Chapter 273: Appointed as Grand Commandant
The Empress Dowager nearly went mad the moment she saw the severed head.
Feng Pin was the most outstanding among all her nephews. Under her command, he had effectively taken control of the Southern border region.
In other words, Feng Pin was the local ruler of the Southern border region and the fundamental assurance for their future uprising.
Yet this nephew she was most proud of had now returned to the capital as nothing but a severed head, having died a truly miserable death.
"Yun Silin, in my view, you are the true rebel!"
Transforming grief and anger into strength, the Empress Dowager spoke each word with resounding force.
Yun Silin extended his hand, and his deputy general behind him placed a scroll in his palm.
Yun Silin directly unrolled it and threw it before the Empress Dowager: "This is Feng Pin's confession. It clearly states that Feng Pin colluded with the Southern Yue Kingdom to assist the eldest son of Prince Yici in rebellion and seizing the throne!"
The Emperor had long been waiting for this moment. His expression abruptly changed.
"Guards!" he commanded coldly and angrily, "Arrest Chu Rui, the son of Prince Yici, immediately!"
The Empress Dowager was incredulous.
That fool Feng Pin wasn't content with just dying himself—he had to drag Rui'er down with him.
"Wait!"
The Empress Dowager stopped the Imperial Guards who were about to make the arrest.
"This confession is forged!" she declared angrily. "Yun Silin killed him deliberately to cover up his own crimes and frame an innocent person. Emperor, you must investigate this thoroughly!"
Yun Silin lightly clapped his hands.
Outside, Imperial Guards escorted two disheveled individuals inside.
The Empress Dowager's pupils contracted sharply—these two were her key agents assigned to assist Feng Pin, yet they had fallen into Yun Silin's hands.
Under Yun Silin's cold gaze, the two fell to their knees with a thud and began confessing their crimes.
"Your Majesty, ten years ago, Prince Zhuang began providing silver to Qicheng in the Southern border region to forge weapons. Qicheng's armory has stockpiled enough swords and spears for thirty thousand soldiers!"
"Under Prince Zhuang's directive, Qicheng has built twenty-eight granaries storing over three million jin of grain..."
The Empress Dowager staggered, unsteady on her feet, taking a step back.
These two had betrayed her right before her eyes—they truly deserved death.
But before she could vent her anger, the Emperor said coldly, "Now that we have witnesses, does the Empress Dowager still believe this is a frame-up?"
The Empress Dowager struggled to maintain her composure: "Rui'er has been bedridden with illness for years, barely able to take care of himself. How could he have the energy to do such things? This is clearly a setup!"
"With both witnesses and physical evidence present, the Empress Dowager still insists this is a frame-up!" Yun Silin actually laughed. "In that case, I don't mind interrogating Chu Rui personally. Then I'll invite the Empress Dowager to review Chu Rui's confession!"
Having said this, he turned to leave.
The Empress Dowager's face instantly changed color.
Chu Rui no longer wished to live anyway—he would certainly take all the blame upon himself.
He was her only direct bloodline grandson. How could she stand by and watch her grandson die like this?
This matter truly had nothing to do with Rui'er.
It was she who had been rallying military and popular support in the Southern border region in the name of Prince Yici's son.
She had been planning everything.
She just never expected that everything would end before their uprising could even begin.
She couldn't understand how Yun Silin, in just three or four months in the Southern border region, had managed to destroy all the foundations she had built there over more than a decade...
"The matters in the Southern border region truly have nothing to do with Rui'er!" The Empress Dowager closed her eyes. "Everything was my doing."
The Emperor was overjoyed in his heart.Chu Rui was frail and sickly, hardly a threat.
What he feared most was the Empress Dowager, for as his legal mother and elder, she was beyond his reach.
Now that the Empress Dowager had voluntarily confessed,
the matter became much simpler.
He said coldly, "This isn't something the Empress Dowager can dismiss as irrelevant. The matter must be thoroughly investigated—Chu Rui, the Feng family, all involved must be scrutinized clearly!"
The Empress Dowager's eyes snapped open.
Having contended openly and covertly with the Emperor for so many years, they understood each other's thoughts all too well.
The Emperor knew full well that Rui'er had little to do with this affair, yet he insisted on using it to control her.
She slowly exhaled a heavy breath. "Rui'er has already lost his princely status, and I will move out of Kunning Palace, never appearing in any capacity as Empress Dowager again. Is the Emperor satisfied with this?"
The Emperor sneered inwardly.
The Empress Dowager had single-mindedly sought to seize the empire from him. Now that he had caught her with evidence and witnesses, did she think simply moving out of Kunning Palace would suffice?
Had he been the one defeated, he was certain the Empress Dowager would not have hesitated to kill him.
Why should he let her off so lightly?
He truly dared not kill the Empress Dowager, for she was his legal mother. No matter how grave her offenses, he had no grounds to punish her. But he could...
"The Empress Dowager is advanced in years. Let her reside in Kunning Palace to enjoy her remaining days in peace," the Emperor said calmly. "As for Chu Rui, he has committed wrongs and must pay the price for his mistakes!"
"Your Majesty!" the Empress Dowager raised her voice. "Your elder brother, the Crown Prince, left only Rui'er as his bloodline. Must you target him so relentlessly?"
The Emperor simply gazed steadily at the Empress Dowager.
She met his gaze in return.
After years of rivalry, each could see into the deepest recesses of the other's heart through their eyes.
In the deepest part of every heart lay the darkest, most unspeakable secrets.
The Emperor laid his bare, without concealment.
Finally, the Empress Dowager averted her eyes in despair.
"I was the one who instructed Feng Pin to commit treason and collude with the enemy. It has nothing to do with Chu Rui," the Empress Dowager said, turning to the Empress. "I know you are broad-minded. Please relay a message to Chu Rui for me: tell him that only when he has an heir will I be able to rest in peace."
Before the Empress could respond,
the Empress Dowager, with lightning speed, hurled herself against the gilded pillar in the Imperial Study.
Then she collapsed softly to the floor,
landing at Yun Chu's feet, blood gushing from her forehead.
Yun Ze swiftly pulled Yun Chu behind him to shield her.
The Empress Dowager stretched out her hand toward the entrance of the Imperial Study, where over a dozen officials from the Censorate stood. They had not uttered a word since entering, utterly stunned—first by the Empress Dowager's forced marriage and death decree, then Feng Pin's beheading, followed by Yun Silin presenting the confession, then the Emperor's order to arrest Chu Rui... and now, suddenly, the Empress Dowager had dashed herself against the pillar.
Everything had happened so swiftly that those present were completely bewildered.
"Qian'er..."
the Empress Dowager murmured softly.
Qian'er was the name of the former Crown Prince.
It was as if she saw her son walking toward her.
A smile spread across her face.
"Qian'er, your mother has finally found you..."
The Empress Dowager's eyes remained open, the light within them slowly fading until all vitality was gone.
The Emperor watched quietly as the Empress Dowager breathed her last.The Empress Dowager was dead, her faction no longer a threat, and Chu Rui had no interest in these matters. The shadow left by the former Crown Prince finally dissipated at this moment.
"The Empress Dowager colluded with the Feng family and the Southern Yue Kingdom in a plot to rebel. Imperial Guards, hear my command: immediately seal off Kunning Palace and arrest the entire Feng clan!" The Emperor was overjoyed. "Pillar of the Nation Great General Yun Silin has rendered outstanding service and is hereby appointed as Grand Commandant. In three days, the entire nation shall celebrate!"
Everyone present was stunned.
The Pillar of the Nation Great General held the first rank, and the position of Grand Commandant was also of the first rank. Since the previous dynasty, these two titles had never been conferred upon the same person, as the excessive power would threaten imperial authority and lead to unnecessary calamities.
Now, after centuries, the Emperor had actually restored the position of Grand Commandant. Regardless of whether it was a substantive appointment, it at least demonstrated the Emperor's high regard for the Yun family—this was the highest and most supreme honor!
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