Chapter 312: Empress Dowager Xie’s trump card

"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is here."

Outside the hall, a sharp and feminine voice was heard.

The emperor had a worried look on his face. He gently rubbed his brows and sighed helplessly, "Please come in."

"yes."

The servants outside the palace consciously retreated to a distance, and a row of guards wearing light armor and long swords at their waists stood guard outside the palace.

Today, the Queen Mother was wearing a plain dress, with only a white jade hairpin inserted in her gray hair. Her expression was both cold and a little sarcastic.

The emperor knew that Empress Dowager Xie was being weird to him again.

Over the past three years or so, Empress Dowager Xie rarely left Changning Palace.

But these past two days, I have been thanking the Queen Mother all the time and for everything.

Empress Dowager Xie did not do anything too extreme, but she found ways to ridicule and scold him in roundabout ways.

He suspected that Empress Dowager Xie was deliberately provoking him and seeking death.

"Xiao Yao."

"It's another damnation, another damnation!"

Empress Dowager Xie addressed the emperor by his name.

"During Cheng'er's reign, the country has been peaceful and the people are content."

"And you?"

"The year you killed your nephew and seized the throne, Daqian suffered a drought that was rare in decades. The sky dried up, the earth cracked, rivers dried up, the grass and trees withered, and thousands of miles of land became barren. Many people exchanged their children for food."

"Only three years have passed, and yet another flood has struck, and an epidemic has spread, leaving nine out of ten houses empty."

"Tell me, is this God's punishment for you?"

"It's a pity that if this is God's punishment for you, why doesn't it come directly to you, but instead let innocent people suffer?"

"Xiao Yao, you have never been the one destined to succeed."

"And you are not as good as Cheng'er."

The veins on the emperor's temples bulged and throbbed violently, and he tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart.

"Empress-in-law!"

"Natural disasters are inevitable. Even if Xiao Cheng is in office, droughts and floods will still come."

Empress Dowager Xie sneered, "Perhaps."

"But if you hadn't plotted to usurp the throne, the government in Shangjing wouldn't be in turmoil, officials and wealthy families wouldn't be in panic, the court would have formulated effective disaster relief policies, and relief would have been provided in a timely manner, and so many people would never have died."

"What are you doing when you should be doing disaster relief?"

"You are eliminating dissidents, you are using bloody and cruel means to purge all voices in the court that do not agree with you, you are constantly confiscating property, exiling and killing people, and you are unscrupulously condoning the so-called loyal ministers to hoard rice and sell it at high prices."

"How can you be a wise ruler?"

"You destroyed the prosperous scene created by Emperor Wencheng and Cheng'er with your own hands."

"The turmoil in the imperial court in Shangjing finally subsided, and you finally took the time to listen to the suffering of the people, but what did you do?"

"They sent Qin Yuanqing, a ruthless man who only cared about his own career, as a disaster relief officer. Fortunately, the people did not starve to death, but died under the swords of the officials who they had supported year after year with taxes."

"Oh, no matter how much you deceive yourself, you can't erase the hundreds of thousands of people who died because of you."

"With this flood and epidemic, are you planning to recreate the tragic situation of starving people everywhere, or are you planning to directly massacre the two cities of Wanxing and Beiba?"

The emperor took a deep breath and asked, "Does the emperor's sister-in-law believe Lu Minghui's crazy words?"

"You don't believe it?" Empress Dowager Xie asked.

"If you didn't believe it, why would you have summoned Xuan Xi, that old bald donkey, into the palace?"

The emperor said in a deep voice, "Sister-in-law, Xuanxi is a highly accomplished monk."

Empress Dowager Xie looked at the emperor with a strange look on her face. "A great monk?"

"The monk who predicted your fate and said you were incomparably noble and tricked you into killing your nephew and taking the throne?"

"I'm giving him the honor of calling him an old bald donkey."

"Look, there have been natural disasters for years, and you don't have a son to inherit the throne. How can you be called the emperor of Daqian?"

"Sister-in-law." The emperor's eyes flashed with a dim light. "Sister-in-law, since you are so worried about my lack of successor, why don't you tell me where Ah Heng is?"

"I will pass the throne to Ah Heng after a hundred years, so that everything will be returned to its original owner."

"I wonder what the Emperor's sister-in-law thinks?"

The mockery in Empress Dowager Xie's expression became more intense. "Xiao Yao, if you die faster, you might be able to meet them father and son again."

The emperor smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, you can try to trust me once."

letter?

Empress Dowager Xie wished she could chop Xiao Yao into pieces.

Cheng'er treated his little uncle Xiao Yao with great kindness and filial piety.

Xiao Yao, the daughter of the Xie family, is sincere and true.

What happened to him?

Some people don't deserve even a bit of trust and kindness.

If she had known what would happen later, she would have drowned Xiao Yao without hesitation when Emperor Wencheng gave him to her to raise.

"Then go down and ask yourself."

Empress Dowager Xie refused to give in.

The emperor sighed slowly, "Forget it, sister-in-law. Getting angry is harmful to your health."

"I have good news for my sister-in-law. I have found out the exact whereabouts of Xie San's confidante."

"Wait one more month at most, and I will let them reunite with the Emperor's sister-in-law."

"I have changed my mind. I heard that the woman is very heroic, talented in both civil and military affairs, and extremely beautiful. It would be a pity to send her to a brothel."

"After much thought, I think it is the best time to send her to the Northern Frontier Army to comfort the soldiers."

"It is said that the sons of the Xie family live and eat with the soldiers in the army, and they will never give up on each other, no matter life or death."

"I sent Xie San's confidante to you, which can be regarded as the fulfillment of the long-cherished wish of the sons of the Xie family."

"Imperial sister-in-law, do you think so?"

Empress Dowager Xie gnashed her teeth and said, "You are so shameless!"

"It's the Empress's sister-in-law who is so harsh." The emperor said sternly.

"I saved the life of the old Duke Xin, and fulfilled the filial piety of the emperor's sister-in-law."

"I have protected my sister-in-law's position as the Empress Dowager and will not allow any woman in the world to be superior to her. This is the dignity I give to my sister-in-law."

"What else is the Imperial Sister-in-law dissatisfied with?"

"You have confronted me time and again, angered and ridiculed me time and time again."

"I am the Son of Heaven. I am no longer the child that once was under the lap of the Emperor's sister-in-law!"

"Sister-in-law, please don't force me to kill."

Empress Dowager Xie clapped her hands and said, "What a high-sounding excuse."

"If I don't confront you head on, will you let the innocent people go?"

"You won't."

"Xiao Yao, you speak so confidently, but have you fooled yourself?"

"Do I need to remind you of the real reason why you adopted Fei'er?"

"Xiao Yao, who does Fei'er look like?"

The emperor's face turned pale.

"Empress-in-law!"

Empress Dowager Xie: "So you are afraid too."

"Xiao Yao, if you dare to humiliate Sanlang's wife and children, don't blame me for being outspoken."

The emperor stood up suddenly and said, "Sister-in-law, my brother's reputation cannot be insulted!"

"He is your husband, and he will respect you and honor you all his life."

"Yes." Empress Dowager Xie said calmly, "It was my husband, but the beast he raised killed my son and slaughtered my relatives."

"His momentary kindness is the root of all the bloodshed."

Princess Yongming sent her a secret letter, saying that Lu Mingchao would do his best to save Sanlang's posthumous child.

She thought of Lu Mingchao's kindness, but didn't want him to take the risk.

Saburo's wife and children are important.

Ah Yan's wife and children are also important.

She has a trump card that can force Xiao Yao to make concessions.

Lu Mingchao entered the palace