Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2838 Master Qingsong 56.0
“It’s not exactly pleading, but she’s always trying to say good things about the Gong family, whether openly or secretly.” Song Yaojia shrugged helplessly. “She thinks she’s being discreet, but actually…” He shook his head slightly, “her little thoughts are written all over her face.”

"What the late Empress did was hardly a good move," Jin Miaomiao frowned slightly, shook her head, and said.

"You overestimate her. She doesn't have the brains for that." Song Yaojia snorted. "If she really had any brains, she wouldn't have gotten involved in this mess."

"Not only that, the incident happened so suddenly. Only the She family had the authority to send messages to the palace by express courier. How did she get the news so quickly?" Shen Cha took a sip of tea and raised an eyebrow at Song Yaojia. "Did her brother do something he shouldn't have? Did he use inappropriate persuasion? Did the people in Wuzhou Prefecture neglect their duties?"

“That’s right.” Song Yaojia nodded. “As the Empress, having such long reach is not a good thing. However, she is too naive and too stupid. When her family sent a letter asking her to plead for mercy, she did it without thinking. As for what kind of end result she will get after doing this, she has no idea at all.”

"Did the Imperial Uncle and the late Empress Dowager reprimand her?" Shen Cha looked at Song Yaojia.

"No, they think she's still young, and it's only natural for her to care for her family. They just comforted her, saying that although the Ding family is related to the Gong family by marriage, as long as the Ding family isn't involved and the Gong family itself is unaware, they won't be implicated. After all, the Gong family is a century-old family with a large and prosperous business; it's inevitable that a few bad apples will appear in the family. They told her not to worry."

"That's a very eloquent remark," Shen Haolin chuckled. "The late Empress Dowager was quite skilled at this."

“Of course, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to gather so many people to work for her.” Song Yaojia revealed a cold smile. “Don’t forget, the Empress Dowager suffered and endured the same hardships as the late Empress. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to stay in the Cold Palace for so many years.”

"Regarding the Empress Dowager," Shen Cha frowned slightly, "was she cooperating with the late Empress Dowager?"

"You wouldn't believe it, would you? I didn't believe it at first either, that she was involved in this."

"I found that story very strange. The palace was heavily guarded. How could they have lost a concubine without anyone noticing? It turns out there was an inside accomplice." Shen Cha sneered and said, "Your Imperial Uncle knew it was her from the beginning? I remember she was sent to the Cold Palace after that trip back from Jiangnan, right?"

"Yes, I found out at the time. After the incident, she was detained and thrown into the Cold Palace as soon as she returned to the capital. Originally, the Xia and Xue families advocated for the Empress to be deposed and executed, but the Emperor said that death would be a relief for her, and living would be the only way to atone for her sins. Moreover, there was no need to depose the Empress. Deposing an Empress would mean having to reinstate her, and he had no interest in dealing with those courtiers who were always looking for trouble."

"No wonder, she was still the empress until her death, but she was not buried in the imperial mausoleum according to the standards for an empress. Instead, a mausoleum was built not far from the imperial mausoleum, and her posthumous title was not empress."

"It's already quite good that she's done this much. After all, what she did has already crossed the line with the Emperor's uncle." Song Yaojia sneered. "The Empress was stupid because she clearly had no brains, but she thought she was quite clever."

“But why would she do that?” Jin Miaomiao was very confused. “Jealous of the Empress Dowager?” “Entering the palace is like entering a deep sea. Even the most naive person wouldn’t be so naive after entering the palace. Besides, she should be a very traditional girl. Even if she knows that her imperial uncle has no feelings for her, she still wants a child of her own. But…” Shen Cha sighed and said, “her imperial uncle cannot fulfill her wish. It’s understandable that she harbors resentment towards her imperial uncle and the Empress Dowager because of this. It’s just…”

"what?"

"How could she join forces with the late Empress Dowager?" Shen Cha couldn't understand it. "The two of them should be irreconcilable enemies. The Ding family had already been proven to be accomplices of the Gong family at that time. The cases of the bronze tripod and the fraud in Xijing City had caused great losses to the late Empress Dowager's maternal family. It's really hard to understand how they could still join forces."

"Perhaps..." Jin Miaomiao looked at Shen Haolin, then at Shen Cha, and finally at Song Yaojia, asking with great confusion, "Was the late Empress trying to atone for her sins?"

“It’s not impossible. Perhaps the late Empress Dowager promised something!” Song Yaojia waved her hand. “I’m not entirely sure about the specifics. If you want to know, you can ask your uncle and father when you return to the capital, or directly ask the Empress Dowager. They will be more credible to you.”

"I'm not that curious," Jin Miaomiao waved her hand. "Continuing with this case, it seems the late Empress's actions angered the late Empress Dowager, so she wasn't punished?"

No.

"why?"

"First of all, this case clearly has nothing to do with the Gong family, the Ma family's main branch, or the Ding family. The connection is very clean. The Gong family of Yangzhou Prefecture bears all the blame. The Yangzhou government can't find any evidence that they mentioned this matter or the bronze tripod to their main branch. Since there's no authentication or physical evidence, there's no way to convict them. Therefore, the only charges are 'lax management of the household' and 'incompetence in household affairs,' nothing else. Furthermore, the late Empress's intercession was only because her brother married a daughter of the Gong family; there were no further vested interests involved, so making things difficult for her is unnecessary. However…"

“The Ding family has a marriage relationship with such a family, so the palace will be somewhat wary, right?” Shen Cha sighed. “This is the most taboo thing in the harem. With them doing this, the late Empress’s life will be even more difficult.”

“Her originally clean and honest background was ruined by the Ding family’s shortsightedness, and now it’s all inexplicable.” Song Yaojia sighed. “However, this happened after she married into the palace. As long as such things don’t happen again, her guard will gradually lower. But…” He spread his hands in front of everyone and said, “Not many years after the Bronze Cauldron case, Gongsun Yue and Master Qingsong encountered that group of swindlers from the Ma family.”

"They've been silent for so long?"

"It's just that the trouble they caused in Yangzhou Prefecture back then was too big, so they had to hide their whereabouts to avoid being tracked down. However, the year after the Bronze Cauldron Case, they slowly started to move again. Later, they found that no one remembered them, so they became rampant again."