So this was the emperor’s true favor.
Lu Xuan stood in the courtyard of the Xuanming Hall, the sky overcast and gray, while chrysanthemums bloomed in abundance. In the past, this very courtyard had been filled with roses—now, every last one had been uprooted.
Not a single rose remained in the entire imperial harem.
Lu Xuan turned her head and asked her maid, Little Qin, "I recall that Consort Shen despises roses, don’t I?"
Little Qin nodded. "This servant has inquired—it is indeed so."
Lu Xuan let out a bitter laugh, her nose tingling with unshed tears. "I see."
Shen Wei had once loved roses, so the emperor had filled the palace with them. The moment Shen Wei grew to loathe them, he ordered every last one torn from the earth. When Shen Wei favored crabapple blossoms and autumn chrysanthemums, those flowers flourished in their place...
Lu Xuan felt as though her heart had been ripped from her chest, raw and bleeding. Dazed, she left Xuanming Hall, her mind swirling with memories of the past.
She had always believed that emperors were incapable of love—that their affection was fleeting.
Only today did she realize how wrong she had been.
Heartbroken, Lu Xuan returned to the icy solitude of Changxin Palace. No sooner had she sat down than her son, Li Chengjue, not yet two years old, came running happily into her arms. "Mother! Mother, I want sweets!"
Lu Xuan lifted her gaze, studying her son’s face for a long moment.
The emperor doted on Shen Wei—and by extension, her two sons. Yang Xuanji, the most learned scholar in the Great Qing Kingdom, was their tutor. The emperor himself taught Shen Wei’s sons to ride and shoot.
But her own child? The emperor would, at most, hold him briefly and offer a few words of praise.
A chill ran through Lu Xuan. She realized with sudden clarity: the emperor was raising Shen Wei’s sons as his heirs.
"No... absolutely not..." She clutched her son tightly.
If Shen Wei’s son ascended the throne, she would lose everything. Shen Wei had already stolen the emperor’s heart—must her son take the throne as well?
Never.
She would not allow it.
"Mother, what’s wrong?" Li Chengjue peered up at her, his small eyes filled with worry.
Lu Xuan forced a gentle smile. "The kitchen is preparing your sweets. Be a good boy and rest in your room. Mother will come see you soon."
Li Chengjue nodded obediently. "Okay!" Then he scampered off.
Leaning back on the soft divan, Lu Xuan summoned Little Qin. "Any news from Doctor Mo?"
Little Qin lowered her voice. "Mistress, the weather has turned cold, and many in the palace have fallen ill. Doctor Mo is also unwell. This servant has been watching closely—Consort Shen’s head maid visits him daily, quite attentively."
Lu Xuan clenched her fingers. "Keep watching."
She would use Doctor Mo to bring Shen Wei down—completely.
What proud, mighty emperor could tolerate his beloved woman entangled with another man?
"Rest assured, mistress. This servant will not falter," Little Qin assured her.
Noticing Lu Xuan’s pallor, Little Qin hesitated. "Mistress, you are with child. The birth is in two months—you must take care of yourself."
For months, Lu Xuan had been restless, plagued by exhaustion and worry. Her pregnancy had been unstable, with occasional bouts of pain.
Little Qin feared that if her mistress continued in this state, complications would arise during the birth.
Lu Xuan laughed bitterly, resting a hand on her swollen belly. "One child could not earn the emperor’s favor. What use is another son, destined to be a stepping stone for Consort Shen?"
Little Qin had no words of comfort.
With a long sigh, Lu Xuan gazed at the chrysanthemums blooming in the courtyard, her eyes hardening. "If I cannot have it, then I will take it by force."
Who would have guessed that the Lu family had secretly supported Prince Heng all along?
Even now, ties remained between them.
After a moment’s thought, Lu Xuan instructed Little Qin, "Fetch paper and ink. I must write to my father. The Xie Family holds vast lands and mines in Yunzhou. Once they fall, all of it must go to the Lu family."
Little Qin frowned. "Mistress, the empress dowager may protect the Xie Family."
Lu Xuan gripped her brush, her voice icy. "Then we must ensure she cannot."
---
Five or six days later, Shen Wei’s fever finally broke, and she regained her senses. The first thing she did was look into the mirror, sighing at the gaunt, sallow face staring back.
Her carefully maintained beauty would take time to restore.
Medicine in this era was so lacking. Back in the modern world, a hospital visit and a few prescriptions would have cured her in no time.
She had been ill for over ten days. As soon as she felt slightly better, Shen Wei returned to Yongning Palace to recuperate. Zhang Miaoyu, catching wind of her recovery, rushed over to see her.
"Finally, you’re better." Zhang Miaoyu plopped onto the bedside, grumbling. "The emperor forbade anyone from disturbing you. Only when your pulse stabilized yesterday did he relent."
She studied Shen Wei’s frail form—thinner now, delicate as a willow after illness, yet with a quiet resilience.
Zhang Miaoyu wiped her eyes. "Thank heavens you’re all right. If you had... what would become of Leyou and the others?"
Still weak, Shen Wei lay wrapped in a thick fox-fur blanket, smiling faintly. "I’ve no intention of dying. A hundred years would barely suffice."
A maid brought warm broth, and Shen Wei sipped it slowly.
Then she asked, "How is Concubine Lan? Did Lady Wu and Xie Ji finalize their divorce?"
Her illness had left her in a haze, drifting between dreams of her modern life and the present. She had yet to catch up on palace affairs.
Zhang Miaoyu’s expression darkened.
She bowed her head. "Concubine Lan... passed yesterday."
Shen Wei froze, certain she had misheard.
With a sigh, Zhang Miaoyu recounted everything that had transpired during Shen Wei’s illness.
The Xie and Wu families had broken ties completely. The emperor had issued an edict: Xie Ji and Lady Wu were to divorce, and the Xie Family must return Lady Wu’s substantial dowry. Xie Ji entered the palace to meet Lady Wu, and the two signed the divorce papers before the empress dowager.
Concubine Zhao had already been executed. Grief-stricken, Xie Ji blamed Lady Wu for everything. During the signing, he mocked her for her alleged affair with a lowly servant, calling her shameless.
Lady Wu, already gravely ill, was so enraged by his words that she coughed up black blood and died that very night.
Upon her death, her brother Wu Ming went mad. He stormed the Xie residence with a sword, intent on killing Xie Ji. When guards stopped him, Wu Ming exposed the Xie Family’s long history of corruption—selling official posts, exploiting the people, embezzling funds.
The emperor, furious, imprisoned every implicated Xie Family member. Old enemies seized the chance to attack, leaving the Xie Family besieged on all sides.
Under pressure from the clan elders, Xie Ji spent a sleepless night before begging the emperor for mercy. But on his way through the palace, he encountered Concubine Lan.
Mad with grief over her mother’s death, she lunged at him with a dagger—only for Xie Ji to strike back and kill her instead.
