Jinzhu's sudden report immediately made the expressions of everyone in the hall solemn.
Su Xuening and Su Yun'an both subconsciously looked at Duanmu Junyu, their eyes revealing worry.
Duanmu Junyu said solemnly, "I won't see you."
"Yes." Jinzhu bowed and left without any hesitation.
As Jinzhu left the main hall, she looked at the palace attendant at the door and said, "His Majesty says he will not see you!"
The palace attendant waiting at the gate, upon hearing that His Majesty was unwilling to see Prince Hui, was immediately anxious to say something. However, before she could speak, Jinzhu coldly warned, "I advise you to think before you speak. Are there things you should say? Are there things you, in your position, can say?"
Upon hearing this, the palace attendant swallowed back all the words that were stuck in his throat, bowed to the main hall, and withdrew.
Jin Zhu stared coldly at the palace servant's back, her face solemn.
Although the lady has returned to the position of Empress of Western Liang, she has not been in the palace for twenty years. Now, if she wants to fully control the situation in the palace and the Western Liang court, she will probably have to put in some effort.
The palace attendant left Fengming Palace and bowed to Duanmu Shenghua at the palace gate, saying, "Your Highness, His Majesty says... he will not see you."
The palace attendant's trembling words caused Duanmu Shenghua's expression to change drastically: "She refuses to see me?"
"Yes," the palace attendant replied tremblingly once again.
Duanmu Shenghua's face darkened as she said, "Didn't you tell her that I had something important to discuss with her?"
The palace attendant looked at Duanmu Shenghua with difficulty: "Your Highness, you may not know this, but ever since that Jinzhu became the head of the household, we servants have been unable to enter the main hall!"
She hasn't even seen His Majesty's face, how can she relay a message for Prince Hui!
Upon hearing this, Duanmu Shenghua immediately narrowed her eyes dangerously.
Since Duanmu Junyu returned to the palace, she has trusted no one in the palace except for Jinzhu, the girl she brought back! None of the servants she had trained in the palace can get close to her anymore!
Duanmu Shenghua coldly raised her eyes and glanced at the three golden characters of "Fengming Palace".
Damn it, the palace she used to be able to enter every day, now she can't even take a single step in!
Duanmu Junyu!
Why didn't she just die out there? Why did she come back after twenty years?
Duanmu Shenghua was so angry she was practically fuming, but since Duanmu Junyu wouldn't see her, she couldn't force her way into Fengming Palace. She could only stare at the palace attendant and ask, "I heard that the Empress brought back an illegitimate daughter and son from outside the palace. Is that true?"
The question made the palace maid break out in a cold sweat. She instinctively wanted to answer, but remembering Jinzhu's reprimand and the two palace maids the Empress had ordered to be dragged into the torture chamber, she swallowed back what she was about to say and looked at Duanmu Shenghua with difficulty again: "This servant knows nothing, Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for this servant."
Lately, the Empress has become extremely tyrannical. Any palace servants who fail to guard the gates properly, dare to let people into Fengming Palace without the Empress's order, or who spread rumors about Fengming Palace, will all face the same fate: being dragged into the torture chamber.
If someone were to enter the violent chamber of the Western Liang royal family, they would undoubtedly die within three days.
She really didn't want to die, so she really didn't dare to say anything out of line!
The palace attendant's reply infuriated Duanmu Shenghua once again.
Damn it, the power she cultivated in the palace is now basically useless, because she has always been known as Duanmu Junyu in the palace. Whether it's handling state affairs or attending court, everyone thinks she is Duanmu Junyu.
Now even the forces she cultivated believed that their master was Duanmu Junyu. Everything she had painstakingly built up over twenty years was taken away the moment Duanmu Junyu returned.
She doesn't have to do anything to reap the benefits of her achievements, how could she not be furious!
Duanmu Shenghua couldn't enter Fengming Palace, nor could she get any information. Staying there would only make her angrier, so she turned and left.
The palace attendant breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Duanmu Shenghua leave.
She shouldn't be considered to be leaking information, right? She shouldn't need to go to the torture chamber!
Sure enough, the conversation between the palace attendant and Duanmu Shenghua at the entrance of Fengming Palace quickly reached Duanmu Junyu's ears.
Duanmu Junyu narrowed her eyes menacingly and waved away the guard who had come to report.
Duanmu Shenghua believed that the shadow guards in the palace were a force she had cultivated, but little did she know that the shadow guards of the Western Liang Imperial Palace would only obey the orders of the Western Liang Empress.
The shadow guards had long known that Duanmu Shenghua was not her. They only obeyed her orders because her whereabouts were unknown. She really thought that these shadow guards were trained by her!
If these shadow guards were truly Duanmu Shenghua's people, they wouldn't have immediately brought Huo'er to pick her up as soon as she fired the signal flare. From beginning to end, these shadow guards only recognized her, Duanmu Junyu, as the Empress of Xiliang!
Besides the Shadow Guards in the palace who only recognize the Empress of Western Liang, the Golden Guards in the palace also only recognize the Empress of Western Liang!
Just like the Shadow Guards, the Golden Guards are determined by whoever is recognized by Huo'er as the Empress of Xiliang!
Only Duanmu Shenghua was so naive as to think that because she had been her substitute for twenty years, she was the true master of the Golden Guard and the Shadow Guard.
A stand-in is just a stand-in. How ridiculous that she dared to think she could actually replace her!
After the guards left, Su Xuening looked at Duanmu Junyu and said, "That Prince Hui must be the one who replaced Mother!"
"It's her!" Duanmu Junyu frowned, somewhat reluctant to mention Duanmu Shenghua.
Su Xuening asked worriedly, "Did she come to see Mother because of me and Yun An? Or was it because you just reprimanded that Duanmu Qingxin?"
She and Yun'an had just arrived in Xiliang when this Prince Hui demanded to see his mother, which shows that she is quite well-informed.
She must have rushed here so urgently because of her and Yun'an, or perhaps to stand up for Duanmu Qingxin!
Duanmu Junyu scoffed disdainfully, "No matter what her reasons are, the Western Liang Imperial Palace has already changed! In fact, the master of the Western Liang Imperial Palace has never changed, and she has been nothing but a counterfeit from beginning to end! No matter how much a counterfeit tries to disguise itself, it can never become a treasure!"
Su Xuening and Su Yun'an both looked at Duanmu Junyu with concern.
That's true, but she has been away from the Western Liang palace for twenty years. It will probably take a lot of effort for her to regain control of the Western Liang court and palace, and even the Western Liang army.
Seeing the two children worried about these things, Duanmu Junyu quickly comforted them, "You don't need to worry about these things. I will handle them myself! If it weren't for the fact that she and I are born of the same father, and that she has helped me stabilize the court for the past twenty years, I could turn a blind eye and let her go as long as her rebellious intentions are not too obvious! But if she insists on overestimating herself and seeking her own death, then I will grant her wish!"
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