The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 682 - 682 323 The Biggest Local Tycoon (Double Update)

Chapter 682: 323 The Biggest Local Tycoon (Double Update) Chapter 682: 323 The Biggest Local Tycoon (Double Update) According to the customs, men other than the Emperor don’t have the freedom to enter or leave the Imperial Harem. Even if they do, they must have an imperial edict or verbal order from the Emperor. But evidently, the Empress Dowager Zhuang herself possessed such a privilege.

The Prime Minister Zhuang was escorted into the Renshou Palace by Chamberlain Qin. With his respectful manners and polite smile, everyone kept guessing the real purpose of the Empress Dowager inviting him to the palace.

They assumed it must be some good news.

Prime Minister Zhuang went to the study room in the side hall. The Empress Dowager Zhuang had been reading official documents all morning, and due to the backlog that had been piling up for several days, she still had to sign and approve a stack of them.

“Your Majesty.”, Prime minister Zhuang greeted the Empress Dowager cheerfully, bowing his hands in a respectful salute.

The Empress Dowager Zhuang ignored him and continued to flip through the pile of documents in her hand at her own pace.

Prime Minister Zhuang assumed that the Empress Dowager hadn’t heard him. He took a step forward and repeated his respect, “Your Majesty?”

“I’m not deaf,” Empress Dowager Zhuang said casually without even lifting her eyelids. She finished reading one of the documents and put it in a pile that she decided not to present to the Emperor.

Only then did Prime Minister Zhuang’s expression slightly change.

But then he remembered that morning’s news—the Emperor’s favored courtier had hung himself. The Emperor suspected it was the Empress Dowager’s doing and had made a scene in the Renshou Palace. It must be because of this that the Empress Dowager was not in a good mood, right?

So Prime Minister Zhuang thought.

The Empress Dowager Zhuang flipped through another seven or eight documents before she finally uttered in a cold voice, “You’ve become pretty audacious lately.”

“Hmm?”

Caught off guard by this unexpected statement, Zhuang was at a loss. In a moment of shock and doubt, he looked at the Empress Dowager Zhuang, “Your Majesty, what do you mean?…Have I failed in some way?…”

Empress Dowager Zhuang calmly hinted, “You’re overstretching your boundaries. There are some people you cannot afford to offend.”

His face full of bewilderment, Zhuang responded, “I do not understand.”

“If you don’t understand, then listen carefully.” The Empress Dowager replied in a cold voice, “The Zhuang Clan has established its foundation over the past hundred years, generation after generation providing service to the imperial court and holding high offices. It is not an exaggeration to say that you are the first family of the Capital City. These years, the favor I have bestowed upon you has given rise to your arrogant and independent tendencies. Does this mean you believe that whatever you do, I will cover up for you? Yes, I am a member of the Zhuang Clan and you are my maternal relatives. As long as I am in power, I will protect you. But have you ever thought about how long I can protect you?”

The face of Prime Minister Zhuang changed drastically, “Your Majesty…”

Empress Dowager Zhuang reprimanded him with disappointment, “Pride goes before a fall, and once the dam is full, it will burst. You only see my prime years and don’t see the grand castle behind it, which is about to collapse and can hardly support itself! I am getting old and don’t have many years left. You are old, too. The Zhuang Clan is short of talent and there is no future generation to take up the burden. Only Zhuang Yuheng, though with minor defects, has the potential. And yet, you are ruining this child too!”

“Your Majesty!”

Prime Minister Zhuang knelt down in fear with a face full of tangible fear. But he also had an irresistible feeling of misunderstanding in his heart.

He didn’t understand why the Empress Dowager was expressing such sentiments, and didn’t understand why she was trying to deflate him so strongly?

Not to mention that the Empress Dowager has at least another decade of life, even if she didn’t, isn’t Crown Prince Ning growing strong? As long as he inherited, the glory of the Zhuang family will be secured, won’t it?

However, seeing that the walls have ears, there were some things he still dared not say too explicitly.

“Please don’t talk like that, Your Majesty, you are destined to live a hundred years.”

“Hmph, a hundred years? If it weren’t for Xiao Liulang and young Miss Gu saving me, wouldn’t I possibly be in my grave by now?”

Prime Minister Zhuang seemingly understood out of the blue, he looked at the Empress Dowager in deep shock, “Your Majesty…are you blaming me for suppressing Xiao Liulang? He is the Emperor’s man! How could I allow him to expand his influence in the court!”

Empress Dowager Zhuang slapped the document in her hand on the table with a bang, “Since when did I need you to tell me who is whose man?”

Prime Minister Zhuang was intimidated by the powerful aura of Empress Dowager Zhuang. It was the first time in many years that he had seen her so furious.

With a cold sweat on his forehead, he offered a salute and lowered his head without a word, “I dare not.”

Empress Dowager Zhuang said in a cold voice, “When I speak of matters of the state, of politics, and of family, all you hear is personal interest! My painstaking effort goes in vain. I have nothing more to say! As siblings, I give you eight words: Strive to achieve and then dare to retreat!”

Prime Minister Zhuang clenched his fist tightly, his eyes were burning brightly, “Well said, dare to retreat when the goal is achieved! Is it suggesting that all the efforts of the Zhuang familyfor several generations have been in vain! The Zhuang family, guiding the Zhan Country’s court with a leading hand, has a preeminent achievement. Isn’t every piece of land in the Zhan Country earned with the merit of my Zhuang family?”

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