The emperor picked up the body of the retired emperor, changed into burial clothes, and had the dragon guards take them to the imperial mausoleum to put the body into the coffin.
The coffin was empty, and there was no other corpse occupying its place.
After doing all this, the emperor returned to the Queen Mother's palace, found the secret compartment in her bedroom, and interrogated Nanny Caiping to find out the poison she had obtained from Nanyun Kingdom, and forced her to feed the Queen Mother the poison.
Then all the things in the Empress Dowager's palace were taken away, no matter whether they were people or things, they were all replaced. Nanny Caiping was also drugged and collapsed together with the Empress Dowager.
After dealing with all this, the emperor went to the cold palace away from people.
At this moment, he had completely believed the voice of the little baby in the Duke of Huguo's Mansion. He was indeed not the Queen Mother's biological son, and the Queen Mother was indeed plotting against him.
Then his queen must be innocent, and she was the one who used her body to block the blade for him.
It was already the second half of the night. The emperor sneaked into the cold palace alone and sat in front of the queen's bed, scaring the queen so much that she almost screamed.
"Ruru! Don't shout, it's me."
"Your Majesty!" Empress Du Yuru put on her clothes and lit a candle. "Why are you here at this time? What happened?"
The emperor held the queen's hand and told her, "The queen mother is suddenly seriously ill and can no longer manage the harem. Ru'er, come back with me! Madam Caiping is just a mean slave. I know everything."
Du Yuru looked at the emperor with a bad face and said nothing. She knew in her heart that something must have happened. Otherwise, how could the emperor, who always humbled himself in front of the empress dowager and hoped to gain a little tenderness, be like a different person?
"She is not my biological mother, she poisoned me."
"What?" The queen turned pale with fear. "Do you have any evidence?"
The emperor shook his head and then comforted the queen: "Don't worry! Even if there is nothing, we will find it. She instigated Prince Duan to rebel, and it is just the right time to summon Prince Duan back to the capital to take care of her while she is seriously ill."
The Queen said nothing more. In fact, she had long seen through the Queen Mother's hypocritical side. It was because of this that the Queen Mother could not tolerate her and wanted Madam Caiping to use a cruel trick to force her into the cold palace.
Just when I was wondering how to break the current situation, I didn't expect the whole thing to change drastically.
Who gave the emperor the advice?
Chu Xiaoxiao didn't care about the affairs of the palace at all. What did it have to do with her whether the emperor was dead or alive? She was just a little girl who only knew how to eat and drink all day.
As long as the heroine is killed and she cannot become the empress, the Duke of Protectorate's Mansion will be fine.
In a blink of an eye, it is the second day of the new year. Today is the day when married daughters return home.
Yang got up early in the morning and dressed Chu Xiaoxiao in a new orange coat and skirt. Since her soft hair couldn't be tied into a bun, she put a hat on her.
Chu Zhinan and Yang shared a carriage, with an additional Chu Yishang.
Chu Yifei, Chu Yimo and Chu Yilin were in a carriage.
The Mansion of Duke Rong and the Mansion of Duke Hu were not far away, and they could be reached in about half an hour.
Yang is the legitimate daughter of the Duke's Mansion. Her father is the old Duke, and the current Duke is her brother Yang Heng.
Arriving at her grandparents' house, Chu Xiaoxiao looked up at the tall plaque and inadvertently let out a "tsk" sound.
[The Rongguo Mansion was magnificent, but it was a pity that it failed in the end. ]
Chu Zhinan: “…”
What? Lost? No way? Did my father-in-law's family also lose like the Duke of the Guard? Didn't they live a good life?
Yang was panicked and wanted to ask her daughter how the Rongguo Mansion fell.
[My uncle went to Jiangnan to control floods in May this year. He was infected with the plague and will never come back. My grandparents could not bear the shock and passed away one after another.]
Yang's pupils shrank, and then she turned around to look at Chu Zhinan, who shook his head slightly at her and pointed at himself.
The meaning is very clear, don't panic, he will take care of everything.
Chu Yishang's face was filled with sadness. Because his mother was pregnant with his younger sister, she couldn't take care of him. His grandmother often sent people to pick him up to live in the Rongguo Mansion.
How could his uncle, who treated him so well, have contracted the plague? And how could his kind grandparents have died one after another?
He will talk to his uncle later and ask him not to let his uncle go to Jiangnan to control the floods. As long as his uncle doesn't go, nothing will happen.
If my uncle hadn’t gotten into trouble, my grandparents would not have passed away.
The family went in and met the old Duke Rong and the old lady. Yang's sister-in-law Qu was also there. The family greeted each other happily.
Chu Xiaoxiao looked at this, looked at that, and screamed "Ahhh". Duke Rong and old lady Rong knew that little Tuanzi liked shiny things, so the New Year's money they gave her was gold ingots.
The little guy stretched out his hands to catch it, picked it up and put it into his mouth.
[Ahaha! I've made a lot of money by coming to pay New Year's greetings. My grandparents are so generous. They give me gold as soon as I enter the door.]
The old Duke Rong and the old lady were extremely surprised when they heard the little girl's inner voice for the first time. She was the only baby in the room, so who else could that gurgling sound be but that of their granddaughter?
Qu has no blood relationship with Chu Xiaoxiao, so naturally she couldn't hear it.
Yang knew that her daughter was a money-grubber, but she didn't dare say it out loud, let alone show it, for fear of being laughed at.
Qu also gave Chu Xiaoxiao a red envelope, not gold, but silver notes, the kind worth ten taels each.
Chu Xiaoxiao was so happy that she took the red envelope, but it fluttered and her hand shook, so she dropped it. Qu's face changed slightly, and she glared at Chu Xiaoxiao unhappily.
Of course, an ordinary child wouldn't be able to sense this, but Chu Xiaoxiao was not an ordinary child. She looked up to meet Qu's gaze, and sensing her malice, her face darkened, and she snorted.
[The Qu family is the culprit for the decline of the Rongguo Mansion. ]
Duke Rong looked at the little girl calmly and stretched out his hand to tease her: "Xiaoxiao! Why are you unhappy? Did you drop the red envelope? Grandfather will pick it up for you."
Yang thought about it for a while, but couldn't figure out what her daughter meant. Why was the eldest sister-in-law the culprit for the decline of the mansion? Did the eldest sister-in-law do something immoral?
Although my eldest sister-in-law is not very generous, she is still conscientious about the affairs of the mansion. She has been the head of the Rongguo Mansion for more than ten years, and everything has been going smoothly.
[Humph! A prodigal woman, she lent money at high interest rates and caused people to die. The Dali Temple found out that she was the one who lent money. Not only did she lend money herself, she also brought her brothers and relatives from her mother's family with her, forming a huge industry chain. The emperor was furious.]
Duke Rong: "......"
What? Lending money at high interest? How could the Duke Rong's Mansion actually engage in such an evil act?
old lady:"......"
No wonder the granddaughter said that Qu was the culprit for the decline of the Rongguo Mansion. She was absolutely right. Lending money at high interest rates and forcing people to death shocked the court and angered the emperor. How could the Rongguo Mansion please them?
[That’s not all. When they caught her, she was so timid that she confessed everything. It turned out that she had a murder on her hands.]
When the old lady heard this, she was so angry that her hands shook and she almost threw her granddaughter away.
A life is stained on her hands? What's wrong with that? How can the mistress of the Rongguo Mansion disregard human life?
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