Coming Kingly Son-in-Law: Don't Provoke the First Daughter - Chapter 159

Chapter 159 A Gift from the Heavens

The Empress’ nose twitched, and tears welled up in her eyes. She nodded and went down the mountain.

News that Empress Dowager died of a disease in the palace spread widely. Pieces of white cloth had already been hung on the capital’s main road, dyeing the entire capital white.

The three of them walked on a remote path, avoiding the soldiers and citizens. Finally, they went up to Xiaoyao Mountain in the afternoon.

There was a white cloth in front of the mountain gate. As the Ninth Prince, he naturally had to pay tribute to Empress Dowager’s death.

Pushing open the door, they had yet to enter when they saw Jin Ye rush out and pull the Empress to the side. His face was as pale as a sheet.

“Master has gone to the imperial palace. The entire Gu Family was also captured and brought to the imperial palace. Miss, what did you do?” Jin Ye fiercely pinched the Empress’ arm, through the thick clothes on her body, as if wanting to swallow her alive.

Gusu Liang stepped forward and slapped Jin Ye’s hand away. “Calm down.”

Jin Ye was unable to calm down at all. His eyes were bloodshot as he loudly said, “For Master’s trip this time, the odds are against him rather than in his favor. Empress Dowager did not die of an illness. Miss, what did you do so as to implicate the entire Gu Family?”

“Those are not things that you should know!” Ling was unhappy. Although Ling knew that the Ninth Prince’s men had always been by the Empress’ side to take care of her, when it came to guarding the Empress, the Wangyue Family she belonged to was the best at it, and it was also this family that Empress trusted the most.

Now that a man by the Ninth Prince’s side had come over to denounce her, Ling had an uncomfortable feeling in her heart.

What right did the Ninth Prince’s man have to blame the person they guarded so carefully?

However, the Empress was no longer in the mood to listen to these people kicking up a row.

Shen Qianshan was not here. As the Ninth Prince, despite the fact that he was not Empress Dowager’s biological son, he must attend her funeral.

The Empress had just escaped from the imperial palace, but Shen Qianshan had now entered. According to Shen Zhongbai’s character, he would definitely use Shen Qianshan to threaten her.

Shen Zhongbai knew that Shen Qianshan alone was not enough to threaten her, so he also captured the entire Gu Family.

Gu Family was of no use to her. After all, there was no one in the family that she cared about.

However, what was she going to do about the father of her child?

“Prepare the horses. We will return to the palace immediately.” The Empress’ clothes were still wet. Her eyes were firm. Gusu Liang and Ling wanted to go forward and persuade her, but they gave up. The Empress had always been decisive. There was no need to waste their breath with her.

In the evening, the Empress’ tall horse had already arrived at the doors of the imperial palace. Her stomach hurt a little because of the bumpy ride. Maybe the baby in her belly could not bear the long journey and was protesting with its life.

She reached out and touched her belly to comfort the baby. Then, she turned her head and saw her own portrait pasted on the wall of the palace. It was a wanted poster.

The Empress smiled faintly. Shen Zhongbai was quick. She had not escaped too far, but the portrait had already been drawn. She estimated that the crime should be set as well.

She slowly walked over and looked at the crime stated on it carefully. She did not expect that it was just a search notice. It was said that the Empress was taken by an evil person. There was no crime stated.

Was the entire country looking for her, the Empress? What a joke.

There was already a long line at the doors of the imperial palace. These were the madams and young ladies of various families who were going to enter the palace to offer their condolences.

Her horse was standing side by side with their sedan chairs.

The red robe on her body fluttered in the wind. Her black hair was tied behind her head, and she looked imposing.

The curtains of many sedan chairs were quietly lifted and then closed, as if the people inside did not dare to sneak another peek at this strange Empress.

The palace doors slowly opened, and all the sedan chairs that should have entered by order did not move, as if they were waiting for someone to enter first. And that person should be the Empress.

When she arrived at the entrance of the palace, the guard at the doors looked at her with a face full of injuries. He looked up at her with fright, and his mouth was wide agape.

“Empress, why are you outside the palace?” The guard was incoherent. He wanted to ask her why she had come back, but it seemed a little inappropriate to say it like this. He wanted to ask her why she had gone out, but it seemed like a brainless question, so he could only utter this sentence.

The Empress ignored him and rode the horse into the imperial palace.

In the main hall was a coffin. It was made of priceless gold-rimmed cedarwood. There were two rows of people kneeling around it. They all turned to look at the Empress who was riding a horse on the open space in front of the main hall.

There was no denying that her appearance was very eye-catching. When the people in mourning saw her, it was unknown what they felt in their hearts.

Shen Zhongbai, who was kneeling at the head of the coffin, looked up with a deep gaze.

In just one night, even his beard grew out. Opposite him, Shen Qianshan was also kneeling on the ground with a calm expression.

He turned to look at the Empress, who was on a tall horse. His eyes flashed, and he sighed heavily. Why did she come back? It would be great for her to take this opportunity to go far away with their children.

But he also knew that she was Gu Qiang. She would not leave him behind. It was unlikely for her to watch him die.

Just like in the past, when Shen Zhongbai tried to rape her, he stepped forward bravely, but in the end, she still had to bear all of this.

He met the Empress’ gaze and smiled bleakly. Good, it was good that the two of them could be together.

The Empress got off the horse and walked to Empress Dowager’s coffin. She took the linen clothes handed over by the palace maid and kowtowed three times to Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager, thank you for giving Gu Qiang the title of Prefectural Princess Luo Ping six years ago.

Empress Dowager, thank you for never making things difficult for Gu Qiang in the past six years.

Empress Dowager, thank you for telling Gu Qiang to live a good life yesterday.

After bowing, the Empress’ eyes were still dry, and there was not a single tear. But for the fact that the old lady in front of her was Shen Zhongbai’s biological mother, the Empress would not feel any guilt towards her.

In the crowd, Shen Qiangwei was supported by a maid and was kneeling on the ground with difficulty.

She had a miscarriage yesterday, and now her lower body was still bleeding.

She passed through the crowd, and her eyes were like knives engraved on the Empress’ face. She wanted to use her eyes to cut the Empress into a thousand pieces.

Her child! She had used countless methods to keep this child. In the end, it still turned into a pool of blood. If not for the Empress, things wouldn’t have come to this!

Shen Qiangwei’s eyes slowly moved to stare at the Empress’ belly. Now that she dared to come back, Shen Qiangwei would kill the child in her belly no matter what!

In the evening, all the people kneeling in front of the coffin left and another group of people came in to pay their tribute.

Shen Zhongbai got up and sent someone to take Shen Qianshan away.

He really couldn’t help but want to rush over and argue with the Empress, but he wanted to protect the last dignity of the Emperor, so he detained Shen Qianshan.

Shen Qianshan was the Empress’ weakness. As long as Shen Qianshan was in his hands, she would definitely come to find him.

As for Shen Qianshan? He had ten thousand ways to make Shen Qianshan die, but he knew that he could not use any of them. If he killed Shen Qianshan, he would also lose the Empress.

Sometimes, he wondered why he cared so much about the Empress. He even broke the rules for her. Later, he thought that maybe it was because he really loved her, or maybe it was because it would be demeaning if he, the king of a country, could not control a mere woman.

The Empress knew Shen Zhongbai’s intention. She did not want to stay any longer. After all, she came back this time to bring Shen Qianshan out.

She was about to chase after him, but she was caught by someone halfway.

She turned around and saw Prime Minister Gu looking at her pitifully.

After not seeing him for a long time, she found his hair was already white and his beard was very long. It seemed that he had not shaved himself for a long time. Ye stood next to him, and her face was as thin as a skeleton.

The husband and wife were both cowering, as if something bad had happened to them.

“What is it?” The Empress flung Prime Minister Gu’s hand away and stared at him coldly.

“Qiang, please, apologize to the Emperor. Can’t you just live a good life with him? He treats you so well. He makes you the Empress, and he gives you everything you want. He even doesn’t mind that the child in your belly is not his. Why are you so stubborn?” Prime Minister Gu’s tone was so soft that he almost knelt down to the Empress.

The Empress took a deep breath and seemed to be very impatient. “What exactly do you want to say?”

At this time, they were still trying to persuade the Empress to submit to Shen Zhongbai. But the Empress was not a fool. Hearing what Prime Minister Gu said, she knew that if she followed his words, such as admitting her mistake and living a good life with Shen Zhongbai, she would be fine, and the child in her belly could also be born safely. However, their thinking was too simple.

Prime Minister Gu pursed his lips, as if he was too embarrassed to say it out loud. Ye, who was beside him, quickly poked him a few times, indicating that he should seize the opportunity to continue.

He took a deep breath, raised his eyes and said to the Empress, “Actually, this morning, the Emperor gave the order. If you don’t follow his orders, he will kill the entire Gu Family. You know, Zhihua has caused the Noble Consort to have a miscarriage… Actually, you don’t have to do anything. Just live in the imperial harem like before…”

Prime Minister Gu seemed to be afraid that the Empress would go back on her word, so he quickly reminded her.

The Empress sneered. She turned her head and carefully looked into Prime Minister Gu’s eyes, forcing him to take two steps back. “Father, where is the right in your hands? You are the Prime Minister. One of your daughters is the Empress, and another is a concubine. You are the father-in-law of the Emperor, and yet you stoop so low now?”

After saying that, she turned her head and looked into Ye’s eyes. Ye was so scared that she shrank behind Prime Minister Gu, not daring to look at the Empress.

She continued, “Ye Wanwan, don’t you have high intelligence? Aren’t you the Prime Minister’s second wife who is powerful and mighty? Why do you have great wisdom when you deal with the children in the family but only hide behind a man when you encounter difficulty? How do you raise a daughter like Gu Zhihua, who can never make but always breaks? She kills someone else’s child just because she can’t give birth to one herself. So if someone else has a child, in order to prevent that child from stealing the love of her own child, she will kill the mother of that child, right?”