You expect me to serve your mistress? The mistress is driving this scumbag and his entire family cra

Chapter 226 This throne originally belonged to the Prince of Pingxi

Liang Jiang stammered, "Is there some misunderstanding here?"

The Empress Dowager smiled bitterly: "Actually, when you took me hostage that day, I also suspected that the commander-in-chief was Tong Shouliang. But he was not an imposter; he was indeed authorized by the Emperor."

Liang Jiang was taken aback again.

"So, thanks to your reminder that day, I wanted to test the waters before I went into the mountains, just to be on the safe side. But the commander's attitude seems to have already explained everything."

If he harbored ill intentions towards the dragon vein, he would naturally have been eager to abandon me and take Princess Heya into the mountains. But he ultimately chose to go alone, clearly indicating that he had no designs on the dragon vein.

This means that all of this was at the Emperor's behest.

Consort Xie, having cleverly escaped from the capital, must have returned to Weixi with Prince Pingxi. The Emperor, fearing Prince Pingxi would seize the imperial vein, sent me personally.

Lady Liang was still confused: "Isn't it enough to just move the imperial mausoleum here? Why must you be buried alive with them?"

"Don't you understand? The emperor is wary of the Prince of Pingxi. If the imperial mausoleum were moved here, the blessings would still protect the Prince of Pingxi. But it's different that I am buried here; it can ensure the eternal stability of his empire."

"Perhaps this is just your suspicion."

The Empress Dowager shook her head: "I know my own son. He will stop at nothing for ambition and power. If Prince Pingxi wants to compete with him for the imperial lineage, I will be the first person he sacrifices."

The Empress Dowager explained the reason, but Lady Liang and Liang Jiang remained dumbfounded.

They simply couldn't believe that someone in this world would bury their own mother alive for their own ambition!

The emperor was so ruthless and foolish.

Liang Jiang looked shocked and stammered, "The Prince of Pingxi has never had any ambition, nor has he ever thought of coveting the throne. How can the emperor be so suspicious and repeatedly try to harm the Prince of Pingxi? It's chilling!"

The Empress Dowager said dejectedly, "The Prince of Pingxi has been intelligent since childhood and has repeatedly made military achievements as he grew up. He has always been the strongest rival in the Emperor's mind."

not to mention……"

She hesitated for a moment before resolutely saying, "When the emperor passed away, he originally intended to pass the throne to the Prince of Pingxi."

Lady Liang was stunned again. When Duke Liang was alive, he had said that Prince Pingxi might inherit the throne, but when the emperor died, he did not leave a will, so the emperor, who was the crown prince, naturally inherited the throne.

The Empress Dowager said in a deep voice: "Before the late Emperor passed away, he had prepared an imperial edict to pass the throne to the Prince of Pingxi. The edict was hidden in his bedroom."

On his deathbed, he ordered Taoist Priest Li and the Minister of Rites to retrieve the imperial edict and summon Prince Pingxi to the palace.

"I was blinded by greed and, at the Emperor's pleading, intercepted the imperial edict from Master Li and Minister Jian, hiding it away. Thus, the Emperor was able to rightfully ascend the throne after the late Emperor's death."

Lady Liang and her daughter were so shocked by this palace secret that they were speechless.

No wonder the Empress Dowager said that she had brought this upon herself. She had put her son on the throne, but now she was going to be buried alive by him in this desolate mountain.

The Empress Dowager continued, "It is because of this matter that the Emperor has always harbored resentment towards the Prince of Pingxi and wished he could get rid of him as soon as possible."

After consolidating his power and gaining sufficient influence, the emperor began to devise ways to weaken the Prince of Pingxi's influence. As for the matter of the Duke of Liang, the emperor was fully aware that the Duke of Liang had been wronged.

Because Tong Shouliang had always been his man. He was the one who secretly fostered Tong Shouliang's ambition to eliminate the Duke of Liang, and he was completely happy to see Tong Shouliang's crimes succeed.

For a moment, Madam Liang felt as if her head was about to explode.

She never imagined that her husband, who had risked his life and devoted himself to protecting this tyrannical emperor's empire, would be betrayed by the same tyrannical emperor.

He was even grateful that the man hadn't implicated his wife and children, which was utterly ridiculous.

She gritted her teeth and said angrily, "Such a foolish ruler has failed the late emperor and his subjects. He is not worthy of being a ruler at all."

Tai said with regret, "You are right. He is cruel, suspicious, disloyal, unfilial, and unjust. He is unworthy to be a king and will only destroy this ancestral foundation and this great country. All the mistakes are mine, and I am not sorry to die. But I do not want my mistakes to cause suffering to the people and bring calamity for thousands of years. I only want to make up for all this as much as possible."

She looked at Liang Jiang and said slowly and deliberately, "If you can contact the Prince of Pingxi, please tell him to overthrow this tyrant and preserve the ancestral legacy."

Liang Jiang hesitated and remained silent.

With trembling hands, the Empress Dowager painstakingly tore at the hem of her clothes, took out a piece of satin yellow silk from inside, and solemnly handed it to Liang Jiang.

“I know that the emperor has been secretly searching for this edict from the late emperor and is wary and suspicious of me. So before the western tour, I carried this edict with me.”

Even if it costs me my life, I will help you escape this place and deliver this imperial edict to the Prince of Pingxi.

Liang Jiang took it, opened it, and saw that, just as the Empress Dowager had said, it was the imperial edict from the late emperor to pass the throne to Gu Xizhi.

Everything the Empress Dowager said was true, and she was genuinely repentant.

Then she slowly said, "Your Majesty, you need not worry. I have my own way of contacting the Prince of Pingxi."

The Empress Dowager's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really?"

Liang Jiang nodded: "When the Imperial Guard left the capital, Princess Wan'er was playful and, with the help of Prince Xie, managed to sneak into the Imperial Guard and followed them all the way to Weixi. She is now in the Imperial Guard."

The Empress Dowager was taken aback, then instantly understood: "No wonder, that day when Prince Pingxi broke into the post station at night, you found my bedchamber so easily."

“Yes, it was Princess Wan’er who secretly helped us that day.” Liang Jiang said truthfully, “Wan’er should be able to shoulder this important task, escape from this place, and find a way to contact Prince Pingxi.”

The Empress Dowager was overjoyed: "Heaven has not forsaken Chang'an."

After a brief, secret discussion, Lady Liang stepped down from the carriage and said to Tong Shouliang's trusted confidant, "The Empress Dowager's illness is very serious. Although I have used acupuncture, the effect is minimal. She still needs to take some herbal medicine."

"Then prescribe a medicine."

Lady Liang said, "The medicines we bring on the march are limited, and it may not be possible to get the medicine according to the prescription. I need to write a prescription based on the medicine, or rather, we should get and cook the medicine ourselves."

Her words made a lot of sense, and the confidant waved his hand, ordering someone to "take Madam Liang to get the medicine."

Immediately, guards stepped forward and led Liang Jiang to the carriage carrying the medicine.

Because Liang Jiang needed to brew medicine for the Empress Dowager, she had a brief period of freedom, which also gave Xie Wan'er, who was hiding in the guards, the opportunity to get close to her.

Xie Wan'er's original reason for coming to Weixi with the army was indeed because she wanted to have fun.

She wanted to see for herself whether the tiger Liang Jiang was raising was as majestic as she had described.

Upon hearing that the guards were to escort the Empress Dowager to Weixi, he began to have designs on the matter.

Xie Fubai did not try to stop her; instead, he helped her cover up and asked the brothers in the guards to take good care of her. As a result, Xie Wan'er did not reveal her identity along the way.

Xie Fubai did this not to indulge her willfulness, but because the Marquis understood that the capital was now a place of trouble, and the Marquis's mansion might also be implicated. It would be better to let Xie Wan'er leave the capital, so that if anything unexpected happened, Xie Wan'er could still save her life.

Xie Wan'er was enjoying herself and didn't realize the danger involved until she witnessed Tong Shouliang's ambush that day, and Gu Xi realized she had fallen into a trap.

The clever girl immediately sneaked away to find the Empress Dowager to set fire to the place, where she happened to meet Liang Jiang.

It was only then that she realized how serious the situation was.

In order to coordinate with the outside world in the future, she did not reveal her identity and remained hidden in the guard.

(End of this chapter)