Chapter 482 Manipulating the Empress Dowager
Before anyone could react, Jiang Fenghua said coldly, "I am now the mistress of the harem. I'd like to see who dares to lay a hand on me or harm the child in my womb. I will exterminate your entire family."
Granny Xi had to stay by the Empress Dowager's side. She dared to treat the Empress Dowager this way because she had emptied the entire Changchun Palace and even had people guarding her outside the palace gates. The Empress Dowager had no power, and her son was not close to her. How could she possibly cause trouble?
At this moment, Granny Xi and Granny Wang knelt on one side, neither daring to step forward.
Seeing this, the Empress Dowager said coldly, "Granny Wang, Granny Xi, are you also afraid of her, or do you want to betray me now that she has gained power?"
Granny Xi hurriedly said, "Even if I die, I would never dare to betray the Empress Dowager. It is because the Empress is carrying His Majesty's child. I would never dare to lay a hand on the Empress even if I were to die a thousand deaths. Please forgive me, Empress Dowager."
Granny Wang also said, "This servant is a servant sent by the Empress Dowager to serve the Empress. The Emperor has repeatedly told the Empress to take care of herself. The Emperor has just experienced the pain of losing his son. If anything happens to the child in the Empress's womb, I'm afraid all the servants in the palace will be buried with her. Your Majesty, please calm down. The Empress may have been too anxious and accidentally made a mistake."
"Whether or not I am deposed is probably not up to the Empress Dowager to decide now." Jiang Fenghua approached the Empress Dowager and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Now that I am so favored by His Majesty, I should thank the Empress Dowager for her favor back then. Otherwise, how could I have married the Emperor? The Emperor is busy with state affairs all day long, and his mind is not on deposing the Empress."
Hearing this, Empress Dowager Cheng was so angry that she had a headache and couldn't say a word. She was the one who personally arranged the marriage for the emperor. She thought the woman was obedient, sensible, and easy to control.
Empress Dowager Cheng indeed dared not touch Jiang Fenghua now, because the emperor's affection for her had long surpassed his respect for her as his mother. There is a saying among the people that "once you marry a wife, you forget your mother," which is indeed true.
The next moment, Empress Dowager Cheng suddenly flicked her sleeves and said coldly, "I hope you will receive the Emperor's favor for the rest of your life. Don't forget that I am the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's biological mother. Jiang Fenghua, isn't it premature for you to show this side of yourself to me now?"
Jiang Fenghua suppressed her coldness and smiled. "Your Majesty, I will certainly be dutiful to you. From now on, whether it's the first or fifteenth of the month, or every tenth, I will respectfully pay my respects to you. Now that you are in charge of the Imperial Household Department, I will trouble you to arrange for the concubines to serve His Majesty well. I am not available at the moment, so I will trouble you, my sisters." Wasn't she just trying to threaten her with this?
"I have already had the Third Prince's coffin sent to Huguo Temple. The Empress Dowager loved him so much during his lifetime. If the Empress Dowager wishes to see the Third Prince one last time, she should go to Huguo Temple!"
Before the Empress Dowager could react, Jiang Fenghua gave a slight curtsy and said, "Your Majesty, I shall take my leave now."
She said in a deep voice, "Granny Wang."
Granny Wang quickly stood up and stood in front of her, saying, "This servant is here."
Jiang Fenghua placed her hand on her arm. "I'm tired. Help me back to rest! I'm carrying the imperial heir, so you all have to take good care of me. If you upset me, you'll upset His Majesty."
Since she was favored by the emperor, she had to project an aura of being loved.
"Yes." Granny Wang didn't expect the Empress to dare to lay a hand on the Empress Dowager. After all, she was the Empress Dowager, the Empress's mother-in-law. However, the Empress Dowager had always been making things difficult for the Empress. Today, she had made the Empress Dowager experience all the unpleasantness at once, which was truly satisfying.
Granny Wang has completely become Jiang Fenghua's person.
As soon as Jiang Fenghua disappeared from the gates of Changchun Palace, the Empress Dowager could no longer contain herself. She screamed desperately, "How dare she treat me like this?"
Granny Xi didn't dare to step forward and knelt properly on the ground. She only stood up after the Empress Dowager had finished her rant and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. No one dares to offend Her Majesty the Empress now. Everyone's life is in Her Majesty's hands. We servants are all terrified."
Granny Xi slapped herself in the face. "This servant deserves to die. I couldn't protect the Empress Dowager. Anyway, the Empress Dowager also slapped the Empress last time. Empress Dowager, please rest assured, we didn't suffer any loss." How dare the Empress hit the Empress Dowager? Her heart was about to jump out of her chest. The Empress was too powerful.
In that situation, even the Empress Dowager was intimidated by her, and any servant who dared to oppose the Empress would not fare well.
The Empress Dowager's eyes blazed with hatred. "Jiang Fenghua, you just wait and see. You'll regret this."
Granny Xi advised, "In my opinion, the Empress Dowager cannot speak of the bad relationship between the Empress Dowager and the Empress. Now the Empress is in power. If everyone knows that the Empress disrespects the Empress Dowager, the servants will fawn over the Empress and try to trip up our Cining Palace."
"She dares."
"Empress Dowager, regardless of whether they dare or not, take the death of the Third Prince as an example. Everyone outside is saying that it was because Consort Tang brought the Third Prince to the Empress Dowager every day to steal her favor, which made the Third Prince's illness worse and ultimately led to his death. The Emperor must know about these rumors. If the Empress Dowager goes to the Emperor now, isn't she just inviting trouble? The Empress Consort was already disliked by the Emperor because of the jade Guanyin that Consort Tang gave her..."
In the end, after thinking it over, the Empress Dowager could only slink back to Cining Palace.
-
Jiang Fenghua came out of Changchun Palace, and Granny Wang hurriedly said, "Your Highness, please don't be angry. The baby in your belly is the most important thing. However, I am worried that Your Highness has offended the Empress Dowager, and she will make things difficult for Your Highness in the future."
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "Haven't I been made to suffer by her enough? Don't worry, the power in the harem has fallen into my hands. The Empress Dowager is a smart woman. She won't talk about such a shameful thing. The death of the Third Prince is also related to the Empress Dowager. It's just that she is the Empress Dowager, so the Emperor didn't drag her into the mess to punish her."
Granny Wang continued, "I suspect that given the Empress Dowager's temperament, she won't let this go easily. She currently controls the Imperial Household Department, which means she holds half the power in the harem. It's up to the Empress Dowager to decide who serves the Emperor. I wonder if she might use this matter to deliberately embarrass the Empress."
Jiang Fenghua sneered, "If she dares to do this, she will ruin her son's body. You can have Granny Xi nag about the consequences of a man's excessive indulgence to the Empress Dowager another day."
Granny Wang felt utterly exasperated and quickly replied, "Yes."
"Don't worry, whether I try to please the Empress Dowager or not, she will still choose her concubines and make her own arrangements. I can't say a word against it." Because in her previous life, Su Tingwan had also said no a lot. Empress Dowager Cheng didn't have much power; all the power was in Empress Dowager Su's hands. But she could use "imperial heirs" as an excuse to fill the Emperor's harem, and the Emperor couldn't refuse. Imperial heirs were important, but winning over the court officials was equally important.
Jiang Fenghua was too lazy to care about that crazy woman, the Empress Dowager. Her nature was hard to change. She used to want Ye Susu's child, and now she wanted Tang Qianran's child, but both attempts failed. Who would she try to win over next?
Jiang Fenghua asked, "Do you know that drinking too much licorice soup can be fatal?"
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