Harem Daily Life

Seeing the empress dowager so calm, Shu Cairen felt a little nervous, but she had planned for a long time before making the decision for today. If she threatened the empress dowager in private, with her own strength, she was afraid that not only would she fail to threaten the empress dowager, but she would also let the empress dowager take the opportunity to capture her and imprison her again under the pretext of recuperating.

Only by exposing it in public, and letting as many people know as possible, can the Queen Mother be left powerless to fight back, and her reputation be ruined, thus avenging the hatred in her heart.

Shu Cairen knew that she was a little anxious, but she had no choice. She was just furious. She couldn't find any evidence against the Queen, and it would be the same if she could find evidence against the Queen Mother. She had to vent her anger.

Shu Cairen gritted her teeth and said word by word, "Hmph, Queen Mother, please don't blame me for sacrificing my own family for the sake of justice. I can't stand any sand in my eyes. I don't want to continue to help you hide it. To do so would be deceiving the emperor and disrespecting the late emperor."

When the "late emperor" was mentioned, the empress dowager knew what was going on. This Shu Cairen must have some evidence against her and Mu Yu, and she was in a hurry to expose it.

However, the Queen Mother was not in a hurry. She said, "Oh? Then tell me, how do you want to kill your relatives for the sake of justice?"

At this moment, He Linzhang and his group suddenly walked towards this side. His appearance surprised Tao Yanyan a little, because there were too many government affairs today, and it was impossible for him to come here at this time.

He Linzhang's face was gloomy. When he arrived, he questioned Shu Cairen, "Shu Cairen, you asked someone to invite me here, saying you wanted to show me a good show. What's your intention?"

Tao Yanyan narrowed her eyes. A maidservant who had accompanied Shu Cairen had indeed left. She had thought it was nothing serious, but she hadn't expected her to go and ask His Majesty to come. She couldn't help but look at Shu Cairen. Was this person determined to cause a big fuss today? He had truly underestimated her.

Shu Cairen changed her aggressive demeanor and said gently, "Your Majesty, I just happened to notice some clues. I'm worried that if I continue to let them go, the Queen Mother will be doomed. That's why I want to expose them as soon as possible to make her stop."

When He Linzhang heard that it was related to the Queen Mother, he took it very seriously. He looked at the pavilion in the distance and said respectfully to the Queen Mother, "Why don't we go to the pavilion and talk? Queen Mother, please."

Tao Yanyan hurriedly stepped forward to support the empress dowager and headed towards the pavilion first. Mu Yu glanced at He Linzhang, and the two followed behind, one in front and the other behind. Shu Cairen straightened her clothes and followed closely behind.

Eunuch Zhang and Eunuch Qin stood guard, forbidding anyone to approach. The children had already been taken back by Xianglan. The pavilion was now completely silent. Concubine Shu spoke calmly, "Your Majesty, I wish to report that the Empress Dowager and Island Master Mu have been secretly communicating and developing feelings for each other. They have been meeting in secret in the palace, concealing their presence from the public. This is disrespectful to the late Emperor and betraying His Majesty's grace."

With every word Shu Cairen spoke, He Linzhang's face became darker. By the time she finished speaking, He Linzhang's face was as black as charcoal.

He clenched his fists and said to the Queen Mother, "Queen Mother, is what Shu Cairen said true?"

The Queen Mother glanced at Shu Cairen and said, "You have no evidence, and you are just talking nonsense. What is your crime?"

He Linzhang also said: "Mr. Shu, if you can't produce evidence, don't blame me for punishing you severely."

Shu Cairen was startled by the mother and son's aura, but she had already risked her life today; she wasn't about to fight an unprepared battle. She said, "Of course I have evidence..." and then she told them everything she had sent her maid to gather.

"The above is all the evidence. Your Majesty may send for the eunuch and interrogate him personally."

Tao Yanyan looked at her like she was an idiot and said, "So, Shu Cairen, you've been keeping a close eye on the Empress Dowager in private. The Empress Dowager is your aunt, and you actually sent someone to secretly follow her. You're really scheming."

Shu Cairen panicked and stammered, finally saying, "I only sent someone to keep an eye on Island Master Mu. I was just worried that a man from outside the palace might cause rumors and damage the reputation of the Queen Mother and the Empress, so I sent someone to keep an eye on her."

Tao Yanyan sneered, "You've really been thinking a lot, but unfortunately, your mind isn't right. You see everything as a private exchange. What, you're not convinced? Then let me ask you this: catching an adulterer in pairs, catching a thief and seizing the stolen goods, do you have any concrete evidence that Island Master Mu stayed at the Empress Dowager's palace? Or are you accusing Island Master Mu and the Empress Dowager of having an unclean past simply because a eunuch saw them talking together from afar?"

Shu Cairen said bitterly, "How could they just be standing together and talking? They were clearly holding hands!"

Tao Yanyan laughed heartily. "It was just holding hands. What if the Queen Mother accidentally lost her balance and Island Master Mu helped her up? How could you possibly think that?"

After she finished speaking, she walked straight to Mu Yu and took his arm directly: "Look, I am still holding the arm of Island Master Mu intimately. I am also holding hands. Take a good look. Are you also going to slander me for having an affair with Island Master Mu?"

Shu Cairen looked at Tao Yanyan in disbelief: "Your Majesty, look, the Queen is so shameless."

He Linzhang looked at the Queen Mother and said angrily, "Shu Cairen, everything that happened today is all your nonsense, slandering the Queen Mother and being disrespectful and unfilial. Zhang Fuhai, drag Shu Cairen away and give her thirty lashes to teach her a lesson."

Eunuch Zhang immediately led his men forward and captured Concubine Shu, who looked terrified.

"Your Majesty, I am not slandering you. I am telling the truth. They really have problems! Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Eunuch Zhang took out a handkerchief from his arms and directly blocked Shu Cairen's mouth to prevent her from talking nonsense loudly along the way.

After the others were taken away, He Linzhang glanced coldly at Mu Yu and the Queen Mother and said, "I will pretend I didn't hear anything about what happened today. I still have official business to attend to, so I'll go back first. Queen, you... I'll talk to you in detail later."

As clever as He Linzhang was, how could he not know that what Shu Cairen said was probably true? Furthermore, the Empress's desperate attempts to defend Mu Yu and the Queen Mother further confirmed He Linzhang's certainty that the Empress had long known about the affair between the two. He was racked by a headache. On the one hand, this incident was truly unexpected, and on the other, the Empress's attitude—did she actually approve of it?

This completely overturned He Linzhang's cognition. In his mind, imperial power was above everything and above everything. No matter how high the empress dowager's status was, she could not transcend the control of imperial power and do what she wanted. The empress dowager had been the late emperor's person all her life and could never be tempted by another man again.

However, the Queen's favoritism today made him feel a little helpless. The Queen will be the Queen Mother in the future. So does today's action also mean that when Tao Yanyan becomes the Queen Mother and loses his company in the future, she will be tempted by a second man?

Whenever He Linzhang thought of that setting, he felt depressed and jealous to the point of suffocating.