A Femme Fatale!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
This phrase, used to describe women, couldn''t be more fitting for Painter Xie.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
"Lord Xie..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
One of the bolderdies quietly inquired, "It seems there was somemotion inside just now. Do you know what happened?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Xie Chenghui kept his head down, focused on painting, and didn''t respond.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
You couldn''t say he was deliberately ignoring them - he appeared serene and gentlemanly. And you couldn''t say he hadn''t heard - they were too close for that to be possible.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Thedy who had asked the question was left embarrassed, forced to close her mouth in frustration. Yet she couldn''t bring herself to dislike Xie Chenghui.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
When the Empress Dowager woke up, she found herself locked in pitch darkness. It was terrifyingly quiet around her, without a single sound.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Fear of the unknown enveloped the Empress Dowager''s entire body. She groped in the dark to sit up from the ground, fumbling forward in the darkness: "Is anyone there? Come quickly! Who has locked me in here? I am the Empress Dowager of Great Yan, you cannot treat me like this!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
In the vast emptiness of the darkness, even the Empress Dowager''s voice echoed, but there was no response.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Finally, she managed to feel something that seemed like a wooden door. Grasping it like a lifeline, she began frantically knocking: "Open the door, Emperor! I know you''re there! I am your birth mother, you cannot believe Consort Rong''s one-sided words. She hates me for not saving her and is deliberately ndering me. I..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
A light appeared, gradually brightening from behind the Empress Dowager, eventually illuminating the entire dark space.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
This ce... it was... the punishment room.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
When the Emperor was young and disobedient, or when the Empress Dowager thought he was naughty, she often threw him in here to be punished.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The Empress Dowager seemed to have guessed who was behind her. Her fingers, gripping the door crack, turned white from the force. She took a deep breath, holding back tears of fear, and turned to face the Xuanwu Emperor.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
However, when she saw the Xuanwu Emperor sitting in the middle of the punishment room, she also saw the person behind him.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
A wave of fury at being betrayed and sold out instantly swept over her. She rushed forward: "Pei Wu, you treacherous wretch, how dare you betray me! I''ll..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Before she could finish, guards pinned her to the ground.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The Emperor chuckled softly: "Back then, Noble Consort Jing''s most trusted personal maid was bought by you, and you switched your dead infant with me. How did you not consider how heartbroken Noble Consort Jing would be when betrayed by the person she trusted most? Noble Consort Jing trusted you so much, yet you still schemed to take her life, didn''t you?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Those who harm others will be harmed in return. Those who betray others will ultimately face betrayal themselves.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The biggest mistake Noble Consort Jing made in her life was treating the Empress Dowager as a close friend and trusting her pce maids too easily.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
"Don''t mention her!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The Empress Dowager reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her whole body bristling. As if trapped in a certain memory, her face twisted with jealousy as she said, "What do you know? Noble Consort Jing was born into a noble family, entered the pce as a Noble Consort, and was even childhood sweethearts with thete Emperor. From birth, she had everything I could never obtain in my entire life. I couldn''t ept it. That fool was too well-protected, she didn''t understand how treacherous people could be. So I decided to help her learn."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
So after Noble Consort Jing became pregnant, she deliberately seduced the Emperor to sleep with her, trying everything to be pregnant around the same time as Noble Consort Jing.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Later, she found out Noble Consort Jing''s due date and tookbor-inducing medicine on the same day to force her own child''s birth.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Her original n was that if they both gave birth to princes, she would switch her child with Noble Consort Jing''s, letting her own child receive all the love and blessings from the court officials. Then she would keep Noble Consort Jing''s child with her, subjecting him to endless suffering and torment.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
But she ended up giving birth to a princess.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
What use was a princess?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
If it wouldn''t bring her any benefits, there was no need for the child to exist.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Drowning the little princess was also to avoid future troubles. If the truth ever came to light, having the princess alive would lead to endless problems. It was better to kill her and be done with it.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
She could also use the princess''s corpse to deal a heavy blow to Noble Consort Jing.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The Empress Dowager herself hadn''t expected that Noble Consort Jing would be unable to bear the shock, be emotionally distraught, hemorrhage heavily, and die.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Suddenly responsible for two lives, especially having killed her own daughter with her own hands, made her feel somewhat afraid. So she secretly built a small Buddhist shrine in her chambers.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Recalling this, the Empress Dowager''s eyes, full of hatred, red at Pei Wu: "Consort Shu and Consort Rong never discovered my secret all these years. Pei Wu... it was you who told Consort Rong, wasn''t it?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Pei Wu bowed to the Empress Dowager: "Please calm your anger, Empress Dowager. From the beginning, I was a spy nted by His Majesty at your side. His Majesty never favored me; it was all an act for you to see. My purpose for staying in Cining Pce was to catch you in the act."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
After a long period of careful observation, she finally discovered the secret of the small Buddhist shrine.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
So Pei Wu reported to the Emperor, and together they set a trap, luring the Empress Dowager in, then using Consort Rong to drive her to a dead end.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
"Hahahahaha..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The Empress Dowager suddenly burst intoughter: "So you all know now, but so what? I am still nominally the Emperor''s mother. Would His Majesty want such a royal scandal to spread among themon people?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The Emperor, having learned the whole story, no longer wasted words with her. He stood up and walked towards the door: "The court officials have decided to send you to a detached pce to live out your days."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
A smug smile appeared on the Empress Dowager''s lips, thinking the Emperor truly had no way to deal with her.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
However, the next moment, she heard the Emperor''s cruel voice: "So I''ve already sent an escort for the ''Empress Dowager'' to the detached pce in Qin Province. As for you... you will repent here, paying the price for everything you''ve done. I will keep you here..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
He slowly emphasized thest three words: "Until. You. Die!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
"No! No! No!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
"Bang!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The door of the punishment room mmed shut, and the room that had been bright moments ago plunged back intoplete darkness.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
"Shen Ye!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
"You ungrateful wolf cub, even if I didn''t give birth to you, I raised you. Without me, do you think you could have grown up alive? Let me out now!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Her only response was the endless darkness of the punishment room and the echo of her own shrill voice.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
All the suffering she had inflicted on the Xuanwu Emperor as a child was nowing back to haunt her.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
The person who became the "Empress Dowager" sent to live out her days in the detached pce was actually Consort Rong.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
She couldn''t be called Consort Rong anymore. For aiding evil, she was demoted to amoner. However, the Emperor, considering that she had written down all of the Empress Dowager''s crimes and made them public, agreed to let her leave the pce. From now on, there would be no more Consort Rong in the pce.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Compared to her sister, her fate was much better.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
On the first day of the sixth month, the day the Empress''s coffin was to be transported to the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleum.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
Before dawn, Fen Yun led the Fifth Prince to kowtow outside Jiang Xinyue''s chambers to express gratitude. Without disturbing her rest, he then led the Fifth Prince to apany the procession out of the pce.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0
It was only on this day that Consort De, who had been iming illness, dared toe out and move about.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0