Chapter 400: Disrespect Towards This Dowager
This was Yun Chu's first time leaving the palace since entering it.
Remembering that Yu Ge'er and Changsheng enjoyed pastries from a particular shop, she deliberately took a detour to buy plenty, along with some cosmetics women liked. After returning to the palace, she sent them to the old imperial concubines as pastimes.
"Isn't the Empress Dowager supposed to be out of the palace worshipping Buddha? Why is she here?" A voice sounded from the shop.
Immediately after, a man in brocade robes walked up to Yun Chu.
She glanced coldly—truly, enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road. This man was none other than the current head of the Gongsun family, Gongsun Ning.
Ever since the Empress died protecting the late Emperor, the late Emperor had carried guilt over her death, which he transferred onto the Gongsun family.
This good-for-nothing Gongsun Ning was actually ennobled as a Marquis by the late Emperor and given an official position in the court, transforming him from a powerless imperial uncle into a noble with influence.
With the Empress gone and the former Crown Prince voluntarily abdicating and retiring to his fiefdom, the Gongsun family sought a new powerful patron—the Regent, Chu Rui.
Gongsun Ning was nothing but a dog under Chu Rui's command.
A brainless hound, naturally, would be unleashed by Chu Rui to attack others.
Yun Chu's gaze grew colder by degrees.
"Buying rouge, Empress Dowager?" Gongsun Ning approached with a smirk. "They say women adorn themselves for those who appreciate them. For whom is the Empress Dowager applying this rouge?"
Yun Chu's face was frosty. "Marquis Yide, please maintain decorum."
Having said that, she turned to leave.
Gongsun Ning followed her. "The Empress Dowager now resides alone in the vast rear palace. Don't you find it hollow, lonely, and cold?"
Yun Chu stepped into her carriage. "That is no concern of Marquis Yide's."
"This humble subject shall escort Her Majesty back to the palace." Gongsun Ning, riding a horse, kept pace beside the carriage, speaking to Yun Chu through the window. "The Empress Dowager is merely in her early twenties—in the prime of youth. Isn't it a pity to waste such years in the silent rear palace? A woman without a man is like a flower without nourishment, soon to wither and fade…"
He continued all the way to the palace gates.
Yun Chu alighted from the carriage.
Gongsun Ning dismounted as well.
"Since Marquis Yide has nothing to do, why not escort this Dowager back to Kunning Palace?"
At Yun Chu's words,
Gongsun Ning's eyes lit up with disbelief.
It seemed his efforts along the way hadn't been in vain—he had actually persuaded Yun Chu so easily.
Although Yun Chu held the status of Empress Dowager, her skin was more delicate than that of a sixteen-year-old girl. The mere thought of soon having his way with her made his blood boil with excitement.
Here at the palace gates, he didn't dare act too boldly.
Bowing slightly, he feigned reverence as he approached. "This humble subject shall assist Her Majesty."
Yun Chu raised her left arm and placed it on Gongsun Ning's hand. "Then I shall trouble Marquis Yide."
Gongsun Ning was overjoyed.
Previously such a resolute and aloof person, after prolonged solitude in the rear palace without a man, hadn't she turned into a wanton woman?
She was even actively seducing him now.
His hand grew restless, creeping toward the back of Yun Chu's hand.
At that moment,
Qiutong at Yun Chu's side turned stern-faced and angrily exclaimed, "Audacious scoundrel! How dare you defile Her Majesty!"
Simultaneously, she drew the sword at her waist.
Her role was not merely that of a palace maid but also a guard, hence she was permitted to carry blades into the palace.
The sword in Qiutong's hand gleamed coldly as it swept toward Gongsun Ning's arm.
"Ah...!"
A scream echoed as Gongsun Ning's arm was severed by Qiutong, his warm blood splattering across Yun Chu's face.At the palace gate, court officials exiting the palace and servants coming and going were all stunned, then immediately knelt down, bowing their heads and not daring to look around.
"It hurts! It hurts so much!" Gongsun Ning rolled on the ground, his entire being shattered upon seeing his severed arm lying on the ground. "You wretched servant! How dare you strike me! I'll kill you! Kill you!"
"Guards!"
Yun Chu's voice was icy as she commanded.
"Marquis of Yide, Gongsun Ning, has defiled this Empress Dowager—a crime punishable by death!" She enunciated each word clearly. "By this Empress Dowager's Imperial Decree, strip him of his title, demote him to a commoner, and execute him in three days!"
"Yes!"
The Imperial Guards surrounded them and seized Gongsun Ning.
Gongsun Ning roared furiously, "I am the Regent's man! Who dares lay hands on me? Let go! Release me!"
"So, your defilement of this Empress Dowager is on the Regent's orders?" Yun Chu demanded sharply.
As her words fell, Chu Rui's voice came from the side: "This man defiling Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is one thing, but to drag my name through the mud as well? Waiting three days for execution would only waste three days' worth of provisions."
Gongsun Ning looked up in disbelief. "Your Highness?"
After pledging allegiance to Chu Rui, he had secretly eliminated many opposition figures to prove his loyalty.
He had thought Chu Rui would surely avenge him.
But instead,
he watched as Chu Rui drew a long blade from the waist of a nearby guard.
Then, with lightning speed, plunged it into his heart.
Just like the day the late emperor passed away, when Chu Rui's blade had pierced the Princess Consort's chest without hesitation.
It was said the Princess Consort had been pregnant at the time.
If he could kill his own wife and unborn child, what chance did he stand...
Chu Rui yanked the long blade out. Gongsun Ning spat blood and instantly ceased breathing, becoming a corpse.
Chu Rui tossed the blade to an attendant behind him and strode toward Yun Chu.
His dark official robes showed little trace of the blood splattered upon them.
"Your Majesty has been frightened," Chu Rui's voice softened, belying his recent act of killing.
"It is nothing." Yun Chu wiped her left arm with a handkerchief. "To think someone would show such disrespect within the palace walls—it seems the Imperial Guards have grown lax. The Regent should pay closer attention."
Having delivered her cold remark, she turned and left.
Only when her figure vanished down the palace path did Chu Rui withdraw his gaze. He cast a disgusted look at the corpse. "Chop it up. Feed it to the dogs."
The Commander of the Imperial Guards, Lord Lin, immediately acknowledged the order. "Yes, Your Highness!"
Gongsun Ning's body was dragged away. The blood on the palace path was scrubbed clean by palace maids, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Your Highness, though Gongsun Ning was scum, he was ultimately your man," Lord Lin ventured. "The Empress Dowager severing his arm was a direct insult to Your Highness. Why did you still..."
Chu Rui's voice turned cold. "My plans require no explanation to you. Dispatch more men to monitor the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Imperial Study, and Kunning Palace."
Lord Lin nodded in assent.
As the current head of the Lin family, his elder sister had been Chu Rui's long-deceased mother.
Before Chu Rui promoted him to Commander of the Imperial Guards, he had been the owner of a martial arts school, struggling to support their clan.
Now he had finally risen to prominence.
The entire Lin family had returned to court, reclaiming their former glory.
Lord Lin deployed additional personnel to surveil the young emperor and the Empress Dowager. Only after completing this task did he go to the Imperial Study to check on his son.Due to the decline of his family's fortunes, he had only taken one wife and fathered just this one son. Though his son wasn't particularly outstanding, he was everything to him. Moreover, the young emperor had personally appointed him as a study companion, to be taught directly by Grand Tutor Xu. His son would surely achieve some success in the future.
However, his arrival was ill-timed, coinciding with the break period. A group of children were accompanying the young emperor by the lotus pond.
"Lin Dongdong," the young emperor's voice rang out. "My jade pendant has fallen into the pond. You, fetch it for me."
"Right away!"
Lin Dongdong climbed onto the railing and plunged into the lotus pond with a splash.
Lord Lin stood utterly dumbfounded.
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