"I am not making excuses! You are my son, the child I raised with my own hands, and you, you, you don't believe me! You have disappointed me immensely!"
The Empress Dowager continued to argue and roar, as if these shouts and cries could help her escape her predicament.
Zhan Tianhong desperately wanted to slap her.
The child she raised with her own hands?
Her son?
She could actually say these words, truly a despicable wretch!
If he didn't personally exact his revenge, how would she remember how she had treated him all these years!
He would then fulfill her wish and be a good son!
"Silence!"
Old Master Geng, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.
As soon as he spoke, he coldly shouted at the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager was stunned and startled, "Father... you... you..."
"You have made a grave mistake!" Old Master Geng uttered these words with his eyes almost closed. Now, he could only... could only abandon her!
No matter how incompetent the younger generation of the Geng family was, they were still his descendants. He had to preserve at least one line of the Geng family.
He couldn't let them all be implicated along with the Empress Dowager.
This was an incredibly difficult decision, akin to tearing flesh from his own heart.
"Father! I..." The Empress Dowager found it hard to believe. Why was her father suddenly accusing her? Shouldn't he be helping her out of this predicament?
Old Master Geng closed his eyes and said, "Confess everything to the Emperor and beg for punishment. Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager."
This statement was meant to remind the Empress Dowager not to persist in her folly and not to drag the Geng family down with her.
"You have deceived the world and the entire Geng family, committing such a grave error, a crime worthy of death! Now that the Regent is gone, whether he forced you back then is no longer important. What matters is that you have made a mistake, and now you can only beg the Emperor for punishment! Otherwise, how can you explain yourself to the world?" Old Master Geng argued righteously.
On the surface, it sounded like he was upholding justice by punishing his own kin.
In reality, he was reminding the Empress Dowager not to implicate the Geng family. He was advising her to push the blame onto the Regent and, from the perspective of a victim, plead for the Emperor's forgiveness. If she could survive this, she would have opportunities to rise again in the future.
He had gone to great lengths.
An ordinary person would not be able to think so much at this moment.
As long as the Empress Dowager was not completely out of her mind and understood Old Master Geng's words, she would know what to do now.
But the Empress Dowager seemed to have lost her mind and was now resentful towards Old Master Geng, "Father, for the sake of the Geng family, are you not going to help me? If I hadn't entered the palace to marry the late Emperor back then, how would I have suffered so much now?"
Back then, she didn't like the late Emperor. She had someone she loved and was planning to elope with him.
However, Old Master Geng, for the sake of the Geng family, sent her into the palace. She could only become one of the late Emperor's many consorts, sharing a man with so many women. No one knew how resistant she was!
Now, it was fine. She was merely following her heart and had been with the Regent for many years. The Regent had shown her the joys of being a woman, but she could only do so in secret.
Just when she thought she wouldn't have to be secretive anymore, the Regent became disgusting, and like the late Emperor, he died young.
Now, she was left to face these difficulties alone.
The thought alone made her chest ache as if it would burst.
She gritted her teeth tightly.
Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Old Master Geng almost spat out a mouthful of blood. She had been the Empress Dowager for naught! She couldn't even grasp his implied meaning!
How foolish!
No wonder she kept making one mistake after another!
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has committed a grave error. I implore Your Majesty to mete out punishment! This old minister has failed to discipline his daughter. Being far from the palace, I couldn't supervise the Empress Dowager, leading her down the wrong path. All of this is also my fault. I beg Your Majesty to punish this old minister severely! Otherwise, this old minister's conscience will not be at peace!" Old Master Geng saw that further discussion with the Empress Dowager was futile.
He could only rely on himself to salvage the situation.
He then knelt shakily before Zhan Tianhong.
This kneel.
It signified Old Master Geng's surrender.
The Geng family's generation was destined to end!
The Empress Dowager was consumed by hatred and fury. He was her father! She had sacrificed so much for the Geng family over the years, yet he disregarded it all, abandoned her at this critical moment, and let the Emperor pass judgment on her!
Yun Shu subtly shook her head.
It seemed the Empress Dowager completely failed to understand Old Master Geng's earnest intentions.
What a pity. Yun Changfeng had once said that Old Master Geng was a man of great courage in his youth, almost single-handedly elevating the Geng family to prominence in the capital and securing an irreplaceable position for them in the court.
In the end, it was no match for the troublemaking and greed of the younger generation of the Geng family.
Zhan Tianye wrote a few words on Yun Shu's palm with his finger.
He was asking her whether to leave or stay.
Yun Shu's heart suddenly trembled. They had thought of the same thing.
Seeing what happened today, they could foresee the future.
They exchanged a glance.
They both had their answer.
"I told you, it wasn't true! Father, even you are siding with them and don't believe me?" The Empress Dowager no longer cared about referring to herself as "I" or "Empress Dowager."
Her eyes were filled with despair.
She completely disregarded her status as the noble Empress Dowager.
The veins on Old Master Geng's forehead throbbed.
His own daughter, whom he had raised, was so foolish at this critical moment!
He felt utterly incapable of saying anything, but he still said, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, if you confess your mistakes now, with the Emperor's benevolence and virtue, he will surely give you an opportunity for repentance."
The Empress Dowager threw her head back and laughed, tears almost streaming down her face, "Hahahaha, benevolence and virtue? The Emperor will show me benevolence and virtue?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Old Master Geng felt the blood he was suppressing in his throat about to erupt.
How could he have raised such a foolish daughter?
Why had he sent her into the palace back then?
This was leading the Geng family to ruin!
The Empress Dowager completely disregarded Old Master Geng's earnest intentions and only let out a boisterous laugh, "Hahahaha! Hahahahaha!"
Seeing the frenzied Empress Dowager, Zhan Tianhong was extremely pleased. The gaze with which he watched her held a light that others could not comprehend. He could finally exact his revenge.
The hatred that had been suppressed in his heart for many years was finally about to be repaid.
He feigned anger and questioned her sternly, "Mother, do you know your mistake?!"
He could show benevolence and virtue to anyone, but absolutely not to the Empress Dowager!
Old Master Geng's mouth was filled with the taste of blood. He knew he couldn't spit it out; if he did, it would be truly over! Even if there was a sliver of hope, he wouldn't let go until the very end.
"Your Majesty..." He had just swallowed a mouthful of blood and was about to speak.
When Zhan Tianhong raised his hand and signaled, "Old Master Geng, I understand. I know you are as angry as I am. There is no need for you to say more about this matter."
Old Master Geng's body trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Yun Changfeng sighed.
The Empress Dowager laughed wildly, as if she didn't care about anyone else, "Good for you, Emperor. You lived in my palace back then and swore every day to honor me forever. Have you forgotten all that now?!"