Chapter 542: Taking Revenge Herself

Chapter 542: Her Own Revenge

"I know this matter may be a great blow to you, but are you willing to watch your husband carrying on with Empress Dowager Yuan, and their illegitimate son ascend the throne, keeping you under their thumb?"

"When your children learn of this in the future, how will they feel?"

"I... I don't want that." Madam Cao's eyes were red, and before she knew it, tears had soaked her entire face.

She turned to look at Ji Yuntang, her hurt eyes filled with pain and despair.

"He broke his vows to me first, and then he abandoned his wife and kids. He is not worthy of my forgiveness."

"These seventeen years, I've been living as if in a dream, always fantasizing that one day he would come back alive, stand in front of me and our two kids, and tell us he's sorry."

"So I held the whole family together, working my fingers to the bone managing the Jiang family's business for him, taking care of his parents, just so I wouldn't let him down."

"But reality showed me that I was the biggest fool of all. He was just using me the whole time. If he could abandon even his own parents and children, how could he ever understand how hard I've had it?"

Ji Yuntang sighed and said in a low, wistful voice, "Madam Cao, we women should never delude ourselves into relying on men. The fact that you can run a business with your own hands and make a name for yourself proves that you are already very capable."

"You're not one bit worse than your husband. In fact, you're even better than he is. You don't need him, and you don't need the Jiang family either. You've managed just fine all these years without your husband, haven't you?"

Madam Cao's voice was choked up, but in her heart, she agreed with Ji Yuntang's words.

"You're right. Without him, without the entire Jiang family, I can still earn money with my own hands to support my son and daughter."

"Jiang Yanfan deceived me for seventeen years. I thought I'd known him for so long and knew his character inside out, and that we loved each other deeply, but that was just me fooling myself. How many seventeen-year stretches does a person get in a lifetime?"

Xie Liuzheng saw her face clouded with worry, as if she'd aged years in the blink of an eye, and couldn't help asking, "Madam Cao, why are you still hung up on a piece of trash like that who ditched his wife and kids? He's not worth you feeling sad over."

"Don't you want to get back at him?"

Hearing those two words, Madam Cao was slightly stunned. "Get back at him? He has Empress Dowager Yuan protecting him. How can I get back at him?"

Hua Feixue said, "Madam Cao, I won't lie to you—I have a blood feud with Empress Dowager Yuan that can never be settled—she wiped out my entire family. Today, she intends to establish her and the National Preceptor's illegitimate son as the Crown Prince, snatching away the empire the Chu imperial clan fought to build. No matter what, we will go to the palace today to stop this."

"Over the years, the National Preceptor has helped her commit no shortage of atrocities. They even conspired to kill the real Perfected Person Lingxi and used dark magic to swap their faces."

"So this time, I'm going to take both his life and Empress Dowager Yuan's, no matter what!"

With that, Hua Feixue sat down and continued, "We've pretty much gathered all the evidence we need of the affair between Empress Dowager Yuan and the National Preceptor."

"The reason I wrote to you this time is partly because I'll admit I have my own selfish reasons. You are Jiang Yanfan's wife, so people are bound to believe you more."

"If you want to take revenge on them personally, we can bring you into the palace and let you expose Jiang Yanfan for who he really is, right to his face."

"But if you have any reservations and are unwilling to enter the palace, that's fine too. The evidence we have is enough to destroy both the National Preceptor and Empress Dowager Yuan's reputations!"

Madam Cao clenched her fists tightly, pushing down the churning emotions inside her. After a long pause, she finally spoke, "I want to take revenge on them myself. Take me into the palace!"

Hua Feixue's eyes grew sharper, and she said, "Alright. Later, I'll have General Shen figure out a way to get you into the palace."

"As for your safety, you don't need to worry about that. General Shen will send people to protect you."

Madam Cao stood up and said, "Thank you for telling me all this. Otherwise, I'd have stayed in the dark about this for the rest of my life."

Ji Yuntang stepped forward and said, "You don't need to thank us. We're doing this for our own sake too, but if we can help you along the way, we are more than happy to."

Madam Cao pressed her lips together bitterly, and a self-deprecating smile crossed her face.

Meanwhile, in the imperial palace.

The ceremony for establishing the Crown Prince was held today. Early in the morning, Empress Dowager Yuan had already secretly sent people to bring Yuanchao to the palace.

When she saw Yuanchao's bald head, she felt like her whole world had collapsed.

She ran over and embraced Yuanchao, reaching out to gently touch his head.

"Chao'er, where is your hair? Has your illness worsened recently?"

Yuanchao looked up at her but said nothing.

He had promised Xie Liuzheng before—this was their secret.

As long as he didn't tell anyone, he would continue to receive more candies in the future.

But if he told, the candies would be gone.

Seeing that he remained silent, Empress Dowager Yuan grew even more anxious.

"Chao'er, don't scare your Mother."

She thought that Yuanchao's illness must have worsened, which was why all his hair had fallen out.

After all, that courtyard is heavily guarded; no one could possibly get in to harm Yuanchao.

With that thought, Empress Dowager Yuan immediately shouted in a panic, "Nanny An, hurry, go fetch Doctor Yun."

Ji Yuntang had just entered the palace as well. Since she had become Empress Dowager Yuan's personal imperial physician, none of the palace guards dared to stop her.

Today was the ceremony for establishing the Crown Prince. At the entrance of the Xishu Kingdom's imperial palace, a long line of magnificent carriages was parked, and everywhere in the palace, men and women dressed in splendid attire could be seen.

Hidden in their sleeves were objects, and several people huddled together with lowered heads, whispering to one another.

Ji Yuntang could tell at a glance—those were the photographs she had printed.

She wondered if Empress Dowager Yuan and the National Preceptor had seen them yet.

Ji Yuntang felt a sense of anticipation. She thought she would take this opportunity to wander around and observe how many guards were on patrol in the palace today, so she could have a clear picture.

Then, she saw a person running over, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the palace.

"Doctor Yun, something awful has happened. Please come with me quickly."

Ji Yuntang: "..."

The person who came was none other than Nanny An. Ji Yuntang wondered to herself—could it be that the Old Witch had seen the photographs and flown into a rage, triggering another headache?

She had not performed acupuncture yesterday, and with the treatment interrupted on the third day, the Old Witch's headache would be two to three times more painful than before.

But calculating the time, she had already performed acupuncture twice for the Old Witch. Her headache shouldn't have flared up this quickly.

With that thought, Ji Yuntang asked directly, "Nanny An, is Her Majesty feeling unwell?"

Nanny An led Ji Yuntang along as she said, "Doctor Yun, don't ask so many questions. You'll find out when we get there."

------------