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Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing stopped grinding the taro paste, holding the jar in her arms with one hand and gripping the pestle with the other, her eyes filled with confusion. "What did I do?"
The Emperor stared at Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing without blinking, his hand on his knee slowly tightening into a fist, "Imperial concubine mother, stop pretending to be ignorant. There are no completely airtight walls in this world. You know very well what you have done."
"I know what I have done? Your Majesty, if you desire to impose guilt, finding a pretext will not be difficult.” Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing said faintly, a hint of anger in her voice. She tossed the pestle into the jar and placed it casually on the table.
Her expression showed no signs of guilt. It was reasonable to say that she really hadn’t done anything wrong. However, the Emperor's suspicions grew like bamboo shoots after rain, growing longer on the way and rising higher when he saw her in person.
The Emperor said in a solemn voice, "Alright, if imperial concubine mother wants to hear it, then Zhen will tell you. The little miracle physician was attacked today and narrowly escaped harm. If it weren't for her quick thinking and a bit of skills, she would have suffered a terrible fate."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing exclaimed, "So you think I orchestrated this?"
"Didn’t you?" The Emperor retorted through gritted teeth.
"Why would I do such a thing?" Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing asked.
The Emperor sneered, "Why? Zhen also wants to ask why, imperial concubine mother! Is it that anyone Zhen favors, you want to drive away from Zhen’s side? It was Empress Zhuang in the past, and now it's the little miracle physician. In your heart, apart from yourself, is Zhen not allowed to be close to anyone!"
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing suddenly raised her voice, "I have never thought that way!"
The Emperor mockingly curled his lips, "Is that so? Then why did you prevent Zhen from meeting the Empress?"
"When did I..." Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's words halted abruptly, and her whole person froze.
The Emperor’s gaze towards her was filled with coldness, "Has imperial concubine mother remembered now? To be honest, Zhen had forgotten about it too, but these past few days, Zhen suddenly recalled. When Ning'an and Zhen secretly went to the cold palace to visit the Empress, you punished us by kneeling in the snow overnight, and as a result, Ning'an fell seriously ill."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing closed her eyes and explained with forbearance, "That was because I didn't want to give Imperial Consort Liu a handle! The Empress also didn't want you to visit her in the cold palace! She didn't want to bring trouble to you two, and so did I. The injury is on the child, but the pain is in the mother's heart. Do you think it wasn't difficult for me as a mother to have my children kneel in the snow?"
The Emperor calmly responded, "Is that so? Zhen doesn’t recall imperial concubine mother showing any signs of distress."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing clenched her fingers tightly.
Grannie Cai outside the room was so anxious as she held her breath.
She knew about the situation at that time. Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing punished the Emperor and Princess Ning'an while tears welled up in her eyes. Anyone could see that she was reluctant to do so.
Yet the Emperor claimed to have forgotten.
It must be because of that medicine... It must be...
"Whatever Your Majesty says, so be it." Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing lowered her gaze, her expression and tone filled with hurt.
"Your Majesty!" Grannie Cai couldn't help but enter the room and kneel down. "Imperial concubine dowager would never do such a thing! She is someone who wouldn't even harm an ant! How could she send someone to assassinate Young Miss Gu?"
A hint of scorn flashed within the Emperor's eyes, "She wouldn't even harm an ant? Then who was it that beat Fuqing to death, who was serving by Zhen’s side back then?"
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's pupils contracted, "What is Your Majesty saying?"
The Emperor said coldly, "Zhen is saying that imperial concubine mother had beaten Fuqing to death!"
Fuqing's name was long forgotten in the palace, to the extent that no one remembered his existence, but he was someone who had served by the Emperor's side during his youth.
It was only after his death that Eunuch Wei came to be by the Emperor's side.
But... Fuqing had been bribed by Imperial Consort Liu to entrap the Emperor several times, so he deserved his death. Moreover, it wasn’t the imperial concubine dowager who ordered his execution at that time but the then Empress Xiande, Zhuang Jinse!
"All of you, look carefully. This is the fate of those who seek personal gain behind their master's back!"
"Your Highness... Your Highness, please save this servant... This servant admits his mistake..."
"Imperial mother..."
"Carry out the execution!"
It was Zhuang Jinse's doing, so why was it being blamed on her?!
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's hands gradually clenched into fists, her knuckles faintly turning white due to exerting too much force.
Grannie Cai choked with emotion, "That’s not it, Your Majesty! It wasn't the imperial concubine dowager——"
The Emperor didn't even look at Grannie Cai as his gaze, which was burning like a torch, was fixed on Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing. "Fine! If imperial concubine mother denies involvement in the little miracle physician's case and Fuqing's case, then what about the case with Yue Rou!"
Yue Rou or Imperial Concubine Rou.
When the Emperor was still a prince, he accompanied the late Emperor on a trip to Jiangnan and brought back a beauty. After ascending the throne, he bestowed the title of Imperial Concubine Rou upon her.
Imperial Concubine Rou died in childbirth.
The Emperor gritted his teeth, "On the day before Yue Rou's death, imperial concubine mother summoned her to her palace. What did imperial concubine mother say to her that frightened her into premature labor!"
For heaven's sake, Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing never summoned Imperial Concubine Rou. It was Imperial Concubine Rou who came to pay respects to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing on her own. As for why she had a premature labor, it was due to her own poor health and had nothing to do with Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing at all!
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing looked at the Emperor in disbelief, her nails digging into her flesh.
She simply got used to someone's kindness and forgot that this kindness actually came from a pill. She even had a sense of confidence and illusion that even if the effects of the pill wear off, the other party would still be kind to her as before.
"Do not touch the little miracle physician again. Do not touch anyone by my side, and do not exhaust the last trace of mother-son affection between us!"
The Emperor’s voice brimmed with coldness. After saying that, he stood up and walked away without so much as a glance back.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing was so infuriated that she knocked the jar on the table to the floor!
It was the taro paste she had been working on all afternoon, intending to make taro pastries for the Emperor.
The Emperor enjoyed eating the snacks she made: jujube paste pastry, taro paste pastry, osmanthus cake, thousand-layer pastry. He liked them all.
"Imperial concubine dowager..." Grannie Cai sympathetically opened her mouth. In order to make the taro paste, imperial concubine dowager had even injured her hand.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing looked at her bandaged thumb and murmured, "He didn't even notice that my hand was injured."
When someone who used to cherish and care for you suddenly became indifferent, the disparity was enormous.
Grannie Cai said with a heartache, "Imperial concubine dowager... This servant has advised you before, it's useless. You might as well do nothing..."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's eyes deepened, "Zhuang Jinse did nothing back then. I often wondered why she didn't do something. Did she not want to salvage the situation? She didn't even know that the Emperor was drugged. How could she be so heartless? How could she be so proud? How could she let go so easily?!"
After discovering that her son was no longer close to her, Zhuang Jinse didn't make any efforts to retain him. She flew away like a proud phoenix, without any nostalgia!
She walked away decisively and swiftly, as if she had never cherished her son before!
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing covered her chest, feeling as if a sharp knife was piercing through it. "...Isn't she sad at all?"
Grannie Cai sighed inwardly, "How could she not be sad? It's just her temperament. She would rather be miserable until death than humble herself to anyone. It was the same with the late Emperor, and it's the same with His Majesty."
How many sleepless nights did Zhuang Jinse have, hiding in the darkness while licking her own wounds alone?
She might have experienced pain, cried, and had her heart torn apart, but she would never let others see her vulnerability.
Since the time she turned the late Emperor's harem into her own domain, she was no longer the original Zhuang Jinse.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing returned to her own room and took out the imperial decree.
Grannie Cai's face changed. "Imperial concubine dowager, what are you planning to do? Please don't act impulsively!"
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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