Jingsi Palace.
The palace had long been abandoned. The deposed empress, already a convicted criminal, had been moved here, yet no palace maids had bothered to tidy the place, leaving it in a state of desolate decay.
The servants were all frolicking in the courtyard, none willing to spare a thought for the fallen empress inside. Some were gambling, others chatting—no different from the unruly servants of the Qin Prince’s Mansion in the past.
"Outrageous! This is the imperial palace, not some place for you to act as you please!"
Wu Qi’s shrill voice rang out, and at the sight of the figure clad in imperial yellow, the servants immediately dropped to their knees, trembling.
"Spare us, Your Majesty! Spare us!"
"Send them to the Punishment Bureau." Emperor Yuanyou barely spared them a glance before striding toward the inner chambers.
Inside, a foul stench assaulted his senses.
The emperor couldn’t help but roll his eyes—utterly repulsed by the odor.
"Who’s there?"
The deposed empress tensed at the sound of movement.
"You lowly, insolent servants! You think just because I can’t move my limbs, you can starve me to death? Where’s my food? Bring me my food!"
She ranted like a madwoman—until her eyes locked onto Emperor Yuanyou, widening in shock.
"Your Majesty..."
"Wu Qi, fetch her something to eat."
Perhaps the stench was too overpowering. The emperor took a seat on the farthest chair from the deposed empress, only then finding some relief.
"Your Majesty, we were husband and wife for decades. Can there truly be no trace of affection left?" The deposed empress pleaded, her voice breaking as she took in his look of disdain. "I beg you, remember how young I was when I married you, how I bore your children—"
Emperor Yuanyou cut her off before she could finish.
"I have no princesses. Whose daughter did you bear?" The mention of a princess only stoked his fury.
The deposed empress choked on her words.
"After Fen'er passed, your father brought you before me, saying Yu'er was too young—that he needed someone of his own to protect him so he could grow up safely."
At the memory, hatred burned in Emperor Yuanyou’s eyes.
Had it not been for Yu'er, he would never have hastily named her empress. He had feared the other women in the harem would scheme against his heir.
"And yet—you turned out to be more venomous than any of them!"
"I have never met a woman as vile as you."
The room held only the two of them now, former lovers turned bitter enemies. The deposed empress laughed through her tears, her heart shattered as she watched the emperor’s rage.
"I’m the cruel one?" She closed her eyes. "What woman doesn’t wish to be the sole love of her husband’s heart? Yet Your Majesty’s heart has always belonged to my sister."
"Every time I sent word that Song Yu was ill, you would drop everything and rush to Kunning Palace. But what of my Ling'er? You would only send Mei Zhilin."
Such blatant favoritism—how could she not hate Song Yu for it?
"Is it wrong for me to favor the son of my first wife?" Emperor Yuanyou made no attempt to hide his partiality. That was Fen'er’s child—how could he compare to the others?
"I knew it."
The deposed empress’s chest heaved. "Had I not schemed against Song Yu back then, the title of Crown Prince would have been his, wouldn’t it?"
"You’ve never understood your place." Emperor Yuanyou scoffed. "The only reason you entered the palace was because I needed a mother for Yu'er."
"Yu'er is my eldest legitimate son. He is the rightful heir!"
The deposed empress’s eyes flew open—what of her Ling'er, then?
"Your Majesty, you cannot depose the Crown Prince! Ling'er grew up under your watch. He never slacked in his studies or martial training. This is unjust to him!" She struggled to crawl toward the emperor, only to collapse from the bed onto the floor. "Song Yu has no heirs, and his temperament is erratic—he would never make a wise ruler!"
"That is no longer your concern."
Wu Qi returned just then with a food box. The emperor glanced inside before slowly withdrawing a pouch of powder from his sleeve.
He sprinkled it into the porridge, right before her eyes.
"After your death, I will have you buried in the imperial concubines’ tomb with your body intact. That is the greatest mercy I can offer."
Scheming against Song Yu had crossed the emperor’s deepest line.
In his mind, allowing her to keep her corpse whole was already an immense concession to the Xu family.
"I—I won’t drink it."
Terrified of death, the deposed empress shook her head wildly. She hadn’t yet seen Ling'er ascend the throne, hadn’t yet become the grand empress dowager of Da Qi—she couldn’t die.
"Wu Qi, force it down."
At the emperor’s command, Wu Qi lifted the bowl and approached. "Your Majesty, it would be more dignified if you drank it yourself."
When she continued to resist, Wu Qi gripped her jaw and poured the porridge down her throat.
Soon, her struggles ceased.
Emperor Yuanyou sat in silence for a full half-hour, only rising once Wu Qi confirmed her last breath had faded.
Marrying Lady Xu the Younger as empress had been his mistake—and so it was only right that he personally ended it.
Today was the anniversary of Fen'er’s death.
A fitting sacrifice.
......
Qin Prince’s Mansion.
"Your Highness, the one in Jingsi Palace has passed."
At Liuxi’s words, a drop of ink fell from Song Yu’s brush, blooming across the paper.
"How did she die?" Song Shihuan asked, though she already suspected the answer.
The anniversary of the late empress’s death.
The deposed empress’s demise.
Too coincidental.
"They say His Majesty visited Jingsi Palace, and by the time he left, she was gone." Liuxi hesitated. "The emperor decreed she be buried in the concubines’ tomb with the rites of an imperial consort."
"Father has finally done something worthy of praise."
Song Yu’s lips curled in delight as he ordered the kitchen to prepare a feast in celebration.
"They say before her death, her limbs were completely paralyzed—utterly useless." Liuxi shook his head as he spoke.
A glint flashed in Song Shihuan’s eyes.
Heaven had been kind to her.
In her past life, her limbs had been severed. Now, in this life, the deposed empress had died unable to move hers.
How satisfying!
News reached the Eastern Palace.
The Crown Prince, whose health had only just improved, took a sudden turn for the worse. Foam bubbled at his lips, his appearance ghastly.
Song Xiyan hid behind Song Yanzheng, covering her nose with a handkerchief to stifle her nausea.
"Mother is truly heartless. Ever since she was demoted to consort, she’s abandoned Father." Song Yanchao chimed in. "Third Brother and I have our studies—we can’t watch over him all the time."
"Yanchao, are you saying I’m the only idle one in the Eastern Palace?"
Song Yanzheng’s eyes darkened. Since marrying Chang Ling'er, the world had written him off as useless—and now even his own brother thought the same.
"Xiyan, do you think so too?"
He turned to Song Xiyan, the sister he had always cherished.
"Elder Brother, I have my lessons at the girls’ academy..."
A gust of wind swept through, and something in Song Yanzheng’s gaze fractured.
