On the nineteenth day of the first month, Empress Dowager Ashina passed away!
She died of smallpox, and to prevent the virus from spreading, her body had to be cremated.
In the North Palace, a dozen palace servants, dressed in mourning clothes and wearing masks, carefully placed the old woman, covered in pustules and smelling terrible, into the coffin.
Then the coffin was carried to the yard, a fire was placed underneath it, vegetable oil was poured on it, and it was lit with torches.
Helian Jue, Xie Yuan, and some other members of the imperial family in the capital, including the Third Prince, stood at a distance.
The fire instantly engulfed the coffin, making crackling sounds.
"Helian Jue and Xie Shi are really ruthless! They didn't even leave them a complete corpse!"
Looking at the bonfire in the distance, the Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the others were all shocked.
Having all grown up in the palace and been involved in intrigue and scheming, the princes simply did not believe Helian Jue's public statements.
Ashina Xue harbored ulterior motives and actually used family ties to poison Empress Ashina with smallpox!
This is completely unreasonable!
The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince's eyes met in mid-air. The two former rivals had now both been reduced to defeated cripples.
The two could not be said to be in perfect harmony, but they could communicate with their eyes.
"Empress Dowager Ashina was not only Ashina Xue's aunt, but also the only remaining link between the Turks and the Great Zhou Dynasty!"
"How stupid and vicious must Ashina Xue be to lay a hand on Empress Dowager Ashina?"
"The key question is, why did Ashina Xue do this?"
"That's right! It's harmful to others and doesn't benefit oneself; she has no reason to poison the Empress Dowager!"
"It is true that the smallpox virus was brought into the palace. After all, smallpox did spread on the grasslands last year, and there are also secret passages and witness testimonies."
"The Ashina aunt and niece probably wanted to harm Xie and her child, but they were outmaneuvered by someone who turned the tables on them!"
The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince exchanged glances, their eyes clashing repeatedly, and somehow they guessed the truth.
Then, they couldn't help but sigh, "After all, Ashina raised Helian Jue, yet she ended up like this!"
The emperor and empress, one appearing aloof and the other noble, were actually both ruthless.
Previously, seeing how lenient Helian Jue was with aristocratic families, I thought he had changed his nature after becoming emperor.
No longer willful, no longer violent, I never expected that this person would change, but become even more sinister and vicious than before.
He seemed more like a high and mighty monarch.
If the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince, these two unfortunate brothers, still harbored resentment and unwillingness, and were even plotting something in secret.
However, this time, witnessing the fate of Empress Ashina firsthand, both of them were terrified.
Especially the Fifth Prince—
"Just one step away! Just one step away!"
In fact, Empress Dowager Ashina had more than just Ashina Xue as a "source of the virus"; she also sent someone to contact the Fifth Prince.
The Fifth Prince was sent to Fayuan Temple to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist prayers under the pretext of "praying for blessings" by Helian Jue.
The Fifth Prince was already twisted and perverted because he had lost an eye, and being treated like this by Helian Jue made him even more resentful and hateful.
That old eunuch of Empress Ashina, Fang Dafu or Fang Dahai, once sent his adopted orphan to make contact.
He pretended to be a woodcutter and left signals in the bamboo forest.
After making contact with the other party and hearing about their plan, the Fifth Prince couldn't help but be tempted.
smallpox?
Smallpox is great!
Not only could it kill Helian Jue's little brats, but it might also infect everyone in the entire palace.
Smallpox is a highly contagious disease with an extremely high mortality rate.
In many cases, if a village or even a city is found to have a case, the local government will immediately impose a lockdown.
An even more extreme approach would be to burn them all.
It's not fair to blame the imperial court for being ruthless; the consequences would be terrible if the epidemic were to spread.
Even so, complete isolation is not possible.
There's always a chance of something going wrong. If Helian Jue also gets infected, then Helian Cong—
The Fifth Prince's heart pounded wildly at the thought of the throne he so desperately desired.
Unfortunately, his "dream" soon came to an end.
Historically, there have been fools who became emperors, but there have never been blind emperors!
Even if he were to kill Helian Jue, his physical disability would only benefit someone else.
But he has to take risks because of this plan.
Although the Fifth Prince always thought that living such a wretched life was not as good as dying a glorious death.
But if it really came to that, he would still prefer to live.
Therefore, at the last moment, the Fifth Prince backed down and did not continue to contact the people sent by Fang Dafu.
Of course, the Fifth Prince still harbored dark thoughts.
He didn't take any action himself, but he also didn't "report" it.
He hid in the shadows, wanting to see if Empress Ashina could succeed!
The result was—
"To ashes! Haha, the Empress Dowager of the mighty Great Zhou Dynasty has actually met such an end!"
The fifth prince was shocked, but also deeply afraid.
"Helian Jue and the Xie family probably don't know about my connection with Fang Dafu."
"...So what if they found out? I didn't agree."
The fifth prince tried to defend himself.
However, such self-deceptive words could not appease the Fifth Prince.
Not doing anything wrong does not mean you are innocent.
It is unacceptable that they did not report to Helian Jue in a timely manner and still harbored the idea of "sitting on the sidelines and watching the tigers fight".
Besides, Helian Jue is the emperor. What crime would he need to punish a deposed prince?
The key point is that the Fifth Prince really had contact with those people, and it simply couldn't withstand a thorough investigation.
Sure enough, just after the first month of the lunar calendar, Helian Jue released all the Imperial Guards under the pretext of thoroughly investigating the "poisoning of the Empress Dowager".
Ashina Xue contracted smallpox but survived, though her face was covered in pockmarks, making her look neither human nor ghost.
Her conviction is irrefutable, and there is absolutely no possibility of overturning it.
Helian Jue did not stop there. He extended his investigation from Ashina Xue to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, ordering them to conduct a thorough investigation.
The delegation was the first to be caught up in, as was the Turkic royal court behind them.
Helian Jue declared directly in the court, "The hatred for killing my mother is irreconcilable! I will personally lead an expedition against the Turks and use the head of the Turkic Khan to appease my mother's spirit in heaven!"
The three prime ministers, Wang Yu, Cui Hong, and another, knelt in the court, each holding a tablet in their arms.
They lowered their heads and remained silent.
Hearing Helian Jue's impassioned speech, which sounded like that of a devoted filial son, I couldn't help but want to complain—
To take the head of the Turkic Khan and offer it as a sacrifice to Empress Dowager Ashina?
Haha, saint, are you sure you're "paying tribute" and not provoking?
If Empress Dowager Ashina were alive today, she would probably turn to death upon seeing such a horrific scene.
Uh, wait a minute!
No coffin lid!
Empress Dowager Ashina didn't even have a complete body; she was burned to ashes by Helian Jue.
The ashes that were sent to the late emperor's mausoleum for burial may not even belong to the Empress Dowager.
They died of smallpox and were later cremated and their ashes scattered... The emperor and empress were truly not to be trifled with!
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