Chapter 1270: Chapter 1270

Chapter 1270: Chapter 1265: The Empress’s Conclusion

He is truly heartless, truly terrifying.

“What about Sheng Qiaoyue?”

Wasn’t Sheng Qiaoyue supposed to be the one he loved the most? He married Xiao Qinqin because Sheng Qiaoyue was her dowry maid.

Could it be that everything was really just a scheme?

The Emperor’s agitated heart slowly calmed down. He said to the Empress indifferently, “Qiaoyue? She’s Qinqin’s most loyal maid. Qinqin has always treated her as a younger sister, so naturally, I will look after her for Qinqin.”

He sighed softly and said, “As for Tingyu? He is Consort Jiang’s son. Your plan to achieve two goals with one action not only killed Consort Jiang, but she also risked her life to give birth to the child. It was at that time I conveniently promoted Qiaoyue.”

The Empress froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. “Everything was arranged by you? In truth, you knew everything, yet you chose to watch indifferently, using my hand to eliminate dissent. Then, were you aware that the Ducal Residence harbored ambitions to usurp the throne long ago?”

“I knew.” He looked at her coldly and tossed a scroll to her. It was the same one he had shown Jin Zijin last time.

He said, “This is what my late father left behind. Unfortunately, he found out too late. By that time, the power of the Ducal Residence was already out of control. Furthermore, he was old and could never find a justified reason to uproot them.”

So he had known everything yet allowed her to reach this point.

A sour bitterness surged through her heart. She seemed to see scenes filled with corpses strewn across the land.

Her family had used her, and the husband she had stayed loyal to for most of her life had used her too.

She refused to let her family use her to usurp the throne, so she fulfilled this man instead.

It didn’t matter which side she turned to; her fate was the same.

At this point, she blamed no one. She only blamed fate’s injustice for letting her be born in the wrong place.

A suffocating feeling overwhelmed her, making it hard to breathe. She closed her eyes in pain and said in a hoarse, weak voice, “Let this matter end here. Xiaoran is innocent. Don’t let him know about these things. Spending the rest of his life in Zongrenfu is fine. At least… he won’t… have to… face…”

Before she could finish, she ran out of breath and closed her eyes forever.

The Emperor sat across from her in silence, unmoving, for an hour, for four hours… Until the evening came, and only then did he stand up, supporting his aching legs.

“Fine, I promise you!” This was the last thing he said as he left that chamber.

In the twenty-fifth year of Emperor Changqing’s reign, Empress Jin suddenly passed away. Due to her involvement in the Ducal Residence affair, she was considered guilty and should have been punished accordingly. However, the Emperor, moved by their many years of marriage, stripped her of her title as Empress and demoted her to Consort Jin Xianfei, then interred her in the imperial consort’s tombs.

In the Emperor’s heart, the only Empress qualified to be entombed alongside him would forever be one person. In life, he failed Xiao Qinqin; in death, he at least fulfilled this promise.

After the arrival of spring, as the ice and snow melted, the roads from Beijing to other places reopened.

It was urgent to head south to find Yu Jizi.

Jin Zijin was particularly excited tonight. After leaving home this time, who knew how long it would be before coming back?

“Go to sleep; it’s already very late. You need to set off early tomorrow.”

He grabbed her hand as she tried to push him away, raised it above her head, and pressed it down on the bed. He said, “Don’t worry. I’ll sleep in the carriage. I’ll sleep there.”

“…I’m afraid I won’t wake up in time to see you off in the morning.”

“I’d rather you obediently make sure I’m satisfied first.”

“Mmm, do you think Yue Rujing has found your master?”

Suddenly, he gave her too much, and an uncontrollable trembling coursed through her body, nearly shattering her sense of reason. She could only bring up random topics to divert her attention!