Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 876: Chapter 26: The Truth Behind the Former Empress’s Death (Part 2)

"Rumors are just rumors. Without any evidence, His Majesty won’t believe them." Empress Xie was very angry and scared about the rumors, but she wasn’t guilty, because she indeed wasn’t the one who did it.

"Mother, even with me, you still won’t tell the truth?"

Empress Xie looked at her son and didn’t speak for a long time. After a while, she finally said, "It wasn’t me who killed Xie Wan; it was your grandmother who did it."

"Grandmother?" Prince Jing was first shocked, then quickly returned to normal. With Grandmother’s character and methods, eliminating Xie Wan was quite expected.

"Your grandmother was extremely discreet when she did it back then, leaving no evidence or trace," Empress Xie said. "Everyone involved in this matter was also eliminated by your grandmother. In this world, apart from me, no one knows about this, including your grandfather and your uncle."

Prince Jing looked surprised, "Grandmother didn’t tell Grandfather?"

"Your grandfather and your uncle liked Xie Wan a lot; they would never agree to your grandmother removing her." Empress Xie raised her hand and rubbed her aching temples, "So your grandmother secretly got rid of Xie Wan."

Prince Jing wasn’t surprised to learn it was the Old Duchess who acted. Although Grandmother passed away when he was very young and he didn’t remember much about her, given her character and tactics, it wasn’t strange that she wanted to eliminate the former Empress and make Mother the Empress, after all, Mother was her biological daughter.

"Grandmother poisoned her?"

"Yes, it was a slow-acting poison."

"But wait, if it was poison, the Imperial Physicians couldn’t possibly miss it," Prince Jing thought. "No matter how powerful Grandmother and Mother are, they couldn’t have all the physicians at their beck and call. Not to mention Doctor Lu, who always took care of Father, was impossible to bribe."

"It wasn’t administered all at once, but slowly over time." Empress Xie painfully furrowed her brow, "Administered little by little, the toxicity would be very light, making it difficult for the physicians to detect."

"Applying it little by little shouldn’t be enough to kill Xie Wan, though."

"No, it can’t kill her, but it can gradually destroy her body, making her unknowingly weak."

Prince Jing continued to ask, "When did Grandmother start poisoning Xie Wan?"

"After Xie Wan gave birth to her son." Actually, back then, when the former Empress was pregnant, the Old Duchess wanted to kill two birds with one stone, but at that time the Wang and Yuan families wanted to form alliances with the Zhao family, so for the sake of the Xie family, and the future of her own daughter, she temporarily held back from acting against the former Empress.

Once the former Empress gave birth to a son, the relationship between the Xie and Zhao families grew closer, and the former Empress as Madam Zhao solidified her status. That’s when the Old Duchess began to act against the former Empress.

When the former Empress gave birth to the abolished Crown Prince, she almost bled to death and experienced a difficult labor. Although she survived with no danger, her body was weakened. The Old Duchess took advantage of this and began poisoning the former Empress.

The former Empress, already exhausted, couldn’t fully recover due to the poison. Even after her confinement period, her body remained weak, and it took an additional two months to recover. From then on, the former Empress’s health was never fully restored. However, to avoid detection, the Old Duchess didn’t poison the former Empress daily, but rather monthly, with very light doses.

The slow-acting poison accumulated over the years, gradually destroying the former Empress’s health. Coupled with her busy schedule as Empress, worrying over court duties, her health worsened. Thus, she passed away a few years after becoming Empress.

After hearing Empress Xie’s account of past events, Prince Jing commented with a complex expression, "Grandmother truly had impeccable skills, acting without anyone’s knowledge and leaving no trace."

Thinking about his late mother, Empress Xie couldn’t help but show a proud and self-satisfied smile.

"Your grandmother was indeed very skilled."

"And loved you dearly." Grandmother went to great lengths to eliminate the former Empress all for Mother, to ensure Mother could marry Father.

"Indeed, your grandmother loved me the most," Empress Xie smiled, "Anything I wanted, she would find a way to give to me."

"Mother, you said earlier that aside from you, no one else knows about the events of that year, so why does Prince Dai know?"

This puzzled Empress Xie greatly.

"Everyone from those days is dead, so it’s impossible for anyone to have leaked the events."