vrcanaries Chapter 164 The Queen Mother Goes Mad
Chapter 164 The Queen Mother Goes Mad
On this day, the little emperor and the little prince fell ill at the same time, but their mother, Mrs. Lu, did not know the news yet.
The palace maids who came to report the matter to Lu were standing outside the door of Lu's palace. They could clearly hear all kinds of exaggerated noises coming from inside.
One of the maids on duty outside couldn't help but mutter, "What's wrong with the Queen Mother today? Did she take some medicine to get so excited?"
Another palace maid quickly reminded her, "Don't talk nonsense." But she still found this matter very strange and was afraid that something might happen, so she decided to ask Imperial Doctor Yuan to take a look.
After seeing Doctor Yuan, the maid anxiously asked, "The Queen Mother is in an abnormal state now. Is it because she took the wrong medicine?"
Doctor Yuan hurriedly followed the palace maid to the door of Lu's palace, but when he heard a woman's scream coming from the palace.
Suddenly he stopped and said in a low voice: "The Empress Dowager is not sick, but she is experiencing the interaction of yin and yang!" After that, he turned and left, saying that he had to go to the East Palace to visit His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Doctor Yuan's face was gloomy and there was a hint of murderous intent in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
When he rushed to the East Palace, he was shocked to hear, "Oh no, His Highness is no longer alive."
Doctor Yuan said, "No way, the condition has improved after taking the medicine just now."
"Physician, come and save His Highness." The palace servant shouted in panic.
Doctor Yuan rushed forward to check. The prince's face was blue and there were red marks on his neck. He was stunned and thought to himself, "It's obvious that he was strangled to death."
"What should we do?" The people in the East Palace were panicking.
Doctor Yuan hurriedly asked, "Who came to the East Palace just now?"
The palace maids in the East Palace chattered in unison: "Someone from the Lu residence came this morning to deliver some clothes to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Madam Lu entertained His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for a while."
"Madam Lu also fed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince some snacks."
"Not long after, His Highness suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. He sought out Imperial Physician Yuan and took some medicine, which showed some improvement. But then again..." The palace maids were trembling with fear.
Doctor Yuan was stunned. He had never thought that the Lu family would be so cruel as to attack a three or four-year-old child. This child was their own grandson!
Doctor Yuan complained in his heart: "The Lu family is so cruel! Although I hate the Queen Mother and Duke Huiguo very much, I have never thought of hurting these two young children."
Seeing the palace maids all pale with fear, Doctor Yuan began to worry about himself. He realized that if this matter was not investigated thoroughly, he would be implicated.
He hurriedly said to the palace servants: "This matter must not be made public now. Go to the Ministry of Justice to report the case and ask them to investigate as soon as possible. At the same time, tell the Empress about this matter so that she can understand the situation."
Upon hearing Doctor Yuan's advice, one of the palace maids quickly rushed to the Ministry of Justice to report the case, while another palace maid hurried to the palace to inform Empress Dowager Lu.
However, after he arrived there, he was still unable to enter the palace to report, and could only stand outside and listen to the empress howling at the top of her lungs like a wolf.
As time went by, more and more people gathered outside the palace waiting.
Among these people were servants from the young emperor's side, envoys from the Eastern Palace, and officials from the Imperial Clan Affairs Office and the Ministry of Justice...
When they heard the Queen's shrill cry, they muttered to themselves, "If it were at night, this cry might really attract a few male wolves."
When a man's scream was heard from inside, Empress Dowager Lu's voice stopped.
A guard ran out with a pale face and shouted, "Call the doctor quickly."
Doctor Yuan and several other imperial physicians were standing outside waiting. When they heard the news, the imperial physician hurriedly took the others in. The officials were curious and also came forward.
As soon as they entered the inner hall, they were all stunned. The room was in a mess and the thick incense could not cover up the fishy smell.
Duke Huiguo's face turned blue, his eyes rolled back, and he fell under the bed covered in blood.
Queen Mother Lu had blood all over her half body, her eyes were wide open and she was gasping for breath. She was naked with her legs crossed, exhausted, and she looked like she had just given birth to another big child.
A palace maid came forward and hurriedly covered Empress Dowager Lu with a quilt to hide her ugliness, while someone else brought water to wipe her body.
No one cared about Duke Huiguo who fell to the ground. His thing seemed to be opened and blood kept gushing out.
Doctor Yuan stepped forward and felt Empress Dowager Lu's pulse, then said, "It seems like the Empress has taken some aphrodisiac."
A guard was afraid of being implicated, so he took out a bottle from Duke Hui's clothes and said to the officials, "We all saw it. It was Duke Hui who took it out. He persuaded the queen to take it. He poured out half of it, drank it first, and then the queen drank it."
"After drinking it, the queen was at the mercy of Duke Huiguo."
Others expressed their opinions one after another, “That’s right.”
The officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Justice were very dissatisfied that the Empress Dowager had done such a shameful thing.
After Imperial Physician Yuan gave Empress Dowager Lu acupuncture, she gradually regained consciousness and her spirit descended from the sky and returned to her body.
She looked up and saw a room full of people standing there. Her face instantly became extremely gloomy and she said sternly, "Who asked you to come? Get out now!"
Everyone bowed their heads and said nothing. At this time, Wang Zongzheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. If it weren't for something extremely serious, how dare we come here to disturb your rest?"
"What happened?" Empress Dowager Lu asked angrily, and then added, "Even if it's a big deal, you shouldn't have barged out of my bedroom."
Although Wang Zongzheng was very angry, he still tried his best to control his emotions and replied calmly: "Your Majesty, isn't it worth reporting to you that the Crown Prince was killed and the Emperor was poisoned?"
"What? Such a thing actually happened?" When Empress Dowager Lu heard the news, an expression of extreme horror appeared on her face. She turned over suddenly, and even the quilt slipped off her body, exposing her smooth body like jade. She didn't care about it anymore.
The palace maid beside her hurried forward and put a robe on her.
The official from the Ministry of Justice saw this and no longer concealed anything. He briefly recounted the entire case in detail: "Reporting to the Queen Mother, we went to the Eastern Palace to investigate and found that several ladies from the Lu Mansion went to the Eastern Palace to deliver clothes and fed a piece of dessert to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. However, His Royal Highness immediately developed symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea after taking it."
"Because the case was discovered in time, the imperial physician successfully cured the Crown Prince, but then he was crushed to death."
Hearing this, the Queen Mother couldn't help but exclaimed: "No, no, no! This is impossible!" She simply couldn't believe her ears. Her family would actually kill her second son, the son she loved the most.
At this moment, another guard from the front hall came running to report: "Your Majesty, it's bad! His Majesty seems to have passed away..."
"No, no! What's wrong with him?" the Queen Mother asked in panic.
"Madam, please ask your good cousin."
Wang Zongzheng pointed at Duke Huiguo, who was lying on the ground, dying with only half his breath left, his tone full of sarcasm and ridicule.
The official from the Ministry of Justice stepped forward and reported to the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty, we have captured a young eunuch. After interrogation, we learned that it was he who poisoned Your Majesty. And according to his confession, this was instigated by Duke Huiguo."
The Queen Mother slapped the sky and cried in despair: "Impossible! How is this possible? My son is the Emperor, he is obviously the Emperor! This cannot be true, absolutely not true!"
Empress Dowager Lu could not accept this cruel reality. Her heart seemed to be torn into pieces. All the glory and status she once had collapsed in an instant, and she fell into deep pain. Her mind began to blur, and she tried to escape this fact in her own way.
"My son is the emperor... My son is the prince... I am the empress dowager..." She murmured to herself, her voice becoming weaker and weaker. These words kept echoing in her mind, and she tried to erase these things from her memory, but she could never do it. Her heart was filled with fear and despair, which eventually caused her to lose her mind and become crazy.
Empress Dowager Lu's mental state gradually collapsed. She ran around the palace in dishevel, muttering about the glory that no longer existed.
The maids stepped forward to dissuade her, but she would not listen to anyone. Her eyes became dull, as if she had lost the ability to perceive the world.
In this way, Empress Dowager Lu went completely crazy and could never find her former self again. She lost her way because of power and desire, and ended up like this.