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"Yes." Eunuch Su responded to Empress Xiao’s words, and then instructed two capable eunuchs to drag the battered Princess Ning"an away.
"You may proceed to court." Empress Xiao faced Princess Xinyang and told her.
Princess Xinyang nodded, reminding, "Don"t let her approach His Majesty again."
Empress Xiao was taken aback.
But Princess Xinyang didn"t say anything more. She put on the bamboo hat handed over by her servant girl and walked towards the imperial audience hall.
Everyone present in the scene, including Empress Xiao, took a long time to recover.
"Did Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing really do all those things..."
“Cough!”
A senior official from the Imperial Censorate Office muttered quietly, but was nudged by Minister Xu of the Ministry of War with his elbow. Then Minister Xu cleared his throat to signal his old friend to keep quiet.
"Imperial mother..." The Crown Prince glanced worriedly at Empress Xiao.
"Mother is fine. You go to court as well." Empress Xiao was greatly shaken. She wasn"t sympathizing with Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing. In fact, she knew some things about Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, just not the whole story.
She wasn"t sympathizing with Princess Ning"an either.
She simply couldn"t recover her composure for a while.
Empress Xiao patted her son"s shoulder and said, "Hurry, don"t delay the court affairs. There are still other matters this imperial mother of yours has to do."
Crown Prince: "Okay."
Empress Xiao closed her eyes. She felt reluctant, yet still cautioned with a sigh, "Listen... Listen to your Aunt Xinyang."
"He wouldn"t dare not listen, otherwise Long Yi would beat him." Princess Xinyang stated without turning around.
Meanwhile, what Long Yi heard was—— blablablabla, Long Yi, blabla, beat him.
Long Yi swiftly appeared in front of the Crown Prince!
The Crown Prince"s hairs stood on end. Wait, wait wait! Why do I get a beating when I’m obedient?
Long Yi took the Crown Prince to a deserted place and gave him a good spanking, not too harsh, but enough to make the Crown Prince suffer.
……
After Empress Xiao returned to Kunning Palace, she sent someone to summon Xiao Heng into the imperial palace.
Because Xiao Heng was a male outsider and wasn’t allowed to enter Kunning Palace, Empress Xiao met him in a side hall of Huaqing Palace.
Ever since she left the imperial audience hall, Empress Xiao couldn"t stop pondering.
From the moment Xiao Heng received the summons, he understood that the truth couldn"t be concealed forever.
Some things would eventually come to light.
Moreover, at this stage, there was really nothing he needed to hide from Empress Xiao.
Xiao Heng began by recounting all of Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing"s actions, including those not mentioned by Princess Xinyang, such as the fact that she was put to death by the Emperor.
Empress Xiao had already calmed herself during the hour she was waiting for Xiao Heng.
Upon hearing that the Emperor had actually put Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing to death, she surprisingly felt little turmoil in her heart.
Just a bit saddened.
It was often said that monarchs were heartless, but Empress Xiao knew that the Emperor was a deeply sentimental person. The Crown Prince inherited his sentimentality, which was why he became so deeply entangled with Wen Linlang.
"What about Princess Ning"an? What"s wrong with her?"
Compared to the already resolved matter of Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, Empress Xiao was more concerned about the living member of the imperial family before her. "Ning"an... Did she really want to harm Xinyang?"
Xiao Heng shook his head, "No, she didn"t."
Princess Ning"an came back for revenge, but her target wasn"t Princess Xinyang.
His Majesty, Grandaunt, Gu Jiao, the Gu Family... were the ultimate objects of her revenge.
In Princess Ning"an"s eyes, His Majesty and Empress Dowager Zhuang killed Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, while Gu Jiao and Gu Changqing killed the Imperial Son-in-law.
Empress Xiao furrowed her brows, "What does the Gu Family"s daughter have to do with all this?"
She could understand the other three, but wasn"t the Imperial Son-in-law killed by Gu Changqing?
Xiao Heng explained, "While stationed on the border, the remnants of the previous dynasty brought plague victims, attempting to use them to infect the Gu Family Army to death. JiaoJiao unintentionally got infected while treating a patient. She was unaware and fainted during an operation and was subsequently taken back by the Imperial Son-in-law. As a result, the Imperial Son-in-law got infected as well, but JiaoJiao didn"t give him medicine."
Empress Xiao said indignantly, "Of course! Such a scoundrel shouldn"t be given any medicine! So what? Did she put the blame on the Gu Family’s daughter for this? But didn"t they bring the plague themselves? Being infected can only be seen as reaping what they sow! What does it have to do with the Gu Family’s daughter?"
"Some people are just unreasonable. If they were reasonable, they wouldn"t be who they are."
"That"s true." Empress Xiao let out a sigh, "So, her giving up on the Imperial Son-in-law wasn"t really out of righteousness, but out of necessity."
"According to JiaoJiao, her relationship with the Imperial Son-in-law had soured before he was diagnosed with the plague. Now thinking about it, she probably had planned out every step of her retreat from very early on."
Even the Imperial Son-in-law himself couldn"t understand Princess Ning’an thoughts and just thought she had really distanced herself from him.
"This person"s mind is too deep... Why didn"t we notice her cunning earlier?" Empress Xiao frowned, the bright smile of the young Princess Ning"an"s flashing through her mind, making it all hard to believe.
Next, Xiao Heng informed Empress Xiao of the Heavenly Music House case, as well as Princess Ning"an"s killing of Sun Ping, persecution of His Majesty, bribery of a.s.sistant Minister Li to slander Minister Xing and Empress Dowager Zhuang, and even the forgery of two imperial decrees by Princess Ning"an.
Empress Xiao"s face turned blue with anger, "This is outrageous! Outrageous!"
She was so angry that her teeth itched. It took her a while to suppress her anger and ask Xiao Heng, "Is Empress Dowager Zhuang all right?"
Xiao Heng replied, "She"s fine. Empress Dowager Zhuang is staying in Bishui Alley, she’s very safe."
"That"s good." Empress Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, "You all need to be careful too."
"We will." Xiao Heng nodded in agreement.Raz P."s Thoughts
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