Chapter 677: 322 The Truth Revealed (two updates) Chapter 677: 322 The Truth Revealed (two updates) Within Renshou Palace, Empress Dowager Zhuang was addressing several backlogged official matters from the past few days.
Indeed, old age had caught up with her, and it had taken her a long time to fully recover from a severe illness. Only now did she deeply comprehend how difficult it had been to recuperate in the countryside.
Leprosy was no ordinary ailment, its infectious nature alone was enough to instill fear in all. It was a mystery how those two simple-minded individuals had dared to take her in.
Despite the fact that their living conditions were already tough and they themselves barely had enough to eat, they still took in a sick person.
Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed.
“Your Royal Highness, have you recalled your days in the country again?” Eunuch Qin asked with a smile.
“Yes.” Empress Dowager Zhuang did not deny it, “Back then, they tricked me into believing that I had Tuberculosis, told me not to go out, for fear that I would spread the illness to the villagers.”
Eunuch Qin was surprised, “Did you believe them?”
Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed, “Could I not believe? I couldn’t remember anything at the time.”
Eunuch Qin pondered, “Then… what happened next?”
Empress Dowager Zhuang recalled, “About ten or fifteen days later, they began eating at the same table as me.”
“Ah…” Eunuch Qin was astonished, “Were you healed after half a month?”
“No.” Empress Dowager Zhuang shook her head, “I was just no longer contagious. I continued taking the medicine for half a year.”
Most people wouldn’t do this. Even if leprosy was cured, they would still avoid the person like the plague.
“Miss Gu and Xiao Xiuzhuan truly care about you, this humble servant is happy for you.” Eunuch Qin sincerely expressed. He had met the Empress Dowager when she was exiled to the Cold Palace.
He was a junior eunuch in the Cold Palace when Empress Xianxian took a liking to him and summoned him to serve her side.
Later, when Empress Xianxian left the Cold Palace, she took him along, in the blink of an eye, he had accompanied the Empress Dowager through many ups and downs for decades.
Many people wanted to flatter the Empress Dowager, but those who genuinely cared for the Empress Dowager without expecting anything in return were rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns.
If the Empress Dowager were not the Empress Dowager, then they would not be themselves as perceived by the Empress Dowager.
Miss Zhuang always grumbled about the Empress Dowager’s favoritism towards Miss Gu over her kin, but had she ever considered if she had half the genuine affection for the Empress Dowager as Miss Gu did?
Who could have imagined that after enduring a lifetime of loneliness and hardship, experiencing the cold loneliness at the top, she would meet such caring individuals in her twilight years?
“It’s about Xiao Xiuzhuan…” Eunuch Qin too, noticed the strain between Xiao Xiuzhuan and the Empress Dowager. Although he was a trusted confidant, the Empress Dowager did not share everything with him.
When it came to the Empress Dowager’s mind, he could only guess half of it, the rest was beyond his comprehension.
“Could it be because he resembles your deceased young lord?”
Eunuch Qin cautiously asked.
The Empress Dowager did not poison the young lord, but the Emperor didn’t believe it, the Duke of Xuanping didn’t believe it, the world didn’t believe it, even her own Zhuang family probably believed that it was the Empress Dowager’s doing.
The only difference was, members of the Zhuang family didn’t complain about the Empress Dowager.
But being accused of such a crime relentlessly, it was probable that the Empress Dowager felt uncomfortable seeing someone who bore such a strong resemblance to the young lord.
Of course, this was Eunuch Qin’s speculation, whether the Empress Dowager really thought this way was unknown.
“I…” Just as Empress Dowager Zhuang was about to say something, there came the anxious voice of a palace maid from outside the study, “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you cannot enter!”
“I am the Emperor! The whole world is mine! Is Renshou Palace now in a revolt, daring to block me from entering, not once but twice!”
It was the Emperor’s furious roar.
Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned impatiently and signaled Eunuch Qin.
Eunuch Qin, carrying his jade ceremonial staff, went out and told the palace maids “All of you leave.” He then made a bow to the emperor, “Your Majesty, this way please.”
The Emperor glared coldly at everyone present, flicked his sleeve, and entered Empress Dowager Zhuang’s study, “Your maneuver is most impressive, Dowager! Even during your recuperation in Renshou Palace, you have to keep conspiring against me, denying me a moment of peace! How cruel do you intend to be? Do you want to drive everyone around me away and kill them all!”
Eunuch Qin, who followed the Emperor inside, glanced at the Empress Dowager and then at the pale-faced palace maids present in the room. His face turned grim.
Empress Dowager Zhuang spoke calmly, “All of you, leave.”
“Yes.” Eunuch Qin and the palace maids all left.
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked stoically at the Emperor, threw the official document she was holding onto the table, “What madness are you ranting about now!”
The Emperor scoffed, “I should be the one asking you what madness you’re indulging in, Empress Dowager! Isn’t it enough that you manage state affairs from behind the curtain? Isn’t controlling half the kingdom enough? Wasn’t it enough to drive my mother to the nunnery? Just how ruthless do you intend to be? Are you planning on driving everyone around me away and killing them one by one?”