Chapter 430 The Empress Dowager of Hengyang Palace
Jiang Fenghua wasn't going to reason with her anymore. With a command, she summoned soldiers to clear a path. Lin Feng straightened his back and stood in front of Xie Minmin, saying, "Please, Master."
Soldiers rushed forward, and regardless of who the guards outside Hengyang Palace were, the soldiers drew their swords, frightening them into retreating instantly.
Seeing this, Xie Minmin said coldly, "What are you doing? How dare you! The Empress Dowager will not see you..."
Jiang Fenghua said coldly, "She was able to be the Grand Empress Dowager of the Great Zhou Dynasty because the late emperor honored her as Empress Dowager, and the new emperor also conferred upon her the title of Grand Empress Dowager. Now that the late emperor has passed away, I have come to Hengyang Palace only to fulfill his last wish." She was also wary of the woman in front of her and told Lin Feng to have his men keep a close eye on her.
"Who exactly are you?" Xie Minmin was speechless for a moment. Only the empresses in the palace would address themselves as "this palace".
Lianye and Granny Wang followed closely behind Jiang Fenghua, ignoring Xie Minmin's shouts from behind, and found someone to lead the way directly to the Empress Dowager's palace.
Upon arriving at the Qing'an Palace of the Empress Dowager, Xie Minmin blocked the entrance again, saying, "No matter who you are in the capital city of Shengjing, the Empress Dowager will not see anyone from the capital."
A cold glint flashed in Jiang Fenghua's eyes as she coldly rebuked, "Whether I see you or not is not up to you. Get out of the way."
Just then, an old man's voice came from inside Qing'an Hall, "Minmin, let her in."
Xie Minmin replied respectfully, "Yes, Grandmother."
As Jiang Fenghua slowly entered the palace, an elderly man with a full head of silver hair sat inside. The old man raised his head, his bright eyes fixed on Jiang Fenghua, and said in a deep voice, "You are the new emperor's empress, aren't you!"
Jiang Fenghua walked with steady steps and dignified bearing, kneeling respectfully before the Empress Dowager before her. "Granddaughter-in-law Jiang greets the Empress Dowager. May the Empress Dowager be well." It seems she's not completely oblivious to outside affairs! I can even guess who she is.
"Now that you've paid your respects and met with them, it's time to go back!" the Empress Dowager said calmly.
Jiang Fenghua was stunned, and quickly said, "My granddaughter-in-law came to pay respects to the Empress Dowager on the instructions of the late Emperor. Before his death, the late Emperor also thought of his mother and Prince Kang."
The Empress Dowager's eyes turned cold. "I only have one son, who is imprisoned in the Northwest and can never return. The Kang Prince's lineage was suppressed and exterminated by him long ago."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Fenghua, supported by Granny Wang, slowly rose to her feet, found a place to sit down, and then said, "If they were truly extinct, how could Princess Minmin appear in Hengyang Palace?"
She guessed that the woman named Minmin, who was serving the Empress Dowager, must be a descendant of Prince Kang. Prince Kang was over fifty years old, while the woman in front of her was only seventeen or eighteen. Prince Kang had been demoted to the Northwest for more than thirty years, which meant that this woman was born in the Northwest. However, she appeared in Hengyang Palace, which meant that the Empress Dowager and Prince Kang in the Northwest had long been in contact.
However, the Hengyang Palace was full of the late emperor's people, and the late emperor was always paying attention to the situation in the Hengyang Palace. Even though the late emperor knew that Princess Minmin had appeared in the Hengyang Palace, he did not stop them from visiting each other.
Xie Minmin was stunned by Jiang Fenghua's imposing manner and couldn't react for a long time. She stammered, "You... how dare you be so disrespectful to the Empress Dowager?"
“I am Emperor Huijing’s daughter-in-law. She doesn’t even acknowledge that she has another son. Whether I respect her or not, how could the Empress Dowager care!” Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice.
The Empress Dowager's face turned green with anger. Gripping her dragon-headed cane, she said in a deep voice, "I never knew that more than thirty years had passed, and yet a descendant would still come forward to speak up for him. I will make him live in pain until his death. He severed ties with me and imprisoned me in Hengyang Palace. He harmed his own brother, plotted against the Emperor to seize the throne, and in the end, he died before me. Retribution, retribution!"
Jiang Fenghua finally understood why the late emperor never considered the word "affection." He was forced to be devoid of emotion. In the eyes of the Empress Dowager, he was not a good son or brother; in the eyes of the princes, he was not a good father; and even in the eyes of the concubines in the harem, he was not a good husband. But he could still be considered a good emperor.
The late emperor had turned himself into a lonely figure.
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "Although Prince Kang has gone to the Northwest, his title of prince is still there. Given his rebellious intentions back then, and the Empress Dowager's attempt to help Prince Kang seize the throne that originally belonged to the late emperor, the late emperor was still able to keep the Empress Dowager in Hengyang Palace and send Prince Kang to the Northwest as a prince. If he wasn't thinking of their brotherly bond, what was he thinking? Did the late emperor think of helping a bunch of traitors enjoy their old age?"
She couldn't understand it. Prince Kang and the late Emperor were both sons of the Empress Dowager. Even if she favored her younger son, she shouldn't hate her elder son so much!
She is also a mother, having been a mother twice in her life. No matter what, she cannot bring herself to hate her own children.
Jiang Fenghua didn't understand why the mother and her two children had gotten to such an irreconcilable point. She wasn't standing on a fair and impartial standpoint to judge their rights and wrongs. She knew she wasn't qualified, and she wasn't a celestial being who could enlighten all beings.
She was just secretly biased towards the late emperor. Even if it was unreasonable, she still wanted to help the late emperor who had been kind to her.
Jiang Fenghua considers herself a selfish person; if a person doesn't look out for themselves, they'll be punished by heaven and earth. However, when faced with someone who can't be reasoned with, she'll turn into a shrew and argue.
She was only thankful that the late emperor couldn't hear these hurtful words.
She said coldly, "When the Empress Dowager sought the throne for Prince Kang, was it truly for the sake of the people? Wasn't it also out of selfishness to gain power and status?" She believed that everyone was selfish; in short, everyone was selfish.
Xie Minmin said, "My father doesn't want to fight for the throne. He is the most virtuous, and my grandparents both think that only my father is suitable to be the emperor of the Great Zhou. Letting him... my uncle abdicate is also for the sake of the Great Zhou's country."
Jiang Fenghua smiled. "You mean to say that if Prince Kang were to become emperor, he would be a wise ruler?"
Xie Minmin argued illogically, "At least my father would not employ treacherous officials. In the end, it was my uncle who wanted to exterminate my father and imprison my grandmother in Hengyang Palace, forbidding her to leave and even restricting her from going to the Northwest to see my father. The hatred you have harbored over the years is something you, an outsider, cannot comprehend."
"I understand now. The princess thinks that if your father becomes emperor, he won't employ treacherous officials." She then said to the Empress Dowager, "Is it because the late emperor was not easily controlled by the Empress Dowager, while Prince Kang could obey the Empress Dowager's wishes in everything? Therefore, the Empress Dowager prefers Prince Kang and thinks he is more suitable for the position."
The Empress Dowager stared into Jiang Fenghua's eyes, utterly incredulous, "You..."
"In the end, it's all about personal selfishness." Jiang Fenghua had long seen through people's hearts; they could never escape the words "power and profit." Who would do something without benefit? She gave up being a proper empress dowager and insisted on helping her youngest son become emperor.
"If Prince Kang had become emperor back then, how would he have managed the Xie family's empire? He might have killed Emperor Huijing's henchmen to cultivate his own group of henchmen. Can the Empress Dowager deny this?"
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