Jia with a puzzled expression. "What do you know?"
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