FID – Chapter 852

Chapter 852: The Empress Dowager Shamelessly Cheats

“Your Majesty, the Prince has arrived,” the old maid reminded.

The Empress Dowager immediately returned to her senses, her fingers tightening around the scripture she held, and looked toward Feng Qingbai.

She knew why he had come.

Feng Qingbai didn’t beat around the bush. After sitting down, he went straight to the point, “What happened back then, I ask that Your Majesty tell me everything. Only then can I fully investigate the matter?”

A debt must be repaid; the sooner it’s settled, the better.

The Empress Dowager’s favor was not something to owe lightly.

“Granny, go brew some tea,” the Empress Dowager ordered the old maid, then got up and sat across from Feng Qingbai. “It’s rare that the Prince still remembers our agreement. Then I shall recount it in detail.”

“I’m all ears.”

To bring up the past again required courage.

The Empress Dowager composed herself for a long moment before slowly beginning:

“Among royal descendants, before the heir is established, most are not allowed to have offspring, so as to avoid implicating their children if they should lose the struggle for the throne.” She gradually sank into the memories. “My second son was born to me in middle age, only three years older than you. At the time, he was full of youthful vigor and deeply in love with his official consort. In a moment of passion, she became pregnant. In the fifth year of Huijing’s reign, she gave birth to my eldest grandson. You were seventeen then. To help Emperor Huijing secure the throne, the power struggles between the princes had reached their most intense point. Within five years, one by one, you eliminated all rivals. The power of the King’s Manor grew stronger by the day. When both my sons died by your sword, my grandson was just one month old.”

When her two sons were brutally killed, she was still deep in grief. Then she received a plea from her second daughter-in-law saying the royal residence was under siege, begging her to protect the only bloodline of her son.

At that time, she sent someone to the King’s Manor, asking Feng Qingbai to spare her daughter-in-law and grandson for the sake of the innocent child. She promised that if he agreed, she would have them leave the capital and never set foot in the imperial city again.

But no reply came. The people she sent also never returned.

In the end, she broke through the palace guards’ obstruction and went there herself. But by the time she arrived, the royal residence was already empty.

Bloodstains were everywhere.

Her daughter-in-law and grandson were both lying in pools of blood, their deaths gruesome beyond words.

In just a few short days, all her closest blood relatives had died tragically, leaving her completely alone.

Everything that happened during that time still haunted her like a nightmare. Even now, she would wake in the middle of the night with tears soaking her collar.

“I never received any plea from the Yangxin Hall back then.” Feng Qingbai frowned.

He remembered clearly. No one from Yangxin Hall ever came to his residence.

At the time, he had already emerged victorious in the power struggle. It was the final stage, and all his orders were aimed at stabilizing the situation. The court was already unsettled due to the bloodshed, so his focus had shifted to political affairs.

He had never ordered the complete extermination of a child.

In fact, he hadn’t even paid attention to the newborn baby.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t bring himself to kill an infant. It was that he found it beneath him.

He had his own boundaries, and he would never allow himself to one day stand before his girl and no longer be worthy of her.

“I sent two people in succession, neither of them returned.”

“I never saw a single one,” Feng Qingbai replied, lips pressed tightly. “Someone must have interfered, intentionally trying to deepen your hatred toward me.”

“I’m just an old woman with no one to rely on,” the Empress Dowager said bitterly. “Even if my hatred toward you deepened, what could I possibly do?”

“Not necessarily. Behind the Empress Dowager was General Qin Xiao.”

The Empress Dowager’s eyes narrowed, just as Feng Qingbai continued, “At the time, the situation was mostly settled. My power had already been solidified. No single faction in the court could contend with me, and only through alliance could they stand a chance. That’s why later, the Iron Triangle emerged, giving Dowager Consort Liu’s faction enough leverage to contend with me for over a decade.”

The Empress Dowager’s hands gradually tightened. Her gaze toward Feng Qingbai began to tremble, her pupils dilating.

Her complexion turned pale, little by little.

“Has something come to mind, Your Majesty?”

“I remember now,” she said slowly. “Someone did approach me once, trying to persuade me to cooperate and stir up another internal conflict in the royal family.”

“But Your Majesty refused,” Feng Qingbai stated.

He was certain of it, because after that, the Empress Dowager had secluded herself in the Yangxin Hall and never stepped outside again. And then, the royal family had remained peaceful ever since.

“My hatred was toward you. The one I wanted to deal with was also you, but I never intended to plunge Nanling into chaos, much less to overthrow it,” the Empress Dowager said, eyes burning with insulted fury.

She had been the mother of a nation, once Empress, later Empress Dowager.

Hatred was one thing, but she would never let it destroy Nanling. She knew where to draw the line!

Even when she had once placed Feng Mohan under house arrest, it was only because she had discovered Feng Qingbai’s weakness and wanted to test it—to begin her revenge. But she had never intended to kill the emperor.

Otherwise, how could Feng Mohan have survived until Feng Qingbai returned?

She was just an old woman with nothing left to lose. What was there to hold her back? Did they think she feared being condemned by the world for killing the emperor?

Pouring a cup of tea and handing it to the Empress Dowager personally, Feng Qingbai asked, “The person who approached you back then must be the key. Do you know which faction he belonged to?”

The Empress Dowager shook her head. “He revealed nothing. After I refused him, he left. I don’t even know what he looked like. He wore black clothes, a black robe, completely covered.”

Dressed in black robes… Feng Qingbai narrowed his eyes, his fingers tapping lightly on his knee.

“Do you have any leads?”

“None. Your Majesty’s words didn’t provide a single clue.”

Picking up the teacup at her side and taking a sip, the Empress Dowager lowered her gaze. “I’ve told you everything I know. The investigation is your responsibility. You owe me a favor, so naturally, it’s your job to handle it. I’ll be waiting for the results.”

Feng Qingbai looked at her deeply, then rubbed his brow.

He suspected she had known from the beginning that her information was useless, that was why she had used the excuse of a favor to push the matter onto him.

The man said nothing. The Empress Dowager shot him a quick glance from the corner of her eye, then immediately looked away, pretending calm indifference.

“In any case, since you gave your word, you must follow through.”

“I never go back on my word,” Feng Qingbai replied, standing up and leaving, a heavy, frustrated air lingering in his wake.

The Empress Dowager slowly finished her tea as she watched him walk away.

Over the years, Feng Qingbai had caused her no small amount of grief—but she had endured it all.

Today, she finally got a bit of payback.

“Granny, go to the imperial kitchen and ask for some grapes. I feel like eating grapes.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the old maid replied with a smile. Whenever the Empress Dowager asked for food herself, it meant she was in a good mood.

Feng Qingbai’s frustration only began to ease once he returned to the King’s Manor.

Liu Yusheng, heavily pregnant, looked at him and laughed.

“Are you gloating?”

“The Empress Dowager must have given you a hard time,” she said. She was deeply attuned to his moods. Even though he almost never showed negative emotions in front of her, she could still sense them.

At her words, Feng Qingbai pressed his fingers to his brow again. “A hard time is putting it mildly. I never expected the dignified Empress Dowager to be so shameless. I made a trip to the Yangxin Hall only to listen to her tell stories. None of it was remotely helpful.”

Liu Yusheng chuckled. “If she managed to get under your skin, she must be very pleased.”

“Shengsheng, I’m your husband. I should be more important than the Empress Dowager.”

“Of course you’re important, but filial piety comes first. We have to respect the Empress Dowager and set a good example for our baby. So go investigate properly.”

“……”