"Your Highness, I cannot make this decision." Zhao Shu shook her head and began to remove the bracelet.
But Consort Xie stopped him, saying, “Child, I don’t expect the Empress Dowager to forgive me. I just feel guilty. If I can be granted permission to return home to visit my family today, I am willing to serve the Empress Dowager like a cow or a horse for the rest of my life to repay her kindness.”
After she finished speaking, she turned and left.
Zhao Shu recalled the first time she met Xie Yun after her rebirth. It was in the Taihe Hall, and he was extremely dissatisfied with the Empress Dowager's bestowal of a year's worth of Qingzhou tax revenue as a dowry upon the fourth daughter of the Marquis of Zhiyuan.
After Consort Xie left, Zhao Shu glanced at Consort Wang, who was staring intently at her from a distance. Because of the distance, she did not hear what Zhao Shu and Consort Xie were saying.
He walked over slowly and said, "Release the Empress Dowager."
Having received instructions, Xiao Guozi released the Dowager Princess and stood behind Zhao Shu to protect her at any time.
"Your Highness, do you know why I can make you stand or kneel whenever I want?" Before she could answer, he continued, "Because you have become a discarded pawn. If any other member of the royal family stood in front of me, they would only curtsy and wouldn't even bother to appease me."
She asked, as if mocking herself, or as if talking about something unrelated, "Who is Qian Lang?" She was referring to Xiao Guozi.
"Your Highness, the Qian family is a prominent clan in Xiliang and is related to the Wang family by marriage." He wasn't really sure himself; he had only overheard it.
Zhao Shu nodded, "A prominent family in Xiliang, I suppose the Dowager Consort had a chance to marry into the Qian family back then, but why did she end up in the palace?"
She muttered to herself, "Oh, I see. It must be that the Dowager Consort was robbed of her marriage, which is why she entered the palace heartbroken. But I never expected that the late Emperor would pass away so early, and the Dowager Consort would also enter this Biyou Palace so early. Doesn't the Dowager Consort want to know whether the person who harmed you has received his retribution?"
After saying that, he glanced at Xiao Guozi, who replied, "Princess, I have not heard of any master of the Qian family taking a second wife."
At this moment, the Dowager Queen raised her head, her gaze fixed intently on Xiao Guozi. "No, impossible! She is clearly dead!"
“Your Highness is mistaken. The Wang family daughter is quite renowned in Xiliang. How could it be impossible?” Xiao Guozi hurriedly and firmly denied.
Upon hearing this, the Dowager Queen muttered to herself, "You lied to me, you lied to me, she lied to me, she lied to me!" At this point, she could no longer distinguish which statement was true and which was false.
Zhao Shu's eyes darted around. "So what if I lied to you? You think you're a member of the Wang family? Ha, the Wang family? Do they even consider you a member of the Wang family? Go and see for yourself, do they even recognize you?"
“Aunt, when my great-aunt was on her deathbed, she hoped you would go back to see her one last time. Now the grass on her grave is as tall as a city wall, but you still haven’t been able to go and see her.”
Wang Jiyang dragged Xia Hui slowly over. When the Empress Dowager looked over, she staggered backward, saying, "No, no, no, you, you, you." After saying "no" and "you" several times, she coughed up blood and fell to the ground.
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