The man slowly took off his cloak, revealing a thin and pale face.
The Queen Mother was shocked and stood up suddenly, "Oh my God, am I dazzled?"
She staggered over, and the man caught her and hugged her.
The Queen Mother finally felt the reality of the situation. She hugged her tightly and cried, "You are my precious baby!"
Murong Jie smiled and stepped forward, "Okay, you are still crying and you don't feel disgusted. My aunt can't stand for long. She just got better. Let her sit down quickly."
That’s right, the person who came was the half-dead Grand Princess Murong Zhuangzhuang.
The Empress Dowager quickly let her go, and Zi'an stepped forward to help her sit down, "Sit down first, don't get excited."
"It's okay!" Zhuangzhuang breathed a sigh of relief. Her body was indeed weak, but after two days of rest, she felt much better.
"What is going on? When did you wake up? How come I didn't know?" The Queen Mother asked after wiping away her tears.
Zi'an said, "In fact, I had already found Doctor Yuan two days ago, and secretly bought the blood antelope horn. With the blood antelope horn as a medicine, the celestial being woke up."
"You didn't even tell me what happened two days ago?" The Queen Mother was furious.
Murong Jie comforted her, "Of course you can't tell me this. Once you tell me this, my aunt's life will still be in danger. Mother, don't you know? Liang Shulin was recommended by the noble concubine. She wants my aunt's property. If she knows that my aunt has woken up, she will kill her at all costs."
"How could Liang Shulin be recommended by your mother?" The Queen Mother was startled. "He was recommended by Lord Cui."
"Rong Zi'an will tell you the reason slowly." Murong Jie pushed the blame onto Zi'an.
Zi'an glared at him and told him about Liang Shulin's hiring of assassins to assassinate Lord Cui and then his rescue. He also told him about Liang Shulin's collusion with the Noble Concubine. Finally, he said, "We knew from the beginning that the Noble Concubine was colluding with Liang Shulin. The Noble Concubine's goal was to get the princess's wealth. At the same time, she also asked you to order the Prince of Nan Huai to return to the capital on the pretext that the princess was in trouble. We used the trick to make her mistakenly believe that you would really choose Liang Shulin as your son-in-law, so that she would be off guard. Today, when the decree was announced in the palace, she had no time to save herself. That's why the prince asked Eunuch Sun to modify your imperial decree. This must have been concealed from you. Otherwise, you might have told the truth in front of the Noble Concubine. As long as she knew in advance that the candidate for the son-in-law was Xiao Xiao, she would do everything to destroy it. This good thing would definitely have complications, and then all our previous efforts would be in vain. So although the prince deceived you, he was also thinking about the overall situation. The queen mother should not blame him."
The Queen Mother was shocked. "So, she still hasn't given up on that idea?"
"She has never given up and will never give up!" Murong Jie said.
The Queen Mother recalled that she had been visiting the palace frequently recently, and she actually wanted to know what she was thinking so as to make sure whether her plan was successful.
She couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. At that time, she really thought that she had changed, so if she had known Ajie's plan in advance, she would have told her about it.
The Queen Mother could not help but feel sad and angry. "She is so stubborn and uneasy. It really breaks my heart."
Zhuangzhuang said: "Sister-in-law, it's not worth it to get yourself angry. Don't believe anything she says in the future."
The Queen Mother held Zhuangzhuang's hand and said with tears in her eyes, "Zhuangzhuang, you really scared me to death this time. I am old and can't stand your repeated torment. Sooner or later, I will lose my life. If you don't think of others, please think of me, okay?"
Zhuangzhuang had tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, I didn't mean to make you sad."
The Queen Mother hugged her and said, "Okay, it's all over. I'm glad you're okay."
Zi'an said, "Yes, it's all in the past. In fact, the princess didn't have to come to the palace today, but she insisted on coming to the palace for you to see her."
The Empress Dowager sighed, looking at her thin face, and thinking of what the Emperor had done to her, she couldn't help but sigh again, "I apologize to you on behalf of the Emperor."
Zhuangzhuang laughed, and laughed until tears came out of his eyes. "It has nothing to do with you, so you don't need to say sorry. As for the emperor's thoughts, I know, and I don't blame him. Perhaps, if I were sitting in his position, I would do the same."
"Do you really think so?" The Queen Mother didn't believe that she could let it go. After all, the Emperor's decision had made her suffer for eleven years.
"Those in power have many difficulties and cannot tolerate any softness. If he takes my family relationship into consideration and allows threats, it would be irrational. Besides, the Xiao family is so big that even if the Marquis and Xiao Xiao have no ambitions, there may be side branches." Zhuangzhuang said.
She actually didn't think so in her heart. The Xiao family's loyalty to the court was obvious to all. However, only by thinking this way could she feel comfortable.
Moreover, she knew that the Xiao family would not rebel because she had long-term contact with the Xiao family in the past, but the emperor did not. To the emperor, the Xiao family was like other military commanders, holding real power and having abundant manpower, so it was normal for him to be wary of them.
The Queen Mother nodded silently, and suddenly thought of a question. She asked Murong Jie, "By the way, your mother...what actions did the noble concubine take? You kept silent for two days after Zhuangzhuang woke up, and only announced it today. Is it because there is any movement from her side?"
"She took out the banknotes from the state-owned bank yesterday to buy a batch of weapons. These weapons are very valuable, and she doesn't have enough money to pay for them, so she can only pay the previous installment." Murong Jie said indifferently.
The Queen Mother's eyes widened in anger. "So, she plans to wait until Liang Shulin marries Zhuangzhuang, obtain Zhuangzhuang's wealth, and then pay the balance?"
“That’s right!”
The Queen Mother sneered, "This time, she lost both her wife and her soldiers."
Zi'an said without raising his eyebrows, "In fact, the main reason why we delayed for two days was to ask you to grant the marriage for the two of them. We also expected that the Marquis would not agree to make the divorce public, so the best way is to publicly force him to acknowledge the divorce. Now that the imperial decree has been issued and he has accepted it, everything will be easy."
"He has many concerns, and I understand him," said the Queen Mother.
Murong Jie said: "Xiao Xiao's concerns, the Marquis's concerns, your concerns, and my aunt's concerns almost led to a tragedy. I think there is nothing to worry about. Marry whoever you want to marry can marry. No matter how big the problem is, there is a way to solve it."
"Well, it is now, but Han Qingqiu was not dead at that time..." The Queen Mother looked at Murong Jie, "Did Han Qingqiu really commit suicide out of fear of crime?"
Murong Jie was silent for a moment, "Yes, it was indeed she who killed Yao Zhi."
"This bitch!" The Queen Mother was furious. "It would be a good thing for her to commit suicide. If she falls into my hands, I will torture her to death."
The Queen Mother knew that Zhuangzhuang had been very sad about Yaozhi's death, and she had always valued these feelings.
Zhuangzhuang didn't say anything, but her cold face became even more stern. She had suspected Han Qingqiu at first, but had no evidence and didn't want to get entangled with the two of them. Now that she knew that she was the one who killed Yaozhi, Zhuangzhuang wished she could kill her with her own hands.
(End of this chapter)