"Imperial Consort, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" the Emperor asked with concern.
Consort Xue quickly lowered her head. "This humble consort is fine..."
Empress Pei, standing nearby, felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. She and the Emperor had been married since their youth, yet she had never seen him show such worry for her.
As the Emperor was about to press further, the Empress Dowager interjected, "Qin'er, as I recall, tonight is your son's wedding to the Rong family's daughter. Shouldn't you be at your residence overseeing the preparations? Why have you come to the palace instead?"
An Sheng smiled faintly. "Replying to Mother Empress, it is because there is a far more important matter at hand."
"Oh?"
The Empress Dowager looked at her curiously, only to see An Sheng gently nudge Consort Xue beside her.
Consort Xue stumbled forward, trembling uncontrollably. "Your Majesty, this humble consort... this humble consort..."
She couldn't help but glance back at An Sheng. The composed elder princess gazed at her with smiling eyes, but the overwhelming fear in Consort Xue's heart finally won out. She shut her eyes and shouted, "This humble consort implores Your Majesty to abdicate!"
"What?!"
The Emperor shot to his feet, while the Empress Dowager roared in fury, "Consort Xue, have you lost your mind? Do you even know what you're saying?!"
Consort Xue collapsed to her knees in terror. "It was her... she forced me to say it..."
Her trembling finger pointed at An Sheng, who shook her head in mock disappointment. "How can this be called 'forcing'? Didn't we agree beforehand? I would support you and your son in ascending the throne, and all you had to do was request His Majesty to issue an abdication edict, yielding the throne to the Fifth Prince... Such a mutually beneficial arrangement, yet you falter at the critical moment?"
Consort Xue trembled like a leaf, too frightened to respond. The Emperor, after a stunned pause, finally regained his composure. "An Sheng! Have you gone mad? Do you not realize that every word you speak is tantamount to treason?"
An Sheng laughed, her wide sleeves fluttering. "Treason... so what?"
The Emperor bellowed, "Imperial Guards!"
Yet from outside the hall came the sounds of clashing steel—no one entered.
"Cheng Qian! Protect the Emperor!"
As soon as the words left his lips, a severed head rolled into the hall, its eyes wide with fury—it was Cheng Qian, the chief of the Imperial Guards!
Screams of panic erupted throughout Cining Palace. The Emperor's eyes widened as Xiao Jie, the commander of the palace guard, strode in. He knelt before An Sheng and reported, "Your Highness, the palace is under our control. Of the six hundred Imperial Guards, half were killed, and the other half surrendered. None escaped."
The Emperor collapsed back into his chair. An Sheng smiled faintly. "You've done well, Commander Xiao."
The sudden upheaval left Cining Palace as silent as a graveyard.
The gruesome sight of Cheng Qian's head lying in the center of the hall only deepened the terror.
It took the Empress Dowager a long moment to recover. Trembling, she asked, "Qin'er... what exactly are you trying to do?"
An Sheng replied gently, "Do not worry, Mother Empress. An Sheng merely wishes to relieve His Majesty of some burdens, given his advanced age."
Advanced age?
He was only forty-five—in the prime of his life!
The Emperor let out a cold laugh. "Murong Qin! Have you forgotten that the Five-City Garrison remains under my command? If you dare rebel tonight, they will storm the palace tomorrow and execute you in my name!"
An Sheng nodded with a smile. "Your Majesty speaks truly. But alas, the Five-City Garrison's commander, along with the court's civil and military officials, are likely too drunk at my son's wedding banquet to act... And even if they sober up by tomorrow, I’ve already sent Zheng'er to mobilize the Western Mountain Camp’s troops. Would Your Majesty care to guess whether the Twenty Thousand of the Five-City Garrison can withstand Fifty Thousand Western Mountain soldiers?"
The Emperor's face turned deathly pale—his last hope was gone.
"Yan Zheng... my chief minister... even he..."
An Sheng merely smiled in response.
Suddenly, the Emperor recalled Yan Zhao's words during the state banquet, and realization struck him like lightning. "Yan Zhao... Yan Zhao spoke the truth, didn’t he? It was you who colluded with the southern barbarians, leading to the annihilation of the Yan family army?!"
"Yes."
An Sheng admitted without hesitation. "Yan Xu was notoriously difficult to kill. I had Cao Dong sabotage their weapons and supplies, but even that wasn’t enough. In the end, it took the Marquis of Pingjing’s spy stealing the city defense plans to finish the job."
The Emperor’s lips trembled. "Then... Cao Yang..."
"Cao Yang’s death was also my doing. I simply bribed someone from Gu Sun’s household—killing two birds with one stone, paving the way for my son to smoothly enter the Grand Secretariat."
The intricate web of schemes, the ruthlessness, the meticulous planning—
The Emperor glared at her with bloodshot eyes, speechless.
And An Sheng had waited twenty long years for this moment.
She didn’t mind elaborating further. "Once my son entered the Grand Secretariat, he lived up to my expectations. Nearly all the officials promoted by Gu Sun and Cao Yang were exiled from the capital. The Six Ministries, the Secretariat, even the Censorate—all were filled with our own people. The only variable was military power. Oh, Your Majesty, entrusting it to the Ninth Prince was a clever move... but who could have predicted he’d fall for a mere girl from the Chu family and be relentlessly impeached by the Censorate?"
Empress Dowager Su’s face drained of color as she remembered the day An Sheng had begged her to arrange a marriage between Jin'er and the Chu family’s second daughter...
A wave of sorrow overwhelmed her. "Qin'er... you even used me?"
An Sheng didn’t even glance at her. Having laid everything bare, it was as if she had finally released twenty years of pent-up resentment.
She lifted her chin, looking down at the Emperor with icy triumph. "Your Majesty, would you say this plan of mine is flawless?"
The Emperor slumped in his chair, as if all strength had left him. "You... even if you murder me and seize the throne, history will condemn you for eternity..."
"Your Majesty is mistaken!" A firm voice rang out from beyond the hall. Sun Cai, clad in the robes of the Imperial Academy, strode in. Without sparing the Emperor a glance, he knelt before An Sheng. "Your Highness, this humble scholar Sun Cai is willing to wield the brush in your name, ensuring your legacy in the annals of history!"
Even the Imperial Academy had turned...
The Emperor, overwhelmed with rage, struggled to breathe.
Empress Pei hurriedly patted his back to soothe him.
Suddenly, a cry echoed through the hall: "Father, do not fear! Your son has come to save you!" The Fifth Prince, Murong Cong, charged in with a drawn sword, hoping to capture An Sheng and turn the tide.
But before he could strike, a maidservant at An Sheng’s side disarmed him with a single flick of her wrist and pinned him down.
The Fifth Prince’s eyes bulged in disbelief. His martial arts instructors had assured him he was invincible—how could he be subdued so easily?
Consort Xue threw herself forward in terror. "Elder Princess! Spare us! Didn’t you want my son as your puppet? We submit! We submit!"
An Sheng gripped her chin. "So the Imperial Consort has finally come to her senses?"
"Yes, yes! As long as you spare my son, our entire family will obey you!"
An Sheng nodded, picked up the fallen sword, and plunged it into the Fifth Prince’s chest.
"Cong'er!!"
Consort Xue wailed in despair, but Yu Hui held her down mercilessly.
An Sheng twisted the blade inside the Fifth Prince’s body, ensuring his organs were shredded. Blood gushed from his mouth as he gasped, "Imperial... Aunt..."
The sword withdrew, and he collapsed, lifeless.
The Empress Dowager shrieked and fainted. The Emperor closed his eyes in resignation.
An Sheng took the handkerchief handed to him by the maid and wiped his hands. "This lord despises those who go back on their word. There are plenty of princes to choose from—you're not the only one."
With that, he tossed the handkerchief aside and stepped forward. "Empress Pei, compared to Consort Xue, I hold you in higher regard. So, what do you say? Will you and the Second Prince be willing to collaborate with me?"
