The news that the queen had been deposed quickly spread throughout the entire harem. Despite their disbelief, everyone had to accept this decision. After all, most concubines didn't have much of a friendship with Dongfang Yi; they had only heard about her.
In the Palace of Concubine Chu.
Concubine Chu was sipping a cup of tea carefully when she heard this news. Sitting beside her was Concubine Dong.
"Congratulations, Your Highness. The queen is finally no longer the queen," Concubine Dong said.
Her words sounded rather convoluted.
"Oh? I've heard that you had a very good relationship with Concubine Yi," Concubine Chu said playfully, raising her eyebrows, but there was a hint of disdain in her tone.
After all, it was well - known in the harem before that the queen had an extremely good relationship with Concubine Shu, Concubine Jia, and Concubine Dong. They could even be said to be the queen's followers.
Concubine Dong forced out an awkward smile. She thought to herself that she had done so many things for the Nangong family that were sorry to Dongfang Yi and the Dongfang family. It was really ridiculous to mention their good relationship now.
But she didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction on her face. So she continued to flatter, "Your Highness, why do you mention the past? I am now whole - heartedly loyal to you, and our Dong family is also completely loyal to the Nangong family."
After saying that, she looked at the woman in front of her with a smile, wondering how she would respond this time.
Hearing this, Concubine Chu showed a satisfied smile on her face. She liked the feeling of controlling everyone, just like looking down on everyone from the highest place.
Then she continued, "This is the consequence of Dongfang Yi opposing me. I said long ago that she would surely be punished!"
Concubine Dong could only agree with her.
On the other side outside the palace, in that secluded inn, there was only one person, Meng Yu, the current young master of the Wolf Guards.
He was sipping a cup of tea, with a sly smile on his lips and his eyes curved. An ordinary person would surely think he was just a well - behaved neighbor boy. But if they knew what he was thinking at this moment, they would never think he was as innocent and harmless as he seemed.
He had already sent Tian Gang with the Wolf Guards to exterminate the Dong family, just to leave no trace. Although Tian Gang was a bit reluctant, he still wouldn't disobey the order.
Meanwhile, in the residence of Minister Dong.
Minister Dong had just returned home. A group of ministers had just had a small gathering at the Nangong family's place.
They already knew that the emperor was seriously poisoned and unconscious, and it was very likely that he wouldn't be able to escape this calamity. These ministers had always followed Nangong Liuyun's lead, so they didn't care much about the emperor's safety. Some of them even said some treasonous words.
Minister Dong was a great contributor to Nangong Liuyun's great cause. After all, it was he who had sent people to assassinate the emperor.
Thinking of this, he curled his lips, stroked his beard happily, and then said, "Hahaha, it seems that the situation is about to change. Our Dong family will surely become more and more prosperous!"
His wife, Mrs. Dong, walked over. Seeing her husband so happy, she frowned and couldn't help but say, "I'm just a woman and I don't really know what you're doing. But our daughter sent a letter saying that she's having a very hard time in the palace. So can you just be more honest and stop doing things that you'll regret!"
Concubine Dong often sent letters home. One was for her father to report the progress of her plans in the palace, and the other was for her mother, mostly complaining about how hard she had it in the palace and saying that she didn't want to accompany her father in doing things against her conscience anymore. She was really struggling because of this.
When Minister Dong heard her words, he felt very unhappy. Then he shouted loudly, "What do you know?! If I succeed in this matter, there will be a great deal of glory and wealth waiting for us in the future. Our daughter won't have to suffer in the palace anymore."
He said so, frowning tightly, as if he was unhappy that his wife was doubting him.
Mrs. Dong thought she was just giving good advice, but instead, she was scolded. So she threw the soup in her hand and then asked, "Don't think I don't know. Now you've long stopped following the Dongfang family and are following that Nangong Liuyun. What kind of person is he? He has a heart like a wolf and a tiger. Aren't you afraid that following him will drag yourself and even our whole family into trouble?!"
She wasn't a fool. She had noticed her husband's strange behavior a long time ago, but she had always been too afraid to ask. Now, if she didn't say anything, she wouldn't be worthy of being the mistress of this family.
"What are you talking about?!" Minister Dong roared. Then he pushed the woman in front of him onto a stool and then closed the door tightly.
Then he turned around and said in a low voice, "Who told you to talk about Prime Minister Nangong like this? Do you know that you'll ruin our whole family like this!"
"It's you who will ruin our whole family like this!" Mrs. Dong retorted. Her eye sockets were already red from excitement, and her eyes were full of bloodshot eyes.
"Why can't you understand me? I'm doing all this for you and for our family!" Minister Dong continued.
He remembered that when he had followed the Dongfang family, he was just a minor minister. He had thought that he would get a chance for promotion by following them, but in fact, the emperor only cared about the Dongfang family and always looked down on them.
The Nangong family was different. If Nangong Liuyun could become the emperor, he would be the first minister of the founding of the country. How could the glory and wealth at that time be compared with what he had now?
He was already tired of being just a minister. He was even more tired of his wife being timid in front of other ladies and his daughter always being out of favor and laughed at by others.
But he didn't want to tell the woman in front of him all this. Looking at her red - eyed and opposing him like this, he couldn't help but sigh. Then he flicked his sleeves and left the room.
The woman who remained in place watched the man in front of her gradually walk away. Finally, her tears fell uncontrollably. Then she began to wail loudly.
She was really worried that the Dong family would become a family of evil ministers because of his momentary impulse. Didn't he know that Nangong Liuyun was not an easy master to follow? Who knew how big a pitfall he would dig for their family.
She didn't care about living a more prosperous life at all. She just wanted to keep things simple and maintain the status quo. But what was the result? Her husband was still blinded by momentary interests. The Dong family was about to fall into an abyss!
Just thinking of this, her hot tears seemed to burn into her heart.