Shuse Jinjia

The fact that a noble princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty was starved and frozen to death is an absolutely shocking event!

When Emperor Chengzong learned of this, he and the officials in the capital all found it unbelievable.

Emperor Mingcheng was shocked when he heard Prince Chen recount how the Zheng family had treated the Third Princess over the years, and he immediately flew into a rage.

Even if his memory of the third princess is hazy, she is still his daughter.

To think that his daughter was being mistreated like this was a disgrace to the royal family. He felt as if the Zheng family had slapped him hard across the face several times!

When the emperor is angry, rivers of blood flow.

Emperor Chenghua issued an imperial edict ordering the execution of the entire Zheng family.

Naturally, the fact that the Empress was secretly supporting the Zheng family could no longer be kept secret, as could the deaths of Consort Zhao's brothers...

Although there is no direct evidence to prove that the Empress was also involved, as long as there is even the slightest suspicion, Emperor Mingcheng would not need evidence to be certain that it was the Empress's doing.

Because the death of the Third Princess caused a stir in the court and among the people, Emperor Chengzong thought of his other children.

Upon investigation, Bai Shuo discovered that two of the princesses who had married out had been mistreated by the Empress because their mothers had chosen the wrong side. Although those two families did not dare to mistreat the princesses like the Zheng family, their lives in their husbands' homes were not good either.

One of the princes used the princess's dowry to keep a mistress outside the palace. The mistress was adorned with gold and silver, while the princess was still wearing the dress she had received as part of her dowry years ago.

The empress also tried various methods to suppress princes who did not have mothers in the palace, fearing that they would threaten the crown prince's position when they grew up.

Furthermore, the deaths of two young princes were inextricably linked to the Empress.

Emperor Mingcheng's face turned ashen as he looked at the information Bai Shuo had presented.

He invited the Crown Prince and Duan Li to witness the Empress's evil deeds.

The Crown Prince's worldview was completely overturned. He had always thought that his mother was kind and generous, took good care of her younger siblings, and did not compete with other concubines for favor. He never expected that his mother had done so many evil things in secret.

Duan Li was already able to distinguish between good and evil, and he felt ashamed of his grandmother's behavior.

Neither father nor son had the face to plead for the Empress, so they both knelt down.

Emperor Mingcheng's gaze swept across the two faces, finally landing on Duan Li's face.

"Li Ge'er, if you were me, how would you deal with your imperial grandmother?"

Duan Li knew early on that his father had been poisoned and was near death, and that his grandfather taking him to read memorials was a way of nurturing him.

This question is testing him!

Duan Li remained silent, and the Crown Prince's heart also tightened.

Although his father valued Duan Li, his father did not lack princes. If Duan Li answered incorrectly, it would disappoint his father.

Duan Li thought for a moment, then said in a trembling voice, "Grandfather, I have thought about it. Grandmother's crimes cannot go unpunished... She has disregarded the law of the land in all her actions. If she is not punished, the people will not be satisfied!"

Emperor Mingcheng looked at him and said in a deep voice, "The Great Zhou Dynasty is ruled by the Duan family, and the laws of the country are the rules of the Duan family. Rules are made by people, and people can change them!"

Duan Li gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her voice trembling as she said, "If Grandfather says today, 'Rules are made by people, and people can change them,' then tomorrow someone will think... Since rules can be changed, can Grandmother's mistakes not be considered mistakes either? Since Grandfather can change rules for the sake of affection, can't others do the same?"

Emperor Mingcheng's lips curled slightly: "Continue..."

Duan Li mustered his courage and said, "The purpose of establishing national laws is to ensure that everyone in the world abides by the rules. If the rules are changed because the Empress Dowager made a mistake, then the rules will be abolished. If they are abolished, the world will be in chaos. If the world is in chaos, the people will lose their support, the country will be on the verge of collapse, and the Duan family's empire may belong to the Wang or Li families..."

Duan Liyi said with a hardened heart, "My grandmother's disobedience is the root of the country's turmoil. However, my grandmother's status is too noble to be judged like others. Moreover, my grandmother and grandfather are husband and wife, and she is also my grandmother and my father's mother..."

"Punishment is necessary. If my granddaughter were the Emperor, she would be punished with... rest and recuperation!"

The Imperial Study was completely silent.

After Duan Li finished speaking, he dared not say anything more, and lowered his head, not daring to look at Emperor Mingcheng's face.

Emperor Mingcheng looked down at the top of Duan Li's head, and after a long while, he chuckled.

Duan Li's answer satisfied him, because it was exactly the punishment Emperor Mingcheng had in mind for the Empress.

The Empress's actions cannot be made public; these are royal scandals. If she is not punished, she may become even more brazen and embolden herself.

He did not want to see his children suffer at the hands of the Empress again, nor did he want the Empress's ruthlessness to affect Duan Li.

Although Duan Li is young, she is intelligent and decisive.

This answer both followed the rules and maintained good relations, balancing the rules with people's feelings, and pleased him greatly.

Three days after that conversation, the Empress fell ill and went to the Great Buddha Temple to recuperate.

Xie Zhaotang breathed a sigh of relief upon learning of this. Emperor Mingcheng was a wise ruler, and this way of dealing with the empress was very appropriate.

Ten days later, the Third Princess's "body" was buried in the imperial mausoleum. Duan Ning was dead in the royal family. The woman now living in Baohua Village had changed her name to Zhao Ning.

Duan You didn't hide the fact that Zhao Ning had faked his death from Duan Chengyu, and Duan Chengyu helped with the aftermath, including the new household registration for the body.

What Xie Zhaotang didn't expect was that Prince Chen told Emperor Mingcheng about Zhao Ning's faked death.

Prince Chen wasn't betraying Zhao Ning; he was just worried that someone might discover Zhao Ning's identity in the future, which would harm Xie Zhaotang and the others.

By first getting through to Emperor Chenghua, even if someone discovers the truth later, with Emperor Chenghua's backing, no one can make a fuss about it.

Moreover, it is a fact that the Zheng family mistreated Zhao Ning. Without Duan Chengyu's help, Zhao Ning might have starved or frozen to death.

Emperor Chenghua summoned Zhao Ning privately, inquired about the Zheng family, and asked her about her future plans.

Zhao Ning honestly said that she no longer wanted to be a princess, so Emperor Mingcheng allowed her to change her surname, which can be considered as preserving a bloodline for the Zhao family.

Seeing how hard Zhao Ning has lived these past years, with her dowry being completely plundered by the Zheng family.

Emperor Chenghua took 100,000 silver notes from his private treasury to subsidize Zhao Ning, and also gave Zhao Ning several shops that had been confiscated from the Zheng family.

Even if Zhao Ning stops writing storybooks, this money will be enough for her to live a worry-free life.

Zhao Ning, having turned misfortune into good fortune, sincerely kowtowed three times to Emperor Mingcheng to express his gratitude.

From this point on, Duan Ning ceased to exist in the world; only Zhao Ning remained.

Zhao Ning did not give up her plan to write storybooks. On Xie Zhaotang's advice, she bought more than ten acres of land around her house and transformed it into a small garden, where she planted fruit trees and flowers.

When I get tired of writing, I go for a walk, or when I have free time, I invite Xie Zhaotang and Li Qin to my garden for a gathering.

She also asked Xie Zhaotang to help her find two maids who knew martial arts, planning to go on a trip when spring came.

She said that she had been trapped in the palace and the Zheng family for the first half of her life, and planned to travel around for the second half, visiting all the places she had read about in her notes, so that her life would not have been in vain.

Xie Zhaotang will take care of this courtyard, which will also provide them with a place to gather.

When Duan You heard that Zhao Ning had such a plan, she was also tempted. She pestered Madam Duan for several days and finally got Madam Duan to agree to allow her to travel with Zhao Ning.

Xie Zhaotang felt a little envious when she heard this; she also wanted to travel!

In her past life, she only cared about making money and never got to go to many places. Now that she has plenty of money, why can't she fulfill her wishes?

In order to be able to go with Huo Beiyu, Xie Zhaotang decided that she needed to stabilize her business as soon as possible so that she could go with him when he returned...