Chapter 312: Empress Dowager Xie’s Trump Card

Chapter 312: Empress Dowager Xie's Hidden Card

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has arrived."

A high-pitched, unctuous voice sounded outside the hall.

The Emperor, his face troubled, gently rubbed his temples and sighed helplessly. "Show her in."

"At once, Your Majesty."

The attendants outside the hall retreated to a distance, while a row of lightly armored palace guards, long sabers at their waists, stood watch.

Today, the Empress Dowager wore a plain dress, her graying hair adorned only with a simple white jade hairpin. Her expression was cold, tinged with mockery.

The Emperor knew—Empress Dowager Xie had come to needle him again.

For more than three years, Empress Dowager Xie had rarely left Changning Palace.

Yet these past two days, she was everywhere, meddling in everything.

She didn’t go too far—just found every possible way to mock and reprimand him through veiled remarks.

He strongly suspected she was deliberately courting death.

"Xiao Yao."

"Divine punishment again, yet another divine punishment!"

The Empress Dowager addressed the Emperor by name.

"Cheng'er ruled for years, and the realm enjoyed peace, the nation flourished, and the people lived in comfort."

"And you?"

"The year you murdered your nephew and seized the throne, Daqian suffered a drought not seen in decades—parched earth, dried rivers, withered plants, barren lands stretching for miles. Countless commoners were reduced to trading their children for food."

"Just three years later, floods and plagues ravage the land, leaving nine out of ten homes lie empty."

"Tell me, is this not Heaven’s punishment upon you?"

"The tragedy is, if this truly is Heaven’s punishment, why does it not strike you directly? Why must the innocent suffer instead?"

"Xiao Yao, the Mandate of Heaven never belonged to you."

"And you—you cannot compare to Cheng'er."

The Emperor’s temples stood out with veins, his rage barely contained.

"Imperial Sister-in-law!"

"Natural disasters come as they will. Even if Xiao Cheng had remained on the throne, droughts and floods would have come regardless."

Empress Dowager Xie scoffed. "Perhaps."

"But had you not usurped the throne, the capital’s governance would not have descended into chaos. Officials and the wealthy would not have been consumed by panic. The court could have devised effective relief policies and acted swiftly—countless lives could have been spared."

"And what were you doing when disaster relief was most needed?"

"You were rooting out opposition. You were mercilessly silencing all dissent. You were endlessly confiscating property, exiling, and executing. You were brazenly permitting your so-called 'ministers who helped you ascend the throne' to hoard grain and sell it at exorbitant prices."

"Have you ever acted like a proper ruler?"

"You personally destroyed the golden age built by Emperor Wencheng and Cheng'er."

"The chaos in Shangjing's imperial court had barely settled when you finally had time to listen to the suffering of the people. But what did you do?"

"You sent the ruthless Qin Yuanqing, who cares only for achievements, as the disaster relief envoy. The people who barely survived starvation ended up dying by the blades of the officers they had supported with their taxes year after year."

"Heh, no matter how you lie to yourself, you can't erase the fact that hundreds of thousands of people died because of you."

"This time, with the floods and epidemics, do you plan to repeat the scenes of starvation from years past, or will you simply massacre the people of Wanxing and Beiba outright?"

The Emperor took a deep breath. "Does Empress Dowager Xie believe the mad ramblings of Lu Minghui?"

"You don't?" Empress Dowager Xie retorted.

"If you don't, why did you make such a fuss summoning that bald fraud, Xuanxi, into the palace?"

The Emperor said solemnly, "Empress Dowager, Xuanxi is a holy monk."

Empress Dowager Xie gave the Emperor a strange look. "A holy monk?"

"The holy monk who claimed you were destined for greatness, and tricked you into killing your nephew and seizing the throne?"

"Me calling him an old bald monk is already giving him face."

"Look at you—year after year of natural disasters, and no son to inherit your throne. What kind of chosen ruler of Daqian are you?"

"Empress Dowager." The Emperor's eyes darkened. "Since you're so concerned about This One lacking an heir, why not tell This One where Ah Heng is?"

"When I die, I can return the throne to Ah Heng—call it returning it to its rightful owner."

"What do you think, Empress Dowager?"

The mockery in Empress Dowager Xie's expression deepened. "Xiao Yao, if you hurry up and die, perhaps you can reunite with them—father and son."

The Emperor smiled. "Empress Dowager, you could try trusting This One just once."

Trust?

Empress Dowager Xie wished she could cut Xiao Yao to ribbons.

Cheng'er had treated Xiao Yao, his little uncle, with nothing but kindness and respect.

The Xie family had treated Xiao Yao with complete trust.

And what did it get them?

Some people simply didn’t deserve a shred of trust or goodwill.

If she had known what would happen, when Emperor Wencheng first handed Xiao Yao to her to raise, she would've drowned him then and there.

"Then go ask them yourself."

Empress Dowager Xie wouldn't budge.

The Emperor sighed slowly. "Very well, Empress Dowager. Rage will make you sick."

"This One has good news for you—This One has tracked down Xie San’s lover."

"Wait at most one more month, and I shall reunite them with you, Empress Dowager."

"I've changed my mind. Hearing that the woman is a skilled warrior and scholar of remarkable beauty, sending her to the pleasure quarters would be wasted on her."

"After much thought, I believe sending her to the Northern Frontier Army to entertain the troops would be most fitting."

"Isn't it said that the Xie family sons eat, live, and stand together with the army through life and death?"

"By sending Xie San's beloved there, I am merely fulfilling the long-cherished wish of the Xie family sons."

"Empress Dowager, wouldn't you agree?"

The Empress Dowager said through clenched teeth, "You are utterly shameless!"

"It is you being unreasonable," the Emperor retorted sharply.

"I spared the old Duke of Xinguo's life out of respect for your filial piety."

"I preserved your position as Dowager, allowing no woman in the realm to surpass you—that's the respect I have granted you."

"What more could you possibly find unsatisfactory?"

"Again and again, you oppose me. Again and again, you provoke and mock me."

"I am the Son of Heaven, no longer the child who once sat at your knee!"

"Do not force me to resort to extreme measures."

The Empress Dowager lightly clapped her hands. "What a fine-sounding excuse."

"If I stopped challenging you, would you spare the innocent?"

"You would not."

"Xiao Yao, speaking with such conviction—have you even deceived yourself?"

"Do I need to remind you of the true reason you adopted Fei Er?"

"Xiao Yao, who does Fei Er resemble?"

The Emperor went white.

"Empress Dowager!"

The Empress Dowager said with an icy smile, "So you too can feel fear."

"Xiao Yao, if you dare humiliate Xie San's wife and child, then do not blame me for speaking without holding back."

The Emperor shot up to his feet. "Empress Dowager, the late Emperor's honor must not be tarnished!"

"He was your husband, who revered and cherished you all his life."

"Indeed," the Empress Dowager said flatly. "He was my husband. But the beast he raised slaughtered my son and wiped out my family."

"His moment of weakness was the root of all this bloodshed."

Yongming Grand Princess sent her word in secret that Lu Mingchao would do everything possible to save Xie San's unborn child.

She was grateful for Lu Mingchao's offer but didn't want her taking the risk.

Xie San's wife and child were important.

A Yan's wife and child were just as important.

She had leverage that could make Xiao Yao back down.

Lu Mingchao was admitted to the palace.