si-mexico Chapter 549: War of Words with the Queen Mother
Chapter 549: War of Words with the Queen Mother
Yuan Jiuan insisted on meeting Emperor Chu, but Empress Dowager Yuan found excuses to refuse him the meeting.
As they were arguing, they even brought up the old account of how Empress Dowager Yuan's nephew Yuan Zeming went to Jizhou and was killed and had one of his hands chopped off.
Queen Mother Yuan glared at him with a cold expression on her face. "Prince Chengxuan, my nephew died in Jizhou, but you sent someone to return his hand to me. I haven't even come to you to settle the score for this. I advise you not to go too far!"
Yuan Jiuan looked at her with gentle eyes and smiled slightly.
"What a coincidence. I also want to ask the Queen Mother to give me an explanation on this matter."
"When your nephew came to Jizhou, I sent officials to serve him wine and warmly welcome him. However, as a visitor from afar, he deliberately complained about everything and made things difficult for them in front of the public, embarrassing my subordinates."
"Not only that, your nephew also made a big fuss, saying that his aunt is the current empress dowager, and that Jizhou is the fiefdom awarded to him by the empress dowager. The Yuan family is just a dog kept by the late emperor. The dog is now useless, and the empress dowager is going to kill the dog and eat its meat. If any Jizhou official does not listen to him, he will let the empress dowager exterminate his entire clan."
"This is not over yet. Your nephew even insulted the officials of Jizhou at the banquet, saying that they were a bunch of trash and not as noble as the officials in the capital. He also said that the people of Jizhou were a bunch of beggars and not even a hair of the people in the capital."
"I just want to ask, your nephew said what the Queen Mother really thinks. Do you really think that our Yuan family is a dog raised by the royal family and you want to skin us alive and kill us to eat our meat?"
"The Queen Mother sent such a person to Jizhou. Do you really take me seriously? Do you regard the people of Jizhou as human beings?"
As Yuan Jiuan spoke, anger and coldness appeared in his eyes, and Empress Dowager Yuan was also shocked when she saw this.
From the time Yuan Jiuan came to Beijing yesterday until now, he has always given people the impression of being gentle and polite, and rarely gets angry in public.
But now, he actually complained to her in front of so many ministers. Empress Dowager Yuan was extremely angry.
She said coldly: "I sent my nephew to Jizhou only to investigate the geographical environment and local customs there. I never told him that I would give him Jizhou as a fiefdom. It is even more impossible that I would treat the Yuan family as the dogs of the late emperor and slaughter them for meat."
"I know the contributions that the Yuan family has made to the Western Shu Kingdom. I have always been grateful to you Yuan family. You have governed Jizhou so well and kept the northwest under control. How could I do something so ungrateful?"
"I don't know where you heard this from, Your Majesty. You have such a big misunderstanding about me. I hope the misunderstanding can be resolved now."
Empress Dowager Yuan said this, but in her heart she cursed her nephew hundreds of times.
What a waste who is unable to accomplish anything and always causes trouble.
She arranged for Yuan Zeming to go to Jizhou in order to have him establish good relations with the officials of Jizhou in advance so that he could recruit these people for his own use.
It would be best if the other party is a close confidant of Yuan Jiuan, so that whether they are gathering information or withdrawing or regaining a fiefdom, they will be able to get twice the result with half the effort with more manpower.
But he went to Jizhou and actually took advantage of his status to bully others and do whatever he wanted in other people's territory. He even insulted the officials and people of Jizhou in public.
How could Yuan Jiuan tolerate such behavior?
Just then, another figure stood up.
He had a broad forehead, sparse eyebrows, plump cheeks, gray hair at the temples, and wore a dark blue court robe and pointed boots. His weathered eyes were bright and sharp, and he exuded an air of pride.
This person was none other than Empress Dowager Yuan’s biological father, General Yuan.
After he stood up, he looked at Yuan Jiuan with displeasure and a cold tone.
"Your Highness, what you said is wrong. Zeming has been taught by famous teachers since he was young. He is knowledgeable and polite. I watched him grow up. What evidence can you have to prove that those words came from Zeming's mouth, and not someone deliberately throwing dirty water on him?"
"I heard that when the Queen Mother sent Ze Ming to Jizhou, the prince did not meet him in person, but sent two officials to receive him. The prince did not let him stay in the palace, but only arranged an inn for him to stay there."
"No matter what, Ze Ming went to Jizhou on behalf of the Queen Mother. It's normal for him to be angry when the prince doesn't like him so much, right?"
"He is still so young and hasn't done anything wrong. Why did the prince want to kill him and send him back with a severed hand to humiliate us?"
Yuan Jiuan looked at General Yuan with a hint of sarcasm on his face.
"I have long heard that General Yuan is a silver-tongued man who once single-handedly made a barbarian envoy cry in the court. Today I see that his reputation is well-deserved."
"You only saw me ordering the killing of Yuan Zeming. Didn't you send someone to investigate why I killed him?"
Yuan Taiwei snorted coldly and gnashed his teeth and said: "It's because you are afraid that the Queen Mother will remove your position as a vassal king, so you are angry and kill all the officials sent by Xishu."
Yuan Jiuan smiled.
As expected, the fact that he could say such words meant that General Yuan knew the true purpose of Queen Mother Yuan.
Perhaps it was his idea to abolish the feudal system.
After all, his position as vassal king was revoked, and it was their Yuan family that benefited, wasn't it?
Yuan Jiuan looked at him with a mocking look in his eyes and said, "Fortunately, I brought something with me this time. After you have read it, think about whether the Queen Mother's nephew should be killed."
As soon as he finished speaking, the guard beside him, Ying Jue, immediately handed over a few pieces of notice and a case closing document.
Yuan Jiuan took it in his hand and pulled out a piece of notice.
He read out the name in front of everyone, "I am Liu Cui, a commoner girl, 17 years old, from Liujia Village, Anping Town, Jizhou. I already have a fiancé and plan to get married in two months."
"But things did not go as planned. When I went to the city to sell silk flowers, I was spotted by the official Yuan Zeming Yuan from the capital. He sent people to kidnap me, drugged me and raped me. Afterwards, he threw me to his three men, who abused me all night long. He then turned around and left without caring about my life or death."
"My fiancé broke off the engagement when he learned of this. The village chief wanted to drown me in a pond. I know I have no face to live in this world any longer. I hope the county magistrate can seek justice for me after reading my petition. I will die without regrets."
After reading it, Yuan Jiuan continued, "This girl Liu Cui has already committed suicide by jumping into the river. Her parents gave birth to four children and had no source of income. She was the oldest in the family, and her brothers and sisters had to rely on her to sell silk flowers and embroidery to earn money to support their studies."