Chapter 188 Empress Dowager Du
Nanny Dong and several of her personal palace maids were covered in wounds.
Du Ru was stunned: "Mammy!"
Nanny Dong has been taking care of Du Ru for nearly thirty years. She was brought into the palace by Du Ru from her mother's home.
Seeing Nanny Dong who had been tortured, Du Ru's heart trembled.
Except for Nanny Dong, the other palace maids confessed under torture.
Aunt Dong fell to the ground, kowtowed and confessed her guilt:
"Your Majesty... These things have nothing to do with Your Majesty. They were all done by this old servant... It was my order. Your Majesty is unaware of it..."
Du Ru felt as if a sharp blade was cutting back and forth in her brain, and she fell to the ground with her head in her hands in pain.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…”
Murong Yu's eyes were full of disgust:
"I feel sick when I think of being married to a vicious woman like you for nearly twenty years. You killed the imperial heir and slandered the concubines. Your crimes are unforgivable. How can you be the mother of the country?"
Every word and sentence of Murong Yu was like a knife cutting into his heart.
Du Ru fell to the ground, trembling with a headache or heartache, and said:
"Your Majesty! It was Your Majesty who made me your empress! It was Your Majesty who said that you liked my gentleness and quietness... you said you liked me... you said you didn't need any reason... If it weren't for them, Your Majesty and I..."
Du Ru cried bitterly, and recalled the scene many years ago with tears on her face.
"How stupid!" Murong Yu's face was shrouded in the shadow of the candlelight.
"If you weren't a daughter of the Du family, how could I have made you my queen? I saw you as kind and generous, so I made you the master of the six palaces, but you have disappointed me to this extent."
Murong Yu looked at Du Ru's pale face and messy hair and felt sick:
"Come here, announce my decree: Du is immoral and has a vicious and stubborn nature. His descendants will be deposed..."
"The Queen Mother has arrived—!"
A loud announcement was heard outside the hall.
Then, a woman over fifty years old with a graceful demeanor walked in, surrounded by palace servants.
Murong Yu's brows furrowed even deeper:
"Mother."
"I heard that the Emperor was furious in Yifeng Palace, so I came to see him."
The empress dowager's gaze swept across the blood-soaked palace maid and the queen lying on the ground. Disappointment flashed in her eyes, and even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepened.
Murong Yu: "Mother, are you here to plead for the Queen? Do you know what the Queen has done?"
The Queen Mother was helped to sit down beside the couch, and she calmly fiddled with a string of jade prayer beads in her hand:
"Your Majesty, since you ask me this, do you suspect that I was the one who instigated the Empress?"
Murong Yu frowned: "I, don't have such intention."
"Since you have no such intention, then please calm down, Your Majesty, and listen to what I have to say."
The Queen Mother looked straight ahead as she spoke, her face dignified. Although she was over fifty years old, she did not look hunched over at all.
When she was the Defei, she had the most dignified demeanor. Later, when she was made the empress, she was even more calm and composed. Even when the sky was falling, she remained calm.
All the servants in the hall went down.
Only Du Ru, Murong Yu and the Queen Mother were left.
Du Ru called out "Mother" in a panic, and then called out "Aunt" weakly.
The Queen Mother said, "The Emperor just said that Du Ru was made Queen because she was the daughter of the Du family. Now you're putting the blame on me."
"I need to make it clear to His Majesty. Although I am a descendant of the Du family, during the selection of concubines, I never forced His Majesty to make a daughter of the Du family his empress. I even advised His Majesty that Pei Shu was both talented and beautiful, and came from a noble family, making her worthy of being the mother of the state. It was His Majesty who chose the Du family as his empress. Does His Majesty remember?"
Murong Yu said with a gloomy face: "I remember."
The Queen Mother had advised him in this way at that time, but he was still young and not fully grown. If he did not make the daughter of the Pei family his queen, he would naturally choose the daughter of the Du family, who was of the same lineage as the Queen Mother.
"Since the Emperor has chosen Du Ru as his empress, deposing her will affect the entire Du clan, and I cannot sit idly by. Your Majesty may punish her if he wishes, and may even revoke the power of the six palaces. However, the Du family must not be deposed. I watched over the Emperor, and I beg you to consider your upbringing and retain the Du family's position as empress."
The Queen Mother spoke in a calm tone, but her words left no room for negotiation.
Murong Yu did not answer.
The Queen Mother closed her eyes and said softly:
"Your Majesty, please don't forget that I fought for you to rule the world, and you promised to protect the Du family forever."
Murong Yu clenched his fists, a hint of anger flashed across his eyes, but he had to suppress it.
He tried his best to control his anger:
"According to what the Queen Mother said, what should we do?"
The Empress Dowager said: "Queen Du has become ill due to overwork and is no longer able to manage the affairs of the six palaces. She has left the palace to pray for blessings and recuperate. She may not return to the palace without the emperor's order. What do you think?"
Murong Yu looked at Du Ru lying on the ground with disgust, then looked at the Queen Mother who refused to give in, and said angrily:
"Just do as the Queen Mother wishes."
Murong Yu flicked his sleeves and strode away.
Du Ru didn't even catch a corner of Murong Yu's clothes. She hurriedly grabbed the Queen Mother's sleeve and begged:
"Aunt, aunt, Zhen'er is still young and in the palace. If I were not in the palace, Zhen'er would..."
"waste!"
The Queen Mother's face was covered with frost, and the jade beads in her hand hit Du Ru's face.
She was also very angry with her niece.
If she was concerned about the reputation of the Du family, why would she come to protect Du Ru?
"Why didn't you think of Zhen'er when you committed this evil? If you had been able to keep your position as queen and wait for Zhen'er to succeed you, you would have enjoyed endless wealth and glory. Now you've almost implicated the Du family.
If you don't leave the palace, will you be labeled as the deposed queen and bring shame to Zhen'er and the Du family?"
The Queen Mother's eyes were so cold that they sent chills down one's spine.
"I will not allow the Du family to produce a deposed empress. If you don't want to leave the palace, do you want to die as an apology?"
Du Ru's body suddenly trembled, and she collapsed, staring at the candlelight with empty eyes:
"Zhen'er..."
His expression was dull.
In the imperial study.
Murong Yu sat at his desk, reviewing memorials distractedly, trying his best to divert his mind from what had just happened.
Eunuch Wang lit the lamp under the glass lampshade:
"Your Majesty, it's late, it's time to rest. Your health is the most important thing."
Murong Yu narrowed his eyes, the anger in his eyes still lingering:
"Yuan Chi should be in Lingnan by now."
…
Midsummer has arrived.
Grass and trees stretch to the sky.
Heishan Township has made sufficient preparations. Because there are enough manpower, the early summer rice was harvested quickly and new rice was planted.
As long as the Mi Po people don't invade, the new rice they planted will grow full and solid rice ears in a few months.
Although everyone was a little panicked, they still lived their lives in an orderly manner.
The kitchen uses black plums, hawthorns and licorice to cook a lot of summer-heat-relieving soups, which are sour and sweet. After drinking them, there is still a hint of coolness in the throat.
"Aunt Qiu, Aunt Cuihua, we're here to get some black plum soup." A group of children were waiting in line at the kitchen door, carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.
Su Zhizhi and Xue Che stood in front leading the team, both with beads of sweat on their faces.
Running around every day has caused my skin color to become a little darker, but my eyes look clearer and brighter.
"Can I have a bowl first?" He Yuan smelled the sour and sweet taste, and his eyes almost fell into the soup.
He Yuan, the young master of Hewang Restaurant, also came to Heishan Township.
He Yuan's father He Wang did not give up his business after coming to Heishan Township. Since the restaurants in the county were not open for business now, he bought a shop on the street in Heishan Township and opened a He Wang Restaurant.
As a human being, you must have the courage to start over no matter where you are.
Due to a tight financial situation, He Wang cut off his son He Yuan's pocket money. He Yuan had no money to buy snacks, but he was still greedy, so he followed Su Zhizhi and Xue Che around to deliver snacks.
Although I have no money and am very tired, I can often eat and drink for free.
After these two months, He Yuan has neither gained nor lost weight.
"Okay, all of you drink a bowl before you leave, and try to go to the shade later. It's so hot out, don't get heatstroke."
Dozens of bamboo tubes were handed to the table in the kitchen, and Qiu Jinyu took a large spoon and poured the sweet soup into the bamboo tubes.
Under the command of Su Zhizhi and Xue Che, their group of children has grown into a team of forty or fifty people.
Each child has a bamboo cup hanging on his body and a small slingshot on his waist.
They are responsible for guiding the way, delivering meals, collecting firewood and so on.
The adults assigned the tasks to Su Zhizhi or Xue Che, and Su Zhizhi then assigned people to lead teams to complete the tasks.
They are also responsible for catching cicadas and small fish.
The captured cicadas and small fish were sent to the kitchen and fried in oil. They were very fragrant and everyone grabbed a handful to eat as snacks.
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