Several days later, when Xiao Shunzi entered the secret room again to give the Empress Dowager the fasting pill, he found that the Empress Dowager had suffered a mental breakdown and was on the verge of madness.
Upon receiving the message, Xu Zifan ordered her to be sent to the dungeon, and then went to see her alone.
The Empress Dowager lay on the floor of the prison cell, immersed in pain and remorse. Upon seeing Xu Zifan, she instantly became agitated, but she didn't even have the strength to turn over. She could only glare at him and question him, "You still dare to come to see me? You've ruined my son and me like this, you shameless person!"
Xu Zifan entered the cell, stopping a step away from her. He looked down at her, his expression indifferent, as if he were looking at a dead woman. "Shameless? How can you compare to you and your son? If I'm not mistaken, your first step in dealing with me was to make my daughter your empress, wasn't it? The emperor will take control of the government and consolidate power. Once my influence is eliminated, you'll pin all the bad rumors of these past years on me, then severely punish me to give the emperor a good reputation. In the end, I'm afraid my daughter and I will both suffer a tragic fate, won't we?"
The Empress Dowager's eyes widened in disbelief. "How...how did you know that?"
"Perhaps it is divine protection."
The Empress Dowager immediately recalled what Furong and the Emperor had said: that a true Son of Heaven must be blessed by Heaven. She shook her head, "No, if you ascend the throne, it will be a usurpation of power. The civil and military officials will not allow you to do so. You cannot..."
Xu Zifan said calmly, "How long has it been since you've looked into the imperial court? Nowadays, eight or nine out of ten officials have already submitted to me. If I want to ascend the throne, no one will object."
"You're talking nonsense! I don't believe it! If it were as easy as you say, why would you still be keeping us alive?"
"Of course... I want to see you suffer." Xu Zifan's lips curled into a mocking smile. "You are still the Empress Dowager, your son is still the Emperor, and even the Empress is your niece. However, because of your ambition, your whole family has been reduced to having only empty titles without real power, and even suffering every day. Are you satisfied with all this?"
"You! You're the one who ruined us! It was you!"
Xu Zifan shook his head. "How could that be? I never took the initiative. From beginning to end, I was merely fanning the flames. Could it be that the poisoning wasn't your idea? Or perhaps the Emperor wasn't wary of you? You're still deceiving yourself. Is self-deception the only way you can find pleasure in this life?"
The Empress Dowager's face changed, and she said excitedly, "Xu Zifan! You're lying! Do you dare say that your feelings for me back then weren't real? Do you dare say that your protection of me all these years wasn't real? I'm not deceiving myself. Yu Lan in your household is the proof. If you were heartless towards me, why would you find a substitute?" She couldn't accept Xu Zifan's attitude, couldn't accept that all of the past twenty years had been her own wishful thinking. If everything was fake, then wasn't she just a joke?
Xu Zifan chuckled lightly, "A stand-in? Yu Lan is my sworn sister. Who told you... she's your stand-in?"
Before the Empress Dowager could argue, Xu Zifan announced, "Bring Yulan over to see the Empress Dowager. Her days are numbered, and it wouldn't be good for her to have such a misunderstanding before she dies. Also, bring a mirror; otherwise, how will the Empress Dowager know if she resembles Yulan?"
"Yes." The cell was empty, yet a woman's voice rang out.
The Empress Dowager found the name somewhat familiar, but had no time to think about it. She shook her head frantically, "No! I won't look in the mirror, I won't look in the mirror! Xu Zifan, you can't do this to me! We're childhood sweethearts, you can't! You've ruined me, you've wronged me, you've turned me into this, you deserve to die!"
Xu Zifan asked doubtfully, "Didn't you turn yourself into this? The divine doctor told you that you could recover after three years of quiet recuperation, and that if you treated him too hastily, there might be complications. Didn't you personally tell him to treat you as soon as possible, no matter what the method was? Why are you blaming me now? Besides, we were childhood sweethearts and were already engaged back then. When the prince suddenly asked the emperor to grant you a marriage as a concubine, was it really because he forced you to marry him? I heard that at the Hundred Flowers Banquet that year, you... arranged for him to see you disheveled, just because your Fu family wanted to climb up to him, and you also wanted to become someone of high status, didn't you?"
The Empress Dowager stared in shock, her voice trembling, "You... how did you know? When did you find out?"
What do you think?
"You knew from the beginning? How could that be? How is that possible? Then why did you help Yang'er seize the throne? Why did you protect us, mother and son, at every turn?"
What do you think?
"No, impossible..." Xu Zifan didn't answer directly, but the Empress Dowager thought even more deeply. Years ago, seeing Xu Zifan's parents die and his family's power greatly diminished, she turned to seducing a prince, becoming his concubine. She even feigned being forced in front of Xu's siblings, making Xu Zifan defy the imperial decree. When Xu Zifan refused to see her, she scolded him for being weak, making him feel guilty. Later, after marrying, she stopped contacting him. Unexpectedly, Xu Zifan, through his own abilities, became increasingly favored by the emperor. Naturally, she wanted to win over such a powerful minister, so she deliberately let him see her unhappy state in the palace. Until the emperor's death, she used Xu Zifan's feelings and guilt to make him seize the throne, protecting him and his mother for many years.
But Xu Zifan now claims he knew all along. Does that mean she's been nothing but a clown all these years?! It wasn't her using Xu Zifan; it was Xu Zifan using her and her son to become regent and control the court. All the important decisions over the years have been made by Xu Zifan. Aren't they just puppets? All those carefully laid plans, she thought herself incredibly clever, comparable to famous empress dowagers in history, but it turns out she's been under Xu Zifan's control all along, performing like an actress. She's a complete fool!
Yu Lan was brought here, and she took...
She slowly walked into the cell, looking through a mirror. The Empress Dowager subconsciously looked at her, staring intently at her face, but couldn't find any resemblance to herself. Xu Zifan smiled at Yu Lan and said, "Yu Lan, the Empress Dowager mistakenly thinks you are her substitute, which is an insult. I think it's best not to let her misunderstand."
Yu Lan smiled slightly, "What Your Highness says is true. This woman is not even a tenth as good as me. It would be too insulting to ask me to be her substitute." She stepped forward and pointed the mirror at the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, why don't you compare yourself to her?"
"Ah! A ghost—" The Empress Dowager was caught off guard when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She screamed in fright and abruptly closed her eyes. She saw a monster with a wrinkled face and gray hair. The face had sparse eyebrows, sunken eyes, chapped lips, and was covered in wrinkles. It was as terrifying as a demon. How could that be her? How could it be her?
Yu Lan smiled again. She had once been the Empress Dowager's double, and she had even seen a portrait of the Empress Dowager in her youth. At that time, the two of them looked about 50% alike, and if they dressed up deliberately, they could even look 70% alike. But later, as she became more cheerful and focused on managing her business, she developed a sharp and confident gaze, and every move she made carried her own unique style and demeanor. Gradually, she became less and less like the Empress Dowager. Perhaps she lacked that charm, and her style of dress was different. She just couldn't recreate that double anymore.
Moreover, since falling into the water, the Empress Dowager's health had been deteriorating, her complexion was poor, and she had even gained weight during her recuperation period. After half a year, her appearance had changed considerably from the portrait, losing that beauty. That's why the Empress Dowager couldn't find any resemblance to her when she saw her earlier. Seeing her aged appearance in the mirror, compared to the noble and beautiful Yu Lan, the shock was amplified many times over. The Empress Dowager was so frightened that she trembled all over, repeatedly saying "Impossible," tears streaming down her face, completely unable to accept her current appearance.
Yu Lan looked at Xu Zifan, who nodded. She then took the mirror and left. The Empress Dowager wept for a long time. When she opened her eyes and saw Xu Zifan, she seemed to grasp at a straw and insisted, "This is impossible! I couldn't have been stupid for so many years! I don't believe it's all fake! You... you have no one in your backyard, why? Tell me! Tell me why!"
Xu Zifan raised an eyebrow and glanced outside. "I've said it before, I'm waiting for my destined one. If I don't meet him, I won't marry him. Coincidentally, I do have someone like that now. Would you like to meet him?"
The Empress Dowager stared intently at him. "You're lying! Who is it? You must be lying!"
Xu Zifan walked to the door of the old house, "Mo Yun".
Mo Yun was stunned for a moment, and her heart started racing after she realized what was happening. She appeared in front of Xu Zifan a beat late. Xu Zifan took her hand and walked to the Empress Dowager. He smiled and said, "Do you still recognize me? Someone who can move my heart must have extraordinary abilities. Not just anyone can compare to them. Your little bit of cleverness... tsk, it's not enough."
The Empress Dowager stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "Mo Yun?!"
A palace maid! A palace maid who had never been noticed by her before! She was actually Xu Zifan's sweetheart?!
This palace maid eliminated all of her power. The power she had built up over a decade was wiped out by Mo Yun in just six months. Her trusted servants, including Granny Wen, must have also died at Mo Yun's hands. Furthermore, the estrangement between her and the emperor was also largely due to Mo Yun's influence. This is the extraordinary ability that Xu Zifan spoke of.
She thought Mo Yun was an ant she could crush at any moment, but she was constantly led by the nose by him, even trusting him and entrusting him with important tasks. Was she really that stupid?! The destined one, the one who moved her heart, Xu Zifan would rather fall in love with a palace maid than love her. In their eyes, she was just a complete fool!
"Pfft—" The Empress Dowager was overwhelmed with emotion and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Xu Zifan shielded Mo Yun as they stepped back to avoid him, and said indifferently, "I will reunite your family in a few days." After saying that, he took Mo Yun's hand and left.
The Empress Dowager stared intently at their clasped hands. Xu Zifan was leading the palace maid, while she lay in the dungeon, her face etched with wrinkles. The Empress Dowager's mind flashed back to the sweet, innocent smiles of the young boy and girl from years past. With her ambition, everything had changed; she had chosen the wrong path. If she had married Xu Zifan, she would have had a loving husband, a noble status, and a happy family. How could she have ended up in such a miserable state?
Only at this moment did she realize that her scheming over the past twenty years was a joke. She had also harmed her only child and her grandson. It was all her own doing. She was not even as good as a palace maid!
Overwhelming pain and regret spread through her heart. The churning emotions caused her to cough up blood again, collapsing there weakly, experiencing excruciating agony. Everything she had wanted, once so close, was something she had willingly abandoned…