Chapter 942: “Empress Dowager (1)”
If Jun Xie was truly going to do that, then all that the Emperor had previously done in scheme was deemed for nought.
Even when Jun Xie knew the secret behind the Ring of Imperial Fire, he still held nothing but disdain for the throne of the Fire Country. The Emperor turned to look fearfully at Jun Xie and he could not help but think. [If he had not harboured thoughts of eradicating Jun Xie right from the start, if he had treated Jun Xie exactly like how he had treated all the other youths, would that mean that none of this would have happened?]
Alas, there was no medicine or cure for regrets under these heavens!
The Emperor sat trembling in his throne, and he suddenly felt cold and his body chilled. The chill ran through his entire body which suddenly made his own ring on his finger feel icy cold.
“I am the Empress Dowager’s grandson….. She will not….. She will not help you…..” Till the last moment, the Emperor was still struggling against the fact.
“Oh? Is that so?” Jun Wu Xie’s lips curled up at the corners in a cold smile.
From the back of the main hall, three figures suddenly appeared.
The Grand Adviser was with the real Qu Ling Yue, and an old lady with a full head of white hair walked slowly into the main hall.
“Empress Dowager!” Lei Xi who had been been standing dazed within the main hall suddenly gasped in surprise when he saw the Empress Dowager.
The Emperor screamed out immediately: “Grandmother! Save your grandson! This conniving thief wants to take your grandson’s life!”
The Fire Country’s Empress Dowager was already coming close to a hundred years old and the long years had left indelible traces of its passing on her countenance, but the poised and unperturbed demeanor she carried herself with however stood out the most.
Since the passing of the First Emperor of this line, the Empress Dowager had assisted the late Emperor to ascend the throne. And after the late Emperor handed the throne down to her grandson, she had completely closed herself off and lived in seclusion within the Imperial Palace, never interfering with all affairs, big or small, be it in the Imperial Court or back within the Imperial Harem, never once asking about a single thing, to the extent that many of the Court Officials who attended Court every morning had almost forgotten the existence of the Empress Dowager.
Only the Emperor knew, that the one who held the most powerful fighters of the Fire Country, was the Empress Dowager herself!
Although she never once asked about Court matters, there wasn’t a single thing she did not know about what went on around her.
“Imperial Grandmother! Imperial Grandmother! Save your grandson!” The Emperor was almost scrambling and crawling as he escaped to come to the Empress Dowager’s feet. At that moment, the Emperor showed not a single ounce of the dominating air a ruler should possess, his old and tired face covered in tear streaks, his eyes filled with terror.
The Empress Dowager stood composed and dignified within the main hall, her deep and calm eyes tinged with the wisdom of one who had seen much trials. She looked down silently at the Emperor who was crying like a boy at her feet and she gave a heavy sigh.
“Does Your Majesty still remember the Decree the First Emperor laid down? Members of the Lei Family, always stand by their word. Do you still remember the circumstances under which the First Emperor ascended to the throne? When your Father handed the throne down to you, he had reminded you time and time again. So why are you now still so stubbornly attached to authority and power?”
The Empress Dowager was looking at the Emperor with helplessness in her eyes.
“Imperial Grandmother…..” The Emperor looked up in astonishment, not believing he was hearing what the Empress Dowager was saying.
The last vestiges of hope that had just barely risen in his heart had been severed once more. The words of the Empress Dowager had just admitted that Jun Xie possessed the right to become the Emperor of the Fire Country. With the Imperial Decree drafted by the First Emperor himself in the Empress Dowager’s hands, those very words alone would be enough to forced the Emperor to abdicate the throne!
The Empress Dowager turned to look at Jun Xie. This was the first time that she was seeing the youth who possessed the Ring of Imperial Fire. When she had previously heard from Wen Yu telling her that the possessor of the Ring of Imperial Fire had appeared, her heart had been filled with surprise and joy. She had not thought that her own grandson would be so muddled in his head, to defy the First Emperor’s decree, and tried to kill off the possessor of the Ring of Imperial Fire.