The Empress Dowager's departure from the palace was not a legitimate act.
Apart from Gu Jiangli and a few trusted people around the emperor, no one knew that the Empress Dowager was no longer in the palace.
Before she left, she specifically told the concubines in the harem that she was unwell due to illness and asked them not to come to her palace to pay their respects.
The Empress Dowager stayed outside the palace for over a month and never returned.
The emperor knew where the empress dowager had gone, so he sent someone to keep an eye on her, but did not make any obvious moves.
The Empress Dowager, while residing in the Fang family, almost never left the house.
Chu Tan'er and she stayed at home all day, as if they were plotting something.
As the twelfth lunar month approached, Fang Ziyao was convicted.
After being convicted, Chu Tan'er stepped out of her home for the first time since leaving the palace.
The place she went to was the prison where Fang Ziyao was being held.
The emperor granted her special permission to see Fang Ziyao one last time before his death.
The day after Chu Tan'er left the prison, news spread that Fang Ziyao had died by running into a wall in prison.
He died before he could be executed.
Chu Tan'er immediately took his body back.
Fang Ziyao had hit his head against a wall, leaving him covered in blood and unrecognizable.
Because of his serious crimes, Chu Tan'er did not hold a grand funeral after taking back the body; she simply hung two white lanterns at the door of her house.
After the seventh day after his death, he was quietly taken away and buried.
After Fang Ziyao's funeral, the Empress Dowager returned to the palace.
Not only that, she also brought Fang Xun into the palace.
The excuse was that the eldest princess was overwhelmed with worries and had many affairs to handle in the Fang family, so she was too busy to take care of Fang Xun, who was too young. Therefore, she had to look after him temporarily.
The emperor and Gu Jiangli both knew about her plan, but neither of them objected to her doing so.
To outsiders, the Empress Dowager's actions were not inappropriate.
If they forcefully oppose it, it will make them seem heartless.
She doesn't really care if people misunderstand her as cold and heartless.
She simply didn't want the emperor to be misunderstood like that.
Because the emperor was the most soft-hearted person she had ever met.
He had absolutely no intention of killing anyone, including Fang Ziyao.
Looking at the newly planted plum trees in Jinghe Palace, Gu Jiangli gently stroked her slightly protruding belly and couldn't help but wonder if this child would also have a kind heart like his father.
The emperor walked up behind her and stopped beside her.
"What are you thinking about?" His gentle voice was mesmerizing.
Gu Jiangli turned his head and said with a teasing look in his eyes:
"I'm wondering, Your Majesty, such a good person, would you really let Fang Ziyao die?"
The emperor pursed his thin lips. "Fang Ziyao committed suicide. I haven't had a chance to execute him yet."
"Is he really dead? But I heard he banged his head against the wall so badly that his face was unrecognizable. But who bangs their face against a wall like that?"
The emperor let out a faint, helpless laugh. "You guessed it again."
His lack of denial proves that her guess was correct.
"Your Majesty knew that Your Majesty would not allow the Princess to see her husband one last time in prison without a reason."
"Didn't His Majesty visit Fang Ziyao in prison before? At that time, His Majesty certainly didn't just interrogate him about his crimes; he probably said something else to him as well, right?"
The emperor's eyes held undisguised admiration. "Then what do you think I said to him?"
"Hmm...it must be His Majesty's plan targeting the Eldest Princess."
"He and Chu Tan'er are husband and wife, so why are they joining me in targeting the Eldest Princess?"
The emperor's eyes were smiling, as if he knew the answer already.
These questions were not just questions and answers for the two of them, but more like little jokes between lovers.
Gu Jiangli replied with feigned profundity:
“If the eldest princess is a wife who cares about Fang Ziyao, then Fang Ziyao will certainly not cooperate with His Majesty.”
"But if he knows that the Princess is willing to give up his life for the sake of the Fang family's wealth, a heartbroken man will easily obey His Majesty's orders."
The emperor nodded and asked, "And then?"
"And then? I guess that Fang Ziyao didn't believe Your Majesty's words at the time, so Your Majesty specially arranged for the Eldest Princess to see him one last time, so that he could truly feel the Eldest Princess's true colors."
"Given the Princess's personality, I can guess with my toes what she would say to Fang Ziyao once she's in prison."
"She will definitely tell Fang Ziyao that she will protect the Fang family's wealth and take good care of Fang Xun, and then let Fang Ziyao die in peace."
"Perhaps, given the princess's arrogance and haughtiness, she might even admit that she deliberately gave up on saving his life."
"In this way, Fang Ziyao will be heartbroken and will obediently listen to His Majesty."
"He fully cooperated with His Majesty's plan, and His Majesty also prepared a way for him to escape."
"His Majesty probably just randomly picked a death row inmate of similar build and placed his body in Fang Ziyao's cell, thus switching the prince with a cat."
"As for the eldest princess, she no longer cared about Fang Ziyao's life or death, so she wouldn't bother to distinguish whether the corpse was her husband or not."
"In this way, 'Fang Ziyao' is completely dead."
"Am I right?"
The emperor's gaze remained fixed on Gu Jiangli's face, never wavering for a moment.
He smiled and replied calmly, "Both are correct."
Gu Jiangli also revealed a bright smile, "Then where is Fang Ziyao, who is still alive?"
"In a village outside the city, it's secluded and no one will find it."
"Your Majesty, why did you keep him here? What do you plan to have him do to deal with the Eldest Princess?"
The emperor lowered his eyes and explained in detail: "He is a man with outstanding business acumen. The Fang family has been in business for generations, and after Fang Ziyao took over the Fang family, he increased the family's wealth more than fifty times."
"What's more useful than his money is his money-making brain."
"Give him some capital, and it won't be difficult for him to make a comeback."
"Chu Tan'er has no business acumen; she will only squander the entire family fortune in her hands."
"If Fang Ziyao is alive, he can earn the money that belongs to the Fang family back into his pocket from Chu Tan'er, and he would be happy to do so."
What the emperor said was pretty much what Gu Jiangli had guessed.
"Without money to rely on, Chu Tan'er dared not do many things."
"She's probably at home now carefully calculating how much money is left in the house; even Fang Xun is too busy to care about it."
Upon hearing Fang Xun's name, the emperor's expression became somewhat dazed.
Gu Jiangli immediately noticed the emperor's worry, silently took his hand, and offered comforting words:
"Fang Xun is still young. If he is properly taught, he can learn well. As long as he doesn't harbor any evil intentions, Your Majesty doesn't need to harm him."
The emperor shook his head, "He won't learn anything if he stays by his mother's side."
"So, what does Your Majesty intend to do?"
The emperor gripped Gu Jiangli's hand tightly, his gentle gaze tinged with a hint of ruthlessness.
"If they are detrimental to you, then kill them."
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