I woke up as the Villainous Empress

While having tea, Zheng Xiang's eyes were fixated on Hou Wei, following her movements closely. At this point, he wasn't even listening to Yang Ning's stories; instead, he simply sat there, drinking one cup after another of tea, just to extend Hou Wei's stay in the dining room.

Since she had come at Yang Ning's special request, she was soon called to the imperial medicine department and had to return to the office.

When she left, Zheng Xiang had no reason to stay any longer either. As soon as Hou Wei returned to the medicine department, Zheng Xiang also departed.

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After Zheng Xiang returned to his pavilion, Zheng Liang wanted to spend some intimate moments with his wife. However, he was informed by Gu Lan that there was an urgent matter that needed his attention and needed to be reported immediately.

In the end, his plan of spending precious time with his wife was ruined, and Zheng Liang had to go to his study to discuss the urgent matter with Gu Lan. With work pending, Yang Ning also didn't return to her chamber to rest. Instead, she went to her study to continue her tasks.

For the past few days, she had been planning to implement a few more rules and regulations in the palace to enhance the living and working conditions of the palace staff and servants. More importantly, she aimed to restore balance in the palace management and reduce the existence of bullying cases, which often stemmed from the hierarchical system among the servants and staff.

Unfortunately, due to the hierarchy, many servants at the top levels abuse their powers and harass the young and new employees and staff. This imbalance disrupts the systematic work operations and fosters corruption and harassment among the palace servants and staff.

That's why she wanted to implement punishments for whoever breaks this law, whether it's a high-ranking officer under palace management or a servant; everyone will be punished equally. Because most of the time, punishments were decided according to titles and rankings. However, at least in cases under her jurisdiction, she doesn't want decisions to be based on hierarchy and titles.

Since assuming palace responsibilities, she has been working diligently and ruthlessly. She refuses to do a sloppy job and allows herself to be embarrassed by being perceived as incompetent and a good-for-nothing. Even if her policies are often harsh, they prove effective in palace management and affairs.

Initially, many people looked down on her because she was the Crown Princess and not the Empress, leading to doubts about her experience and whether she was mature and skilled enough to handle palace responsibilities. However, that's precisely why she worked hard to ensure that no one would underestimate her.

Thankfully, after months of effort, no one dares to disrespect her, given the protective stance of Zheng Liang and His Majesty, and the positive outcomes resulting from her policies and decisions.

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Except for a few loyalists of Yang Lingxin and Yang Luoyang, no one treats her poorly. Even if they don't like her, they dare not openly disrespect her, but their actions, words, and gazes betray their lack of respect and eagerness to remove her.

However, she doesn't care about those insignificant people because she knows she is doing the right thing and is capable of managing palace affairs better than anyone else.

While Yang Ning was working on planning new policies for palace management, Zheng Liang sat in his study, solemnly listening to Gu Lan's report about the case he had asked him to investigate regarding Yang Luoyang and Yang Ning's mother's death.

"Your Highness, as you requested, I investigated the Crown Princess's mother's death. From the information I gathered, it appears there is something suspicious about her death," Gu Lan revealed.

Zheng Liang frowned and clenched his fists in anger. He had expected things to turn out like this, knowing the selfish and greedy nature of Yang Luoyang, who could love no one more than himself and his ambitions.

"Suspicious? What did you find out?" Zheng Liang asked, urging him to continue.

Gu Lan pursed his lips and hesitated for a moment before continuing, "When I started the investigation, everyone repeated the same story: that Yang Luoyang loved his wife so much, and after she passed away in an unexpected incident, he was suffering from the loss of his wife and loneliness in his life.

When he went on a business trip to another town only two weeks after his wife passed away, there he found Chang Ah, who looked similar to his late wife and was bewitched by her. He married her and brought her back to the capital city, wanting to give Yang Ning the love and warmth of a mother."

Zheng Liang furrowed his brows and scoffed in mockery, "Warmth of a mother? Yes, sure. He couldn't even treat her like a father, what kind of mother's love would he care about? Also, if he loved his wife so much, how could he marry another woman less than a month after his first wife passed away? What a loving husband he was!" He snorted, feeling disgusted by Yang Luoyang.

"One would mourn for at least a few months to a year upon losing their pet. Madam Yao Ru was still his so-called beloved wife and the mother of his daughter; there is no way he could have moved on over her if he truly loved her."

Gu Lan nodded, silently agreeing with his words, and continued, "Since the incident happened years ago, not many people remembered the death of Lady Yang. Surprisingly, not many people were aware of this incident. However, after searching for people who knew what happened at that time, I found out that there was something strange about Lady Yao Ru's death."

"Something strange? What is it?" Zheng Liang asked eagerly.

"In the evening, Madam Yang went to the market to buy seeds for her garden. She loved gardening and preferred to go herself to select seeds and other necessary items. Even on that day, she went to the market but didn't return for a long time."

"However, as the sun set and the sky turned dark, the servants grew worried about her whereabouts. That's when the patrol guards appeared, carrying the injured Madam Yang in their arms. She was heavily injured and bleeding profusely. It was reported that during their patrol after curfew hours, the guards heard the painful moans of a woman.

They found Madam Yao Ru near the shore of the lake, bleeding heavily. It appeared she had fallen from the bridge and injured her head against the boulder."

"Nobody saw someone falling down the bridge?" Zheng Liang asked coldly, his question laced with slight doubt.

Gu Lan shook his head and replied, "It was past curfew hour. There was no one around; no one witnessed what happened to Madam Yang."

"Where was Yang Luoyang at that time?" Zheng Liang asked, his tone serious.

"It was reported that Yang Luoyang was at the royal palace and was working overtime that night at his office. While he was busy, he received a message from his servant that the mistress had fallen from the bridge, hitting her head against a large boulder, and was in critical condition. By the time he reached home, Madam Yang had already passed away."

"It was a shocking incident that caught everyone off guard. No one would have expected the Mistress of the Yang Household to pass away so suddenly due to an injury. It remains a mystery whether she fell from the bridge herself after losing her balance, jumped intentionally to take her life, or was pushed deliberately."

"Why wasn't this matter investigated? If Master Jiang had conducted a postmortem examination, they could have determined the cause of death and whether she was pushed or fell on her own," Zheng Liang questioned.

"People say that Yang Luoyang cared for his wife and didn't want her to suffer even after death. He couldn't bear the thought of her afterlife being marred by a heartless procedure like a postmortem investigation.

Considering his vulnerable state and the family's suffering, coupled with the lack of evidence to suggest anything other than an accident, the case wasn't pursued further and was closed without any postmortem investigation," Gu Lan reported.

Zheng Liang pursed his lips as the story didn't sound as convincing as it seemed. "Where was Yang Ning that day? Was she at the household as well?" he asked, a tinge of worry evident in his voice. He couldn't imagine how the little girl would have reacted when her mother was brought home, injured, and covered in blood.

Gu Lan shook his head and responded, "Coincidentally, Yang Luoyang had sent the Princess to her grandparents the same morning. So when this incident happened, only a few servants were at home."

"Coincidentally?" Zheng Liang clenched his fists tightly and repeated, his frown deepening. After a few moments of silence, he asked again, "You said that the Madam went to the market to buy the seeds. Didn't she have any maidservants to accompany her? What happened? What did her maid say?"

"There was a maidservant who usually accompanied Madam Yang. However, coincidentally, she fell sick the night before and was on leave that day. Since Madam Yang didn't want to inconvenience others and preferred to take a stroll around the market herself, she left the household alone, and this incident occurred. That's why there are no witnesses to provide a statement about this matter."

Zheng Liang let out a chuckle as everything appeared to be too much of a coincidence. He looked at Gu Lan with a grim expression and asked mockingly, "Isn't this all a bit too coincident?

Don't tell me the police officer in charge of the investigation at that time happened to be the current Head Officer of the Royal Bureau of Investigation?" He raised his brows, posing the question with a hint of seriousness.