Chapter 820 A Beauty
Lu Xuefei knew exactly what the Emperor was thinking. She prided herself on being righteous and wanting to eliminate injustices in the world and uphold justice for women, but in the face of imperial power, she felt that her ideas were a joke.
Even if Shu Xue might not be a good person—she might be mean-spirited, petty, and even have a lot of bad intentions—none of that justifies her being tortured and killed at will. A voice inside her told her that she should give Shu Xue justice.
Jiang Fenghua looked at Lu Xuefei. She knew Lu Xuefei well; she was a helpful and brave young girl. She might want to punish the murderer, but even as the empress, she couldn't undermine the emperor in this case.
The Emperor put a lot of thought into resolving this case.
Jiang Fenghua smiled politely, confident that Lu Xuefei would understand her intentions.
Lu Xuefei composed herself and pulled her thoughts back. She realized that she couldn't do it yet; she dared not oppose the emperor in the face of imperial power.
Lu Xuefei continued, "Does Madam think that making a scene will bring down the Fourth Prince and get the Emperor to sentence him and his wife to death? Actually, the Emperor has already shown the Shu family a lot of leniency in this case. Do you know why I'm saying this?"
Lu Xuefei stopped talking about how Shu Xue died unjustly, and instead changed her approach to talk about the future of the Shu family. She said that the current situation might be the best arrangement for the Shu family, Wang Shi, and her other children.
Wang stared at Lu Xuefei with wide eyes. She also had her own thoughts. Her daughter was already dead and there was no going back. She certainly couldn't ruin her son's future.
Lu Xuefei continued, "Although Minister Shu's rebellion with the Fourth Prince failed, it was still a capital offense punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family."
Upon hearing the phrase "extermination of nine generations," Wang turned pale with fright.
Lu Xuefei continued, "In the end, the Emperor only punished Vice Minister Shu. It was only because the Emperor was merciful and showed leniency to the rest of the Shu family that he did so. If Madam wants the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Princess to die, then she wants the entire Shu family to be exterminated!"
Wang felt her heart tremble and dared not make a fuss anymore. She had just heard everyone talking about the Fourth Princess's scandalous affairs, so she went over to listen to the excitement.
In the end, the more I listened, the angrier and more upset I became.
It was Shu Lang who deserved to die. Who told him and the Fourth Prince to rebel? The Fourth Prince had the protection of his princely status, while the Shu family had nothing. The Shu family was truly killed by Shu Lang.
Lady Wang walked up to the Empress and bowed, saying, "This humble woman will take her leave now."
After speaking, Wang left immediately without lingering.
Everyone stared at Wang's fleeing figure. Just a moment ago she was so eager for her daughter to seek justice and revenge, why is she leaving now?
What did Lu Tingwei's daughter and Madam Shu say to each other?
Madam Zhang and Zhang Yumo and the others walked up to Jiang Fenghua: "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to Your Majesty the Empress."
Jiang Fenghua looked at Zhang Yumo and wondered: When did she become so close to the Zhang family? When she got into such a big trouble, apart from Old Madam Zhang and Duke Zhang protecting her, the other relatives just stood by and watched. Has she really forgotten all of that?
Zhang Yurou is her cousin. When Li Cheng bullied her, Zhang Yurou didn't stand up for her.
Lady Zhang thought the Empress was speaking up for the Fourth Princess Consort and was trying to curry favor with her, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for speaking up for the Fourth Princess Consort."
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "Madam Zhang has misunderstood. When did I speak up for the Fourth Princess Consort? What shameful things did the Fourth Princess Consort do that she tried to shift the blame onto His Majesty? I can't help her."
By speaking so openly in front of everyone, the Empress was slapping Lady Zhang and the Fourth Princess in the face.
Madam Zhang was stunned; her face turned white, then green, then purple, looking extremely unsightly.
People were pointing and whispering about her, but she thought that since the Empress was on Rou'er's side, these gossipy women would never say another bad word about Rou'er again.
Unexpectedly, even the Empress mocked Rou'er.
Zhang Yumo explained, "Actually, the Fourth Princess really didn't..."
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "I believe that good deeds will be rewarded and evil deeds will be punished. It's not that there is no retribution, it's just that the time has not come yet. Heaven is fair. Do you think what I said is right, Lady Wu'an?"
Zhang Yumo paused, feeling embarrassed as well. The Empress meant that Heaven would punish the Fourth Princess Consort sooner or later.
Empress Jiang didn't even give face to her own sister-in-law, and the atmosphere suddenly became awkward, as if the air had instantly frozen. The Third Princess, who loved to play peacemaker, didn't step forward to join in the fun; she stayed far away.
Finally, Lu Xuefei stepped forward with a smile: "This humble woman has not seen Her Majesty the Empress and Sister Yumo for a long time. I think I have the answer to the question Sister Yumo asked me last time. The flowers over there are in full bloom, let's go and take a look together."
Zhang Yumo said, "I think I'll pass!"
Jiang Fenghua's expression changed, and she said gently, "It's been a long time since I've seen my sister-in-law. Sister-in-law, please accompany me for a walk!"
Since the Empress has spoken, how could Zhang Yumo refuse?
The Empress's expression changed at any moment, and no one dared to object.
Jiang Fenghua continued, "Please rest here for a while. Everyone has worked hard today to pray for the Great Zhou Kingdom. After we finish the prayer ceremony, I will host a separate banquet for you all another day."
Everyone quickly bowed respectfully, saying, "Respectfully seeing off Her Majesty the Empress."
After Jiang Fenghua and Zhang Yumo left, the crowd began to discuss again: "The Empress is not only dignified and beautiful, but also has a graceful demeanor. No other woman can compare to the Empress."
"His Majesty dotes on Her Majesty even more. His Majesty and Empress have always had a good relationship. Even when Her Majesty was still the Princess Consort of Heng, His Majesty treated her very well. As for those women who wanted to throw themselves at His Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress disdained them. They couldn't even compare to a strand of Her Majesty's hair." These words were spoken by the Third Princess Consort.
Consort Gao remained silent, sensing that the Empress had returned, but she didn't immediately realize it.
At this moment, everyone started discussing the flower decoration on the Empress's forehead. Today, all the noble ladies of Shengjing City were present, and everyone followed suit, imitating the Empress's attire and makeup.
The Empress is elegant and refined, noble and extraordinary; she is beautiful and wonderful in every way.
A craze for drawing floral patterns on the forehead and brows quickly swept through Shengjing City.
Madam Zhang clenched her fingers and cursed in her heart: The Fourth Prince is a useless piece of trash. If he had the ability to rebel, the Zhang family would support him with all their might. Unfortunately, he is just a useless coward. Consort Chang has been scheming in the palace for so many years, but in the end, it was all for naught. In the end, she was still placed under house arrest by the Emperor in the Fourth Prince's mansion.
Speaking of Consort Chang, Madam Shu felt a burning hatred, as if Consort Chang and Shu Lang were having an affair.
She needs to find out why Yang Mei hates the Fourth Prince's mother so much.
Yang Mei used to have the right to be arrogant, but after the Yang family fell from grace, she became nothing.
Madam Zhang was too ashamed to stay in the side hall any longer, nor did she want to hear them humiliate her children, so she left directly.
She was almost knocked down by a girl dressed in plain clothes as she left the side hall.
Seeing that the other person's clothes weren't fancy, she vented her anger on her, yelling, "Are you trying to kill someone?! You hit someone!"
The woman covered her face and apologized, "Madam, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
Madam Zhang wanted to continue her tirade, but when she saw the other woman's appearance, she was also stunned.
She sneered, and an idea suddenly came to her mind.
Qin Yunyan seemed terrified and kept saying sorry.
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