bookcurios Chapter 1180 Empress Dowager Liu Knows the News (130 Million Rewards Plus)
Chapter 1180 Empress Dowager Liu Knows the News (130 Million Rewards Plus)
"I know."
After a long time, Concubine Zhuang's voice returned to its usual calmness, even with a hint of her usual gentleness.
"Pass on this message from me. From now on, until we return to the capital, keep an eye on the eldest princess! Without my order, she is not allowed to step out of the carriage."
"If anyone dares to neglect or slack off..."
Concubine Zhuang didn't finish her words, but her calm gaze swept over Ruoli and the palace maids standing beside her with their hands hanging down, which was enough to send chills down their spines.
"Yes! I obey my command!"
"We, the servants, will stay by your side and keep an eye on the princess!"
The palace maids immediately bowed deeply, their voices filled with fear and determination.
When Ruoji came back, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes.
She turned to look at the eldest princess's carriage. The suppressed crying inside seemed to have turned into intermittent sobbing.
She sighed and whispered to the maid beside her, "Give orders that the eldest princess be kept under close watch when she gets up tomorrow morning."
"The Queen's words...are death orders!"
……
In Shen Zhinian's phoenix chariot.
"My lady..."
Fuqiu's face held an indescribable expression. "When I came back just now, I heard people outside whispering that there was a little commotion going on over there with the eldest princess."
Shen Zhinian was being helped by Handan to remove her hairpins and rings. Upon hearing this, she looked at Fuqi in the mirror and said, "Oh?"
"Concubine Zhuang is so 'gentle and dignified', and the eldest princess is also well-behaved. What kind of trouble could they possibly cause?"
Fuqiu took a step forward and lowered her voice, "It is said that the eldest princess saw Duke Dingguo being imprisoned in the prison cart."
"The eldest princess is only a little girl, and she's been raised innocently and romantically. How could she understand the intrigues of the court? She only remembers that it's her maternal grandparents' home. Duke Dingguo is... a grandfather who dotes on her."
"The eldest princess went to His Majesty and pleaded for Duke Dingguo, which made His Majesty furious."
"Even Empress Zhuang... was embarrassed..."
Handan listened from the side, her little mouth slightly open, revealing a look of pity.
A five-year-old child's mind is not about power struggle, but about the kind old man who will bring her little toys and hold her high.
Shen Zhinian listened quietly, without any expression on his face.
There was neither sympathy for the child's careless words, nor indignation towards the crimes of the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, nor a trace of gloating.
She just lowered her eyes slightly, and her long eyelashes cast a small fan-shaped shadow under her eyes, covering all the surging emotions in her eyes.
In the eyes of the world, the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion is an unforgivable traitor and anyone can kill it.
But in the ignorant and pure world of a five-year-old child, the person called "grandfather" is just a relative who will touch her head and smile.
The eldest princess has a huge cognitive gap and is cruelly naive.
Shen Zhinian didn't comment, but just said, "I understand."
It is Concubine Zhuang who should be concerned about this matter.
……
royal palace.
The smell of medicine in the Cining Palace was so strong that it could not be dispelled.
Master Xingchen's recitation of scriptures day and night could not help Empress Dowager Liu's health improve.
She collapsed in the thick quilt, and her once sharp eyebrows and eyes were now only withered marks.
His cloudy eyeballs occasionally moved, reflecting the intricate gold embroidery on the tent ceiling, his gaze lifeless.
Master Xingchen's low Buddhist chanting was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, unable to stir up even a ripple.
Nanny Yuan dismissed everyone and was left kneeling in front of the bed, on the cold golden brick floor.
Her back was hunched, as if crushed by an invisible boulder.
The only sounds in the hall were the faint sound of burning sandalwood and the heavy and slow breathing of Empress Dowager Liu.
Nanny Yuan stared at a tiny wrinkle in the brocade quilt, her lips moving for a long time before she finally uttered the weighty words, "Empress Dowager... The Duke is in Mulan Paddock... rebelling!"
"However, His Majesty was well prepared, and Noble Concubine Hechen took advantage of the situation and caught the Duke completely off guard!"
"The Duke is already on his way back to the capital..."
After Nanny Yuan finished speaking, the scene fell into dead silence.
The scent of sandalwood seemed to have solidified.
Empress Dowager Liu's cloudy eyes suddenly froze, and she turned her head to stare at Nanny Yuan's face, which was full of wrinkles and despair.
Time seems to be stretched and frozen...
My brother is rebelling?!
The face that always had a respectful smile and bowed slightly in front of her appeared clearly in Empress Dowager Liu's mind.
Every time, when she dragged her broken body, she earnestly advised her brother that a big tree attracts wind and asked him to be more restrained because His Majesty was no longer the child he used to be.
What's the expression on my brother's face?
They were respectful and obedient, and they kept saying, "The Empress Dowager is right" and "I will remember this."
But actually?
Empress Dowager Liu remembered the look in Duke Dingguo's eyes.
What was surging deep in his eyes was always the violence that was forcibly suppressed, and the wildfire that refused to remain dormant!
She thought her brother was just dissatisfied and had an insatiable desire for power.
But I never imagined that the wildfire would spread like wildfire!
How dare my brother, how dare he directly rebel?!
Even if he wants the throne, he can't do it this way!
It turns out that my brother’s previous obedience was all an illusion!
All this was done to appease her, a useless person who was about to die and could no longer protect the Liu family!
"Oh... uh..."
A broken breath came out from the depths of Empress Dowager Liu's throat, with a fishy and sweet taste like rust.
The veins on her neck instantly bulged out, and in her cloudy eyes was unbelievable rage and immense despair!
A mouthful of hot, sticky liquid suddenly surged up and broke through Empress Dowager Liu's tightly closed teeth.
"puff--!!!"
Empress Dowager Liu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The thick smell of blood completely overwhelmed the smell of medicine and sandalwood.
"Empress Dowager!!!"
Nanny Yuan was so frightened that she threw herself to the edge of the couch using her hands and feet.
Empress Dowager Liu's eyes were wide open, and she had fainted.
Nanny Yuan shouted sternly, "Imperial Physician!!! Send for the Imperial Physician!!!"
There was chaos in the Cining Palace.
An hour later.
The imperial physician withdrew the needles, sweat still on his forehead. He shook his head heavily at Nanny Yuan, who was guarding the phoenix couch, muttered a few words, and then bowed and withdrew.
Nanny Yuan wiped away her turbid old tears with her sleeve, and looked at the withered figure under the brocade quilt, her heart aching.
A suppressed cough came from inside the tent, as weak as a candle in the wind.
Empress Dowager Liu slowly opened her eyes, her cloudy eyeballs moved with difficulty, and finally fixed on Nanny Yuan's face.
Her lips moved, her voice so hoarse that it was almost inaudible: "...Go...invite Master Xingchen...quickly..."
Nanny Yuan's heart tightened, and she didn't dare to delay even a bit, so she went to do it herself immediately.
Soon, a figure in a plain monk's robe appeared at the door of the bedroom.
Master Xingchen was only in his twenties, with a rare handsome face and a calm expression of compassion for all living beings in his eyes.
It seemed as if the thick atmosphere of illness and sorrow in the hall could not affect him at all.