"Empress Dowager, this is His Majesty's final decree. Should we wait for the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers to assemble before reading it together?" Shen Xihe held the decree as she spoke.
The decree remained sealed, showing it had not yet been opened, but Shen Xihe's composure and confidence sparked much speculation about its contents—especially since the Youning Emperor had personally ordered Xiao Junshu to be named Crown Prince.
"Whether the decree is genuine should naturally be judged by the Empress Dowager. If the Crown Princess dares not hand it over, is it because she has a guilty conscience?" Shu Fei demanded sharply.
"Merely requesting the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers to serve as witnesses makes me appear guilty?" Shen Xihe did not even glance at Shu Fei, her gaze fixed on the Empress Dowager. "Empress Dowager, do you know when I first began to suspect you?"
Shen Xihe's words silenced the hall. The consorts kneeling outside the screen wished they could cover their ears, regretting having rushed in with Shu Fei. Shu Fei's eyes flickered uneasily.
The Empress Dowager remained serene, her expression kindly as she calmly regarded Shen Xihe. "When?"
"After the Crown Prince was buried, when Second Miss Yu became involved." Shen Xihe's gaze turned piercing. "Second Miss Yu was different from others. She had just returned to the capital—a young lady of no consequence. Even I only noticed her due to a few coincidences. How could someone like you, Empress Dowager, who schemes for the highest throne, take notice of such an insignificant person?"
"I recalled that day when I exposed the scented sachet she embroidered for you. It must have been then that you began investigating Second Miss Yu. She stepped over her elder sister to become Princess Consort Zhao, which earned her your attention. And as for the elder Miss Yu's feigned death—you knew about it all along."
"With your intelligence, you should not have realized so late." The Empress Dowager's smile remained as gentle as ever, her brow tranquil. A lifelong devotee of Buddhism, she exuded an aura of approachable kindness.
"Indeed, I should not have been so late. I was blinded by sentiment." Shen Xihe smiled self-mockingly, her eyes shifting to Shu Fei. "I began to suspect you as early as when she and I parted ways. But you are Beichen's only remaining kin. I did not wish to tear apart what he held dear in his heart, so I deceived myself along the way."
Shu Fei may not have been the cleverest of women, but she was far from foolish. Back then, she had clearly understood the situation in the Eastern Palace and had even endured being hung in the wilderness overnight to win the Emperor's pity.
This showed how clear-headed she was—how could she easily be swayed by imperial favor?
No amount of the Emperor's partiality could have clouded her judgment. Yet she still broke with Shen Xihe. If it was not because of the Emperor, then it must have been for someone who could offer her more than Shen Xihe could.
Did such a person exist?
If one did not consider the Empress Dowager, then no, such a person did not exist.
But what if it was the Empress Dowager?
The Empress Dowager enjoyed the Crown Prince's deep trust. Shu Fei likely believed they were all pawns in the Empress Dowager's hands.
Moreover, since the Empress Dowager had already revealed her true nature to Shu Fei, Shu Fei knew all too well that disobedience meant certain death.
"Since you long believed it was me, then Second Miss Yu was deliberately placed in the secret passage by you." The Empress Dowager had also pieced together one matter.
"Second Miss Yu's incident indeed reinforced my suspicion of you, but I still clung to a sliver of hope. I wanted to know the extent of your influence." Shen Xihe admitted frankly.
"And now, have you guessed how much power I hold?" the Empress Dowager asked with a smile.Shen Xihe shook her head: "Since the Empress Dowager is willing to be forthright with me at this moment, I presume there are still hidden strategies beyond my sight."
The wrinkles at the corners of the Empress Dowager's eyes crinkled with delight. Her gaze toward Shen Xihe still held the affection of an elder for a younger, seemingly genuine: "Most women in this world are foolish, but Youyou is not like them. You are truly astute."
"The Empress Dowager looks down upon the women of this world, thus using them as puppets to be discarded at will." Shen Xihe's expression remained placid. "Including those delicate women implicated in the Rouge Case."
"You have indeed uncovered everything." The Empress Dowager sighed softly.
"The Crown Prince has Hua Fuhai, the Second Prince amasses wealth through brothels, the Fourth Prince plunders tombs for riches, and the Eighth Prince seizes assets by suppressing rebellions and bandits." Shen Xihe looked steadily at the Empress Dowager. "Even His Majesty uses the national treasury to sustain his followers. With the Empress Dowager aiming for the empire, how could you not cultivate influence? Where would the funds come from? This led me to ponder—why has the Empress Dowager remained in the shadows all these years? Beyond awaiting the right moment, could there be other compelling reasons?"
The Empress Dowager's smile did not fade as she watched Shen Xihe, appearing all ears.
Outside the palace, the two armies had already begun to clash. Many of the Empress Dowager's followers surged through the secret passage, but Shen Xihe had long stationed men to ambush them at the exit, turning the passage mouth into the bloodiest battleground.
At the four palace gates, the defending generals had already shut the doors. Xiao Changqing, Xiao Changying, Xiao Changgeng, and Xie Yunhuai each led troops to besiege a gate, unaware of the situation inside the palace.
Their requests to enter the palace were denied, as the guards at the gates had suddenly been replaced by unfamiliar faces.
Within the palace, relative calm prevailed. Numerous guards encircled the civil and military officials, the atmosphere thick with tension. When a censor rebuked them, one guard drew his sword and slit the man's throat, causing the military officials to immediately restrain themselves—they needed to bide their time.
These guards repeatedly claimed to be acting under the Crown Princess's orders, creating the illusion that Shen Xihe was attempting a coup.
Tao Zhuanxian grew frantic and tried to refute them, but Cui Zheng held him back.
Only in the Hall of Diligent Governance could the clashing of swords and the sounds of slaughter not be heard.
"I suspect it all traces back to the Rouge Case. Why would Imperial Son-in-Law Wei need so much wealth? They already enjoyed immense prosperity. Deliberately training those women to be sent as concubines to high officials was not merely for monetary gain." Shen Xihe seemed equally unaware of the turmoil outside the palace, remaining composed. "The true mastermind behind the Rouge Case is you, Empress Dowager!
However, when an influence grows too vast, flaws are inevitable. Unfortunately, this flaw emerged right under His Majesty's nose. When the Empress Dowager immediately ordered a thorough investigation in a fit of rage, who could have guessed she was the mastermind?
The Empress Dowager wished to cut the Gordian knot, but Prince Lie took away the evidence, and the Crown Prince intervened. The Empress Dowager had no choice but to reluctantly sacrifice years of planning, fortunate that the evidence in Prince Lie's hands ultimately only pointed to Imperial Son-in-Law Wei.
This is why, after the Rouge Case, the Empress Dowager could only operate covertly from the shadows—because her life's work had been shattered."
"Correct, every word of it." The Empress Dowager nodded with a smile. "After years of cultivating influence, I was on the verge of controlling the entire court through the inner chambers, only to have it all destroyed by Qilang.""Perhaps it was also at that moment that the Empress Dowager realized Beichen, who had grown up right under her watchful eye, had already become someone she could no longer control." Shen Xihe felt a pang of sympathy for Xiao Huayong. While he hadn't been completely forthright with the Empress Dowager, he certainly harbored no defensive intentions. "With her influence damaged and fearing Beichen's rising power, she resorted to sabotaging her own strongest support."
OpenNovel