Chu Yanxi spoke these words through gritted teeth, her gaze fixed on the tightly shut palace gates. She took a few steps back, knelt down, and kowtowed three times heavily before the gates. Then, without looking back, she turned and left.
The Empress, who had witnessed Chu Yanxi’s departure from behind the doors, could not help but shed tears. After a moment of silence, she raised her head, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and her face was filled with a murderous intent.
Even if she were to die, she would drag a few people down with her to make her life worthwhile.
She was meant to wrong others, never the other way around. The Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and that lowly concubine, the Imperial Noble Consort, all deserved to die. Since she could not live, she would drag them to death with her. That way, on the road to the underworld, she would not be too lonely with them accompanying her.
“You poisonous woman, what are you doing here? Get out, get out!”
The Imperial Noble Consort was the first to see the Empress enter and immediately shouted at her with full alertness. She quickly got up and ran to the Empress Dowager and Emperor Xuanwen, shielding them protectively while keeping a wary eye on the Empress.
“Ru’er, hide behind me!”
Emperor Xuanwen forcibly pulled the Imperial Noble Consort behind him to protect her. He would absolutely not allow a woman to protect him.
“Madam Liu, what are you doing here? Did Chu Yanxi lose or win?”
The Empress Dowager still kept her eyes closed, meditating, and continuously rubbed the prayer beads in her hand. She assumed Chu Yanxi had already failed. If she had won, given Madam Liu’s nature, she would have already rushed to their side to flaunt her victory.
Since she had entered and said not a word, it was likely that Chu Yanxi had been defeated by Ling Mo Han’s forces. Thus, Madam Liu, seeing that there was no hope, was not rushing to escape for her life, but had come here to do what?
The Empress Dowager felt that something was amiss and slowly opened her eyes to scrutinize Madam Liu, trying to figure out her intentions.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, I am naturally here to see you all and to escort you away from this place together.”
“You would be so kind? Madam Liu, what are you plotting? Just say it directly!”
The Imperial Noble Consort shouted, refusing to believe that the poisonous Madam Liu would be so kind as to let them leave. A weasel paying respects to a chicken meant no good intentions. Who knew what wicked schemes Madam Liu was brewing this time.
“You lowly wretch, I was speaking to the Empress Dowager. What right do you have to speak? Don’t forget that you are merely a humble concubine. Do you really think you are a mistress? I am the legitimate wife, and as long as I live, you will forever be a concubine. You are destined to be trampled underfoot by me, never to rise again in this life!”
Did she really think that just because she was conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort, she was a mistress? Little did she know that a concubine was always a concubine, the most lowly of beings.
For so many years, she had been trampled upon by this wretched Imperial Noble Consort. It was the greatest mistake of her life. She should have been more ruthless and made these wretched women disappear from this world.
“Enough! Just say what you want. There’s no need for these inane ramblings!”
Emperor Xuanwen’s tone was distant, and he did not even look at the Empress as he spoke, as if she were not present at all.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty is now unwilling to even look at me. Your Majesty, have you truly forgotten what you said when you proposed to this consort?”
The Empress looked at Emperor Xuanwen with a sliver of hope, a faint anticipation still in her heart.
“I naturally remember. However, you are no longer the person you once were. I never imagined that you would become the detestable person you are today!”
The Empress sneered, feeling that her life was a joke. She had become someone she herself found unrecognizable. “Yes, this consort has changed. But if I hadn’t changed, if I had remained the naive fool I once was, I would have died a thousand times over in this man-eating palace.
“If it is true that this consort has changed, then Your Majesty has also changed. You once promised this consort that you would protect me your entire life and not let me suffer even the slightest harm. But haven’t you also broken your promise? Whenever this consort needed you the most, where were you?”
“I was busy with state affairs. When did I not spend my time looking for you? The Empress’s honor, my favor, it was all given to you. What more are you not satisfied with? Now that you have committed such treasonous acts, what else do you have to quibble about!”
Emperor Xuanwen answered the Empress’s accusations with reason and logic. He never felt he had wronged Madam Liu in any way.
Ever since he married Madam Liu, he had catered to her every whim. Even when his mother disliked her and repeatedly demanded he depose her, he had done his best to resist. All honor had been bestowed upon her. He had also diligently educated their children. Even though he had long known Chu Yanxi’s talent was genuine but he was not suited for great responsibility, he still wanted to make him the Crown Prince.
This was so that when he passed away, she would have a good future. Yet, all his efforts were still worthless in her eyes, and in the end, she still felt that he was infinitely indebted to her.
He had done everything he could, and he was at peace with himself for what he had achieved.
“These… aren’t these all things Your Majesty should have done? Since Your Majesty married me, you should have given me the best of everything. But you still had concubines one after another, leaving me alone in bed night after night. Do you know how difficult it is for me to endure those long nights!”
“Yanxi is the legitimate son. According to ancestral teachings, the legitimate heir should be the eldest. This should have been Xi’er’s position, but it is due to your favoritism. No matter how outstanding Xi’er performed, you were always unwilling to make Xi’er the Crown Prince. You forced me to do this. You forced me. All of this is your fault, and no one else can be blamed!”
The Empress cried out hysterically, placing all the blame on Emperor Xuanwen. For so many years, Xi’er had done everything to please him, but Emperor Xuanwen had always refused to agree to make Xi’er the Crown Prince, always using other excuses to brush him off.
Now, the situation had devolved to this point entirely because Emperor Xuanwen had forced her hand. This was his own doing, and they could not be blamed.
“You are still stubborn even now. You are truly mad… mad!” Emperor Xuanwen shook his head and sighed, unable to fathom how Madam Liu had become so deranged, completely unlike her former gentle and charming self.