tallest building

Chapter 343 An eye for an eye

It was the third day since Consort Hui was imprisoned in the inner prison.

"Your Majesty, Chen has committed suicide in the inner prison out of fear of punishment," Qi Yu, the emperor's attendant, reported to the empress.

"She died so easily!" The Empress gritted her teeth in hatred. She had ordered Consort Hui to be tortured, making her wish she were dead, but she was still allowed to commit suicide. It was really too good for her!
"His Majesty instructed me to inform Your Highness that Lady Chen committed suicide out of fear of punishment, but she had already confessed to her crimes. According to the law, those who plot against the imperial heir will have their three clans exterminated, and those who plot against the crown prince will have their nine clans executed. Apart from Lady Chen's death, the entire Chen family must be executed."

"Alright." The Empress originally wanted Consort Hui to suffer the punishment of being slowly sliced ​​to death, but since she had already committed suicide, she had no choice but to give up.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty also said that the rest are at Your Majesty's disposal. However, the eldest princess is of royal blood after all, so please spare her!"

"I know this, Your Majesty, please rest assured." The Empress said this, but in her heart she did not intend to let the eldest princess and the second princess go. If Consort Hui dared to harm her children, then she would not spare any of Consort Hui's children.

However, it cannot be done openly, otherwise it will surely anger the emperor.

After Qi Yu left, the Empress asked Yu Lu and Wen Mingqian, "It is said that bystanders see things more clearly. What do you two think is the best way for me to settle the eldest princess? Should I let her stay in the palace or move her out?"

Yu Lu and Wen Mingqian exchanged glances, and Yu Lu spoke up: "In my humble opinion, it would be better to let the eldest princess leave the palace, since she has a princess residence outside the palace anyway."

"Mingqian, what do you think?" The Empress turned to Wen Mingqian and asked.

"This servant is ignorant and can only speculate based on the common sense of an ordinary person. I'm afraid this may not be in accordance with Her Majesty the Empress's wishes." Wen Mingqian did not rush to express his opinion.

"You don't need to be so careful. I told you to speak. Just say it." The Empress raised her hand.

“This servant thinks that because of Chen’s matter, the eldest princess is ashamed to face Her Majesty. Even if Chen is guilty and despicable, she is still her birth mother. The eldest princess cannot ask to leave the palace on her own, for fear that people will think she harbors resentment towards Her Majesty. But if she continues to stay in the palace, she will surely be very uncomfortable. Her Majesty the Empress has always been tolerant, and I think she would not be able to bear seeing her suffer every day.”

"That's right. Rather than letting her live in constant fear in the palace, it's better to let her be free outside. Besides, when I see her, I can't help but think of Lady Chen, which isn't good for anyone."

Afterwards, Wen Mingqian left, and Yu Lu whispered to the Empress, "During the days that Your Majesty has been ill, the eldest princess has come to our palace every day to kneel and beg for forgiveness. No matter how I tried to persuade her to go back, she wouldn't budge. In the end, His Majesty had to issue an imperial decree to forcibly send her back."

"I vaguely heard someone crying and shouting, but I thought it was a dream," the Empress said coldly. "I ignored her, and I'm sure she's even more resentful now."

"The eldest princess still refuses to believe that Chen harmed the crown prince, and is crying and begging that the matter be investigated thoroughly. This servant can't help but feel a little worried." The eldest princess had offended Yu Lu before, and Yu Lu took this opportunity to kick her while she was down.

He knew that if the eldest princess ever gained power, she would not let him off the hook.

"What? Does she still want to overturn the verdict?" The Empress sneered. "I haven't pursued her crimes out of respect for His Majesty. If she still doesn't know her place and keeps pushing forward, I will not let her off."

“These past few days, I’ve been on tenterhooks. I hope I’m just overthinking it,” Yu Lu sighed. “What are you thinking about?” the Empress asked her.

"It's about the Emperor's birthday celebration," Yu Lu said. "Even if Lord Dong were incredibly bold, he wouldn't have done something like that, and yet he was so unlucky as to be caught."

"I'm suspicious even without you saying so," the Empress scoffed. "Including their trip to Bowang Mountain to pray for blessings, how do we know if they were cursing our Dong family?"

“That’s not impossible. Since the Chen family cursed the Crown Prince, it’s highly likely they also cursed the Dong family. After all, the incident happened during the sacrificial ceremony,” Yu Lu said. “Their intentions are truly despicable!”

"If Chen is so wicked, how good can her daughter be? If she were a good person, our Dong family would not disrespect her. Why can't she have a child after all these years?" The Empress became angrier the more she thought about it. Now she realized that the tragedy of herself and the Dong family was caused by Consort Hui and her daughter.

“Therefore, neither the eldest princess nor the second princess can be allowed to live.” Yu Lu lowered his voice even further. “At least we can’t let them cause any more trouble.”

"But if we touch them now, the Emperor will definitely be unhappy. We can't be too blatant." The Empress wished she could tear them to pieces immediately, but she knew the timing wouldn't allow it.

“We don’t necessarily have to kill them first,” Yu Lu said. “The Chen family was exterminated, and the crimes committed by the Chen clan were heinous. As his daughters, don’t the eldest and second princesses think about atoning for their mother’s sins?”

"What do you mean?" The Empress frowned, seemingly understanding but not quite.

“If they have any conscience, they should stay away from the world, retreat to the mountains to cultivate themselves, atone for the sins of the Chen family, and pray for the Crown Prince.” Yu Lu smiled.

"You're absolutely right," the Queen nodded. "It is indeed a good match!"

Then she added, "Princess Duanmin is not to be trusted. Alan is highly suspicious of Gang'er's case. It's possible that she and Consort Hui conspired to set it up."

“Well… firstly, we have no evidence, and secondly, the Emperor would never suspect Princess Duanmin,” Yu Lu said. “But if she and Consort Hui are working together, then why did she treat Chen Shi like that last time? They don’t seem to be in cahoots.”

"What's so strange about that? Do you think anyone would know about Chen's curse on the Crown Prince?" the Empress said. "When the Crown Prince died, Duanmin had already been married off to the northern frontier for several years. How could she possibly know?"

"That Consort Yun...she usually gets close to Princess Duanmin...could it be?" Yu Lu felt that the relationships between these people were complicated.

"The reason Consort Yun stepped forward to correct this was twofold. Firstly, the timing was opportune, as she was not the first to accuse someone. Secondly, she also wanted to secure a place for herself and the Ninth Princess. After this incident, I will certainly feel some favor towards her."

Everyone has their own selfish motives, and Consort Yun was no exception. Princess Duanmin was unaware of Chen's curse on the Crown Prince; she simply wanted to see unrest in the harem. That's why she fanned the flames, never expecting the fire to spread to Chen.

If she intends to target the Chen family, the Chen family will inevitably bring up what happened back then, and there's no way they'll let her off the hook.

The Empress believed she had a clear understanding of the situation: "However, for the sake of the bigger picture, we cannot touch her for now. Anyone who dares to scheme against my Dong family, I will make sure they get what's coming to them sooner or later!"