Emperor Mingde was preoccupied with his own thoughts, and after Zhao Shu's reminder, he lost interest in talking to her and soon dismissed her.
Zhao Shu left Emperor Mingde's sleeping quarters, turned into the covered corridor, and saw Emperor Yide sitting at a round table, smiling at her from afar.
He was deliberately waiting for her.
“You see, you shouldn’t have come to the palace,” Yide said.
Zhao Shu walked over, didn't even bow, and arrogantly sat down opposite her, looking her straight in the eye, "You think you can stop me?"
"You always think too highly of yourself, just like your mother."
At this moment, Yi De felt a little self-deprecating. Her opponent should be the Empress Dowager, or Jiang Ying, and definitely not Zhao Shu, this junior. However, she dared not ignore this junior and had to put all her efforts into dealing with her.
Zhao Shu's existence seemed to be telling her how much of a failure she was.
"You don't need to keep mentioning my mother. I've never seen her since I was born. I feel nothing but regret and hatred for the murderer. I won't lose my mind. I just want to remind you, never play with fire, or you'll regret it."
Disrupting the opponent's thinking and causing them to lose their rationality is Yi De's consistent tactic. Seeing that she had not angered Zhao Shu, she was not discouraged. It was just a small test.
She smiled and said, "Many years ago, I was also carefree, but your grandmother treated me unfairly in many ways. If you were me, you certainly wouldn't let it go either."
Zhao Shu looked at her coldly. She, Zhao Shu, was not very capable, but she knew what it meant to protect one's own and what family meant. Even if the Empress Dowager had a million faults, she would not allow others to slander her even a little.
"I ask you, marriage is a major life event, it's all about the parents' wishes and the matchmaker's words. What's wrong with my great-grandmother not agreeing to you becoming her daughter-in-law? Who do you think you are? You dare to disregard the rules passed down from our ancestors and try to break the conventional freedom of marriage. Aren't you overestimating yourself?"
Despite Zhao Shu's words, Yi De remained unaffected. She continued, "Besides, what is your background? What makes you think you can be Empress? Putting aside social class, what makes you qualified to be the Empress? Just because you have a beautiful face doesn't mean you can be the Empress. That's laughable. There are countless good-looking people in the world. You're just lucky to have met my Imperial Uncle. His status has given you a sense of destiny that surpasses your own, making you think you're destined for greatness. Little do you know that unrealistic people suffer."
"Zhao Shu, it seems I've been too lenient with you. Today I'll show you who's really so arrogant." She was furious. How dare a mere junior speak to her like that? It was utterly outrageous!
Yi De stood up, clapped his hands, and countless men in black holding matchlock guns emerged from the shadows and surrounded Zhao Shu.
Zhao Shu looked around and counted. There were about thirty people, each with a matchlock gun. If they fired at the same time, she would be riddled with bullets.
However, since Yi De wasted so much breath, he certainly wouldn't kill her so easily. He must have some reservations or ulterior motives. People who are not clean and efficient in their actions are the easiest to deal with.
If she were Yide, she would definitely kill the other party first, giving them no chance to retaliate.
Women, oh, women's hearts!
"Your Highness, do you know that possessing firearms and bringing them into the palace is a capital offense?" She stood up, walked towards the nearest man in black, and carefully examined the matchlock gun in his hand.
She and Ajiu had seen these guns in museums before. Although they had a short range and were quite outdated, they were now considered advanced weapons in the world.
"This must have cost a lot of money." Wei Tingsi spent a lot of gold to make three thousand of these; if he bought them from elsewhere, the cost would definitely be even higher.
Yi De sneered, "You don't need to worry about the money. Please go. There's no one in Cining Palace, so you can go there and guard it for the Empress Dowager." She said coldly.
Zhao Shu nodded, cooperating readily, but after taking only a few steps, she stopped and turned to ask Yi De, "You're not going to trade land for guns, are you?"
"I told you not to bother!" Yi De flicked his sleeves and left via the small path on the left, leaving a group of men in black aiming their guns at Zhao Shu.
Xiao Zhu and the others were terrified and turned pale, but Zhao Shu remained calm, and they gradually calmed down as well, making their way to Cining Palace at a leisurely pace.
Zhao Shu kept thinking about one question: Where did Yi De get the money? Could it be that he really ceded territory to buy weapons?
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
"Princess, this servant will cover you while Xiao Guozi takes you away." Xiao Zhuzi closed the gate of Cining Palace and said to Zhao Shu in a low voice.
Zhao Shu glanced at him and said, "Who said I was going to run away? I came in with no intention of leaving. Okay, let's go to the small kitchen and see if we can make something to eat. I'm hungry."
Once you're in the palace, why would you go out? Are you stupid? Just wait, the real show is about to begin.
After Zhao Shu left Weiyang Palace, Yi De made a special trip to see Emperor Mingde, who was pretending to be asleep with his eyes closed.
Yi De walked very lightly to Emperor Mingde's bedside and sat down. She carefully covered Emperor Mingde with a quilt and muttered to herself, "You say you love me, but you have never done anything for me."
"If you had been more assertive back then and hadn't succumbed to that old hag's tyranny, we wouldn't be in this situation. You've been lying to me all along, saying you loved me, but you only loved yourself!" she said fiercely, her eyes brimming with hatred.
Emperor Mingde was seething with anger, and hearing Yide's words only fueled his rage. He opened his eyes and looked at Yide with a distant, unfamiliar gaze. "You say I don't love you? And you, have you ever been sincere to me? As a daughter-in-law, you should be filial to your parents-in-law and kind to your sisters-in-law. Which of these has you done?"
“It’s her who won’t let me be the Empress, she actually made me a concubine! It’s not my fault, it’s her who can’t tolerate me!” Yi De jumped up, as if she had been hit where it hurt, and she retorted loudly.
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