Chapter 563: Just Retort and Be Done With It

The crowd at the scene was all waiting for Liu Zheng's response.

It was just unexpected...

This young man, who had not yet stepped into the Capital, was so arrogant in his words!

Xie Ling's corpse?

The Eight-Carriage Rite?

What did these words mean? It was already very obvious. Liu Zheng was warning, or perhaps counterattacking Xie Fang... "Please get your situation straight; Xie Ling just died at my hands. At his peak, he had countless retainers and supporters, but how does he compare to you, Xie Fang?"

Today.

I, Liu Zheng, have brought back Xie Ling's corpse, and you should have kept a low profile, yet you come up with some Eight-Carriage Rite—are you here to slap me in the face?

Fine.

Then I shall accept this Eight-Carriage Rite and pass it on to your dead brother, how about that?

Furthermore, the underlying meaning of this sentence was that I could kill one Xie Ling, and likewise, I could kill a second!

A slap in the face!

A fierce slap back in the face!

The people at the scene could not help but gasp in cold air.

Dominating!

This is Governor Liu! I thought he would keep a low profile just after arriving in Jinghua, but I didn't expect him to strike back head-on!

"This..."

"Shh, be quiet!"

"Just watch!"

The people from the Ministry of Rites already felt that things had gone too far. First, Xie Fang brought out the Eight-Carriage Rite, and then Liu Zheng followed up by retorting! This, this, this, it completely violated the etiquette of the Longyan Dynasty! The rites are collapsing and music is ruined, the rites are collapsing and music is ruined!

But before they could speak, they were pulled back by the people beside them.

What time is it?

Why still care about etiquette?

These two people before us are the two most sought-after young talents in the Longyan Dynasty today. One is the Crown Prince sitting firmly in the Eastern Palace, the other is the Governor Liu who dominates the world... Why should we get involved in their battle of gods?

Silence.

The whole scene was deathly silent.

Many people's eyes began to wander; although they were clearly watching the spectacle, on the surface, they acted as if they had heard nothing at all.

"You..."

Xie Fang, being openly retorted and secretly threatened by Liu Zheng, immediately turned gloomy, pointing his trembling finger at Liu Zheng: "You, you, you, how bold!"

He had thought that his Eight-Carriage Rite would surely be able to use praise to kill Xie Chan again, but he never expected Liu Zheng to actually bring up the dead Xie Ling...

"Governor Liu, when did you also fall into the habit of relying on the strength of the dead?"

Xie Fang gave a cold laugh.

"If the Empress finds out you are using Xie Ling's corpse to make a point, I fear..."

Just at this moment.

The ritual music rose again.

"Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"

"The Empress has arrived!"

Everyone was startled and hurriedly knelt down one after another.

The Empress?

Many people knew that since Longyang Princess was returning today, there would certainly be various big shots coming to welcome her, or to "test the waters," but they did not expect that the second person to appear would actually be the Empress! Although the Empress had lost power, she was still the mistress of the inner palace in name, and still the Empress who served as the mother of the world. As long as the Emperor had not deposed her, she would always be the Empress, and her status remained there. Logically speaking, it should have been Longyang Princess who entered the palace to pay a visit to the Empress and offer her greetings.

Unexpectedly.

The Empress had actually left the palace?

Many people began to recall the rumors of the past few days: the Empress wanted to adopt Xie Chan as her stepdaughter to save herself and achieve a strong alliance. It seemed this was not only true, but it was also very obvious that this Empress could no longer hold back, and one could even say she had lowered her posture significantly.

Magnificent and imposing.

The Empress's entourage.

At the entrance of Jinghua City, a row of people knelt. The Empress's Phoenix Carriage slowly came to a stop.

Xie Fang's face was gloomy, and he gave a cold laugh in his heart, seemingly thinking that if it weren't for him plotting for her, she would have been tormented into a wreck by that Dong Guifei long ago. But he still had to go through the motions; he was of the Eastern Palace, and the Empress was of the Western Palace, so naturally, there was no need to kneel, only to bow and salute: "Xie Fang pays his respects to Her Majesty the Empress!"

The more anxious the Empress was, the happier Xie Fang actually felt!

With these layers of conspiracy, it was extremely complex; at least for now, he did not want to watch the Empress truly fall.

"Everyone, rise!"

The old palace maid beside the Empress chanted.

Only then did the crowd begin to climb up.

The Empress, Her Majesty the Empress.

Xie Chan was actually feeling a burst of nervousness at this moment. She looked at the Phoenix Carriage with some curiosity, already beginning to wonder what kind of person this Empress, who served as the mother of the world in the Longyan Dynasty, really was.

Her mother was Zhai Qing'er.

If she hadn't been abducted back then, she would certainly have been the Empress of the Longyan Dynasty.

Therefore, she was naturally more concerned about the person in this position.

The curtain of the Phoenix Carriage was slowly lifted.

The luxuriously dressed middle-aged woman finally revealed her appearance. Well-maintained, in the past, one could not see a trace of the years on her face at all. But clearly, Xie Ling's death had brought her immense pain over these days; she even had two more white hairs and wrinkles. But this seemed not to affect her peerless elegance and the noble air of one who serves as the mother of the world.

Liu Zheng also looked over at the sound.

When Liu Zheng saw Zheng Fu again, there was actually a slight ripple in his heart.

This woman, who once acted imperiously in Liangzhou, now carried an indescribable sorrow, despair, and a numbness that seemed to look past the worldly struggles for power. When she saw him, there was not even a flicker of hatred in her eyes.

There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart.

Is this that state?

Her son was already dead, and she was now like duckweed without roots; she had seen the warmth and coldness of the human world and the fickleness of life. In just a few days, she had gone from an empress revered by all to a being whom anyone in the inner palace could humiliate.

This tremendous shock made her truly understand that the higher one stands, the more painful the fall.

Pain.

She was already pained to the point of numbness; could she still feel pain?

Therefore, she was even somewhat relieved at this moment that her son had chosen to die himself. If not for that, if he had been able to win in this struggle for the succession, it would have been one thing. If he could not, his way of dying might have been even more tragic.

Could he have won?

Zheng Fu looked at Liu Zheng quietly for a few moments and gave a self-deprecating smile in her heart.

She knew the character of her own son...

Although he pretended to be respectful to the virtuous, open-minded, and low-key on the surface, compared to Governor Liu, he was indeed as different as clouds and mud.

There was no chance.

Xie Ling had no chance, and even Xie Fang was in precarious danger when facing Governor Liu and the current Xie Chan.

Her.

Duckweed without roots.

Abandoned by others.

The Governor Liu and Xie Chan before her were the only hope she had to survive...

Thinking of the viciousness of Dong Guifei, and thinking of the faces of those who had left her one by one...

What if she lowered her posture?

Zheng Fu took a deep breath, smiled brightly in front of so many people, and tried her best to show a kind and amiable smile: "Quick, quick, quick, Chan'er, come here, let your auntie take a look; it really is, in the blink of an eye, you have grown so big..."

Everyone in the room was silent and speechless.

This...

Are you receiving the Princess, or are you paying respects to the Princess?

As a dignified Empress, has she abandoned even her final shred of pride?