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Placing righteousness before family was showing loyalty to the Emperor, but when it fell into the ears of others, it could be airing your family’s dirty laundry in public.
Imperial Concubine Shu certainly didn"t want the Empress to see her as a joke, but she could only shoot the already nocked arrow. She could only harden her scalp and proceed on exposing Gu Jiao, "...It was only today that this imperial concubine subject found out that that girl is acquainted with Empress Dowager."
Imperial Concubine Shu didn’t take sides in the harem. She didn’t curry favor with Imperial Consort Zhuang and didn’t take refuge in Empress Xiao’s camp, but she always paid great attention to one thing, that was, she must never get too close to Empress Dowager Zhuang.
She reported this matter also to take herself out of the picture.
Of course, she didn"t forget to exonerate Marquis Ding"an Estate as well, "That girl never came to pay her respects to me, nor did she return to the estate to pay her respects to her grandfather and grandmother when she arrived in the capital. Her brothers at home were all strangers to her..."
Thus, her collusion with the Empress Dowager could not have been incited by the Marquis Ding"an Estate.
Empress Xiao was actually here to talk about this matter, but she wasn’t as anxious as Imperial Concubine Shu. She needed to see His Majesty’s att.i.tude towards that girl first. She wouldn’t be a fool for one"s gains.
Moreover, there were a lot of people in the palace. Even if she didn’t say anything, the incident in the imperial garden would still reach His Majesty’s ear sooner or later.
At most, she just didn"t report it.
Empress Xiao was the mother of a country. She did not need credit to sit firmly on her throne, on the contrary, she could not make a mistake, otherwise it would implicate the Crown Prince.
Empress Xiao didn"t expect that the first person to come and inform the Emperor would be Imperial Concubine Shu.
That girl was Imperial Concubine Shu’s first niece after all.
But, that"s right.
She wasn’t close to Imperial Concubine Shu in the least. She invented the bellows and glutinous rice mortar, which won His Majesty"s appreciation, but Imperial Concubine Shu not only failed to bask in her light, she was also punished by His Majesty. Today, too, the Fifth Prince was pushed into the water by her.
With the new hatred and old hatred piling up together, it would be more strange if Imperial Concubine Shu didn’t want to tear up that girl.
Empress Xiao drank tea quietly without a word of comment.
The Emperor"s face sank. He looked at Empress Xiao and asked, "Did the Empress see it as well?"
Empress Xiao put down the tea cup in hand, then said with a sigh, "Empress subject did see her go to Renshou Palace with Empress Dowager. Empress subject heard that Empress Dowager was ill and invited a physician from among the citizens."
Upon hearing that she was invited as a physician, the Emperor"s expression eased a bit.
He was aware of the little miracle physician’s medical skills, and the reputation of Miraculous Hands Hall had gradually spread out in the capital. It wasn’t surprising for Empress Dowager Zhuang to admire talented common people and invite them to the palace.
Imperial Concubine Shu added quickly, "But how could a commoner physician sit on Empress Dowager"s phoenix palanquin? Few princesses have ever sat on it, if none."
Empress Xiao smiled and stopped talking.
The Emperor knew Empress Dowager Zhuang"s character. She could never allow a physician whom she had only met once or twice to sit on her own phoenix palanquin. Imperial Concubine Shu was right. Few princesses had ever sat on it.
What a heinous old woman!
Did she buy off the little miracle physician?
The Emperor’s voice sank, "Return to your palaces first, I still have some things to deal with."
Imperial Concubine Shu understood that the Emperor was going to verify the truth of the matter. She wasn’t afraid that the Emperor would investigate, in fact she was afraid that the Emperor wouldn’t check.
So many pairs of eyes had witnessed it. That girl was very close to Empress Dowager Zhuang. It really looked fishy at first glance!
At night, the Emperor summoned Eunuch He from the Imperial Household Department and ordered him to take people with him to investigate the relationship between Gu Jiao and Empress Dowager Zhuang.
The relationship between Gu Jiao and Empress Dowager Zhuang wasn’t difficult to investigate. No one found out about it before because n.o.body suspected that the two of them might have connections.
Eunuch He took a load of stuff and went to Bishui Alley while pretending to be a peddler, and then everything surfaced.
The candle in the imperial study cast a flickering light on the Emperor"s face. He clenched his fists and said with forbearance, "What did you say? She saved the Empress Dowager?"
"Yes, Empress Dowager is the Grandaunt in her and Senior Compiler Xiao’s family. When Senior Compiler Xiao went to the capital to take the imperial exam, they were also taken along from the countryside. But..." Eunuch He paused, wondering whether to say that Empress Dowager Zhuang"s performance in Bishui Alley seemed to be different from that in the palace.
If he hadn’t confirmed her distinctive features and her portrait, he would have almost believed that JiaoJiao’s Grandaunt from the mouth of their neighbors was a real elderly lady from the countryside.
The fact that she won every bet they had was also consistent. After all, Empress Dowager Zhuang was a person who never lost money.
Eunuch He went on, "I also inquired about the time when Empress Dowager arrived at their home. It was almost shortly after Empress Dowager disappeared from Leprosy Mountain. Our people lost Empress Dowager"s whereabouts in Qingquan Town, and they were also from Qingquan Town."
The Emperor slumped down in his chair, his face full of disbelief and ache, "So... She met the Empress Dowager before she met me..."
Eunuch He said with a sigh, "This servant is afraid so."
The Emperor added, "Did she cure the Empress Dowager"s leprosy?"
Eunuch He answered, "This servant doesn’t know."
But he was afraid that was the case.
The Emperor revealed a self-mocking smile, his eyes full of pain, "She can even cure venereal disease, how could she not cure leprosy? I should have known, apart from her... who else has the ability to cure Empress Dowager"s leprosy?! I just didn’t want to guess it was her!"
"Your Majesty..." Eunuch Wei gazed at the Emperor"s almost crazed look and felt worried.
The rim of the Emperor"s eyes were red.
His feelings for Gu Jiao were very special.
It was by no means the love between men and women, but it wasn’t just the normal feeling between a physician and a patient either.
This little girl carried too much of his expectations. He was grateful to her, appreciated her, valued her, and even cherished her. Whenever he saw her, he would feel happy.
But he didn"t expect... She was the Empress Dowager’s person!
People with different positions and outlook had different prejudices, and their perspectives on things would also be different.
Just like how Grand Preceptor Zhuang interpreted Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang’s actions of saving Empress Dowager Zhuang and taking her in. In Grand Preceptor Zhuang’s view, Xiao Liulang was the Emperor’s person. He was aware that the other party was the Empress Dowager, and their actions of rescuing her and taking her in were only for the purpose of placing the Empress Dowager under house arrest.
But when it fell into the eyes of the Emperor, it was Empress Dowager Zhuang who deliberately concealed her ident.i.ty, using the image of an innocent old woman to deceive the sympathy and trust of the couple, then finally, she took advantage of Xiao Liulang’s taking the imperial exam to return to the capital.Raz P."s Thoughts
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