Chapter 400 The Truth Revealed (Second Update)
Although this place is also on the official road to the post station, it is a full two miles away from the post station.
Xiao Liulang came with the emperor. After they found out the whereabouts of Empress Dowager Zhuang and Consort Jing at the post station, they went their separate ways.
At the same time that Xiao Liulang found Gu Jiao, the emperor also found Gu Chengfeng and Empress Dowager Zhuang.
The emperor arrived with a thousand imperial guards, who surrounded the entire forest and located Consort Jing and her assassins.
While Consort Jing's assassins were formidable, they still had little chance against an entire army, not to mention the old Marquis and the Emperor's Dragon Shadow Guard. The situation was almost entirely one-sided.
The assassins of Consort Jing were all wiped out, and Consort Jing herself was captured.
Consort Jing looked at the man sitting on horseback, pointing a spear at her, and choked out, "Let me go..."
The old marquis gripped the spear tightly in his hand.
The Imperial Guards have gone elsewhere to hunt down the assassins who killed Consort Jing; he is alone here.
If he wanted to let her go, it would be incredibly easy for him, and no one would notice.
Consort Jing's eyes filled with tears: "What I said to His Majesty that day wasn't the truth, in my heart..."
The old marquis's spear clattered into the soil at her feet. Startled, she stumbled back several steps, staring in disbelief at the man who had been thinking of her for decades.
A man's love is like the sea, and so is his indifference; it is an endless, icy sea.
The old Marquis brought Consort Jing back to the inn.
When the emperor saw that it was Gu Chao who had personally brought back Consort Jing, his expression paused slightly.
The old marquis said nothing, but simply bowed to the emperor and retreated into the woods to clean up the mess.
The emperor sat in the main room of the post station, which was hardly better than a village house in the countryside.
Consort Jing, with her hands and feet bound, sat quietly on the official's hat chair opposite the emperor, with the Dragon Shadow Guards standing guard beside him.
The emperor had already heard about the possibility of remnants of the previous dynasty from Empress Dowager Zhuang, and he gestured to Eunuch Wei.
Eunuch Wei understood, stepped forward, and lifted Consort Jing's left sleeve, revealing the crimson flame totem tattoo of pigeon blood.
The emperor thought he would be shocked, but to his surprise, he was calmer than ever before. He even laughed at himself: "...How disappointed must I be in my mother that I'm not even shocked to find out that she is a remnant of the previous dynasty?"
Consort Jing knew that the Emperor was no longer the Hong'er who used to listen to her every word, so she didn't waste her energy pretending to be aggrieved in front of him.
Seeing her cold expression, the emperor sneered and said, "Why have you stopped crying, Mother? Why don't you tell me that I wronged you? Can you explain this tattoo again?"
Consort Jing chuckled and said, "Would you believe me if I explained?"
"So Mother Consort doesn't even bother to pretend anymore." The Emperor's heart no longer ached for her; he only felt endless sorrow, for himself, and for his mother and Ning'an.
Consort Jing gave a cold snort.
Suppressing his grief and anger, the Emperor asked, "Was Ning'an's marriage to the borderlands back then... a scheme by my mother? Was the consort arranged by my mother?"
Consort Jing did not answer.
The emperor gritted his teeth and continued to ask, "Did Mother send the Dragon Shadow Guard to the border to kill Ning'an, or to start a rebellion?"
"I want to see Zhuang Jinse," said Consort Jing coldly.
The emperor roared, "You want to harm the Empress Dowager again!"
Consort Jing said calmly, "If you're worried, just leave the Dragon Shadow Guards to keep an eye on things. I won't say a word about the questions you asked, but if she asked me, I might be happy to tell you."
The emperor clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and said coldly, "My mother really knows how to persuade me. Very well, I will let you see her one last time!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang had already gone to rest when she was suddenly woken up, which annoyed her to no end!
She went to the next room, still grumpy from waking up. Only Consort Jing and the Dragon Shadow Guard who served the Emperor were in the room.
Empress Dowager Zhuang found a chair, sat down, yawned, and said impatiently, "What is it this time? Don't bring up your old, trivial matters again. I have no patience for them!"
Consort Jing: "It's not something from the past, it's something I haven't told my sister about."
Empress Dowager Zhuang: "I am not interested in your affairs."
Consort Jing: "It's my sister's business."
Empress Dowager Zhuang: "I am not interested in my affairs."
Consort Jing smiled and said, "Even if I'm not interested, I still have to say it. I'm afraid I won't have a chance to catch up with my sister after tonight."
Empress Dowager Zhuang was extremely annoyed: "Speak quickly if you have something to say, or shut up if you have something to say."
Consort Jing was in a good mood, because what she was about to say would cause this woman a lifetime of pain!
She laughed and said, "Did the late emperor know that you were like this, sister? If he had, you would have fallen out of favor long ago, wouldn't you? You're such a good actress."
Empress Dowager Zhuang got up and left.
She was genuinely impatient to listen to her brewing green tea.
Consort Jing spoke up: "My sister's child!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang stopped in her tracks.
Consort Jing looked at Empress Dowager Zhuang with a smug expression: "Sister, do you want to know where that child went?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang turned to look at her, her brows furrowing: "What, that child?"
Consort Jing laughed heartily: "It is indeed my sister's own flesh and blood. My sister doesn't actually believe that she gave birth to a stillborn child, does she?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Consort Jing laughed maniacally, her shoulders trembling as she laughed: "I knew you'd be shocked, sister! Have you always thought you were so clever...? But you didn't know you'd been kept in the dark by the late Emperor all along. Do you want to know where your own flesh and blood have gone?"
"These junks that the late emperor told you about?"
"What? Sister, you can't believe it? Well, anyone who's been kept in the dark for so many years would resist the truth. I wanted to tell you in the carriage, but you wouldn't let me. Tonight, I'll take pity on you and tell you again. Your child... isn't dead."
Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Zhuang opened her mouth as if to speak, but hesitated and ultimately only sighed.
"My sister didn't ask me who the child is or where he is?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang hesitated for the second time before speaking.
Consort Jing could not see any grief on her face, but she was not surprised. This woman was always so strong in front of others and never showed any weakness.
Consort Jing stared intently at her, then said with a smile, “It’s His Majesty! That child is His Majesty! His Majesty is my sister’s own flesh and blood! The late Emperor saw through my sister’s ambition long ago and tried every means to prevent her from getting pregnant, but my sister was too capable and still became pregnant. In desperation, His Majesty resorted to this tactic and took my sister’s child away. It was quite a coincidence that the palace maid became pregnant around the same time as my sister, so His Majesty devised a plan to switch the baby. However, my sister went into labor three days early, and the child did not come out, so His Majesty declared that my sister had given birth to a stillborn child.”
Empress Dowager Zhuang sneered, "Consort Jing, don't you think there are many flaws in your statement? If I gave birth to a live baby and it was given to that palace maid, then where was that palace maid's child placed?"
Consort Jing smiled and said, "He has been raised by His Majesty among the common people."
"Heh~" Empress Dowager Zhuang laughed, "Consort Jing, how pitiful you are! You actually believe such nonsense, would you believe any man who says he's a woman!"
Consort Jing flew into a rage: "Zhuang Jinse!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang shook her head with amusement: "You truly have deep feelings for the late Emperor. No matter how I scold you, you don't react, but I merely made a sarcastic remark about him and you flew into a rage. Let me guess, after entering the palace, you once considered giving up the great cause of restoring the country for the late Emperor, didn't you? Unfortunately, the late Emperor never had you in his heart, and even on his deathbed, he wanted to drag you down with him. Oh, I forgot to mention, even if you were to be buried alive with him, you would only be buried in the concubine's mausoleum. On the road to the Yellow Springs, the late Emperor only wanted to hold my hand and cross the Bridge of Helplessness. Are you insanely jealous?"
Consort Jing's eyes began to look dazed, and her body began to tremble slightly.
"Let me tell you what happened. The late emperor left behind an imperial edict, but he wasn't sure if it could be successfully proclaimed to the world. After all, my ambitions were too great, and I gradually slipped out of his control after becoming regent. He feared I would find the edict and destroy it. If that happened, the Qin family's empire would have been in my hands for a long time. The late emperor was telling you all this only to use you to restrain me in the future. Didn't he also tell you, 'Don't tell him about Hong'er's background'...?"
"I trust no one but you, because you raised Hong'er, and you are the only person in the world who could never harm Hong'er."
"I trust no one but you, because you raised Hong'er, and you are the only person in the world who could never harm Hong'er."
Empress Dowager Zhuang's words perfectly overlapped with the voice in Consort Jing's mind.
Consort Jing's body swayed suddenly!
Empress Dowager Zhuang then mimicked the late emperor's tone: "But Hong'er is too close to his mother. I am worried that he will hand over the throne. If necessary, you must persuade Hong'er to stop!"
The color drained from Consort Jing's face!
how so?
how so?
Consort Jing exclaimed in panic, "You...you eavesdropped on the late Emperor's conversation with me!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang chuckled and said, "Why would I need to eavesdrop? I stopped considering this man my husband in the second year after I entered the palace."
She only saw him as a monarch, a monarch whose every trait needed to be analyzed so that she could avoid all the risks in the harem!
"The late emperor didn't expect you to be no saint either. I didn't steal the imperial edict; it was you who stole it. The late emperor was wise all his life, but he made a mistake for a moment. You believed the late emperor's words and thought we were mother and son, so you were so afraid that you had to drug the emperor. Not content with the white drug, you also used the black drug."
Empress Dowager Zhuang said, looking at Consort Jing with sympathy: "Really, you are so pitiful."
Consort Jing trembled all over: "No, it's impossible...it's impossible..."
Empress Dowager Zhuang got up and walked out. When she reached the door, she suddenly stopped and looked into the boundless night. She said, "Also, the late emperor was not angry and distant from me because I gave birth to a stillborn child. It was I who told the late emperor, 'Go away. I never want to see you again in this life.' Consort Jing, it was I who didn't want him anymore."
The last vestige of hope in Consort Jing's heart... has completely collapsed!
On the last day, everyone should do a final check to see if there are any unused monthly tickets left, and cast them as soon as possible.
(End of this chapter)
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