Eight Treasures Trousseau

90

Chapter Ninety: The Hua Family's Daughter

The twenty-first day after the Empress Dowager's burial, Qilong Emperor managed to come out of his sorrow. He elevated the Benevolent and Harmonious Empress Dowager to the Benevolent, Harmonious and Humane Empress Dowager. When he spoke of how good she had been to him, he couldn't help but cry.

"Zhen's mother passed away early on, and so zhen was raised by Mother-Empress. Mother-Empress was benevolent and disliked luxury. She did her best to teach the imperial sons and grandsons. She should have been living out her days in peace but..." When he got to this point, Qilong Emperor choked and waved his hand for the taijian behind him to recite the decree for him.

"Zhen has been married to Fang shi for nearly three decades. Fang shi would do everything personally for zhen. Zhen thought that Fang shi was virtuous and bestowed the title of empress to her, never expecting that she would be evil inside and poison the Empress Dowager. Zhen is both pained and sorrowful..."

The imperial decree was very long, and people finally understood what this imperial decree was. Namely, zhen is innocent, zhen has also been fooled by the Empress, zhen also regrets it now but has been married to Fang shi for so long. Therefore, zhen has decided to demote the Empress to a commoner and for her to work in the laundry department. Zhen is willing to take some of the crime for Fang shi and will write out prayers for the Empress Dowager every day in hopes that the Empress Dowager will have both good fortune and longevity in her next life. Furthermore, as for the Fang Family that helped the Empress conduct such evil, those executed will be executed, those exiled will be exiled, some will be sent to the army and some will become palace prostitutes. You don't need to ask mercy for them.

When the Emperor's decree came out, it didn't just absolve him of all guilt but also gave an impression of him being an emperor who cared but was not indecisive. No matter how useful this was regarding the members of the Imperial Family, at least some of the people were fooled and the focus of the discussion was on Fang shi.

The Empress poisoning the Empress Dowager was a shocking matter, so when Qilong Emperor wrote out his decree, it was announced to the world for everyone to see his decisiveness and hardship.

Fang Family had fallen, the Crown Prince was dead, the Empress was demoted to a commoner and sent to the laundry department in the palace to be a low-level servant. Princess Rui He whom no one had dared to touch in the past immediately became low-key. The beautiful menservants in the princess fu were let go, and she said that she was ill and would not see guests.

While she was trying to be low-key, Princess Rui He was still an eyesore for the people whom she had once bullied. No one was moving against her now because they did not want a reputation of hitting a person when they are down. However, after the matter cooled down, it was unknown if these prestigious and noble families would still have such good conduct.

Princess Rui He had the identity of an imperial daughter, so no one dared to move against her now. But Min Huai Junzhu was in an awkward state. Everyone in Jing knew that her support had been the Empress and Princess Rui He. First the Empress had fallen, and then Princess Rui He hid in her princess fu and wouldn't come out. Min Huai Junzhu became the target of mockery for the other noble girls.

A junzhu without any power or any support only looked honored on the surface. She would occasionally appear at poem meetings and banquets. The womenfolk who had once been bullied by Princess Rui He were polite on the surface but were actually making things difficult for her. Yet she could only endure it. Also, because of the identity of some of the women, if she wanted to refuse the invitation, that would give them an excuse to act against her.