Chapter 481 A Slap
Zhang Mama said, "This servant is innocent! Even if I am not convinced, I would not dare to harm the Third Prince. I entered the palace with the Noble Lady and will serve her whole life. How could I possibly harm the Noble Lady's child? I beg Your Majesty to investigate."
The wet nurse was sent to the palace by the Tang family later. She didn't take good care of the child and instead constantly instigated the empress dowager to vie for favor with the emperor. She had malicious intentions and harmed the third prince.
The wet nurse also complained, "It was Consort Tang herself who said that the Empress Dowager liked the little grandson and tried every means to take the Third Prince to Cining Palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager. I didn't know that drinking too much licorice soup could kill people. Consort Tang also wanted the Third Prince to get better quickly. Zhang Mama said that I had bad intentions, but you are the real snake. Once I saw Zhang Mama sneaking into the Third Prince's bedroom. I don't know what she was doing sneakily. When I got closer, I found that the Third Prince's feet were like ice. In such cold weather, Zhang Mama uncovered the prince's swaddling clothes. The Third Prince's illness was caused by Zhang Mama."
Startled, Granny Zhang quickly denied it, "This servant didn't, she's making false accusations! The Third Prince has always been cared for by his wet nurse. It was clearly the wet nurse who didn't take good care of him, causing him to fall ill. In the end, she even forced him to drink medicine haphazardly and stirred up trouble among the nobles, which is why the Third Prince was harmed..."
The two exposed each other's shortcomings just to get Tang Qianran's reward money, and they even made the Third Prince suffer.
Xie Shang said coldly, "Drag them away and beat them to death with sticks. I will exterminate their entire family."
The two women were so frightened that they begged for mercy and cried out that they were innocent. The guards dragged them away, and the entire Changchun Palace was thrown into panic. They then pleaded with Jiang Fenghua, "Your Majesty, spare our lives! We did not harm the Third Prince. Apart from Consort Tang's confidants who could get close to the Third Prince, we were just cleaning and doing rough work in the courtyard."
Jiang Fenghua recalled the last time she wanted to touch Tang Qianran's child, but her wet nurse wouldn't let her. It seemed that she was also keeping an eye on her. She didn't expect that she was so wary of outsiders but not of her own people.
Jiang Fenghua asked, "Besides Granny Zhang and the wet nurse, who else is responsible for taking care of the Third Prince?"
The palace maids and eunuchs quickly identified them; they were all brought into the palace by Tang Qianran from the Tang family. Two nannies and four maids—so many people couldn't take good care of a small baby.
Tang Qianran is really stupid; she had no awareness whatsoever about her child's poor health.
Xie Shang understood Jiang Fenghua's meaning: there were more than twenty people in the entire Changchun Palace, and killing them all to be buried with the prince would likely cause panic.
In the end, only the people Tang Qianran brought into the palace were executed; all the other palace maids and eunuchs were punished by being sent to work in the laundry department.
Tang Qianran's child died, and she went mad. Xie Shang banished her to the Cold Palace.
Jiang Fenghua watched helplessly as the guards took her away. The more arrogant she was back then, the more miserable she was now. If she hadn't entered the palace and had instead married her childhood sweetheart, the man who only had eyes for her, she would have been very happy.
Everyone wants to enter the palace, but they don't realize that entering the palace is like entering a cage, where they will be trapped for life.
Jiang Fenghua knew she couldn't let the child take away, so she arranged for a funeral ceremony, sending the small coffin to Huguo Temple to have a high-ranking monk perform a Buddhist service for the Third Prince, and then choosing a suitable day for his burial in the Prince's Mausoleum.
The news of the Third Prince's death fell silent throughout the entire palace; the event had happened too suddenly.
Upon receiving the news, the Empress Dowager personally went to Changchun Palace. Looking at the empty palace, she coldly demanded, her anger palpable. "Where is the Third Prince? How could such a young child just disappear like that? Everyone come out here! Where did he die?"
Jiang Fenghua was busy all morning. Xie Shang had already gone to court. To him, it was just the death of a royal heir. There was no father-son relationship between them. All he could do was try his best to arrange the funeral of the Third Prince.
Jiang Fenghua's eyes were icy as she stood not far away watching the Empress Dowager go mad. She didn't know how long she had been watching, but it was as if she had seen through the coldness and indifference of the palace. She didn't pity anyone, nor did she think anyone was pitiful. She only hoped that the Third Prince's mother in his next life would love and cherish him.
The Empress Dowager turned around and saw Jiang Fenghua standing coldly in the corridor. She practically rushed over and launched into a tirade against Jiang Fenghua, "Where did you take the Third Prince? Such a healthy child, how could he have died like this? Empress, you..."
As she spoke, she wanted to slap Jiang Fenghua again to vent her anger, but before she could strike, Jiang Fenghua grabbed her wrist and said coldly, "Your Majesty, please have some self-respect."
The Empress Dowager's wrist was gripped so tightly it hurt, but Jiang Fenghua had no intention of letting go. The Empress Dowager said angrily, "You...you're being insolent! I am the Empress Dowager! Are you crazy?"
"Precisely because you are the Empress Dowager, I would like to ask Your Majesty to act like one and not to slap others so casually." Jiang Fenghua's voice was icy, and her eyes were filled with a deep chill.
Empress Dowager Cheng glared at Jiang Fenghua, "Stop pretending! Aren't you a weak young girl? Now that you're Empress, you dare to treat me like this? Jiang Fenghua, do you think that just because you've been made Empress, the Emperor can't depose you?"
"If I were truly a weak and delicate girl, would Your Majesty have chosen me to be your helper? Now that I have helped you deal with Su Tingwan and removed that thorn from your heart, Your Majesty is going to stab me in the heart, is that it?"
"You... how could you be such a woman? If Shang'er finds out that you have disrespected me, you won't get away with it."
Jiang Fenghua sneered, "Empress Dowager, you may complain to the Emperor. You should explain to the Emperor how the Third Prince died. You keep saying you're doing this for the sake of the imperial heir, but it was you who killed the imperial heir."
"What do you mean? I didn't kill the imperial heir. I doted on Xuan'er, how could I kill him?" Empress Dowager Cheng narrowed her eyes and started to go crazy again. "Did you secretly kill the Third Prince? It must be you. The entire harem has fallen into your hands. I've only been in power for a few months. Tang Qianran assisted me in managing the harem and then something happened. You were unhappy that I was good to Tang Qianran's child, so you not only seized power but also killed Tang Qianran's son."
"Smack!"
The sound of a slap echoed through the air, and everyone was stunned.
The Empress's hand slipped out of control and slapped the Empress Dowager across the face. The sound of that slap echoed in the empty Changchun Palace, only amplifying the awe and fear in everyone present.
Her gaze was icy, and by the time Empress Dowager Cheng reacted, she almost roared, "Jiang Fenghua, you have committed insubordination! I will depose you and banish you to the Cold Palace!"
She wanted to retaliate, but Jiang Fenghua gave her no chance, easily dodging her. This slap was just paying back the interest from last time. In her previous life, Empress Dowager Cheng also disliked her a lot, and there were many days when she was beaten or scolded.
Seeing this, the Empress Dowager roared, "Guards! Take the Empress away! She dared to lay a hand on me! I will show the Emperor her true colors!"
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