Soon, the match between the Dowager Duchess and Aunt Lan began.
Lu Liangwei stood by the side and watched for a while with a smile on her face before retreating into the pavilion.
Zhu Yu followed right away.
After taking a sip of tea, Lu Liangwei asked, “What happened?”
Zhu Yu knew that she was referring to the Duke Chen Mansion and immediately said, “I’m not too sure either, but it only just happened. I even went to take a look outside the gates of the Duke Chen Mansion. It seems that Heir Presumptive Chen formed illegal cliques, bribed officials, abducted civilian women and forced them into prostitution, and even did human trafficking. The matter is so severe that it involves the entire Duke Chen Family.
“The Duke Chen Family’s property has been confiscated and seized, and everyone inside the mansion, old and young, has been imprisoned. I heard that the Emperor has already ordered for them to be beheaded soon.”
Lu Liangwei was astounded when she heard this.
Chen Xuping formed illegal cliques, bribed officials, abducted civilian women, and forced them into prostitution?
She knew that Chen Xuping was involved in all of Lu Yunshuang’s schemes, so the accusations on him were technically not false, but—
“What about the Crown Princess?” she asked, frowning.
She did not expect Long Yang to act so quickly. He managed to find evidence and convict Chen Xuping in such a short time.
Zhu Yu stared at her blankly. “What does this have to do with the Crown Princess? I didn’t hear anything about this being related to her.”
Lu Liangwei was stunned.
In that case, only Chen Xuping was convicted of all the crimes, and Lu Yunshuang got off scot-free?
Thinking of something, she said to Zhu Yu, “Call Jiu over here.”
Zhu Yu was perplexed, but quickly went and brought Chu Jiu over.
Chu Jiu left soon after Lu Liangwei gave her some instructions.
When Lu Liangwei returned to Dusklight Court, Chu Jiu had returned as well.
“How was it?”
“The Crown Princess was called to accompany the Empress Dowager to Jiuhua Temple.”
Lu Liangwei was startled. “The Empress Dowager?”
Chu Jiu nodded. “Yes. The Empress Dowager practices Buddhism and is not in the palace most of the time. Jiuhua Temple is the imperial temple. The Empress Dowager spends half of the year fasting and praying to Buddha in Jiuhua Temple.”
Lu Liangwei looked at her in surprise.
The Empress Dowager?
Where did this Empress Dowager come from?
She remembered that there was no such person in the original story and not even in the original host’s memory.
However, if this person was not in the palace most of the time, her presence would indeed be unnoticeable, and it would not be surprising that she did not exist in the original host’s memory.
“The Empress Dowager… is Long Yang’s birth mother?” she hesitated for a bit before asking.
Chu Jiu shook her head. “No. The Empress Dowager is Crown Prince Jianwen’s birth mother and also the Crown Prince’s birth grandmother.”
Lu Liangwei was overwhelmed with shock. She knew that Crown Prince Jianwen was Long Chi’s birth father, but he was frail and sick even when he was young, and he died before the age of twenty. However, the late Emperor did not crown the young Long Chi as the Crown Prince and passed the throne directly to Long Yang before his death instead.
If Crown Prince Jianwen had not died of illness, Long Yang would probably stand no chance of ascending the throne…
In a flash, she seemed to have caught on to something.
Empress Dowager was not Long Yang’s birth mother, so how could she be willing to let Long Yang sit on the throne that should rightfully belong to her son?
Lu Liangwei had yet to meet this Empress Dowager, but she had a feeling that she was no easy person to handle.
Moreover, why was only Chen Xuping arrested while Lu Yunshuang was summoned to Jiuhua Temple at such a crucial moment?
Was it a coincidence, or was it the Empress Dowager’s doing?
“Jiu, I want to see the Emperor. Do you have a way for me to do that?” she asked suddenly.
Chu Jiu nodded. “I have a warrant from the Emperor, so I can enter and leave the palace freely. If you want to enter the palace and see the Emperor, I can bring you in.”
Lu Liangwei thought for a while, then shook her head. “Forget it, I don’t want to enter the palace. How about this? Since you can enter the palace freely, you can try asking the Emperor what happened.”
