Reborn, the daughter of the Marquisate went crazy

The candlelight in the hall flickered, and the empress dowager's stern shout echoed in the empty bedroom, but there was no sign of the palace maid on duty.

"Squeak-"

The carved window lattice opened without wind, and a biting cold wind swept in, instantly blowing out most of the candles in the hall.

The Queen Mother shuddered all over and involuntarily curled up in the quilt. The unprecedented fear made her fingertips cold.

"Mother."

The voice was as cold as ice, so close to her ears. The empress dowager's blood seemed to freeze. With trembling fingers, she barely lifted a corner of the brocade quilt, revealing Empress Yao standing quietly before the bed in the moonlight, her white sleeves fluttering in the wind. Her eyes, once gentle as water, now held a cold glint.

"what--"

The Queen Mother let out a shrill scream and huddled back frantically: "Get out of here! Who is playing tricks? Get out of here! Someone, come and protect me!"

The corners of Empress Yao's lips curled up in a cold smile: "It is really chilling that the Queen Mother can't recognize her daughter-in-law."

She leaned forward slowly, her face pale as paper in the moonlight. "Indeed, my mother has always hated her daughter-in-law and has always been trying to sow discord between me and the Emperor. She even colluded with Lingxuan and Meng Jinying to frame me with the witchcraft case, causing me to be banished to the cold palace..."

The Empress Dowager's pupils contracted sharply. The person before her knew all the secrets of the past. How could this be some kind of trickery? This was clearly the ghost of the deceased Yao, coming to claim her life!

Empress Yao lunged forward, her cold breath spraying across the Empress Dowager's face. "Also... your attempt to poison me is something I remember clearly!"

"No...don't..." The Queen Mother's lips trembled violently, and her teeth chattered: "Don't come to me..."

"What you shouldn't have done the most..." Queen Yao suddenly screamed, her voice twisted into a roar that was not human: "You are trying to murder Cang'er after I die!"

Her once beautiful face suddenly twisted and deformed, flesh peeling off piece by piece, revealing the bare bones. Sticky tears of blood flowed from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the luxurious brocade quilt.

The Queen Mother's body was as stiff as a puppet, and she made a hoarse sound in her throat, but she could not utter a single word.

"Hahaha." Queen Yao's mouth suddenly split open, turning into a bloody maw, and she let out a creepy, shrill laugh: "From now on, your daughter-in-law will come to 'serve' you every night. Are you happy, mother?"

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother convulsed violently, her eyes rolled back, and after a violent spasm, she completely fainted...

The next morning, a ray of sunlight shone into the bedroom through the gauze window.

The Queen Mother slowly opened her cloudy eyes, and the horrifying scene of last night suddenly emerged in her mind. Seeing her awake, her personal maid immediately came forward with warm water to serve her: "Your Majesty, you are awake. I will help you comb your hair..."

"Snapped!"

A loud slap suddenly rang out. The Queen Mother's bony palm slapped the maid's face so hard that she staggered and fell to the ground.

"Bitch! Where were you last night?!" The Queen Mother's voice was hoarse and terrifying, and her eyes were bloodshot.

The palace maids were terrified and knelt on the ground, their foreheads pressed against the cold tiles, not daring to breathe. The leading maid said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, please calm down. We were guarding outside the palace last night and didn't hear anything..."

Upon hearing this, the empress dowager looked around in panic. She saw that the carved window frames were closed as usual, and the furnishings in the palace were untouched. She suddenly lifted the brocade quilt. The satin embroidered with gold thread was as clean as new, without a trace of blood.

"This..." The Queen Mother shuddered, a chill running up her spine from her feet. If last night was a dream, why did it feel so real? If it wasn't a dream... the thought of being haunted by Yao's ghost every night from now on made her face pale with fear.

In a trance, Young Master Wuwang's words, "Sincerely repent and restore order," exploded in her mind like thunder. Without even bothering to change clothes or wash up, she shouted sharply, "Quick, build a Buddhist shrine in the back hall. I want to worship Buddha immediately!"

Her voice was hoarse and out of tune, and her bony fingers tightly pinched the maid beside her: "Go and invite the emperor again! Now! Immediately!"

Half an hour later, Emperor Yingtian was seated in the main hall of the Cining Palace. Ever since Lingxuan's control, his health had deteriorated. Even after recuperating throughout the Spring Festival, his temples still contained a significant amount of gray hair.

His face was as gloomy as steel, and he tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest. "What is it that Queen Mother urgently summoned me?"

The Queen Mother grabbed Emperor Yingtian's sleeve, her skinny fingers trembling: "Qian'er, Mother... Mother wants to tell you, back then, Yao..."

"Mother!" Emperor Yingtian suddenly raised his voice to interrupt the Queen Mother, then waved his hand and shouted, "Everyone, retreat!"

After all the palace servants had left and the palace doors were closed, Emperor Yingtian spoke coldly, "Queen Mother, why do you suddenly bring up these old matters? What is your intention?"

The Queen Mother's white hair was loose, and her voice was trembling. "Mother... Mother needs to be frank with you. The witchcraft case was actually a conspiracy by the Meng family and Lingxuan. The concubine who testified against the Yao family was also a pawn planted by the Meng family."

She took a deep breath and explained, "The reason Queen Mother stood by and watched coldly was simply because... she couldn't bear to watch you brothers turn against each other for her while she escaped unscathed and continued to enjoy her wealth and glory..."

"And..." The Queen Mother shuddered, her voice trembling, "Her death... was caused by Meng, who bribed the Imperial Hospital Director Xue Henian. The prescription and the ingredients were all fine, but the medicine that was boiled... was spiked with something. Yao took it for several days, and that... that..."

The Queen Mother suddenly stopped talking, her cloudy eyes fixed on the serene face of Emperor Yingtian, and she asked in astonishment, "Qian'er...you know everything?"

Emperor Yingtian's eyes were as dark as ink, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "My Queen Mother's words have cleared her name."

The Queen Mother suddenly burst into a frantic laugh, her voice hoarse and terrifying. "Hahaha... You know! Don't you love her the most? Why did you watch us bully her? Why did you personally help her enemy, Madam Meng, become the Queen?"

She laughed so hard that she fell backwards, her messy white hair sticking to her wrinkled face: "I can only sigh at my own inferiority! This Yao family's life is truly a huge joke!"

The laughter stopped abruptly, and the Queen Mother suddenly lowered her voice, a malicious glint flashing in her cloudy eyes: "But you certainly don't know... In the late autumn of that year, not long after Yao's death, Ai Jia and Meng Shi were admiring chrysanthemums in the Imperial Garden..."

She licked her dry lips, her voice filled with sick excitement: "It just so happened that they ran into Chu Yuncang hiding by the lake crying for help. Meng was so excited that she ordered someone to secretly push him into the water..."

The Queen Mother's bony fingers unconsciously stroked the gilded armor, a twisted look of satisfaction crossing her face. "We saw it all clearly from the attic on the rockery... The child was only six or seven, thrashing and struggling in the water... Tsk tsk... Mrs. Meng even secretly made a bet with me to see how long he could hold out..."

The Queen Mother curled her lips, looking disappointed as she said, "Unfortunately, later on... that old servant Deshun came by and fished him out."

She suddenly turned to Emperor Yingtian, and a strange smile appeared on her wrinkled face: "Isn't Chu Yuncang your most precious son?"

Her voice suddenly rose, a hint of madness in it: "Meng's crimes are so heinous... As her father, why don't you quickly depose her from the throne and seek justice for your wife and children?"