A eunuch's cunning voice came from outside the door, and Xu Zifan strode into the room. The Empress Dowager had just risen to greet him when Furong suddenly knelt down and kowtowed three times, shouting, "Regent! There must be more to the Emperor's poisoning than meets the eye! How could a mere palace maid like Shishu dare to poison the Emperor? Regent, the Emperor regards you as his mentor and treats you with utmost respect. I beg you, Regent, to consider the years of kindness you have shown him and thoroughly investigate this matter!"
The Empress Dowager's face turned cold. "Who gave you the right to speak here? Shi Shu wrote in her suicide note that all three wine cups were poisoned. How come the Emperor and Empress both died, but you're the only one unharmed? I'm sure you're involved in this. Guards, arrest her and her maids and interrogate them severely!"
"Wait. Empress Dowager, please don't be hasty. This matter is full of suspicious points. Since it's said that the Imperial Concubine Shi Shu poisoned him, how could she have foreseen it beforehand? The Imperial Concubine and the Emperor have a deep friendship; she shouldn't be the one to poison him. It's best to investigate this matter thoroughly. At least until the Emperor wakes up, the Imperial Concubine should not be tortured." After Xu Zifan finished speaking, he went to the inner room to check on the Emperor. When he came out and sat down, he asked again, "What exactly happened?"
Furong immediately seized the opportunity to recount the entire story, from inviting the Empress to reconcile to the Emperor and Empress's poisoning. She also emphasized the investigation results, stating that all the evidence pointed to Shishu as the poisoner. Unfortunately, Shishu was already dead, leaving no way to verify the facts, except for that suicide note.
Xu Zifan frowned and looked at the Empress Dowager. After staring at her for a while, he said, "If I remember correctly, Shishu has never done anything bold or outrageous in the ten years she has been by your side, has she?"
The Empress Dowager, feeling uneasy, replied with a mixture of sadness and anger, "Yes, I never expected her to do such a foolish thing. She deserves to die, and she even harmed Yang'er."
Xu Zifan looked away and suddenly said, "Xiao Shunzi, take men to search Shishu's room. Don't let any suspicious clues slip by. I need to know where her medicine came from and who she's been in contact with. This concerns the Emperor, so we can't miss any trace."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Xiao Shunzi immediately led his men away. The Empress Dowager's heart tightened, but then she felt there was nothing suspicious and relaxed. She had kept the medicine hidden in a secret compartment, known only to herself. She had only given it to Shishu and had never revealed it to anyone else, so it was impossible for them to find out.
The Empress Dowager dismissed most of the palace staff, leaving only her mistresses and close associates. Then, with red eyes, she said to Xu Zifan, "What should we do now? Does the Regent have a plan? A country cannot be without a ruler for a day, but Yang'er… I don't believe he has no hope. Find that divine physician, the one who treated me. He can cure Yang'er; we cannot give up on him. As for court affairs, perhaps we should discuss them together as before…"
Xu Zifan waved his hand, "The affairs of the court need not trouble the Empress Dowager; your ministers and I have our own methods. The most important thing now is to find out who plotted against the Emperor. If the Emperor wakes up, he will surely make the same decision. The Empress Dowager has just recovered from her illness, and now the Emperor and Empress have encountered this incident. The Empress Dowager must be extremely heartbroken. The Empress Dowager should calm down and take care of her health. I also know that the Empress Dowager has a motherly heart for the Emperor and must be worried about him. So the Empress Dowager should take care of the Emperor in peace, and I will handle the rest."
The Empress Dowager's heart pounded with his words, finally plunging to rock bottom. This wasn't right! Everything was different from what she had expected. She had wanted to kill the Emperor and seize power by controlling the grandson, but while the Emperor was deposed, the grandson was gone, and Xu Zifan had no intention of letting her participate in politics. Why had Xu Zifan refuted her without even hesitation? He hadn't even uttered a single word of concern for her—this was completely different from six years ago.
Suddenly someone came to report that a porcelain bottle of poison and a thick letter had been found in a hidden place in the study.
Xu Zifan glanced at the letter in Xiao Shunzi's hand, "Read it!"
Xiao Shunzi read aloud: "If the Empress Dowager silences me, this letter will be the only evidence against her..."
The Empress Dowager's head buzzed, and she couldn't hear anything. How could Shishu have written these things?!
This letter was certainly not written by Shi Shu. She was timid; she even buried the porcelain bottle containing the medicine, fearing that any unusual trace would remain. How could she dare to hide anything in her own room? Both the porcelain bottle and the letter were placed there by Mo Yun. After the Empress Dowager silenced her, she read the suicide note and then imitated Shi Shu's handwriting to write a letter. The letter explained the whole story of how the Empress Dowager instructed Shi Shu to poison the Emperor. If she were alive, she would naturally destroy the letter afterward; if she was silenced, then she hoped someone would find the letter and discover the true culprit.
Mo Yun also found a special type of paper among the unburnt fragments she had collected over the past few days—paper used only by the Empress Dowager in the palace. She found an opportunity to slip the paper fragment into a crack under the bookshelf, making it appear as if it had simply drifted in during the fire. When the Empress Dowager went into the inner chamber to see the Emperor and Empress, she discreetly revealed the location of these items, along with the Empress Dowager's secret compartment, to Xiao Shunzi.
After listening, Xu Zifan turned around and saw Mo Yun glance at the Empress Dowager. He then ordered Xiao Shunzi to search the Empress Dowager's palace. The Empress Dowager was shocked and furious. She never expected Xu Zifan to be so disrespectful. How could she, the Empress Dowager, ever face anyone again if those guards searched her palace and found her private parts?!
However, Xiao Shunzi left with his men after receiving Xu Zifan's order. Xu Zifan ignored the Empress Dowager's displeasure and sent for the princes and high-ranking officials, including the Prime Minister, to come to the palace to handle the matter together. After Xiao Shunzi found five bottles of harmful palace medicine in a hidden compartment and fragments of calligraphy practice materials under the bookshelf, the evidence was irrefutable that the Empress Dowager had instructed her attendant to poison and forge a will! Two of the three wine cups were poisoned; the Empress Dowager's motive was obvious—just as Furong said, she wanted to kill her son and install her grandson as heir!
Xu Zifan frowned and said in a deep voice, "Please ask the Empress Dowager to rest in the side hall. We will discuss this matter after the ministers arrive."
He made it clear that he wanted official business.
"Official!" The Empress Dowager stared at him in disbelief, her anger and shock palpable. "Regent, this is a frame-up! How could I poison the Emperor? He is my own flesh and blood!" She paused, then continued, "Zhongqian, we've known each other for over twenty years. Don't you believe me? Don't you know how much I've sacrificed for Yang'er? How could I harm him?"
Xu Zifan glanced at the listed evidence and shook his head, saying, "The evidence against you for plotting against the Emperor is conclusive. Moreover, you and the Emperor have been at odds for the past six months, so it is not impossible that you would resort to such a heinous act. There is no point in saying more. The Emperor is only temporarily unconscious. He will instruct us on how to handle the situation once he wakes up. The Empress Dowager only needs to wait patiently. Send the Empress Dowager to rest."
Furong hurriedly stepped forward, "Regent, since the Empress Dowager administered the poison, she must have the antidote. Please, Regent, make her hand over the antidote!"
Xu Zifan looked at the Empress Dowager, who looked at him pleadingly, "I didn't poison her, it wasn't me, Zhongqian, you have to believe me, you can't lock me up and let the real culprit get away with it, Zhongqian..."
Xu Zifan waved his hand, and two old women grabbed the Empress Dowager from either side, forcefully taking her away. Xiao Shunzi then arranged for eight guards to watch over the side hall, forbidding the Empress Dowager from leaving. The Empress Dowager was furious in the side hall. Her plan had clearly succeeded; everything had been perfectly reasonable. How could Shi Shuzang's letter have suddenly appeared? She hadn't even had time to savor the joy of victory before falling from grace. This was completely different from what she had anticipated!
Something must have gone wrong; everything was out of her control, and the biggest loss of control was that Xu Zifan didn't protect her at all; he showed absolutely no concern for her! She couldn't understand it at all. Xu Zifan had found a divine physician to treat her and helped him return to the palace; everything had been fine, hadn't it? How could he suddenly become so impartial and, seeing the evidence, want to convict her?
She forced herself to calm down and carefully considered whether there was anything unusual about her surroundings. So much had happened in the past six months, as if all the misfortunes had been concentrated in one place, more than all the bad things she had encountered in the previous thirty years combined. She felt that everything was reasonable, but upon closer inspection, there was a strange feeling about it, as if everything was being pulled together by a thread.
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became, her mind a jumbled mess, and her head throbbed with pain. She decided to stop thinking about the details and focus on the overall outcome. Now that the emperor was deposed, the empress was deposed, and she was deposed too, who would ultimately benefit? The royal family? The emperor's brothers?
Impossible. Xu Zifan crippled their power when he helped her seize the throne six years ago, and she has been suppressing them for the past six years. They couldn't possibly have the ability to cause trouble. So who else could it be?
After much deliberation, she came to the conclusion she least wanted to admit: they were all ruined, but Xu Zifan benefited the most! He was the Regent, and with the Emperor bedridden, he would only be Xu Zifan's puppet if he didn't abdicate; the entire empire would be under Xu Zifan's control. The Empress Dowager covered her face, unwilling to believe it. She had thought Xu Zifan had been infatuated with her for over twenty years, that she could make the Regent, whom everyone feared and revered, obey her with a mere flick of her finger. Was it all just wishful thinking on her part?
She thought about how she had lowered herself and fawned over Xu Zifan to try and regain her place in the palace, and a wave of immense shame washed over her. Now that she was convinced Xu Zifan was the mastermind, a chill ran down her spine as she reflected on everything that had happened in the past six months. In that time, all the people she could rely on had disappeared, and almost everyone around the emperor had been replaced. She had always thought this was the result of their own power struggle, a lose-lose situation. But what if Xu Zifan had orchestrated it all?
And then there's the imperial court. Think about how long it's been since she's kept up with court affairs? After the emperor was injured, even the memorials were being reviewed by Xu Zifan. She had once instructed the Fu family to target Xu Zifan's influence, eliminating many people. But now, thinking back, Xu Zifan didn't react at all. Instead, the emperor was very ruthless towards the Fu family afterward. Does this mean her information was wrong, and she was eliminating the emperor's people? Then their sharp confrontation would all make sense!
Although she lacked evidence for many things, she had a strong intuition that Xu Zifan was responsible. After all, Xu Zifan's instigation of discord between her and her son was more acceptable to her than her son's filial impiety. But the most terrifying thing was that even if she was certain that Xu Zifan was behind it all, she couldn't find the slightest trace of his involvement. This meant that she didn't understand this person at all. Her previous belief that she could control Xu Zifan was just wishful thinking. Xu Zifan's six years of consolidating power in the court might have been for his own benefit, and she and her son were merely pawns in his game!
When paranoia takes hold, every move Xu Zifan makes becomes suspicious. The Empress Dowager, a woman who prides herself on her intelligence, suddenly discovers that she has been someone else's pawn from beginning to end, and has been deluding herself into believing that person has deep feelings for her. This sense of humiliation makes her want to disappear into the ground!
What followed was hatred, an overwhelming hatred. She hated Xu Zifan, the man who had manipulated her, to the core! And Mo Yun? Since Xu Zifan had ill intentions, then the Mo Yun he sent was definitely no ordinary person. Didn't the troubles that happened to the people around her occur after Mo Yun arrived? How could an outsider so quickly figure out her power?
The Empress Dowager seemed to have found an outlet for her anger. She pushed open the door and said coldly, "I am still the Empress Dowager, not a prisoner. Summon my servants to come and attend to me. I need to change my clothes and get ready!"
The eight guards outside the door were all Xu Zifan's men. They saw that the Empress Dowager's hair was a little disheveled, and since she might be meeting a prince of the imperial family later, it was normal for her to change and dress. So they didn't think much of it and allowed the palace maids around the Empress Dowager to go in.
Mo Yun entered the room with three young palace maids. As soon as she entered, she noticed the Empress Dowager's strange gaze and immediately gestured to the guards behind her back. The guards called out, "Wait a moment, the Regent has summoned Mo Yun for questioning. Go immediately."
Mo Yun put down what she was holding, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this servant will be right back."
The Empress Dowager's face darkened, and she strode towards Mo Yun, shouting at the three palace maids, "Seize her!"
The three palace maids were all Mo Yun's people, so naturally they didn't listen to the Empress Dowager.
Mo Yun quickly retreated to the door and tentatively said, "Your Majesty, the Regent summoned me only to ask questions, and I will not speak carelessly."
Two guards drew their swords and crossed them, blocking the doorway and separating the Empress Dowager and Mo Yun. The Empress Dowager stared intently at Mo Yun and gritted her teeth, saying, "You treacherous servant, you must have framed me! I will not forgive you!"
Mo Yun understood. With so many things having happened, the Empress Dowager, as a party involved, could easily guess who the ultimate winner was if she stepped back to look at the bigger picture. She had only been blinded by her own involvement and the Empress Dowager's constant misleading and guidance before realizing it. Having ascertained the Empress Dowager's current thoughts, Mo Yun saw no need to continue the pretense and turned to leave without saying another word.
The Empress Dowager was momentarily stunned, then enraged. She had guessed it was one thing, but witnessing Mo Yun ignore her was quite another. She had always considered herself superior, the most noble woman in the world, but to think that even Mo Yun disregarded her was a huge blow to her pride. Pointing at Mo Yun, she ordered, "Arrest her! Didn't you hear me? Do you intend to disobey the imperial decree? I am still the Empress Dowager!"
The guard said coldly, "Please ask the Empress Dowager to return to her room."
No matter what the Empress Dowager said, the guards kept responding with the same question. Clearly, these guards were all under Xu Zifan's command; otherwise, they wouldn't have acted without hesitation. The Empress Dowager's heart sank further. Just how many people in the palace were under Xu Zifan's command? How many things had they overlooked while they were busy killing each other?
Now she could only place her hopes on the emperor. He would wake up, and as long as she explained all the misunderstandings to him, he would definitely not let Xu Zifan go. With princes and several important officials involved, surely they would help the emperor eliminate Xu Zifan in such a serious matter? Moreover, once Xu Zifan fell, his power could be distributed to other ministers. She didn't believe those princes and ministers couldn't see such a mutually beneficial arrangement; this was her last hope.
While waiting for the ministers to enter the palace, Xu Zifan went into the inner chamber to check on the emperor again. The emperor's coma was caused by sudden weakness and severe pain. Now that the medicine had worn off and he had taken the medicine prepared by the imperial physician, his condition had stabilized. Xu Zifan tucked him in and took the opportunity to press a few acupoints. As soon as he withdrew his hand, the emperor woke up.
Furong rushed over excitedly, saying, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you're finally awake! I'll go and fetch the imperial physician!"
The emperor stared blankly at Furong's retreating figure as she ran off to fetch the imperial physician, his brow furrowing slightly. "What's wrong with me? Regent, what are you doing here?"
Xu Zifan said seriously, "Your Majesty, your and the Empress's wine cups have been poisoned. This poison is extremely potent, and the imperial physician has diagnosed that you and the Empress will be bedridden and constantly need medicine in the future."
The emperor was struck dumb, and everything came back to him. The excruciating pain he felt before losing consciousness jolted him awake. Then, his face turned deathly pale, and he said in disbelief, "You said I would be bedridden? No! Impossible!" He tried to get up by supporting himself on the bed, but he had no strength at all. He fell back down as soon as he managed to get up a little, and even this one movement left him breathless and extremely weak.
The imperial physicians rushed to see the emperor and said the same thing: his life was saved, but he would be confined to his bed and unable to move freely. The entire Imperial Hospital was helpless. The emperor gripped the blanket tightly, his eyes filled with malice as he stared at Xu Zifan. "Who! Who poisoned me?"
Xu Zifan said, "The witnesses and evidence we've gathered all point to the Empress Dowager. However, Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has a motherly heart towards you and would never harm you like this. You..."
"Enough! It's her! It must be her! What motherly love? Only you would believe her lies. She's a viper!" The emperor instantly understood the matter of the two wine cups. "She must have wanted to poison me and Furong, she must! I know her best. She used me to seize power back then, and now that I don't listen to her, she wants to get rid of me and use the Empress's child to become the Grand Empress Dowager! Where is she? Arrest her, arrest her!"
Before establishing an empress, the emperor had considered this matter, wondering if Fu Qiuwen's child would threaten his position. Coupled with the aversion he felt towards Xu Zifan's "maternal love," he instantly became convinced that the empress dowager was plotting against him. In his eyes, that was exactly the kind of person the empress dowager was, and he was indeed right. Xu Zifan had simply brought all their actions to light by gathering evidence.
Xu Zifan said to the emperor, "Calm down. The Empress Dowager is currently in a side hall. I have invited the princes of the imperial clan and several important officials to the palace. I will bring them to see you later."
Xu Zifan led everyone out, deliberately leaving Furong to accompany the emperor. Furong knelt by the bedside, tightly holding the emperor's hand, tears streaming down her face. This was a genuine outpouring of emotion; she was truly filled with regret and fear. But things had come to this, and she could only find an opportunity to extricate herself from the situation by killing the Empress Dowager. She tearfully recounted to the emperor the Empress Dowager's words and actions after he was poisoned, saying that the Empress Dowager wanted to share power with the Regent, that she wanted to imprison her, and that she had forged the will of the Imperial Attendant, among other things.
Most importantly, she analyzed the situation for the emperor: the Imperial Medical Academy had no cure for the poison, and the only hope lay with the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager stubbornly denied it, and no antidote was found in her palace. Therefore, interrogating the Empress Dowager was the only option. However, as the emperor's birth mother, this would likely be opposed by the princes and ministers. Moreover, given the Regent's childhood relationship with the Empress Dowager, it was impossible to allow her to be interrogated without protecting her. The best course of action was to imprison her and let her handle the matter privately.
The more the emperor listened, the deeper the hatred in his eyes grew. He no longer felt any blood ties with the Empress Dowager. He made a grim decision, "Do as you say. We must find the antidote!"
Five princes from the royal family arrived: three were the emperor's uncles, and two were his brothers. Six high-ranking officials, including the prime minister and the general, also arrived. Xu Zifan ordered Xiao Shunzi...
He explained the whole story to them, had the head of the Imperial Medical Academy give them the diagnosis, and showed them the evidence they had found before leading them inside to pay their respects to the emperor.
The princes and ministers remained in shock. The irrefutable evidence was there; if the Empress Dowager could still recover, it would be a testament to the Emperor's extraordinary filial piety. However, the Emperor had no intention of protecting the Empress Dowager. Without even seeing her, he ordered her to be locked in a dark room for reflection. No one objected, but they were all astonished by the ruthlessness of the mother and son. A dark room was a small, completely dark room, utterly empty. Wouldn't the Empress Dowager go mad locked inside? This Emperor had truly inherited his mother's ruthlessness.
The emperor then ordered them to find the most renowned doctors in the land to come to the palace and treat him. He firmly believed that there must be an antidote for poisoning. He had even cured the Empress Dowager, who was so weak that she often fainted. Why couldn't he?
The emperor had just been poisoned and was unwilling to abdicate or give up the chance to recover. No one could object, but everyone knew the hope was slim. His body was already broken, and there was no antidote to restore him. The thought of making a big fuss about seeking medical help would surely leak the news, causing unrest and chaos. Everyone was frowning with worry, except for the emperor's two brothers, who were happy.
They lost the struggle for the throne, but now the emperor is a cripple, beyond saving, and will have to abdicate soon. The emperor has no sons—isn't this their opportunity? Even if they can't become emperor, they could at least adopt a son for him. The two exchanged a glance, and in that instant, they became rivals.
The emperor collapsed suddenly, his heart filled with panic and fear, his only concerns being his recovery and revenge. He was not particularly attentive to state affairs, since the regent had been handling memorials for the past few months, and the ministers had simply consulted with the regent on matters of state, reporting back to him after reaching their conclusions. No changes were needed. He told them to continue governing as usual, which pleased the ministers who sided with Xu Zifan. Some felt it was inappropriate, but considering Xu Zifan's immense power, they were unwilling to be the first to object, and so the matter was settled.
Xiao Shunzi naturally took care of all matters concerning the emperor, while Furong was left to manage the affairs of the harem. The empress was sent back to her palace to be well cared for. After talking for so long, the emperor was clearly exhausted and lacked energy, so Xu Zifan and the others took their leave.
The Empress Dowager was still waiting to clear up the misunderstanding with the Emperor. She had found the most suitable reason for everything, even trying to pin the poisoning on Mo Yun. But instead, she only received four burly old women who gagged her and locked her in a dark room!