Chapter 193

Chapter 193 As the New Year approached, the Emperor and Empress both forced themselves to maintain the facade of a harmonious couple. They had thought this year would pass peacefully. But who could have anticipated that on New Year's Eve, news suddenly arrived that the Heir Apparent of the Duke of Zhenguo's estate had been recklessly riding his horse through the city, overturning the porridge stalls of several families. These families were all established, influential noble houses in the capital. Because of the Heir Apparent's reckless riding, many people in these households had been injured. The granddaughter of the Duke of Yingguo, who had been compassionately distributing porridge to the poor, was also accidentally injured in the chaos. Several of the great noble houses, enraged, jointly submitted memorials demanding that the Emperor severely punish the Heir Apparent of the Duke of Zhenguo. The Duke of Zhenguo was from the Empress's maternal family, and the Heir Apparent was the Empress's own elder brother. When this news broke, the entire capital was abuzz, with everyone eagerly waiting to watch the drama unfold. Inside Fengyi Palace, upon hearing this news, the Empress sat frozen in place. The court banquet had just concluded today. She had thought she had managed to survive another year, but who knew... something had still gone wrong. The Empress's eyes reddened as she gritted her teeth and said, "He's finally made his move!" The elderly maid beside her quickly tried to stop her: "Empress, please be careful with your words!" The Empress shoved the maid's hand away: "Why should I be careful? I'll be deposed sooner or later anyway. I've had enough of this life!" "Everyone knows those noble houses that submitted memorials are all the Emperor's eyes and ears!" "My elder brother has barely ridden a horse in his entire life, yet on New Year's Eve he's recklessly riding through the capital... That good-for-nothing drunkard can't even devise a more clever way to frame someone!" Just as the Empress finished her tirade, she saw all the maids and servants in Fengyi Palace kneel down in unison. She turned around and saw the Emperor entering with a cold expression. The Empress's face also darkened instantly. The two glared at each other, neither willing to back down. For an Emperor and Empress to end up like this was truly a rare sight in the world. Both had recently suffered serious illnesses. Now, having just recovered, their faces still bore traces of sickness, and both had grown considerably thinner. The Emperor suddenly barked, "Get out!" The servants surrounding them rose and filed out, closing the main doors behind them. The Empress said coldly, "Xiao Yuanfang, I am your lawful wife. If you have the guts, depose me!" "As an Emperor, you can kill whoever you want. Why must you resort to such underhanded schemes every day?!" "Today it's my brother. Tomorrow will it be my nephew or my father?!" "When you ascended the throne, my Chen family contributed no small effort. Now you're going to discard us like a hunted rabbit discards the hunting dog?!" The Emperor coldly regarded this woman who was acting like a shrew. "I've tolerated you for decades, and you're still the same as ever." The Empress flicked her sleeves: "I've tolerated you for decades as well!" "What makes you think you're any better?!" She pointed at the Emperor with reddened eyes, "You're lecherous and immoral, arrogant and conceited... Over the years, women have come and gone in the harem, and I've long stopped caring—I just watch it like a play." "But when I finally managed to conceive Cheng'er, you allowed that vile woman to harm me again and again!" "Cheng'er is the legitimate son and should have been made Crown Prince, but from the moment he was born, you never mentioned it. You've belittled and suppressed him since childhood, while bringing that vile woman's son to your side and treating him with the privileges of a Crown Prince... I've had enough!" All these years, the Empress had endured for the sake of her family and her son. But the Emperor had long grown weary of the Seventh Prince, even publicly rebuking him as unfit for responsibility, heaping humiliation upon him. And now he was making a move against the Duke of Zhenguo's estate... The incident of the Heir Apparent's reckless riding was clearly the Emperor's scheme against the Duke of Zhenguo's estate, a pretext to suppress the Empress's family's power. The Empress no longer wished to endure. She laughed like a madwoman, "That vile woman's arrogance finally provoked everyone's wrath, and she lost two children in succession. She's not young anymore—I doubt she'll have another chance to conceive..." "All these years she's wielded power in both court and harem. Which prince hasn't been offended by her?" "I'll simply wait for the day a new Emperor ascends the throne, and settle every single score with that vile woman!" The Emperor coldly watched the Empress, "She has me to protect her. She will surely enjoy a worry-free old age." The Empress's expression changed. The Emperor's eyes were full of disgust: "You poisonous woman, do you think I don't know what you've done?" "The collapse of Zichen Hall, the Eighth Prince's fall from his horse, and Noble Consort Chen's miscarriage... You even dared to participate in treasonous plots. If not for the bond of our marriage, I would have exterminated your entire clan long ago!" The Empress: "If you hadn't pushed me step by step, leaving me and Cheng'er no place to stand, why would I have resorted to this?!" The Emperor: "Your nature is inherently vicious. My tolerance of you until now is already an act of mercy, yet you still refuse to repent..." The Empress let out a light laugh: "Then I beg Your Majesty to grant me death!" With that, the Empress knelt on the ground and respectfully performed a bow to the Emperor. She appeared utterly unafraid of death. The Emperor's words caught in his throat. Since the founding of the dynasty, no Emperor had ever executed an Empress. No matter how reckless the Emperor was, he absolutely did not want to leave behind such a stain on his legacy, to be ridiculed by future generations. He flicked his sleeves: "You are my lawful wife. How could I kill you? Not only that, I will not depose you either." The Emperor's tone was icy cold: "From now on, you will remain in this Fengyi Palace. I will have Cheng'er stay by your side at all times, until the day you die..." The Empress's gaze faltered for a moment, and she instantly understood—the Emperor did not want her dead, but rather to torment her. The Seventh Prince had already come of age and should have long been granted a princely title and his own residence. The Emperor's intention was clear: he wanted the Seventh Prince to remain the Seventh Prince for life, forever confined in Fengyi Palace to accompany her in her imprisonment. Her heart, already dead and still, seemed to grow even colder. Yet the Empress no longer felt anger. From the moment her eldest brother had fallen from grace, she knew the Emperor had already decided how to deal with her and the Seventh Prince. Even if she knelt and begged for mercy, the Emperor would never change his mind. This man had always been heartless and fickle. The Empress's cold, dead gaze gradually turned resolute. Since death was inevitable, she might as well fight with all her might... The matter of the Duke of Zhenguo's Heir Apparent injuring people with his horse was only resolved three days later. The Emperor decreed that the Heir Apparent of the Duke of Zhenguo be stripped of his title and exiled to Lingnan for twenty years. Everyone knew that although it was called exile, the Heir Apparent of the Duke of Zhenguo was already advanced in years. Whether he would encounter some accident on the road was anyone's guess. Even if he truly survived twenty years, he would be sixty years old—what meaning would there be in returning then? The Emperor simply wanted the life of the Duke of Zhenguo's Heir Apparent, just with a more subtle approach. Following closely after, the Duke of Zhenguo was publicly reprimanded by the Emperor, and the official positions of several generations of both the direct and collateral branches were reshuffled, gradually moving away from the center of power. The Chen family of the Duke of Zhenguo, after this ordeal, had completely fallen. News from the palace spread once more—the Empress was gravely ill and unable to rise from her bed, with Noble Consort Jing and Noble Consort Rou jointly managing the affairs of the Six Palaces. This matter inevitably hinted at something—was the Emperor inclined toward Prince An or Prince Jing for the position of Heir Apparent? Previously, everyone only said that Prince An's status was lowly, but now his birth mother had been promoted from Baolin to Noble Consort, and she was currently with child. Compared to Prince Jing, he actually had more of an advantage. After all, who told Prince Jing to lack a Principal Consort from the Great Xia dynasty? As for the Empress's grave illness, the Emperor only kept the Seventh Prince by her side to attend to her personally. The other consorts and princess consorts could finally breathe a sigh of relief. But before Princess Consort Jing could even catch her breath, news came from the palace. The Emperor had bestowed the youngest daughter of the Sun family of the Duke of Yingguo upon Prince Jing as a Side Consort. When Xie Run heard the news, she was painting a winter plum blossom scene, with Taotao rolling around on the couch beside her... horizontally. She set down her final brushstroke before saying, "It seems that after the new year, our household will be gaining another Consort Sun."