Quick Wear: I and the Female Match Share the Battle Shirt

My name is Cao Ruqiong. I used to be the queen, but was later deposed. After my daughter became the emperor and that woman died a few years later, I became the empress dowager.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy my glory for many years and now I’m the queen mother under house arrest.

The reason was that I fought for power with my daughter, I lost, and then I was locked up.

My life is a joke. In the first half of my life, I married a useless man for the sake of my family, and then my family was gone. In the second half of my life, I fought with that woman and my own daughter for power, and I almost died.

When I think about how people almost died, I want to drag that dead woman Yan Weixiu out and whip her corpse. She loved to cause trouble for me when she was alive, and she still loves to cause trouble for me after she died.

After all, we knew each other. Before she died, that crazy woman Yan Weixiu returned all the military power to the emperor and left none for me.

Her death would have put an end to all things, but what about me? As a deposed former queen with no power or influence, how am I supposed to gain a foothold in the court?

I was so angry that I really wanted to give her a bowl of poison and kill her immediately, since she was only breathing her last breath anyway.

Speaking of this, I get even angrier. I don’t know what it is that I can’t listen to, but when she was telling Qiao Luo her last words, she actually drove me and the emperor out.

Before she died, she ordered me to return to the harem on the grounds that the emperor had reached adulthood and did not allow me to attend court.

This is guarding against me until death!

Am I really not worthy of her trust? The emperor is my biological daughter. No matter how greedy I am for power, I would never harm my own daughter.

That’s exactly what I thought at the time.

As for me now... forget it, I’m too lazy to talk about it.

The door was pushed open from the outside, and I saw someone coming in against the light. After seeing who it was, I casually pointed to the seat next to me and asked her to sit down.

The person who came was Qiao Luo. I was too lazy to complain about this woman. She once topped my list of stupid people. Unlike Yan Weixiu, the "wai" queen mother, this one was the legitimate queen mother at the time. Unfortunately, she didn't want to be the queen mother because of the good and comfortable life. She changed her name and traveled all over the country to do business.

Her face had been seen by the ministers of the previous dynasty for several years. Did she think that if she changed her name, no one would know who she was? How ridiculous!

But after a few years I couldn't laugh anymore, because money really makes the world go round. She earned so much that all the men in the previous dynasty shut up.

"What are you doing here? Are you here to laugh at me?" This person is in cahoots with that dead man, and the dead man is in cahoots with the emperor. I have lost now, and I really can't give her a good look.

"I admire you very much. After all these years, you are still thinking about fighting for power."

I thought Qiao Luo was mocking me, so I said in a sarcastic tone, "Yes, I am just an ordinary person, unlike you who is indifferent to fame and fortune and as calm as a chrysanthemum."

Qiao Luo shook her head, "You really are going backwards as you get older."

I said indignantly, "Now that I've lost, whatever you say is reasonable."

"Before, you were able to instigate Guo Tong to rebel, and now you are trying to force the emperor to abdicate by bribing a few palace servants. Don't you think you are going backwards as you live?"

I sneered, "What else can I do? I don't have any military power. What else can I do besides this?"

During the two years after the emperor regained his female identity, the court was in turmoil. Not to mention snatching things from the emperor, the men in the court wanted to kill me, the sinner who confused the royal bloodline, and I had to rely on the emperor to save my life.

Later, when the court was stabilized, the emperor respected me as the empress dowager despite the opposition of his ministers. I was very pleased and felt that it was not in vain that I gave birth to this daughter.

At this time, there were already female officials in the court, and I thought that if these female officials could participate in the government, why couldn't I, the queen mother? After all, I had been to the court before.

Qi Kaisheng was a good daughter. Seeing that I often asked about state affairs, she actually agreed to let me review memorials with her.

Human greed is truly endless. Gradually, I began to become dissatisfied with the status of Queen Mother, because no matter how noble I was, I was always constrained and could never surpass my daughter.

My daughter is younger than I am and more daring than I am. She is afraid of not being able to have children, so she doesn't even want her own children. She plans to select a dozen girls from the royal family to train.

Faced with such a cautious woman, I really can't think of any other way to force her to abdicate except to take her by surprise.

Although I was reckless, I also left myself a way out and did not dare to kill the emperor.

My daughter was taught very well by two women, Yan Weixiu and Qiao Luo. Although she doesn't have much motherly affection for me, she respects me very much.

Yan Weixiu was mysteriously tolerant towards women, especially ambitious women, so the emperor taught by her should be the same.

So I was sure that she would never take my life this time.

"Doing something knowing it's impossible is also called courting death. This is the last time, right? You touched something she cares about the most. If it happens again, she won't let you go so easily."

I scoffed, "You know her well."

Qiao Luo was not angry, and nodded seriously, "After all, I watched her grow up. Although I wasn't around her much later, I still know her personality very well."

I don't know why, but when I heard Qiao Luo's nonchalant words, I suddenly felt angry. "Are you showing off to me?"

"What on earth has happened in the past few years? Why have you changed so much?"

Qiao Luo always looks gentle and calm. I rarely see her angry. But now the calmer she is, the more I look like an angry clown.

"What have I changed? Stop being so self-righteous and stop acting like you know me so well!"

"Are you mad that Kaisheng kissed me and Weixiu but not you?"

"Stop talking nonsense, it's not happening!" I retorted almost subconsciously, but the more urgently I spoke, the more it showed that I was guilty.

"Why do you have to fight with a dead person? Besides, Kaisheng grew up with Weixiu since she was a child. Isn't it normal for her to be close to Weixiu? As for me, I often go out to sea in recent years and can only come back once every two or three years. It's normal for Kaisheng to care about me more after not seeing me for a long time." After saying that, Qiao Luo showed a very surprised expression on her face, "Are you afraid that I will snatch her away?"

I retorted loudly, "I didn't! Stop talking nonsense!"

"I think you've been in the palace for too long, and you've become ill. That's your daughter, why should I fight with you for her? Besides, if Weixiu and I really wanted to snatch your daughter away, I wouldn't have brought Kaisheng to see you so often when you were in the cold palace."

"I told you to stop talking, don't you understand?"

I was really angry, but at the same time I found it ridiculous.

Am I afraid that my daughter will be snatched away by someone else? Am I afraid that my daughter will be close to someone else instead of me as her mother?

No, I obviously want more power!

I thought that the emperor had put me under house arrest this time and that was the end of it, but I didn't expect that on the fifth day, the emperor issued an imperial decree, ordering me to move to the temporary palace.

I spread out the imperial edict and traced the blood-red seal with my hand, thinking to myself that she is indeed worthy of being my biological daughter. Her desire for power exceeds anything in this world, including me, her old mother.

"I will leave the capital and go out to sea again in seven days. Why don't you come with me to take a look. The sky in this place is too small. Even a good person will go crazy if you stay there for too long."

I put the imperial edict away and asked a question I had wanted to ask for a long time, "Why did you leave Beijing so readily? Are you really not obsessed with power at all?"

Qiao Luo smiled and shook her head. "It would be a lie to say that I'm not in love, but I have something else I want to pursue?"

"money?"

“It’s not just about money, it’s about freedom.”

When she said this, Qiao Luo's eyes were full of light, which made me stunned for a moment.

"Isn't it free to be a queen mother? She is a noble person above all others!"

Qiao Luo sighed, "I wish the world were infinite, and I would go and see the kind of freedom of body and mind that I want to experience."

After hearing what Qiao Luo said, I felt helpless, like a summer insect that cannot talk about ice.

I despise all those who have the opportunity to move up but choose to give up the chance!

Later, I went out to sea with this woman. The sky in the temporary palace was even smaller than that in the imperial palace. It was deserted there. No one would come to see me except the strange palace maid who took care of me.

Rather than staying alone in a place like that, I might as well go out to sea with Qiao Luo to see different scenery.

Maybe it will be just as Qiao Luo said, after seeing the broad sky and the vast sea, people will no longer be greedy for the small piece of sky above the palace.