Chapter 727 Prince Kang
"No need." The Empress Dowager pointed at Jiang Fenghua. "If the Emperor disciplines her well, I will feel better."
Jiang Fenghua smiled slightly, "Your Majesty does indeed dote on me. My husband and I are very loving. I believe my father in heaven would be very happy. It was my father who granted me the marriage. He was the matchmaker between us."
She realized that even if she tried to curry favor with the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager would only humiliate her and not give her a kind look. So why should she try to please her?
The more the Empress Dowager disliked the late Emperor, the more she would insist on mentioning him, which infuriated her.
The Empress Dowager was so angry that she coughed repeatedly. She had almost suffered a stroke, and now it was even more serious.
Xie Kang said sternly, "Empress Jiang, you are also the daughter of the Grand Tutor. You should have the most basic courtesy of respecting the elderly!"
Jiang Fenghua paused, implying that even if elders intentionally humiliate juniors, the juniors should endure it without retaliating or arguing back. "I understand the importance of respecting the elderly and caring for the young, but I also have to consider whether some elders deserve respect. Their own grandson is working hard to be a good emperor who serves the country and its people, yet they betray him and set fires behind his back, doing selfish things for their own desires. Such an elder is not a senior, but an utterly wicked person."
The Empress Dowager was no longer angry. She stared at Jiang Fenghua with cold eyes and said, "You are indeed very bold. No wonder Cheng Langjin is afraid of you."
Jiang Fenghua said, "Your Majesty, I am not as bold as you. You knew that Su Qingqing was going to ruin the Xie family's empire and the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but you still helped her and ruined the Xie family's empire. What good did that do you?"
Is the Empress Dowager really that fragile? When the officials from Zongren Mansion came last time, she might have been so angry that she died, but she seemed completely unharmed, which shows that she has a strong will.
Prince Kang acted as a dutiful son to the Empress Dowager. He could have returned to the Northwest, but he stayed on the Empress Dowager's behalf. The Empress Dowager, however, refused to leave the palace because Xie Minmin and Xie Yun were not by her side to serve her. No one knew what the mother and son were up to.
Anyway, she didn't trust them.
Upon hearing her words, the Empress Dowager said coldly, "Wasn't Su Qingqing killed by you?"
Suddenly, Xie Shang also stared intently at her, "How did Grandmother know that Su Qingqing was dead?"
The Empress Dowager was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said, "There has been no news for so long. I guess you have captured and killed her. After all, the Su family all died at the hands of Jiang Fenghua."
Jiang Fenghua also realized that even though the Empress Dowager was deep in the palace, she had eyes and ears. Su Qingqing's death was not made public. Apart from Xie Shang's imperial guards, no one knew anything about Su Qingqing, let alone the Empress Dowager.
Jiang Fenghua said, "The Empress Dowager guessed quite accurately. Traitors and rebels deserve to die."
She wasn't sure if the news was passed on to her by someone outside or if it was told to her by Prince Kang. If it was Prince Kang, she boldly guessed that it meant Prince Kang also had connections with the Fourth Prince's residence.
If it wasn't Prince Kang who told the Empress Dowager, it means there were informants in the palace who were in contact with the Empress Dowager.
What she thought of, Xie Shang also thought of: Could it be that his relatives were all harboring malicious intentions? Was their actions against the Jiang family merely a facade?
He said to Jiang Fenghua without changing his expression, "From now on, the Empress should still bring the concubines to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager. This is the rule of the royal family."
Jiang Fenghua replied, "Your Majesty, I obey."
The Empress Dowager said, "I don't need her to come and pay her respects. I want to live to be a hundred years old and don't want to be angered to death by her."
Jiang Fenghua smiled and said, "It is my duty as a granddaughter-in-law to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. I will certainly serve the Empress Dowager well in the future. The Empress Dowager will surely live a long and healthy life. In the future, when the Empress Dowager lives in the palace, I will have many more opportunities to spend time with you."
Hearing her say that, the Empress Dowager was dumbfounded. What did she mean by changing her mind so quickly?
After seeing the Emperor and Empress off, Xie Kang escorted the Empress Dowager back to her palace and whispered, "Mother, why do you think Xie Shang and Jiang Fenghua suddenly came to Shou Kang Palace today?"
The Empress Dowager said coldly, "Jiang Fenghua's expression changes every now and then. Who knows what she's thinking? As for the Emperor, I've figured it out. He acts according to Jiang Fenghua's wishes. People who don't know the situation might think that Jiang Fenghua is the Emperor and he's her eyes and ears. I never expected that the heir to the throne that Xie Jing is grooming would listen to a woman so much."
Back then, she was quite the figure when she arrived at the Hengyang Palace. Xie Jing has already passed away, and the throne has fallen into the hands of his son. Kang'er, I'm so sorry for you. If I had been there sooner, you would be sitting on this throne. I wanted to give you the best, and only you, Kang'er, have been so filial to me.
Xie Kang clenched his fists, remaining silent. Thinking of the suffering he had endured in the Northwest, he too felt resentment.
He said, "There's a lot of talk about the Jiang family now, and their reputation will soon be ruined. The Emperor will no longer dare to protect them."
The Empress Dowager said, "So many people want to kill the Jiang family. I don't believe that such a small Jiang clan is so difficult to deal with. In my opinion, rather than trying to outwit them, it would be better to have them dealt with directly."
Xie Kang said, "If it were really that easy, my son wouldn't have traveled all the way to Shengjing. Back then, both the Su and Cheng families supported my son, but Xie Jing is too cunning. He not only won over the Cheng family but also tightened his grip on the Su family, forcing my son to leave Shengjing."
The Empress Dowager held Xie Kang's hand and said, "Kang'er, you should go back to the Northwest. The Emperor has been keeping you in Shengjing. I am worried that he has ill intentions. I have also seen that he is not Xie Jing, so he will not care about anything. If he really wants to deal with you, he will not show any mercy."
“Mother is thinking too simply. From the day Xie Shang sent a message asking his son to come to Shengjing, he never intended for his son to go back.” He added, “He detained Yun’er and Minmin. I suspect that he didn’t simply want them to work to atone for their sins, but rather to control his son. I’ve been looking for them for a long time but haven’t been able to find them.”
The Northwest is no longer the Northwest of thirty-five years ago. Although he had a hard time after going to the Northwest, he was working hard to build up the power of Prince Kang.
"How can I go back?" The Empress Dowager asked with worry in her eyes. "I am old and useless. I can't help you. If you stay by my side, you will only be a burden to me."
Xie Kang's leg was no longer lame, and he said with concern, "Your son only has your mother as a relative. Your son is reluctant to leave you. For so many years you have been imprisoned in the Hengyang Palace, and your son is far away in the Northwest. Even if I were to go back, your son would like to take your mother with me back to the Northwest. Your son wants to take care of your mother in her old age."
The Empress Dowager was moved to tears. "I have given birth to two sons, but only Kang'er treats me as his mother. Yet he caused us to be separated for decades. How can I not hate him? Kang'er, don't worry. I will send you back safely even if it means my death. I will definitely rescue Minmin and Yun'er. I cannot let them suffer in the hands of Jiang Fenghua and Xie Shang."
Her status was that of the Empress Dowager, and as long as she held that status, the emperor couldn't do anything to her.
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