Chapter 632 The Empress Dowager Arrives
Prince Kang was also stunned. "Empress Jiang is also an empress."
Does that mean she also has status? If her family members make a mistake, they can also plead for them through her influence as the Empress.
Jiang Fenghua's voice suddenly rose, her eyes seemingly burning with raging anger: "What I want to say is that the Empress Dowager caused the death of a concubine and her unborn child because of her own selfish desires. The three corpses were placed in the hall. She did such a heinous thing, but Prince Kang wiped it off with just a few words. Don't you think it's ridiculous?"
"The people of Qingzhou were beaten to death because of the rumors spread by Xie Yun. He extorted the prefect of Qingzhou and embezzled disaster relief funds, causing widespread displacement. Prince Kang wanted to take them away with just one sentence about the father's fault. Isn't Prince Kang the most suitable sage emperor? How come you are not sage in front of the prince's family? Isn't that ridiculous?"
"Jiang Fenghua." The Empress Dowager's voice was low and slow, as if she had no strength. She mocked, "Aren't you also one of those people in the harem, holding a position of power? There has never been a clean person in the harem, including you, Jiang Fenghua. Today you can stand here and criticize me and Prince Kang. Aren't you also a member of this power vortex? Now that you have won, you are proud of yourself. Didn't you sit on the blood of others to secure this position? What is there for you to be so high and mighty about?"
The term "Grand Empress Dowager" refers to those she defeated, such as Su Tingwan, Ye Susu, and Tang Qianran, who believed that Jiang Fenghua ascended to the position of Empress by defeating them.
A complex emotion flashed in her eyes, but her gaze quickly hardened. "No matter how fierce the struggles in the harem are, I will not pave my way with human lives, nor will I trample on human lives. Today, I will seek justice for the concubines who were murdered by the Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager was wearing a string of Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist. She usually enjoyed vegetarian meals and chanting Buddhist scriptures. Suddenly, the prayer beads on her wrist broke and the beads rolled to the ground.
Jiang Fenghua coldly glanced at the rolling beads on the ground. "Lord Yao, what are the crimes of plotting to murder the concubines in the harem and poisoning the Holy Ancestor Emperor? Just tell the truth, and we will make the laws of our Great Zhou Kingdom be accepted by the people and make the Empress Dowager convinced."
She said with a light sneer, "The Empress Dowager has always claimed that neither Emperor Huijing nor Emperor Xuanzong could shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Xie family. If Prince Kang were to become emperor, or even if the official position in the Imperial Clan Court were given to Prince Kang, how would Prince Kang judge your mother's crime?"
Xie Kang was stunned.
Jiang Fenghua thought to herself: He wants to exchange his princely title for her freedom? He's dreaming. Xie Kang is already considered a commoner in the Northwest.
Xie Shang said, "Didn't Lord Yao hear the Empress's question clearly?"
Yao Guangzong hurriedly nodded and bowed, then stepped forward with a stiff upper lip. “Plotting to kill a concubine in the harem is a capital offense, while poisoning the emperor is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one’s family.”
But the Holy Ancestor Emperor has been dead for decades, and now they're trying to overturn the verdict...
Besides, aren't the Empress Dowager's nine generations the same as the Emperor's nine generations?
When Yao Guangzong received the case, he thought it was a power struggle among the concubines in the harem. He thought that he could catch the murderer and execute him at some point and that would be the end of the case. He never expected that the mastermind behind it all was the Empress Dowager.
Lord Yao didn't know how to judge the case; he could only wait for the Emperor's decree.
Xie Shang frowned and said in a deep voice, "The late emperor was the son of Empress Dowager Chunxian, née Yang, not the son of the Sun family."
He said without batting an eye, "Since Father Emperor was adopted by the Yang family, he is no longer a child of the Sun family in the family genealogy. Therefore, the descendants of Emperor Huijing's lineage do not need to call her Empress Dowager." He had no feelings for the Empress Dowager and would not speak up for her.
However, as the emperor, and with his grandmother on the other side, he couldn't very well execute her directly.
"No matter how you look at it, I am still the emperor's ancestor. If you want to exterminate my nine generations of relatives, Jiang will marry into the Xie family and your children will also be within the nine generations."
Jiang Fenghua sneered, "What if the Emperor removes Sun Yingniang from the Xie family genealogy?"
This means that all traces of Sun Yingniang's entry into the palace to marry Emperor Shengzu as Consort Sun will be eliminated, and the emperor will issue an edict to announce it to the world, affecting only the lineage of Prince Kang.
"You wicked woman!" The Empress Dowager was furious. "Xie Jing will never allow you to do this. I am his birth mother."
"Tsk tsk, the Empress Dowager is truly shameless. She doesn't even acknowledge Emperor Huijing, yet she still has the nerve to call herself his birth mother, a blood-drinking birth mother? When the late Emperor was alive, you couldn't wait to drink his blood and gnaw on his bones, but now you claim to be his birth mother. Now that he's gone, you've come back, causing trouble for everyone. The Empress Dowager being expelled from the imperial genealogy is exactly what everyone wanted," Jiang Fenghua mocked.
The Empress Dowager was so angry that her chest ached, and she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Before she could catch her breath, she collapsed into Xie Kang's arms.
Xie Kang cried out repeatedly, "Mother, what's wrong?"
"Kang'er..." The Empress Dowager was on her deathbed, and she fainted while holding the tiger-head doll in her hand.
Xie Kangchao said to the emperor, "No matter what mistakes she has made, she is still the emperor's grandmother. If Emperor Huijing were alive, he would not have watched his mother do this..."
Xie Shang said in a deep voice, "Summon the imperial physician."
Seeing the Empress Dowager's expression, Jiang Fenghua finally calmed down a bit. She must be so angry she's about to die!
Empress Dowager Cheng stood quietly by the door, watching the scene inside. She was terrified. Jiang Fenghua had really changed; she was no longer pretending.
Empress Dowager Cheng and Jiang Fenghua exchanged a glance, and Jiang Fenghua announced loudly, "The Empress Dowager has arrived."
Upon hearing Jiang Fenghua's voice, everyone unconsciously looked in the direction of Empress Dowager Cheng.
Empress Dowager Cheng hurriedly explained, "I was unaware that the Empress Dowager had drugged the concubines. I would never harm Shang'er. I raised Shang'er myself, and I have no other children... I..."
Her expression and movements were even somewhat comical, as if she were trying to distance herself from the situation.
Jiang Fenghua approached her. Her face seemed to be hidden in the shadows, her eyes were sharp and piercing, and her temperament was cold and imposing.
Empress Dowager Cheng's heart sank, her legs went weak, and she couldn't help but take two steps back. "I haven't done anything." She was also afraid of being expelled from the family genealogy.
"Is that so?" With each step Jiang Fenghua took, it seemed as if she were stepping on the heart of Empress Dowager Cheng, her eyes gleaming with a chilling light.
Empress Dowager Cheng quickly avoided Jiang Fenghua's eyes and walked to Cheng Yong's side, deliberately trying to establish a rapport with him, saying, "My elder brother has also entered the palace."
Cheng Yong bowed respectfully, his voice distant, "Your humble servant greets the Empress Dowager."
Cheng Yong was the Empress Dowager's older brother, and he was also heartbroken by her. Back then, his two sons took the initiative to tell him that they wanted to befriend the Jiang family, which made their intentions very clear.
The Cheng family can't rely on Cheng Langjin; she's all bravado and no brains.
If she had half of Jiang Fenghua's strategic thinking, regardless of Emperor Huijing's original purpose in marrying her, the Cheng clan would not have suffered such a defeat.
The key issue is that none of the younger generation in the Cheng family likes her. The daughters of the Cheng family don't envy that the Cheng family has a daughter who is the Empress Dowager in the palace. They even say that if it weren't for this connection, they might all have had a bright future.
Cheng Yong was invited to the palace by Xie Shang. In order to expose the Empress Dowager and the cause of death of the Holy Ancestor Emperor, Xie Shang privately discussed with Cheng Yong the list left by the Holy Ancestor Emperor to Duke Cheng.
Jiang Fenghua stepped out of the palace. The cold wind howled, the night was as dark as ink, and snowflakes fell from the sky. Her nose was red from the cold, and although she was wearing a thick cloak, she still felt cold inside.
When Aoxue and Granny Wang saw her walking towards the mourning hall, they quickly followed, saying, "Your Highness, please walk slowly, the road is slippery."
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