Qingyu was not afraid of her and performed the kneeling ceremony with a normal expression, saying, "May Your Majesty be blessed with long life and peace."
The Empress Dowager glanced at her coldly, not telling her to get up, and said icily, "Ulanara Qingyu, do you know your crime?"
Qingyu's heart remained calm, and she was not flustered by the Empress Dowager's stern rebuke. She slowly raised her head to look at the Empress Dowager on the high seat and pretended to be confused, saying, "Your Majesty, I do not know what you mean."
Seeing that she remained so stubborn, the Empress Dowager slammed her hand on the table in anger, "You certainly performed well in court today!"
Upon hearing this, Qingyu was not surprised but laughed instead. "Since the Empress Dowager thinks I am good, then why are you throwing such a tantrum?" She knew that the Empress Dowager was being sarcastic, but she deliberately went along with her words.
"You..." The Empress Dowager was speechless, unable to utter a word.
Qingyu looked at the Empress Dowager, who was in her seventies or eighties but still very robust, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips.
"Fine!" After a moment, the Empress Dowager finally breathed a sigh of relief. She glared angrily and said, "The inner palace should not interfere in politics. Isn't what you've done a deliberate violation? Do you really intend to follow in the footsteps of Empress Lü and Empress Zetian, as Heshen said?"
Qingyu pursed her lips. "Interfering in politics means following in the footsteps of Empress Lü and Empress Zetian? Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang also interfered in politics. Did she also follow in the footsteps of Empress Lü and Empress Zetian?"
"Are you worthy to be compared with Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang?" the Empress Dowager said angrily, pointing at Qingyu. She couldn't understand why Qingyu, who was usually obedient to her, was like a hedgehog today, retaliating against her every word.
"Your Majesty, I am unworthy, but I have never heard of a border soldier reporting an emergency and not rushing to raise an army in rebellion, but waiting for His Majesty's reply before going. Just as I said, if the palace were to catch fire, would the Empress Dowager also wait for His Majesty's reply before putting out the fire?" She said each word clearly.
Anyway, she had no intention of giving this stupid, pig-like empress dowager any kind of attention.
Furthermore, she had her reasons for provoking her.
"You're getting sharp-tongued more and more these days. No wonder the Emperor hates you so much. At first, I felt sorry for you, but now it seems that there's always a reason why someone is pitiful," the Empress Dowager said sarcastically.
Upon hearing this, Qingyu thought to herself: If she were truly favored by Hongli, that would be truly pitiful.
"Your Majesty need not pity me. People with different values will only hate each other if they force themselves together. Blame Your Majesty for marrying me to the Emperor in the first place," Qingyu said coldly.
So, it seems I was wrong after all?
"It's not just the Empress Dowager's fault, it's my fault, and it's even more so the Emperor's fault," Qingyu said indifferently.
"Insolence!" The Empress Dowager was furious. With a flick of her wrist, a teacup flew towards Qingyu's head. Fortunately, Qingyu dodged and avoided injury.
Seeing that she still dared to hide, the Empress Dowager became even more furious: "Do you think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"
Qingyu snorted coldly, "If you want to kill me, you'll have to ask the Ulanara clan for permission first." She paused and then added, "If you dare to make me be carried out horizontally today, you'll lose your position as Empress Dowager. Then you'll still have to use these old bones to wash clothes for the people in the palace!"
"Nonsense!" The Empress Dowager's chest trembled with anger.
Qingyu sneered: "Whether I am talking nonsense or not, the Empress Dowager should know that the Emperor is not your biological son. He has long wanted to find fault with you, bring you down, and then make his biological mother the Empress Dowager. You are not even worthy to be buried next to the late Emperor after your death."
"You're insane, insane, you're absolutely insane!" The Empress Dowager didn't believe her.
I don't know if it's disbelief or simply an inability to believe.
“Your Majesty is not crazy. This is when His Majesty loves me the most. He whispered in my ear that he misses his mother very much, but because you are here and you have not done anything wrong, he does not know how to elevate his birth mother to the position of Empress Dowager and have her buried next to the late Emperor.”
Qingyu's eyes were clear and bright, as if they were real.
"No, the Emperor would never treat me like that. He said I am his only mother." Although the Empress Dowager said this, her heart was already wavering.
"He's lying to you. Hasn't Your Majesty ever heard the saying 'like mother, like son'? How could the ruthless and cruel Consort Li give birth to a gentle and kind person?"
Seeing the Empress Dowager's increasingly convinced expression, Qingyu continued to provoke her: "Empress Dowager, do you really think you're infertile because of your poor health? Actually, no, it was Consort Li who tampered with your food back then, which is why you've been infertile for life!"
The Empress Dowager began to panic, but she tried to remain calm, saying, "You must be talking nonsense. You were still in the womb at that time, how could you possibly know these things?"
“My aunt told me this. She was afraid that the Emperor would follow Consort Li’s temperament, so she told me to be careful before I got married.”
As a mission taker, Qingyu was a master liar, and she could do it without batting an eye.
Back then, Consort Li confessed to plotting to harm the emperor's unborn child. As for the concubines who were not pregnant, she truly did not harm them, not because she had a conscience, but because she was simply too busy.
The Empress Dowager had already believed it. She had always thought that there was nothing wrong with her body, and now that Qingyu had said this, it suited her just the way she wanted.
"Fine! I was so stupid to raise my enemy's child and even use the power of the Niohuru clan to put this bastard on the throne," the Empress Dowager cursed inwardly.
But she was still annoyed and questioned Qingyu, "Then why didn't you say so sooner?"
Qingyu chuckled softly, "How has the Empress Dowager treated me?"
Upon hearing this question, the Empress Dowager immediately fell silent. Indeed, she had never been very kind to Qingyu.
However, the Empress Dowager was not entirely stupid; she realized that the conversation had strayed too far from the topic at hand.
So she said, feigning reluctance, "Stop trying to sow discord between me and the Emperor. What you're saying is just to distract me. I won't fall for your tricks."
Qingyu looked at the Empress Dowager's evasive eyes and said, "Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you, Empress Dowager."
"Hmph!" The Empress Dowager snorted coldly. "Leaving aside the past, I summoned you here today to discuss your interference in politics. You must not try to change the subject."
Having achieved her goal, Qingyu was too lazy to further provoke the Empress Dowager. "How you punish me is up to you, Your Majesty. I have no complaints. However, I must add a word of advice: it would be best if you didn't send me out lying down, otherwise the Emperor will definitely find fault with me..."
"Enough!" The Empress Dowager interrupted Qingyu coldly, then loudly ordered, "Empress Qingyu has disregarded ancestral precepts and interfered in court affairs. She is to be punished by kneeling in the Fengxian Hall for twelve hours."
That's really ruthless! They made Qingyu kneel for a whole day and night!
As soon as she finished speaking, several maids came in. Seeing that Qingyu was the Empress, they did not dare to forcibly pull her away and could only say, "Your Majesty, please!"
Qingyu didn't look at the Empress Dowager again, and turned around to follow the nanny to Fengxian Hall.
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