The Emperor strode in and saw the Empress kneeling on the ground. He glared fiercely at Shang GuGu and knelt beside the Empress, "Mother, your son is here."
"Don’t call mother," the Empress Dowager, who had been sitting upright, turned away, her chest heaving with anger, "Do you think I am your mother?"
The Emperor opened his mouth, then turned to the kneeling Empress and said, "Empress, please take them and go first."
The Empress slightly bowed her body, pushing herself up from the floor. The Emperor reached out to help her, and Shang GuGu quickly stepped forward to take over. Both of them scanned the room with their eyes, and most people followed them out.
Only a few close confidants of the Empress Dowager hesitated and did not move.
The Emperor lifted his eyelids and glanced at them. They imdiately lowered their heads as if shocked, stealing a look at the Empress Dowager before bowing and leaving.
Only then did the Emperor sit on the other side of the couch and sighed, "Mother, this concerns national affairs; it is not sothing that I, alone, can decisively resolve."
The Empress Dowager’s face darkened as she raised her head and looked intently at the Emperor for a good while, then coldly chuckled, "Erlang, is it truly that you cannot, or that you simply do not wish to?"
The Emperor also looked at the Empress Dowager, and after a long pause said, "Mother, you have also heard the accusations from Bai Shan and Zhou Man today. I must provide an explanation to the people of the world, especially to those of Jiannan."
"But he is your brother too!"
"Yes, I have not said he is not."
The Empress Dowager covered her face as tears seeped through her fingertips. She sobbed, "In the end, whether it’s national affairs or family matters, you have the final say..."
"With everything happening so suddenly, with all the court officials and even the clan patriarchs present, do you think this son can have the final say?" The Emperor put his arm around her shoulder, speaking softly, "Mother, we say this world belongs to our Li Family, but in reality, it is not only ours."
The Empress Dowager lowered her hand, her eyes tightly shut. After a while, she opened them, her sleeve sliding down to cover her clenched fists. She stared at the Emperor and asked, "I ask for nothing else, just one thing; can you promise to spare your brother’s life?"
The Emperor looked down, eting her gaze.
The Empress Dowager continued pleadingly, "Erlang, I gave birth to four children, and now only you and Five are left. In the past, when you three brothers and your father went out to war, only Five stayed by my side..."
"Alright," the Emperor held her hand, speaking softly, "I promise you, as long as Wulang stays in the capital, I can keep him safe."
Relieved, the Empress Dowager grasped his hand and nodded.
The Emperor wiped away her tears and unexpectedly asked, "Mother, have you heard about what Five did in Yizhou City?"
The Empress Dowager stiffened, turning to look at the Emperor with a sharp gaze sweeping across his face, "What, do you suspect ?"
"Your son dares not. It’s just that Five seems to have gone too far in his reckless boldness. According to Bai Shan and the others’ testimonies, he started preparing over a decade ago when Father was still here."
Unable to contain herself, the Empress Dowager retorted, "Not only was your father here, but your eldest brother and third brother were alive as well."
The Emperor’s face turned slightly pale.
The Empress Dowager closed her eyes and waved her hand, "You should also rest. In a while, I’ll have soone send so things to Five."
"Mother..."
"What, I can’t even send so food and clothes to my own son?"
The Emperor forced a smile, "Mother, your son will not neglect Wulang in that regard."
"Of course I know you won’t treat unfairly, but what’s yours is yours, and what I give is the heart of a mother," she said.
The Emperor, left with no choice, acknowledged and bowed out of the room.
Long after the Emperor had left, the Empress Dowager leaned against the bedstead, holding her forehead, and said in a deep voice, "Co out."
The Princess Consort of Yizhou, with her eyes red and swollen from crying, erged from behind the screen, "Mother..."
The Empress Dowager opened her eyes to look at her and said gently, "Co here."
As the Princess Consort of Yizhou approached, the Empress Dowager’s expression suddenly changed, and she fiercely slapped her, causing the consort to fall to the ground.
The Princess Consort of Yizhou, covering her face, fell to the ground. The force of the Empress Dowager’s slap was so strong that her ears were still ringing.
The Empress Dowager fell back onto the bed but still felt unsatisfied, and threw the pillow behind her at the consort.
The Princess Consort of Yizhou was terrified and knelt on the ground, shivering, "Mother, Your Majesty..."
The Empress Dowager pulled her over and stared into her eyes, "Tell , was what those two boys said in the court true?"
The Princess Consort of Yizhou’s face turned pale, and she kept shaking her head, "Your Majesty, those were all false accusations, false accusations..."
The Empress Dowager shoved her to the ground and spoke in a lowered voice, "Cry, shout, but who knows how many of the Emperor and Empress’s people are in this palace? Whatever you cry out here today, they’ll know once you turn around."
The Princess Consort of Yizhou covered her mouth, not daring to cry out anymore.
The Empress Dowager sat on the ground from the bedstead, facing the Princess Consort of Yizhou eye to eye, and asked, "Ms. Ying, I’ll ask you one more ti, is what those two boys said true? Is Wulang harboring private soldiers in Yizhou?"
The eyes of the Princess Consort of Yizhou welled up with tears, and she shook her head. Seeing the Empress Dowager’s gaze beco sharp, she hesitantly nodded and loosened her grip, whispering, "Your Majesty, I truly did not know, but the Prince is in great need of money. He used my dowry to conduct business and occasionally had go back to my family to get money. I know, the Prince has kept a lot of retainers..."
The Empress Dowager raised her hand in anger. Seeing her cower, she frustratingly lowered her hand and stared at Ms. Ying with disappointnt, "Your grandchildren are able to run around already, and yet you remain completely ignorant of your husband’s activities. You, you..."
Compared to the Empress, this daughter-in-law fell far short.
The Empress Dowager felt such heartache she could barely breathe.
Clutching her chest, she remained silent for a long while, until the Princess Consort of Yizhou fearfully cried, "Your Majesty, please, save the Prince. He surely didn’t an to do whatever he’s accused of."
The Empress Dowager closed her eyes and then asked, "What about the three from Xin’an?"
The Princess Consort of Yizhou wiped her tears and said, "Xin’an and XinPing were taken away by the Emperor’s n, only Xinqing and Yunfeng are still with ."
The Empress Dowager exhaled, "You all just stay obediently within the palace, don’t go anywhere. Send Xinqing and Yunfeng to my palace. As long as you don’t run around, I can keep you safe."
The Princess Consort of Yizhou nodded earnestly, extrely compliant.
Several places in the palace had extinguished their lights, but there were always a few that remained brightly lit until the first glimr of dawn appeared in the sky, and then the lights were slowly extinguished.
anwhile, in the dungeon, Bai Shan and Manbao finally wrapped the person on the ground into a white bundle right before the second candlestick was about to burn out. Except for his head, his whole body was covered in dicated wrappings.
The only one who went to bed early tonight, Xiang Chao, woke up to pitch darkness. It took him a mont to realize there was sothing on his head. He imdiately reached up and removed the covering from his head, and as he looked up, he saw the two people putting down the scissors, stretching and rubbing their necks wearily, while lying on the floor wrapped in white linen except for the recognizable head was Young Master Bai Er.
Xiang Chao’s mouth hung open in shock.
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