Chapter 980: The Empress Dowagerâs Death
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
âIn the past year, there has been a lot of backlog in the Imperial Courtâs government office. The students from all over the world have requested the
Imperial Court to seriously investigate Ning Boyuanâs case. Itâs indeed not good to delay this case anymore.â
The memorials of the court officials were sent into the Longevity Palace.
At this moment, the Empress Dowager was already bedridden. She leaned against a large ginger-colored pillow and listened weakly to the eunuchâs report about the situation in the previous dynasty.
âI heard that many students have already gathered at the Temple of Confucius and jointly protested to the Imperial Court, requesting a strict trial of Ning Yuanboâs case to seek justice for the thousands of students in the worldâŠâ
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager covered her mouth and coughed heart-wrenchingly. The eunuch looked at the handkerchief covering the Empress Dowagerâs mouth that was already dyed red with blood. His calves couldnât help but tremble, and cold sweat kept dripping from his forehead.
âCough, cough, coughâIâ The Empress Dowager coughed non-stop.
Auntie Shen quickly brought over a bowl of pear paste water and fed it to the Empress Dowager.
Miraculously, the Empress Dowager, who was coughing non-stop, looked much better after drinking a bowl of pear paste water. Her coughing gradually stopped.
The Empress Dowager panted and said, âAll of them are sanctimonious and dignified. To put it bluntly, theyâre just trying to eliminate dissidentsâŠâ
Ning Yuanbo was the Second Princeâs external relative. As long as Ning Yuanboâs case was not tried and the crime was not conclusive, Concubine Lan would still not lose her power. There was still a group of people in the court who supported the Second Prince.
The trial of Ning Yuanbo seemed reasonable, but in fact, it was targeting the Second Prince and Concubine Lan. They wanted to take the opportunity to wantonly cut off the Second Princeâs henchmen and implicate the Second Prince to completely eliminate him.
âHowâ How has the Emperorâs health been recently?â The Empress Dowagerâs yellow face was abnormally flushed, and her hoarse voice seemed to have been rubbed by sand.
The eunuchâs face was pale, and his mouth trembled. âHeâs still the same.â
Before he could finish speaking, his legs went limp and he knelt on the ground with a thud. The emperor had already had a stroke. His mouth was crooked and his eyes were slanted. Previously, he couldnât speak properly but could still say words. Recently, he couldnât even speak. When he opened his mouth, saliva drooled from the corner of his mouth and he made a sound from his throat.
After enduring for more than half a year, he was about to die.
Others might not know what was going on with the emperor, but how could the Empress Dowager not know?
The court officials were busy competing for power. Without the emperorâs intervention, the matter of establishing a successor could not be resolved. Empress Ning, Concubine Lan, and Imperial Concubine Xu were not to be trifled with. If the three sides fought, they could still restrain one another. However, once the balance was broken, it would cause internal strife.
What broke the balance was the Senior Imperial Censorâs advice.
There were already people who couldnât help but want to attack Concubine Lan.
Concubine Lan probably never dreamed that she would instruct the Senior Imperial Censor to divert the trouble and put aside the matter of the Fourth Princeâs patrol of the North, only for all of this to be just a trap.
âMeanwhile, look at herâŠâ Before she could finish speaking, large mouthfuls of blood gushed out of the Empress Dowagerâs mouth and nose.
âEmpress Dowager.â Auntie Shen was shocked and quickly rushed to the bed. Seeing that the Empress Dowagerâs eyes were rolled back and her mouth was open, she was breathing heavily. She shouted in a panic, âSomeone, quickly invite the imperial physician inâŠâ
The eunuch was shocked. His body suddenly crawled to the ground, but the âherâ that the Empress Dowager had mentioned kept echoing in his mind.
He was the Empress Dowagerâs trusted aide, so he naturally understood that this âherâ referred to Empress Ning.
The matter of the Fourth Princeâs patrol in the North was Empress Ningâs trap.
Empress Ning had first schemed for Second Miss Yuâs ânatural phoenix fateâ.
Then, she had instigated the royalists and mentioned the Fourth Princeâs patrol of the North.
Everyone thought that Empress Ning had planned for the Fourth Prince to patrol the North to win over the hearts of the people and accumulate reputation. She had further roped in Yue Fei, the King of the North, and the officials in the North.
At that time, the Fourth Princeâs reputation would be great, and the girl with the phoenix fateâ would be naturally betrothed to the Fourth Prince.
With the support of the Yu Clan, Empress Ning naturally adopted the Fourth Prince as her heir.
But who would have thought that this was a trap?
The Second Prince had obtained a lot of virtuous reputation in the royal court. However, if the Fourth Prince traveled to the North, the âvirtuous reputationâ would probably change hands.
No matter how virtuous the Second Prince was, could he compare to the Fourth Princeâs contribution to checking the hearts of the people on behalf of the emperor?
The Second Prince was the most shocked about the Fourth Princeâs patrol of the North.
In order to stop the Fourth Prince from patrolling the North, Concubine Lan let the Senior Imperial Censor expose the news that the emperor was seriously ill. Thus, Concubine Lan had the initiative.
After suppressing Empress Ningâs use of the âgirl with the phoenix fateâ to suppress the Fourth Prince, Empress Ning could no longer manipulate the royalists and cause trouble in the court.
Meanwhile, the Third Prince was useless and became easy to deal with.
Concubine Lan was right.
However, she had never expected that Empress Ning would feint.
Ning Yuanboâs case had never been tried. It was because the Empress Dowager did not want to break the balance of the struggle for the throne. However, Senior Imperial Censor Gu had stood out and broken the balance, so the Empress no longer had any scruples. She was using the royalists and thousands of students in the world to request a strict trial of Ning Yuanboâs case.
The balance that the Empress Dowager had painstakingly maintained had completely been broken.
When she heard the news of the Empress Dowagerâs death, Yu Youyao was having dinner with Yin Huaixi.
Yin Qi reported the news to Yin Huaixi. âThe palace is already under full martial law. The Empress has stepped forward and will start to arrange the Empress Dowagerâs funeral.â
Yin Huaixi subconsciously glanced at Yu Youyao.
Seeing that her smiling eyes were no longer smiling, he paused for a moment and put his chopsticks back on the plate.
Yin Huaixi asked helplessly, âItâs only a matter of time. Why arenât you eating?â Yu Youyao had a complicated expression. âItâs just that itâs a little too sudden.â
Yin Huaixi picked up a piece of mushroom and placed it in her bowl. He coaxed gently, âThe world is big, and eating is the most important. Try this dried mushroom with bamboo shoots. I specially found a chef whoâs good at making
Min cuisine and made the mushroom taste like seafood.â
Yu Youyao forced herself to eat a few mouthfuls and really couldnât eat anymore. âActually, the Empress Dowager has never treated me badly for a long time. I only got to where I am today because of her protection. I just feel a little stifled.
Yin Huaixi also put down his chopsticks. âYes, sheâs someone you know. You usually donât have much interaction. When you suddenly find out that she has passed away, you canât help but feel a little sad. Itâs human nature.â
Initially, she felt quite complicated. After hearing Yin Huaixiâs simple and straightforward words, Yu Youyao did not feel so uncomfortable anymore.
âNow that the Empress Dowager has passed away, Iâm afraid the entire court will be completely in chaos.â Without the Empress Dowager to balance the court, the Great Zhou Dynasty would fall apart. It was already a foregone conclusion..
New novel chapters are published on fr(e)ewebnov(e)l.com