novelSusiti Chapter 40 He fell into the water and died, and died from his injuries!
Chapter 40 He fell into the water and died, and died from his injuries!
Forbidden City.
Cining Palace.
Cao Zhengchun arrived outside Cining Palace with a large number of agents from the Eastern Depot.
Cao Zhengchun's face no longer bore that signature fake smile; instead, it was filled with an unprecedented seriousness.
"Let's do it!"
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
The agents of the Eastern Depot immediately set out, first surrounding the Cining Palace and cutting off all contact between it and the outside world.
They then stormed into the Cining Palace and began a massacre.
All the eunuchs and palace maids in Cining Palace perished under the blades of the Eastern Depot.
Inside the Cining Palace, a series of mournful screams echoed.
Cao Zhengchun stood outside Cining Palace, expressionless, waiting silently.
The screams and shouts in Cining Palace gradually subsided. After a moment of complete silence, a blood-soaked eunuch from the Eastern Depot walked out of Cining Palace and came before Cao Zhengchun.
"Your Excellency, the matter has been handled as you instructed."
"it is good."
Cao Zhengchun nodded, took a few deep breaths, and then entered the Cining Palace.
The Cining Palace was in complete disarray.
Everywhere you look, there are corpses lying haphazardly, blood flowing all over the road, and an unbearable stench of blood rising into the sky.
Cao Zhengchun ignored all of this and walked straight to the main hall of Cining Palace, casually giving instructions.
"Clean it up before dawn."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Cao Zhengchun entered the main hall and saw Empress Dowager Zhang sitting in a chair.
As if she understood something, she didn't cry out or make a fuss, but simply stared calmly at Cao Zhengchun.
"Did the emperor send you?"
Cao Zhengchun bowed, his attitude as humble as ever: "Without His Majesty's order, how dare this servant enter the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace?"
Empress Dowager Zhang stared at Cao Zhengchun, her face expressionless: "What has the Emperor learned?"
"Your Majesty knows everything, both what you should and shouldn't know."
After a long silence, Empress Dowager Zhang sighed: "The Eastern Depot is indeed powerful. With Cao Zhengchun assisting the Emperor, I can finally rest assured."
Cao Zhengchun bowed even lower: "This servant dares not accept such praise. This servant is merely Your Majesty's dog. Whoever Your Majesty commands to bite, this servant will bite."
"Even if it means biting me?"
"Even if it means biting Your Majesty, as long as it's His Majesty's order, this servant dares not disobey."
Empress Dowager Zhang took a deep breath and suddenly laughed: "Good servant."
"If the late emperor had a lackey like you, he probably wouldn't have died such a pathetic death."
"He shouldn't have done it, he shouldn't have..."
"We've gotten through more than a decade like this, what's a little more patience?"
Empress Dowager Zhang sighed, while Cao Zhengchun remained silent.
Empress Dowager Zhang definitely had feelings for Zhu Youcheng.
But these feelings couldn't outweigh her thirst for power.
Empress Dowager Zhang suppressed her melancholy and reminiscence, and instead responded with a cold laugh.
"Tell me, how does His Majesty wish to deal with me?"
"Poisoned wine, or a white silk ribbon?"
Cao Zhengchun glanced at the pond in the Cining Palace courtyard and said in a low voice, "Wouldn't it be more dignified for the Empress Dowager to have accidentally fallen into the water and died?"
Empress Dowager Zhang was taken aback, then suddenly burst into laughter, laughing until tears streamed down her face.
"Very well, very well, what a fine example of dying by drowning! What a fine example of dying by drowning!"
"Your Majesty, you've really grown up!"
Empress Dowager Zhang laughed heartily, walked out of the palace gate, and came to the pond.
After taking one last, wistful look at the Cining Palace, she resolutely jumped inside.
A moment later, Empress Zhang's body surfaced.
Cao Zhengchun silently observed all of this and said in a calm tone, "The Empress Dowager has passed away. Raise her."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
After dealing with Empress Dowager Zhang, Cao Zhengchun immediately went to Cining Palace.
Ciqing Palace was the residence of Empress Dowager Wang.
Empress Dowager Wang was the empress of Emperor Xianzong (Zhu Jianshen), but Emperor Xianzong never favored her, and she never gave birth to any children.
Without the involvement of Empress Dowager Wang, Empress Dowager Zhang alone could not have accomplished the late emperor's death and this fabrication of his will so quietly.
Empress Dowager Zhang is dead, and Empress Dowager Wang will certainly not be able to live alone.
As before, the agents of the Eastern Depot first surrounded Cining Palace, then entered the palace and massacred the eunuchs and palace maids inside.
But only Empress Dowager Wang remained in Ciqing Palace, so Cao Zhengchun stepped forward and entered Ciqing Palace.
Inside Cining Palace, Empress Dowager Wang was not as carefree as Empress Dowager Zhang.
She cowered on the bed, her voice a mixture of bravado and fear, as she yelled at Cao Zhengchun, "Cao Zhengchun, what do you want to do?!"
"Are you planning a rebellion?!"
"This servant wouldn't dare!"
Cao Zhengchun bowed respectfully and said, "This servant has come to invite Your Majesty to depart."
"The Empress Dowager has already left; we are just waiting for Her Majesty to depart."
"Go? Where to?" Empress Dowager Wang asked, her voice filled with doubt and surprise.
Cao Zhengchun raised his head and looked directly at her.
At this moment, Empress Dowager Wang finally realized what was happening.
"No, I won't leave. I'll stay in Cining Palace and not go anywhere else!"
Cao Zhengchun's tone turned cold: "Your Majesty, this is all His Majesty's will. Please don't put this servant in a difficult position."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
Empress Dowager Wang shook her head repeatedly, as if she had finally understood the cause and effect, and her face turned pale instantly.
"No, no, no, I didn't do any of those things! I didn't do them!"
"No, no, please beg the emperor not to treat me like this."
"I am very old, very old, and I won't live much longer. I will never leave Cining Palace again."
"Please go and tell His Majesty to spare me, okay? Please?"
Cao Zhengchun said to the eunuch from the Eastern Depot beside him, "Go and get the medicine."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Soon, a spy from the Eastern Depot brought over a bowl of cold medicine.
"This bowl of medicine is the medicine that I found in the archives of the Imperial Medical Academy, which was prescribed by Liu Wentai for the late Emperor."
"Your Highness, please drink it yourself, otherwise this servant will be impolite."
Cao Zhengchun, carrying the medicine, approached Empress Dowager Wang step by step.
Empress Dowager Wang was so shocked that she retreated repeatedly, crying out, "No! Take it away! Take it away quickly!"
"My apologies, Your Highness!"
Cao Zhengchun channeled his inner energy, activating the Heavenly Gang Boy Skill, and pulled Empress Dowager Wang into his hand.
Then he took the herbal medicine and poured it into her mouth.
"No...no...no..."
Empress Dowager Wang repeatedly retched, her expression terrified, her face filled with despair.
"What did you do to me! What did you do to me!"
Cao Zhengchun ignored him, left the hall, closed the door, and waited quietly.
A moment later, the Empress Dowager's painful cries were indeed heard from inside the hall.
That bowl of herbal medicine started to take effect.
The Empress Dowager's screams continued for an entire night.
The screams inside the palace gradually subsided after sunrise the next day.
Cao Zhengchun entered the hall and saw Empress Dowager Wang lying on the ground, her face contorted, blood flowing from her mouth and nose, and her lips blackened. She must have suffered a great deal of pain before her death.
Cao Zhengchun coldly stared at Empress Dowager Wang and coldly issued an order.
"The Empress Dowager Wang has passed away, and her body has been prepared for burial."
"Yes, Your Excellency!"