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T H E S U N
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Inside the Renshou Palace, Empress Dowager Zhuang was handling the backlog of official business from the past few days.
As she had grown older, it took her a long time to recover from a serious illness. It was only now that she realized more deeply how difficult it had been to recover from her illness back then in the countryside.
Leprosy wasn’t an ordinary cold. Its contagiousness alone made everyone dread it. She really didn’t know how those two fools dared to take her in.
Moreover, the family's condition was already very poor at the time, struggling to make ends meet, yet they still fed and took care of an ill stranger.
Empress Dowager Zhuang let out a sigh.
"Your Majesty, are you reminiscing about the days in the countryside?" Eunuch Qin asked with a smile.
"Mm." Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't deny it. "Back then, they deceived Aijia into thinking she had tuberculosis, and advised Aijia not to go out so as to avoid infecting the villagers."
Eunuch Qin was surprised, "Did Your Majesty really believe them?"
"How could Aijia not?" Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed. "At that time, Aijia didn't remember anything."
"What happened… later?" Eunuch Qin asked.
"After about ten days or so, they sat down at the same table and had a meal with Aijia." Empress Dowager Zhuang recalled.
"Ah..." Eunuch Qin was quite shocked. "Your Majesty was cured in just about half a month?"
"No." Empress Dowager Zhuang shook her head. "It’s just that it was no longer contagious. Aijia continued to take medicine for six months."
Still, most people would not do that. Even if the person’s leprosy were cured, others would still avoid them like the plague.
"Young Miss Gu and Senior Compiler Xiao sincerely care for Your Majesty. This servant is truly happy for Your Majesty." Eunuch Qin's words came from the bottom of his heart.
He met Empress Dowager when she was sent to the cold palace. He was a junior eunuch there and was chosen by the Empress Dowager who was then Empress Xiande to wait upon her.
After Empress Xiande was released from the cold palace, he was also taken out with her. In the blink of an eye, he had been with the Empress Dowager for decades, accompanying her through all the ups and downs.
Many people try to flatter Empress Dowager, but those who genuinely cared for her without expecting anything in return were extremely rare.
If Empress Dowager wasn't the Empress Dowager, she would likely never see the shadow of those people in her life.
Young Miss Zhuang often complained about how Empress Dowager favored Young Miss Gu more than her own family, but did she ever stop to think whether she truly had half the sincerity that Young Miss Gu had towards the Empress Dowager?
Having lived most of her life in loneliness and hardship, Empress Dowager Zhuang never expected to encounter such caring people in her old age.
"About Senior Compiler Xiao..." Eunuch Qin also noticed that something was amiss between Empress Dowager Zhuang and Senior Compiler Xiao. Although he was Empress Dowager’s confidant, she didn't confide everything in him.
He could guess half of Empress Dowager's thoughts, but the other half was impossible to fathom.
"Is it because he looks like the deceased Little Marquis?" Eunuch Qin asked cautiously.
Empress Dowager never poisoned the Little Marquis, but the Emperor, Marquis Xuanping, and the rest of the world believed that she did. Probably even the Zhuang Family truly thought that it was her work.
The only difference was that the Zhuang Family had no complaints about it.
However, being so unjustly accused must have left a shadow on the Empress Dowager, so when she saw someone who resembled Little Marquis so much, she felt uncomfortable.
Of course, this was just Eunuch Qin's own speculation. Whether Empress Dowager actually thought this way was unknown.
"Aijia..." Empress Dowager Zhuang was about to speak when she heard a panicked voice outside her study. "Your Majesty! You can't go inside!"
"Zhen is the Emperor! The entire world belongs to Zhen! How dare you block Zhen from entering the Renshou Palace? Are you trying to rebel?!" It was the Emperor's angry roar.
Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned impatiently and gave Eunuch Qin a signal.
Eunuch Qin walked out with his horsetail whisk and ordered the palace maids, "Step back." He then bowed to the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please come in."
"Humph!"
The Emperor coldly glared at everyone and brushed past them into Empress Dowager Zhuang's study. "Empress Dowager really has good means! You even refuse to recuperate peacefully in the Renshou Palace and have to make things difficult for Zhen! Does the Empress Dowager dislike seeing Zhen having a peaceful day?!"
Eunuch Qin, who had chased after the Emperor, looked at Empress Dowager Zhuang and then at the pale-faced palace maids in the room. His expression turned ugly.
Empress Dowager Zhuang said lightly, "All of you, withdraw."
"Yes." Eunuch Qin and the palace maids retreated.
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at the Emperor expressionlessly and threw the document in her hand onto the table, saying, "What madness are you up to again?!"
The Emperor sneered, "That's what Zhen should be asking the Empress Dowager. What madness have you been up to again? Aren't you satisfied with wielding half of the country's power and forcing Zhen’s imperial concubine mother to live in a nunnery? How far are you willing to go with your cruelty? Must you drive away and kill everyone by Zhen’s side!?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned and asked, "Who did Aijia kill?"
"Hah!" The Emperor stood in front of the desk, looking at the dignified Empress Dowager Zhuang. He sneered and said, "What kind of act is Empress Dowager playing now? You've already done everything, so why are you still pretending? You and Zhen have torn our faces apart long ago. No need for empty talk and deception!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang's eyes flashed with coldness, but her expression remained indifferent. "Aijia has done too many things and doesn’t know which one you're talking about."
The Emperor was furious and pointed at Empress Dowager Zhuang, "Stop pretending! Supervisor Zhang was summoned by you, the Empress Dowager, to Renshou Palace last night and hanged herself when she returned! Do you dare say that you didn't kill her!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang sneered and raised her eyes, looking contemptuous and mocking, "So what if Aijia did kill her?"
She slowly stood up from behind the desk and walked towards the Emperor step by step. "Can you depose Aijia or even kill Aijia? Even if Aijia kills everyone around you, what can you do to Aijia?"
"You vicious woman!" The Emperor raised his hand.
"Your Majesty!" Xiao Liulang quickly walked in, threw away his crutch, and held the Emperor's hand, protecting Empress Dowager Zhuang behind him.
Seeing the young man suddenly blocking her from the Emperor, Empress Dowager Zhuang was startled.
The young man looked thin and weak, but he didn't hesitate to block the Emperor.
The Emperor was enraged, "Xiao Liulang, get out of the way!"
"It's not the Empress Dowager." Xiao Liulang said solemnly, he didn't move or let go of the Emperor’s hand, "It's this humble official. Last night, this humble official called Supervisor Zhang to come here, it had nothing to do with the Empress Dowager."
The Emperor was so furious that his lungs were about to explode, "Even you are speaking up for her! All of you… All of you are on her side, I see! Xiao Liulang! Don’t forget that you are the newly appointed Zhuangyuan by Zhen!"
Xiao Liulang responded solemnly, "I am Your Majesty's official and Your Majesty's newly appointed Zhuangyuan. It is precisely because of this that this humble official does not want to see Your Majesty make a mistake. What Your Majesty has done today will be recorded by the historians. Your Majesty is a wise ruler who shall achieve great deeds that will be recorded in history and admired for generations to come. You should not destroy a century of reputation with a moment of impulse."
The Emperor asked sadly and aggrievedly, "Is Zhen wrong? What did Zhen do wrong?"
Xiao Liulang said, "Your Majesty did nothing wrong, neither did the Empress Dowager. It was this humble official who made a mistake. This humble official should not have invited Supervisor Zhang here. If Your Majesty wants to blame someone, blame this humble official. It was this humble official who caused her death."
"You... You..." The Emperor was so angry that his eyes turned bloodshot, and his whole body trembled.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you must at least listen to what happened." Eunuch Wei entered the room to persuade him.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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