Liu Ruyan sighed, gazing at the yellowing autumn leaves in the distance. "What's the point of all this strife? Like leaves in the wind, prosperity always withers."
The Empress had fallen from power, and the imperial harem was in turmoil, with every concubine eyeing the throne. Liu Ruyan found it all laughable.
Glory, wealth, fame, and power—all were fleeting as passing clouds.
Shen Wei turned around. "Cai Ping, let's return to the palace."
Liu Ruyan was truly beautiful, but her mind was utterly peculiar—best admired from afar, never engaged in conversation.
Shen Wei scurried away.
In the Eastern Pavilion, the palace maid Xue Mei peeked out from behind a pillar. She approached Liu Ruyan cautiously and said, "My lady, the wind is picking up. Your health is frail, and the physician warned that too much wind might make you ill. Should we return to the palace?"
The autumn breeze was bitingly cold, and the Eastern Pavilion happened to be right in the wind's path through the imperial garden. Xue Mei was genuinely freezing.
But alas, her mistress insisted on sitting alone in the pavilion, admiring the slowly yellowing leaves and the gradually reddening maple leaves.
Liu Ruyan remarked, "Autumn is so beautiful. The maple leaves, crimson as blood, are truly a marvel."
Xue Mei wanted to pinch her own temples in frustration. If not for the fact that Consort Shen, now managing the harem, had raised the wages of senior palace maids, Xue Mei would have seriously considered quitting.
Back inside the pavilion, Liu Ruyan sat quietly on a stone bench, watching flowers bloom and wither, leaves turn gold.
While the harem seethed with intrigue, she wished only to be a plum tree in the depths of the palace—far from the storm, solitary in her elegance.
Meanwhile, Xue Mei silently counted the days until her release. Palace maids could leave at twenty-five; one more year, and she’d be free from this ordeal.
...
...
Both the court and the harem awaited the Emperor's decree to depose the Empress.
Yet, strangely, time flew by, and as the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the edict still hadn’t arrived.
The Xie Family was the first to lose patience. They rallied over a dozen officials to submit a memorial, enumerating the Empress’s crimes and urging the Emperor to issue the decree. In court, the Emperor flew into a rage, reprimanded the ministers, demoted most, and docked their salaries.
The Emperor declared that though the Empress was guilty of many crimes, she was still the birth mother of Princess Li Yao. Out of sentiment, he would not depose her.
Only then did everyone realize: though the Tantai family had fallen, the Emperor had no intention of removing the Empress.
...
Kunning Palace.
The Empress endured torment day after day, waiting for the decree of deposition, for the white silk or poisoned wine that would end her life.
But it never came.
Instead, Eunuch Deshun arrived, bearing an oral decree from the Emperor: the Empress was to "recuperate" in Kunning Palace, never to step beyond its gates for the rest of her days.
Her attendants were dismissed, leaving only an old maidservant to deliver meals, while imperial guards stood watch at the entrance.
As Eunuch Deshun departed, the Empress collapsed to the floor, staring blankly at the empty courtyard. She murmured, "No deposition... He... He won’t depose me..."
Had her daily prayers to the Buddha finally been answered, sparing her life as a devout believer?
Dazed, the Empress returned to the prayer hall, kneeling before the merciful statue of the Bodhisattva. "For the rest of my days... I shall remain here with you..."
She had lost utterly.
A soft footstep sounded outside. Li Yao stood at the threshold of the prayer hall and called out timidly, "Mother."
The Empress turned and saw the timid girl at the door.
Li Yao whispered, "It’s cold. I brought you a thick quilt. Rest well, Mother. I’ll visit once every month from now on."
A palace maid set down the heavy quilt.
Li Yao dared not approach her mother.
Kneeling in the prayer hall, the Empress was gaunt, her eyes sunken, cheekbones protruding—a terrifying specter. When she looked at Li Yao, her gaze was fierce.
Li Yao’s nose stung with unshed tears. After leaving the quilt, she hurried away with her maid.
Their bond as mother and daughter ended there. Once she married, she would never visit the Empress again. She had her own life to live—one that would never mirror her mother’s downfall.
The Empress sat alone in the prayer hall, watching her daughter’s retreating figure. A crushing wave of sorrow engulfed her.
Her family had crumbled, her sons had died one after another, her husband despised her... In the end, the only one who remained by her side was the daughter she had always scorned.
The Empress buried her face in her hands and let out a heart-wrenching sob.
Time passed indistinctly.
Footsteps sounded once more outside.
This time, it was Shen Wei.
The sunlight was clear and bright. The courtyard of Kunning Palace, long untended, was overgrown with wild grass, where chrysanthemums bloomed wildly, blending with the weeds.
Shen Wei paused to admire the wildflowers. Most plants in the palace were meticulously pruned, but these untamed blossoms held a unique beauty.
The Empress dragged her numb feet out of the prayer hall, her eyes dark with malice as she glared at Shen Wei. "Why are you here? To mock me?"
Shen Wei turned, her smile radiant. "Indeed."
Amid the sea of wild chrysanthemums, Shen Wei stood poised, her beauty outshining even the flowers.
The Empress’s eyes burned with envy. In the depths of the palace, Consort Lan, Noble Consort Shu, and Consort Mei had all withered with time. Only Shen Wei remained dazzling, as if she would never fade.
Years ago, the Empress had elevated Shen Wei from a lowly servant to a concubine. Never had she imagined that this woman she once dismissed would one day become the Emperor’s favorite.
The Empress sneered, "Shen Wei, no one stays triumphant forever. The day will come when you fall into the mud."
Shen Wei smiled. "Even if I fall one day, I’ll rise again. But you? You’ll never leave Kunning Palace."
For now, the Empress’s life was spared to keep the noble families in check.
Once Li Yuanjing had stripped them of their power, the Empress’s time would be up.
The Empress dug her nails into her palms.
Shen Wei strolled closer, tilting her head as she studied the Empress. Softly, she said, "As the overseer of the harem, I rule with strict discipline. My eyes and ears are everywhere. Did you really think your little escapades went unnoticed?"
The Empress froze. "What do you mean?"
Shen Wei chuckled. "All those times you slipped out of Kunning Palace—sending messages to the Tantai family, scolding Li Chengzhen in his palace, conspiring with Tantai Yinxue... Did you truly believe the guards were just lax?"
The Empress turned to stone.
A chilling dread crawled up her spine, freezing her to the core.
How terrifying!
Shen Wei was terrifying!
The Empress’s eyes reddened. In despair, she lunged at Shen Wei, shrieking, "It was you! You orchestrated everything! You killed my son! You destroyed my family! Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose your true nature to the Emperor?"
Shen Wei stepped back, evading her grasp.
"You were an unfaithful wife, a cruel mother, a dishonorable daughter, a merciless superior, and a disrespectful subject. Everything that befell you was of your own making."
Pausing, Shen Wei’s gaze turned icy. "I remember how, back in the Prince's Mansion, you prided yourself on being as demure as a chrysanthemum. Now, you may spend the rest of your days with these flowers."
With that, Shen Wei left Kunning Palace.
She instructed the guards at the gate, "Seal the dog hole in the backyard. Inspect the walls every month for breaches."
The guards bowed. "As you command."
Shen Wei boarded her palanquin and returned to Yongning Palace.
From then on, there would be no more loopholes for the Empress to exploit. She would never set foot beyond Kunning Palace again.
As Shen Wei's palanquin arrived at Yongning Palace, Cai Lian from the courtyard came running over joyfully to announce:
"Congratulations, my lady! Wonderful news!"
