The seductive princess is no longer being pursued; the aloof prime minister is facing a crematorium.

Chapter 278 Why So Many Whys

"Zhaoming, what nonsense are you spouting!?"

Jiang Huayan, who was standing to the side, spoke up sharply and reprimanded him!
Jiang Jinshuang said calmly, "Whether I am joking or not, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager should know better than I do."

Jiang Huayan suddenly looked at the Empress Dowager beside him, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Yes! I cannot tolerate any taint of the royal bloodline! You, Jiang Jinshuang, are not the Emperor's biological daughter!"

It was like a bolt from the blue!
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Jiang Jinshuang and began to discuss among themselves!
From a high place, the Empress Dowager pointed at Jiang Jinshuang, raising her voice as if she wanted to recount all of Prince Ruiyang's misconduct and crimes!
"When you were born, I was careful and had your blood tested with the Emperor's, and it turned out that they were indeed incompatible!"

"On the contrary, after Jiang Buhuo met you, he not only took you as his student, but even risked his life for you. Jiang Jinshuang, do you think I'm a fool?!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jinshuang raised an eyebrow slightly.

She didn't pay attention to the first part of the Empress Dowager's words, but when she heard the second part, she chuckled and looked up at her: "You said... that Uncle Wang was willing to risk his life for me?"

"Ha? You don't know?" The Empress Dowager sneered, "Back then, when I ordered the arrest of Prince Ruiyang, he initially refused to admit that he intended to rebel, even at the cost of his life. Do you know what I told him?"

The Empress Dowager looked at Jiang Jinshuang, at that face that filled her with hatred, and laughed maniacally: "I told him that if he refuses to confess his crimes, I will throw you into prison and torture you to extract a confession!"

"Ha, General Ruiyang, who wouldn't budge an inch even with the hot iron, upon hearing this, immediately wrote a letter of apology and a secret correspondence, which he submitted to the emperor along with the defense map."

The Empress Dowager stood on high, looking down at Jiang Jinshuang below the prince with a half-smile, full of contempt: "Jiang Jinshuang, even so, do you still dare to say that you and Prince Ruiyang are only uncle and nephew?"

She doesn't believe it.

She had never seen it either.

The world is hilarious, all come for profit.

The Empress Dowager couldn't believe that someone would go to such lengths for the sake of a so-called "niece".

There must be a deeper connection!

Jiang Jinshuang looked at the Empress Dowager.

All the civil and military officials also looked at the Empress Dowager.

Even Jiang Huayan, sitting in the Mingtang Hall, stared blankly at the Empress Dowager.

"My relationship with Uncle Wang is indeed more than just that of uncle and nephew."

The Empress Dowager wore a proud and arrogant smile, her eyes flashing with triumphant madness.

Jiang Jinshuang tightened her grip on the knife hilt.

"Does Your Majesty know how poor Uncle Wang is?"

The Empress Dowager frowned slightly, her smile faltering as she wondered why Jiang Jinshuang had asked this so inexplicably.

Without needing the Empress Dowager's reply, Jiang Jinshuang smiled self-deprecatingly: "All of the Prince's salary and rewards were used to reward the Black Armor Cavalry and the poor people of Baiyujing."

"The iron armor he wore was forged by a blacksmith in the city after three hundred old, weak, women and children from Baiyujing took iron tools and farm implements from their homes and melted them down."

"Does Your Majesty know how heavy that suit of armor was when you wore it?"

Even in the dead of winter, when Jiang Jinshuang wore that armor to the battlefield, she would still be covered in pustules and blisters, which she couldn't squeeze out completely.

She only wore that armor when the two armies were at war, but her uncle, Prince Ruiyang, wore it for five years.

"what do you want to say in the end?"

The Empress Dowager seemed to have no reaction to Jiang Jinshuang's words, only feeling impatient.

Jiang Jinshuang chuckled lightly: "Your subject only wanted to say that your uncle was very poor, and he left behind few possessions after his death."

At this point, Jiang Jinshuang spun the curved sword in her hand halfway around, the sharp edge pointing at the Empress Dowager high above, her eyes sharp, like a god of death.

"I'm one of them."

Her relationship with Prince Ruiyang was more than just that of uncle and niece.

She was one of his few remaining, intact relics.

It seems that ever since she knelt outside the Golden Palace for three days and three nights to plead for her uncle, Prince Ruiyang, many people have been puzzled.

"Why plead so earnestly for a mere imperial uncle who is not even related to us?" "Why risk a falling out with the Emperor just to overturn the verdict against an imperial uncle?"

"Why would someone who could live a carefree life in the capital choose to be demoted to Baiyujing instead?"

"Why go to such lengths? Could it be that Prince Ruiyang has some other relationship with you?"

Why……

why.

Everyone was asking her why.

But why are there so many whys?

—She only saw it.

She only knew that Prince Ruiyang was not a person who disobeyed the country, and she was clear that Prince Ruiyang would not be a traitorous spy.

—She simply stepped forward.

Those who hold salaries for everyone must not freeze them to death in the wind and snow.

That was a truth that Jiang Jinshuang had understood many, many years ago.

There aren't that many whys.

Even if back then, the person who was slandered was just an insignificant ordinary citizen, she would still smash the blue bricks outside the Golden Palace to get justice for him.

It wasn't because she had any illicit relationship with him.

It wasn't because she wanted to live off his great achievements.

even.

It wasn't even because of what she could gain from doing so.

Simply because she knew it was the right thing to do.

Since it was the right thing to do, she did it.

After all, the only thing that Uncle Ruiyang could proudly possess was her, given his life of poverty.

"Pretentious." The Empress Dowager scoffed coldly, completely disregarding Jiang Jinshuang's words.

Jiang Jinshuang looked at Jiang Huayan and said coldly, "Empress Dowager Zhao has framed loyal officials and disrupted the court. According to the law, Your Majesty should imprison Zhao in a death row cell and announce to the world that she shall never be allowed to enter the ancestral hall or the Imperial Ancestral Temple again."

The Empress Dowager shouted, "Jiang Jinshuang, do you think this court is your personal fiefdom?!"

"The imperial court is not a place where I can have my own word, but today, I am not afraid to be a traitor!"

"you dare--"

"Enough!" The king on the high throne finally spoke, his voice filled with rage.

He looked at the Empress Dowager beside him, his eyes filled with grief and resentment: "Empress Dowager... Zhaoming and Buhuo have never had the kind of relationship you think they have."

"Impossible!" the Empress Dowager shrieked. "If that weren't the case, why did Prince Ruiyang risk his life to save Jiang Jinshuang? Why didn't your blood mix with Jiang Jinshuang's?!"

Jiang Huayan looked at the Empress Dowager with a complicated expression.

He opened his mouth as if he had a lot to say, but when the words reached his lips, he couldn't utter a single one.

"Mother..."

After a long while, Jiang Huayan, his throat dry, called out to the Empress Dowager.

He wanted to say something more, but the next second, a soldier rushed in to report from outside the door!
"Report! Report, Your Majesty! The 100,000 troops of Bei Huai are now ten miles outside the capital, intending to attack the city!"

"Nonsense!" Jiang Huayan slammed his hand on the table and stood up, pointing at the soldier who reported the incident. "There are 300,000 black-armored cavalry guarding the border between Beihuai and Wanjin. How could Beihuai soldiers be allowed to infiltrate?"

"Your Majesty, besides the 100,000 Northern Huai troops outside the city gates, leading the way... are those 300,000 black-armored cavalry!"

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials present erupted in uproar!