Chapter 255 The Truth
Coming out of the bedroom of the retired emperor, Concubine Yu, now the Empress Dowager Fang, put away her pitiful look. Her eyes were still red, but her expression was so cold, just like those people in the deep palace.
The new emperor ascended the throne, but he was only three years old, so it was naturally impossible for him to have a large harem. Not only did the retired emperor still live in that palace, but the bedrooms of the two empresses dowagers were also not moved.
In the Jinxiu Palace, Empress Dowager Fang sat in front of the bronze mirror and pondered deeply, her fingers constantly stroking the golden token.
Suddenly, she looked up at herself in the bronze mirror. The mirror was a little blurry, but she could vaguely see her eyebrows and eyes. For some reason, Empress Dowager Fang felt that the self in the mirror was particularly unfamiliar.
Maybe it's because I'm old? Queen Mother Fang thought so.
Even though the vision was blurry, Empress Dowager Fang could still clearly see the excitement and excitement in her eyes. So many things had happened in the past few years. When she entered the palace, she never thought that she would lose so much.
She looked down at the token and suddenly laughed. She had lost too much along the way to where she was today, and now this was her compensation.
If that's the case, why should she still feel guilty and afraid? This should have been hers!
Concealing the strange feeling in her heart, Queen Mother Fang sat there restlessly until night fell and the entire palace became silent.
She then took out a black cloak and put it on, and went out with only her most loyal maid.
At this time, apart from the patrolling guards, no one was walking around in the palace.
Empress Dowager Fang was extremely familiar with the imperial palace. Even though to outsiders, this empress dowager had been staying obediently in her own Jinxiu Palace since entering the palace, in fact, she was the person who was most familiar with the harem besides the queen.
After accurately bypassing several patrol teams, the two men arrived in front of a palace.
The palace maid who had been following her couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, do you want to see Concubine Dowager De?"
It turned out that this palace was the cold palace where Concubine De was imprisoned. Of course, apart from the remote location, there was not much that looked like a cold palace. After all, everyone knew that Prince Cheng was extremely powerful and was the head of the Great Zhou.
"Shh!" Queen Mother Fang made a gesture for silence and looked up at the palace.
After watching for a while, she lowered her voice and asked, "Tell me, why doesn't Concubine De leave here?"
The maid replied cautiously, "How could I know what the Dowager Concubine was thinking? But I think she has lived here for so many years that she has become accustomed to it. She probably doesn't want to leave."
Empress Dowager Fang sneered and said, "Who would get used to this kind of place? If it were me, I'd probably want to leave right away."
The maid hurriedly said, "You are the Queen Mother. That day will never come."
Empress Fang Tian did not answer this, but turned around and walked around the palace gate. The palace maid was puzzled. Why did the Empress Dowager come here in the middle of the night? It was not to see Concubine Dowager De, but what else could be nearby?
After walking around the palace for another quarter of an hour, a strange side hall appeared in front of them. Two old eunuchs stood at the door of the hall. They looked older than Eunuch Li.
The two old eunuchs were about to stop them, but Empress Dowager Fang took out a token.
When the two saw each other, they immediately dropped their blocking gestures and opened the door to let them in.
Empress Dowager Fang took a deep breath. The old wooden door made a creaking sound, which sounded particularly creepy in the quiet night and gave people goose bumps.
Especially the palace maid following behind Empress Dowager Fang, she couldn't help but shiver under the gloomy eyes of the two old eunuchs. If she hadn't followed her master, she would have fled in panic.
Queen Mother Fang was also frightened, but the cold token in her hand gave her courage.
After taking the first step, the following steps became lighter.
The room was also dim, with only a few oil lamps providing the only light. Empress Dowager Fang placed the lantern in her hand on the table, and it felt much brighter.
"Your Majesty?" The palace maid was a little trembling.
But when he saw Empress Dowager Fang taking out a cabinet from the cupboard, he hurried over to help light the way.
When she opened it, she saw a basic booklet inside. Empress Dowager Fang frowned slightly, but a hint of joy flashed in her eyes. She quickly took out the booklet and began to flip through it in the dim light.
In the hall, apart from the breathing of the two people, the only sound was the turning of pages. Gradually, Empress Dowager Fang flipped the pages faster and faster, until the pages made a rustling sound.
The maid noticed Empress Dowager Fang's impatience and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
Empress Dowager Fang suddenly swept all the booklets to the ground and breathed rapidly. If the light here was brighter, one could see that her eyes were full of disappointment and anger.
The palace maid was startled and quickly knelt down to pick up the books. She was illiterate, so she didn't know what was inside, but seeing Empress Dowager Fang's attitude, she thought they were very important things.
"No need to pick it up." The voice of Empress Dowager Fang came from above.
The maid hesitated and said, "But..."
Empress Dowager Fang had already picked up the lantern: "Let's go, let's go back."
Seeing the maid still clutching those booklets, Empress Dowager Fang let out a sneer that was half self-deprecating and half sneer, the remaining part of her expression unclear whether it was resentment or anger. "I was wrong. I thought Your Majesty still had some useful things in his hands. Who knew, after all this fuss, it turned out to be nothing more than some vulgar things."
"Your Majesty, don't you need to take it back?" The maid didn't quite understand, and thought to herself that even if it was a vulgar item, the amount given by the retired emperor must be considerable.
Empress Dowager Fang sneered, "I don't know whether the Emperor dotes on me or hates me. This kind of thing is useless to me and will only displease Empress Dowager Yun."
Even if she successfully appointed two Empress Dowagers, she was still the emperor's biological mother. However, the emperor was young, and everyone knew that the person in charge of the harem was Empress Dowager Yun, not her.
Queen Mother Fang sighed. The excitement she had maintained for the day vanished, replaced by exhaustion. "I was so happy all day, but now I think it was just a monkey show, making people laugh at me for nothing."
"Come on, follow me to Queen Mother Yun's palace and plead guilty to her."
Upon hearing this, the palace maid was shocked and asked, "Madam, why is it so? Besides, the Madam must have gone to bed by this hour."
"Then just wait patiently until she wakes up." Queen Mother Fang had already made up her mind.
Within the palace walls, many people's moods fluctuated throughout the day, from expectation to disappointment, from hope to giving up, just like the countless men and women who once lived in this palace.
And things were not peaceful outside the palace walls either. After the new emperor ascended the throne, the court seemed to be still the same. After all, the emperor could barely hold on to his crown, let alone anything else.
Prince Cheng's attitude was so tough that all the voices of opposition were suppressed.
After returning to Beijing from Qingzhou, Su Fengzhang once again experienced the days of being too busy to rest. This time, let alone going home to educate his children, he didn't even have time to drink a sip of water all day.
After all, he is just a human being, not a god, and he has very few people under his command. After Minister Xu left, a group of people were brought down along with him. Su Fengzhang's days in the Ministry of Revenue were by no means as easy and happy as others thought.
Su Fengzhang has a good physical foundation and has been nourished by the spiritual spring water over the years. Even compared with the strong and healthy generals, he has lost weight over a period of time.
The only good thing was probably that Su Zhaoshi was so distressed to see her son so busy that she forgot about urging him to get married. She just focused on making soup and stewing meat every day, wishing she could stuff all the delicious food into his mouth.
Just like now, it was almost midnight, and Su Arong walked in with a bowl of bird's nest.
Su Fengzhang glanced at it helplessly: "It's bird's nest again, I really don't like sweet things."
Su Arong laughed and said, "That won't do. This is what Madam has been keeping an eye on. She's just waiting for you to eat it when you're hungry."
"Madam said that bird's nest is good for health. We have a small family and these things will go bad if left alone. Erlang, you must eat them all."
Su Fengzhang pinched his nose and drank it in one gulp, then began to clear the table.
After cleaning up, Su Fengzhang picked up one of the pieces of paper and placed it on the brazier. Soon the flames licked the paper and it turned into ashes.
Su Arong took a look and asked curiously, "Erlang, isn't this white paper? Why did you burn it?"
Su Fengzhang simply said, "It's useless, so just burn it."
Su Arong did not ask any more questions. The longer he stayed with Su Fengzhang, the less he spoke. Now he wanted to be mute in front of outsiders.
"Then I'll go downstairs and clean up first. You should also go to bed early." After Su Arong closed the door and left.
As soon as he left, a man appeared quietly in the room and knelt on one knee to salute.
Su Fengzhang handed the prepared items to the man and said, "Send it to Commander Lu."
"Yes." The man hid the letter and asked, "Sir, do we still need to keep an eye on Empress Dowager Fang?"
Su Fengzhang shook his head and said, "Empress Dowager Yun will handle it. We don't need to get involved."
After this person left, Su Fengzhang took a look at the basin that was reduced to ashes and suddenly smiled.
He had to admit that Fang Zhiwen's words at the time still left a shadow in his heart. Su Fengzhang thought he was not afraid of being stared at, but the thought of someone watching him day and night while eating and sleeping would make anyone feel uncomfortable.
But did Emperor Taizu really leave behind two secret guards? They have always been in Prince Rong's hands, so where is the other one?
Given the Qin family's nature, they would not allow such an important power to fall into the hands of outsiders.
After much deliberation, Su Fengzhang finally turned his attention to the retired emperor. However, the result was beyond his expectation. The retired emperor had no one available at all!
A bold guess emerged in his mind, and for a moment he felt relaxed all over.
After pinching his aching shoulders and neck, Su Fengzhang simply put down his official duties and prepared to rest. In his heart, he felt that Empress Dowager Fang was really a smart person. After realizing that the retired emperor was useless, she was willing to lose face and afford to humiliate him.
It's just that she is too smart, which makes him a little worried about the wonderful days of these two Empress Dowagers in the future.
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