Chapter 157 Hand Over Empress Dowager

Bai Su reached out and wiped the hilt of his sword. His movements were slow and elegant as if he had completed some sort of ritual. Then, he tilted his head and looked at Shen Zhongbai with a smile. He said word by word, “You have no other choice. The entire imperial palace is not a restriction to me at all. For the sake of your throne and your country, you should take me to see that old woman. I just have some things to confirm.”

The fact that he was able to bring so many people here so quickly showed that he had long been prepared for this. Although the Empress did not want to admit it, the current situation was clear— Bai Su came here to confirm something, and he would save her in passing. In the Empress’ heart, Bai Su was not a safe person.

Shen Zhongbai clenched his fists, his eyes red. Just as Bai Su had said, he had no other choice.

The lights lit up at the gates of Yongning Palace. Shen Zhongbai led the way, and everyone walked slowly. At the door, Empress Dowager was sitting there.

It was already early winter, and the temperature was very low. The Empress rubbed her hands. Suddenly, she was covered with a piece of clothing, and the smell of blood rushed into her nose. Her whole body shivered. This smell really made people despair. It was the smell of life slowly fading away.

Bai Su walked up and put his arm on Empress’ shoulder. He smiled and whispered, “Six years ago, I told you to learn martial arts and use them for self-defense. Look at you. You’re like a loser now. Are you still the Gu Qiang I know?”

Six years ago? The Empress immediately realized that it was the year when the real Gu Qiang lived. She did not expect that this man knew Gu Qiang. However, she still could not tell whether this man was a friend or a foe.

“The Gu Qiang you know is indeed not the same person as me.” Empress swatted away Bai Su’s hand and kept a distance from him.

There was a stove beside Empress Dowager, and there was a warm light around her. It seemed that she had been waiting here for a long time.

Shen Zhongbai went forward and knelt on the ground. He respectfully greeted her, but the people behind him did not move.

The Empress looked at Empress Dowager carefully. It had been six years since the Empress last saw Empress Dowager. In the Empress’ memory, Empress Dowager had already died in the plague. Now, she was sitting here, with a calm face and a faint smile. It seemed that she did not know what terrible things were going to happen.

Even the Empress felt that this time seemed to be different from each of the previous times.

This man called Bai Su was clearly the leader of a mysterious organization outside the palace, but he was inextricably linked to Empress Dowager. It only meant that everyone had some complicated relationships in their youth.

Empress Dowager first looked at the Empress carefully and then said, “Luo Ping, I have long heard that you are pregnant. Now I see that you are really pregnant. You must protect your child well and let her grow up safely.”

The Empress remembered that Gu Qiang had indeed fought for the position of Prefectural Princess with all her might. However, many people had called her Qiang all these years, but no one had ever called her Luo Ping. Thinking about it carefully, she felt that it was also a good name, with the meaning of being graceful and living a peaceful life. This was probably what the name meant, or maybe Empress Dowager just found it catchy.

The Empress did a good job at being graceful, but, living a peaceful life? When she thought of the word “peaceful”, her nose twitched, and she felt like crying.

The old lady was not so vicious. Since she was not a fool, she naturally knew who the child in the Empress’ belly belonged to, but she did not mind.

Then, Empress Dowager turned her head and looked at Bai Su up and down. She narrowed her eyes and said, “I heard that you were looking for me. Tell me, why are you looking for me?”

Bai Su took two steps forward, still wearing a faint smile. He even asked with some respect, “I came here to ask you about a person. Have you heard of a woman named Bai Qirong?”

As expected, Empress Dowager paused for a moment, as if she had already expected it, and also as if she had remembered it again.

It clearly reminded her of her distant memories. After thinking for a long time, she finally nodded and smiled helplessly, “There is indeed such a woman. She is the woman I have failed the most in my life.”

When she said this, she was extremely sincere. The wrinkles in the corners of her eyes were very deep, and her appearance was calm, as if she had already let go.

She was old now. Even if she had done something wrong when she was young, she had gone through many years of ups and downs, and time had diluted everything. Those terrible things gradually disappeared as time passed.

“You know that you have failed her? Then do you know that she will never be able to hear the simple word ‘sorry’ from you?” Bai Su smiled, and the curve of his lips changed. The expression on his face also began to turn frightening.

Empress Dowager sat there, terrifyingly calm. She carefully observed Bai Su’s face and said with a “tsk” sound, “You are the child of Qirong? I didn’t expect that he still impregnated her!”

“You are not qualified to call out Bai Qirong’s name in your life. Today, I came here to take your life and avenge Bai Qirong. The one who should live has never been you.” Bai Su’s expression finally turned cold, which had never been seen. He took out the dagger he had just used from his sleeve and carefully observed it under the moonlight. Then, he rushed forward.

It happened all in an instant. Bai Su moved very fast. Unexpectedly, Shen Zhongbai moved even faster. He flew up and rushed to Empress Dowager, ready to block the attack with his body.

When the short sword was about to touch Shen Zhongbai’s chest, Bai Su stopped abruptly. Then, he looked at Empress Dowager proudly like a child.

“Are you not afraid of death?” Bai Su asked.

Empress Dowager smiled and said lightly, “I have lived for so many years. Whether I die now or later, I will die anyway. In fact, I have expected such a day to come. But you should be happy for Bai Qirong. At least she has a good child.”

“Do you think I will let you go just because you say so? What did Bai Qirong do wrong? Is it because she fell in love with a man she shouldn’t have loved? But love is…” After Bai Su said this, he stopped and was reminded of a painful memory.

Empress Dowager nodded. “Love is not something you can control. Because you can’t control it, it is normal to do anything. And I, was just defending my love.”

“Well said. So you choose to hurt someone for the sake of defense?” Bai Su stopped and looked at his dagger quietly as if he was talking to the dagger.

Empress Dowager no longer spoke. She knew that her life was to end today. Once a person knew his or her future, he or she would be free and calm.

“Take my life. Please let my son go. The grudges between the previous generation should have been settled long ago. There is no need to pass them on to the next generation.” After Empress Dowager finished speaking, she picked up a dagger from the table next to her and put it on her neck. Before everyone could react and before anyone could even stop her, Empress Dowager committed suicide in front of everyone.

There was silence.

Then came the sorrowful cries. Shen Zhongbai rushed to the side of Empress Dowager and hugged her corpse that was bleeding from the neck. The corpse was already stiff, probably because all her blood had flowed out. The blood dyed her clothes red. Her eyes were closed, and the corners of her mouth carried a smile. However, she still looked so tragic.

This woman, who had been powerful and commanding in the imperial harem for so many years, had ended her life just like that.

Shen Zhongbai knelt on the ground and wailed loudly. Empress Dowager was his biological mother. In this imperial palace, they were connected by blood.

This was destined to be a miserable day for him. On this day, he lost his child and mother. When he turned to look around, his eyes were already wet with blood. The surroundings were all red.

He got up, moving forward step by step as he carried Empress Dowager’s body. The bloody footprints were unexpectedly obvious in the darkness.

There was turmoil around him. He shouted to the surroundings like a madman, “Kill them! Every one of them!”

Finally, some guards rushed out from many small paths. These were the guards of the imperial palace. Most of the hidden guards had died. The remaining guards were basically the imperial palace’s last force.

After staring at Empress Dowager’s corpse for a few seconds, Bai Su turned around and said to the men in red behind him, “Retreat.”

After saying that, he turned around and picked up the Empress by her waist and flew away with her in his arms.

The guards behind them rushed up like a tide and caught up with Bai Su’s men in red.

Bai Su had obviously fulfilled his wish and did not have any reluctance to part with his men. It seemed that his intention was to sacrifice his men in exchange for the time for him to escape.

When the sky turned bright, Bai Su had already brought the Empress up to the mountain.

At this time, the mountain was covered in fog, with low visibility. They sat on the edge of a pool under a waterfall. Bai Su washed his clothes with water and then wiped the dagger stained with blood. Finally, he lay on the ground and turned to look at the Empress.

The weather was too cold. But when Bai Su did all of this, it was as if he did not feel cold at all.

“How can you withstand such cold water on such a cold day?” The Empress asked. She cupped her hands and took two sips of water.

Bai Su rested his head on his arms and looked at the sky quietly. However, he couldn’t see anything.

“Before I was ten years old, I had never eaten hot food or used hot water. But I was someone who liked to be clean. I just had to wash myself clean even in the winter,” Bai Su said slowly. His voice was very pleasant, like the flowing water around him, which could calm down the anxiety in one’s heart.

He closed his eyes. When he said this, he seemed to be calm, but the Empress could read a hint of loneliness from it.

At the age of ten, he knew little and was full of confidence for this world, but he could not get anything.