For the first time, the Empress Dowager regretted giving her niece a false reputation. Now, no matter what reasons she had, Xu Zifan could refute them. How could any other woman compare to such a woman with an excellent reputation, family background, and close relationship with her? She had no reason to object; the more she said, the more suspicious Xu Zifan became.
In the end, the Empress Dowager could only suppress her anger and try to appeal to Xu Zifan's emotions, saying, "This matter depends on Yang'er's wishes. Back then... some things are for a lifetime, and once missed, they can never be recovered. Even if they could be recovered, it would take many years. Yang'er is my son, and I always want him to have his way. Anyway, with you helping him, he can be a little more willful. Let Yang'er choose the empress himself."
Xu Zifan raised an eyebrow, somewhat disapproving, "Choose for yourself?"
He looked at the Empress Dowager thoughtfully for a moment. The Empress Dowager gradually became nervous, wondering if she had given herself away somewhere. Xu Zifan, however, simply asked, "Does the Empress Dowager want the Emperor to choose a woman who is compatible with him? What if he chooses a commoner from a poor background? Would the Empress Dowager still allow her to become Empress?"
Having just played the emotional card, how could the Empress Dowager possibly say no now? Wouldn't that be a slap in her own face? Besides, she trusted the Emperor's choice completely, and immediately smiled and said, "Of course, I only wish for Yang'er to be happy and at ease. If there really is such a woman, at worst, I can have her recognize you as her father to elevate her status. After she enters the palace, I will teach her more, and I'll eventually be able to match her with Yang'er."
Xu Zifan chuckled cryptically, picked up his teacup and took a sip. "It's kind of you, Empress Dowager, to be so open-minded. Then I won't worry about it. Rest assured, Empress Dowager, the Emperor can do as he pleases as he pleases. I will definitely help him protect this empire and let him sit comfortably on the dragon throne."
The Empress Dowager's expression froze. That wasn't what she meant! She didn't need him to protect the empire! She only wanted him to retire and hand over power!
Xu Zifan put down his teacup, stood up and straightened his clothes. "I am busy with official business. I will go and handle it now. Your Majesty, please rest early. I will take my leave."
The Empress Dowager rose, watching Xu Zifan stride away. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then hesitated, unsure what to say. A sense of unease lingered; she felt Xu Zifan had slipped out of her control. Yet, recalling how he had still cared for her these past few days, tirelessly tending to her and their child, even neglecting to talk or have tea with her, he didn't seem to harbor any ill intentions. What had she overlooked? And why had Xu Zifan so easily given up on the Empress's position, ceasing his arguments with her?
The Empress Dowager slowly sat back down, reflecting on her words and actions just now. She had previously given many reasons why Fu Qiuwen was unsuitable to be Empress, but Xu Zifan had refuted them all. However, when she brought up the time when they were separated by imperial decree and suggested that the Emperor choose his own beloved, Xu Zifan immediately backed down.
The Empress Dowager breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. It seemed Xu Zifan still held deep feelings for her; just a mention of the past was enough for him to change his mind and agree to let the Emperor choose for himself. Now, all she had to do was let the Emperor meet the Prime Minister's second daughter and say they had feelings for each other, and the Empress's position would be decided.
The Empress Dowager summoned Granny Wen and instructed her to arrange a flower-viewing banquet. Once arranged, she would invite the female relatives of the ministers to the palace to enjoy the flowers. Since everyone knew that the selection of an empress was taking place during this period, there was nothing wrong with this move. Besides the empress, there were also many concubines to be selected, so those families who wanted their daughters to enter the palace would surely make good preparations.
The emperor then sought out the General of the State to test the waters. The General also knew about Furong's situation. His daughter enjoyed martial arts, horseback riding, and archery; she didn't seem like the type to be empress at all. He wondered if the emperor's reason for this was that he thought his daughter's personality was prone to making mistakes and that he wouldn't be able to control Furong in the future. Even if that wasn't the reason, making his daughter empress was still inappropriate; she was completely unsuitable.
The General of the State recalled that the Emperor had kept the Prime Minister after the morning court session, and suddenly wondered if the Emperor had asked the Prime Minister about this matter first. He also thought of how Xu Zifan had suddenly sent his daughter to his sister's house for upbringing a little over a month ago and had also released his criteria for choosing a husband. It seemed that the discussion about establishing an empress had started from that time. Could it be that the Emperor had initially asked Xu Zifan's daughter? And only after they all rejected him did it become his turn?
The general immediately became displeased, and he was also unhappy that his daughter was calling a courtesan "sister." He simply made an excuse, saying that the elders in the family had already found a good match for his daughter.
The emperor was rejected by three important ministers in succession. At only fifteen years old, he was greatly hurt and his self-esteem was hurt. A violent anger rose in his heart, and he wished he could exterminate the three families and their nine generations! But he could not touch Xu Zifan, nor could he touch the prime minister and the general who guarded the country. He could only swallow his anger and order them to leave. In anger, he smashed the imperial study.
When he calmed down and inquired about the memorials, he discovered that Xu Zifan had taken them all away. He instructed the palace servants to help him get some rest, and he felt a surge of anger welling up inside him, almost spitting out blood! He was the emperor, and yet his memorials were taken away so casually; Xu Zifan clearly didn't respect him at all!
Feeling stifled in the palace, the Emperor couldn't stand it any longer. He changed his clothes and prepared to leave to see Furong. Seeing this, Xiao Shunzi saw a golden opportunity to cooperate with Mo Yun's plan. He deliberately let the Empress Dowager's spy discover the Emperor's secret outing. The spy, observing the Emperor's practiced manner, realized the Emperor must have gone out several times before, having his trusted men cover for him. He quickly found an excuse to approach Xiao Shunzi and subtly probe for information.
Xiao Shunzi was extremely tight-lipped. He pretended to be stupid and laughed without saying anything useful. Then he followed the emperor out of the palace. Dingzi hurriedly wanted to deliver the message, but found that the palace servant who usually helped her deliver messages had been punished and would not be able to return for two days. Since the matter was urgent, she simply went to find Granny Wen herself.
The Empress Dowager was furious when she learned of this, and upon hearing that the Emperor had smashed up the Imperial Study, she clutched her chest and pounded her fist.
"What is he doing! I've gone through so much trouble and carefully planned everything for him, and instead of being a diligent emperor, he's smashed up the imperial study! Such a violent temper at such a young age, what will the ministers think of him if word gets out?"
Granny Wen quickly helped her calm down, "My lady, please calm down and don't hurt yourself."
The Empress Dowager shoved her away, angrily saying, "What time is it? How can I care about my health? Go and arrest those people around him, find out where the Emperor went, and bring him back to me immediately. He is the Emperor, how can he leave the palace without guards? What if... Quick, find out where he went, I'm so angry!"
"Yes, this servant will go and arrest them right away." Granny Wen personally led the group to bring the chief eunuch and the eunuchs and maids who served the emperor to Anci Palace. If it weren't for the fact that the news might leak and endanger the emperor, she would have arrested all the guards at the gate as well.
When Granny Wen returned to Anci Palace, she saw Mo Yun standing with the other palace maids, all looking at the people who had been brought there with confusion and bewilderment. She said, "Mo Yun, go back to your room. You don't need to serve me today."
She didn't trust Mo Yun and didn't want Mo Yun to know these things. Because she was busy and couldn't find any excuse, she simply gave the order directly. Mo Yun was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand. Her eyes widened slightly, somewhat unable to believe that she was still not accepted or trusted after being there for so long. But she quickly recovered, nodded, and silently turned and left.
The other palace maids and eunuchs, watching her retreating figure, only felt that she was extremely thin and frail, and her dejected appearance made her seem particularly pitiful. A senior palace maid beside the Empress Dowager couldn't help but say, "Granny Wen, there's no need for this. Mo Yun is a good person."
Granny Wen's eyes sharpened. "Will you take responsibility if something happens?"
The palace maid immediately fell silent. Granny Wen snorted coldly and strode over to interrogate the people around the emperor. The palace maid gave her a disapproving look, and the others, comparing Granny Wen to Mo Yun, felt that Granny Wen was going too far, seemingly too hostile towards Mo Yun.
Unaware that she was gradually losing popular support, Granny Wen was currently interrogating the Grand Eunuch and others on behalf of the Empress Dowager. Some of them were the Emperor's confidants and naturally refused to speak, while others had no idea the Emperor had left the palace and couldn't say a word. The Empress Dowager, worried about the Emperor's safety outside and fearing he might be corrupted by someone, had no patience left and immediately ordered torture. Several people were forced onto long wooden benches and severely beaten.
Finally, one of the eunuchs couldn't hold back any longer and confessed. The problem was, he only knew the emperor left the palace every two or three days; he had no idea where the emperor went outside the palace, let alone what happened to Furong. The Empress Dowager couldn't get the emperor's whereabouts out of the palace, but she learned that he was secretly leaving frequently. Enraged, she immediately ordered the man to be beaten to death. Then she angrily berated the head eunuch, "You lowly creature, how dare you conceal such a crucial matter, putting the emperor in danger! You deserve to die! Tell me, where has the emperor gone?"
The head eunuch knew that the emperor was already dissatisfied with the empress dowager. At this time, betraying the emperor would only make him the target of the emperor's anger, leading to his death. So he didn't answer a word, but instead said, "Your Majesty, we are all the emperor's servants. We can only obey the emperor's decisions. If we reveal the emperor's whereabouts, we will surely die. Please forgive us, Your Majesty."
"You! How dare you! Give him a good beating!" The Empress Dowager's finger trembled as she pointed at him, pacing back and forth in anger.
But the head eunuch's words silenced the others who were wavering, and the fact that the first person to confess had been beaten to death made them even more reluctant to speak. Soon, two people were beaten to death, three fell unconscious, and seven remained, screaming as they were beaten.
The palace servants who witnessed this scene felt a chill run down their spines, as if they were witnessing a shared sense of unease. Seeing that Granny Wen remained unfazed and even directed the beatings to be harder, they realized for the first time that Granny Wen was a terrifying person, too ruthless.
A senior palace maid felt that things couldn't continue like this and stepped forward to advise the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, they are, after all, the Emperor's servants. If the Emperor returns and finds them all dead, he will likely be displeased. These people have been beaten so badly but they still refuse to speak, so we probably won't get anything out of them. Why don't we lock them up and wait for the Emperor to return before deciding what to do with them?"
The Empress Dowager didn't see anything wrong with executing the emperor's men. From childhood to adulthood, what around the emperor hadn't been arranged by her? Killing these people and replacing them with a new batch of servants was no big deal. But she also took the palace maid's words to heart, and with a wave of her hand, she ordered Granny Wen to lock them all up. The thought of the emperor's unknown whereabouts gave her a terrible headache.