When Qiu Yelan and her husband racked their brains to think about what Qiu Feng was thinking about, in the Imperial City, Ganli Palace…
Suddenly, the door of the hall opened, as the wind rolled snow in, blowing the curtain away and showing the deepest luxuriant tent.
Empress Dowager Ye opened her eyes and was not surprised to see that Maid Lin came in slowly with an ebony lacquer plate. She said, “It’s time for you to put a stop to your life.”
“Finally, will it end?” Empress Dowager Ye patted the hand of the only old palace lady beside her. Unlike the old palace lady with a pale face, the Empress Dowager was very calm at the moment. She motioned the old palace lady to help her sit up. She took the poisoned wine from the plate held high by Maid Lin who knelt down to her and looked at it. She was ready to drink it without hesitation. But when her lips touched the wine, she suddenly stopped and smiled at Maid Lin who was frowning, “Don’t worry. I’ve long wanted to be free. I won’t toss you.”
Maid Lin thought that you’d better do this. Otherwise, she would call the bodyguards in and let them force you to drink. It would be embarrassing and some bodyguards trained by the Jiang Family might be killed in consequence. It was really a waste.
She didn’t want to have more accidents, so she asked respectfully, “What else can I do for you, madam? Don’t worry, County Princess Duanrou doesn’t know anything. Her Majesty will still regard her as her daughter.”
This was not only to reassure Empress Dowager Ye, but also to remind her that your daughter’s good life in the future depends on the Jiang Family. Now the Jiang Family wanted you to die, didn’t you dare to live?
Empress Dowager Ye looked at her for a while and said, “I just want to ask you a question. After the grave of General Ruan was dug up… Did the Jiang Family ever seize the opportunity to kick Gu bitch’s ass?”
“What?” Maid Lin was greatly shocked and immediately stood up, and even the ebony lacquer plate fell on the thick felt. She raised her hand and knocked the poisoned wine flying, shouting to the guard. “You must keep her under control. I have something important to tell Her Majesty.”
Since Empress Dowager Ye failed to murder Emperor, Empress Jiang ordered that anything happened in the outside world shall not be known by her, especially the matter that the tomb of General Ruan was dug up. For now, no one had ever visited Empress Dowager Ye.
After a long time, Empress Jiang, with a solemn look, arrived in person and waved back the bodyguard. She stared at Empress Dowager Ye with bright eyes and said, “It was you? How did you do that?”
“I only have a few loyal people in my hand. Will I tell you?” Empress Dowager Ye looked at her indifferently and sneered, “Don’t worry about it. It’s been years since I was punished. If those people really could do anything, they would have done it long ago. Can they still wait until today? Moreover, what happened to the tomb of General Ruan was made for your family. You know I have nothing to ask for, just hope Duanrou can live a better life and suffer less grievances!”
Empress Jiang’s chest heaved violently and said, “Do you think we can rest assured if you say so?”
Empress Dowager Ye said with a smile, “What if you don’t feel at ease? I am going to die anyway.”
“Duanrou.” Empress Jiang looked at her coldly and said, “Do you really think I can’t do it?”
“I will not tell you because of her!” Empress Dowager Ye did not give in and looked at her. “Duanrou doesn’t know anything. The people and things about me have nothing to do with her! So, keep her and be kind to her. There is nothing in the way of you! Of course, it’s not difficult for you to pain her and kill her… You don’t know what I can do. So maybe you are afraid of me and keep Duanrou safe. If you know, her safety will be under your control. You don’t trust me and I don’t trust you, either.”
Even the unreasonable Empress Jiang, at this moment, couldn’t say a word and then she said, “Well, we will talk about this later. How did you think of doing this? Did Qiu Yelan offend you that day or something else?”
“That young lady is virtuous. In order to set me up, she did not hesitate to tell her life experience in an attempt to arouse the sympathy of me.” Empress Dowager Ye sneered, “It’s just… She’s young after all. Does she think that I am so easy to be sympathized so that I can say everything? ”
Empress Jiang frowned and said, “And then?”
“I was very impatient to hear that and wanted to send her away!” Empress Dowager Ye yawned lazily, “but she probably misunderstood that my unhappy face was because she thought her experience was just like this. And so she told the story that General Ruan was avenged by Kuang Shihan. I heard that and found that this was a ready-made opportunity to atone for my exploits and give a hand to your Jiang Family.”
“So, I sent people to catch a man who had a lot to do with the Kuang Family. They dragged him to the grave of General Ruan, dug up the grave and cut him to death there.”
Empress Dowager Ye looked at Empress Jiang with a smile and said, “How about it? This is a great help to you, isn’t it?”
“You…” Empress Jiang was always been domineering and arrogant and her love for her niece-in-law was far less than her love for her nephew. But at the moment, she also felt a heavy sense of guilt for Qiu Yelan, “Damn it! This old woman has been dormant for decades. Once she did something, she almost killed Emperor and dug the grave. How can I explain to the Jiang Yashuang couples? ”
If it were just Qiu Yelan who was wronged and even got hurt, Empress Jiang wouldn’t feel anything. She would think nothing but that she was the daughter-in-law of the Jiang Family, it was her duty to make some sacrifices for the Jiang Family.
But now this sacrifice was the tomb of the elders. Was there a bigger hatred or a bigger shame than this?
Empress Jiang imagined the reaction of the niece-in-law, who was not very good tempered in her impression, after she knew the truth. She felt embarrassed and said, “At that time, Jiang Yashuang was very opposed to let her come to see this old woman! But I was eager to ask questions. I was coerced by the old woman and thus swore by Yongfu. I didn’t dare to violate my promise. And so I called Qiu Yelan to come without telling Jiang Yashuang. Now if Qiu Yelan knew the truth, I don’t know what would happen. I’m sure Jiang Yashuang will blame me.”
Empress was not afraid of Jiang Yashuang, but she was with him since his childhood. He was the one she attached the most importance to. However, if they blamed each other because of Empress Dowager Ye’s trap, it would not be worthy.
However, she couldn’t refute what Empress Dowager Ye said. The tomb of General Ruan was dug and the Jiang Family would be the biggest beneficiary of this.
With Xue Chang’s right assists, it was a complete success.
“It’s true that Gu has fallen into a bad situation, but it’s still a few days before her reputation is ruined!” Empress Jiang thought for a long time. The more she thought about it, the more she felt angry and hated. Finally, she brushed her sleeve and gritted her teeth. She said, “You want to know this, right? I have already told you, are you ready to die? ”
She knew that Empress Dowager Ye deliberately revealed the truth of the excavation of the tomb of General Ruan before drinking poison and wine. She just wanted to see Gu’s fall before she died.
However, Empress Jiang didn’t give her the chance.
You violated my order, and so you wouldn’t get what you want.
Looking at Empress Dowager Ye’s regretful drinking of the poisoned wine, Empress Jiang finally felt that her hatred was relived, but then this gave her a headache…
Empress Jiang had no face to talk to Qiu Yelan or even Jiang Yashuang. She had to send someone to call Marquess Qin to Beique Hall. She held back all servants and told the whole story in shame. She asked Marquess Qin to help her.
After hearing this, Marquess Qin’s face turned black and asked, “Is Empress Dowager Ye dead now?”
“The old woman is so insidious! I have made her dead.” Mentioning Empress Dowager Ye, Empress Jiang still felt angry and said, “After doing such a thing, she still wants to see Gu fall in person…”
“Stupid!” The courteous Marquess Qin rarely lost his manners. He not only scolded the Empress, her daughter, but also slapped his hands on the tea set and nearly threw them down. He knew it for a long time that her daughter was not as smart as outsiders thought, but he did not expect that she would be so stupid. “How can you kill Empress Dowager Ye since you are worried that Jiang Yashuang and Qiu Yelan will blame you because of her?”
Marquess Qin didn’t understand why Empress Jiang couldn’t figure out such a simple truth. He asked, “If you leave Empress Dowager Ye for them to deal with, how much do you think they can blame you?”
In the final analysis, Empress Dowager Ye was the mastermind and planner of digging the grave of General Ruan. With her, Jiang Yashuang and his wife, Qiu Jinglan, Ruan Ciyi and his wife, as well as those old soldiers in Western Army, would only blame her.
In this way, Empress Jiang would have nothing to do with this.
But what did Empress Jiang do? She killed Empress Dowager Ye in anger.
Now, without Empress Dowager Ye as the first target of hatred, the younger generation of General Ruan and his old subordinates would turn their hatred to the next one. Empress Jiang who disobeyed Jiang Yashuang’s request, sent Qiu Yelan to see Empress Dowager Ye, and consequently led to all this would be the second target of hatred.
Marquess Qin could imagine that if these people knew the whole story, they would even suspect that the Jiang Family was the leader. Empress dowager Ye was not only a scapegoat, but also killed by Empress Jiang.
“I don’t know that you are so stupid that you can’t be taught! Over the years, our family has been at its best, so you don’t need to be too smart. As long as you are rude, you can be domineering in this palace. You are used to following your own mind when things happen.”
Since Empress Jiang got married, it was the first time that she heard such strict words from Marquess Qin. The dignity of the empress made her instinctively want to maintain her own dignity, and so she said, “Father, now it’s useless to say these. She is dead. The key is to deal with the aftermath.”
“What’s the meaning of dealing with the aftermath?” Marquess Qin sneered, “This can’t be spread out. You can’t even tell Qiu Yelan. Otherwise, it is not important that she hates you and so does Qiu Jinglan. But that the Western Army hates you is the big problem.”
That the Jiang Family took control of the Western Army depended on people in the Western Army who respected General Ruan.
If they suspected that the Jiang Family has dug up the grave of General Ruan, it could be imagined that the current investment of the Jiang Family would completely be wasted. And no one would remember contributions of the Jiang Family.
Hearing these words of Marquess Qin, Empress Jiang felt that she had caused a lot of trouble. She bit her lip and said, “Father, I will listen to your decisions!”
“Treat Duanrou well in the future and never hurt her again!” Marquess Qin said coldly, “Don’t mention her marriage to Xiao Su.”
Empress Jiang was surprised and asked, “Why?”
“…” Marquess Qin looked at his daughter without expression. He didn’t know whether he should be angry or slap her on the face. He answered, “Don’t you forgot that Empress Dowager Ye didn’t disclose the person she sent to dig the grave until she died?
If these people could dig the grave, why couldn’t they spread the news that the Jiang Family was the real planner?
“…” Empress Jiang’s face turned red all of a sudden. She would have thought of this. Today, after she heard her father’s words, her mind was in a mess, which led to her negligence.
Seeing that the Empress was silent, Marquess Qin said with a gloomy face, “Qiu Yelan has been wronged too much this time. Even if Jiang Yashuang doesn’t tell her, we should have a clear idea… Don’t talk about adding new wife to Jiang Yashuang anymore. Treat her better and compensate her! After all, the reason why Empress Dowager Ye had this idea was that Qiu Yelan wanted to help our family so much that Empress Dowager Ye seized the opportunity.”
Those people of Empress Dowager Ye were hidden so well that they couldn’t find out and kill them completely. So Marquess Qin thought that it might be possible to be exposed because of accidents in the future. In this case, he had to be very kind to Qiu Yelan and Qiu Jinglan.
So as to avoid letting it out one day, which could lead the Ruan Family’s people to regard the Jiang Family as one of their enemies forever, they had to do that. If it happened, there would be no mediators at that time. They should be very friendly to Qiu Yelan and Qiu Jinglan, and Ruan Ciyi and his wife, at least before the Jiang Family took full control of the Western Army.