She had been too naive.
She had never imagined that what the Emperor desired was a wife who could subtly provoke the Empress Dowager, forcing her to lose her temper and make reckless moves.
This way, the Emperor could use the excuse of seeking justice for his wife to challenge the Empress Dowager.
She had been too foolish. When she left Shoukang Palace, she failed to understand the disappointnt in the Emperor's eyes.
It wasn't until Jiang Xinyue appeared that she finally realized the Emperor had given her an opportunity long ago, but she had failed to seize it.
And it wasn't just her.
No one in the entire palace, including the Noble Consort and Consort Li, had understood the Emperor's intentions.
Who could have guessed that the current Empress Dowager was not the Emperor's birth mother?
By the ti Zhu Qianying learned of this, her life was already nearing its end.
But that was a story for later. At this mont, she still held boundless admiration for the Emperor.
She truly... loved the Emperor so, so much.
The Emperor who had planted a vast plum grove for her in the palace.
The Emperor who always stood firmly behind her, never allowing the Empress Dowager to bully her.
The Emperor who would ticulously tuck her blankets in.
The Emperor who reminded her to add or remove clothing when the weather changed, and who was frantic with worry when she fell ill.
...
Those mories were always filled with joy and happiness.
Zhu Qianying had always believed that there could be no lasting enmity between a mother and her biological son.
As if trying to redeem the Emperor, she worked hard to ease the tension between him and the Empress Dowager.
But the harder she tried, the further she seed to drift from the Emperor.
After she gave birth to the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, the number of concubines in the palace gradually increased.
Those beautiful, blossoming won divided the Emperor's attention, and she remained in Yikun Palace, unable to sleep night after night.
But the Emperor!
He should never have brought Consort Li into the palace.
That woman hated her for taking the position of Empress, and from the day she entered the palace, she had never been peaceful.
She was arrogant and domineering, but the Emperor called her straightforward and charming. She was ruthless, but the Emperor praised her for being decisive.
All her flaws were glorified by the Emperor. With such favor, her capricious nature made everyone in the palace fear her.
When had Zhu Qianying and the Emperor begun to drift apart, exchanging only silent glances?
Too much ti had passed, and she could no longer rember.
All she knew was that she and the Emperor had beco a pair of suspicious, resentful spouses.
Until...
Her Crown Prince died tragically in the pond of the Imperial Garden's rockery.
It was a midsumr afternoon when Fenyun rushed into Yikun Palace in a panic: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince is in trouble!"
Stumbling and disoriented, she hurried to the Imperial Garden, where the Emperor and all the concubines had already gathered.
The won looked at her with pity, as if the Crown Prince had already...
The blazing sun shone brightly overhead, and the leaves rustled in the gentle breeze.
The crowd automatically parted to make way for Zhu Qianying. Even Consort Li, who usually clashed with her, put away her sharp deanor and looked at her with pity.
A large puddle of water lay by the pond...
And the Crown Prince's small body lay on a white cloth.
In an instant, the world seed to spin!
She wanted to run to her child, to hold the Crown Prince in her arms, to protect him.
But she couldn't.
All her strength seed to drain away, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably, and she nearly fainted.
"Qianying!"
Shen Ye pushed Consort Li aside and quickly walked over, taking Zhu Qianying from Fenyun's arms as she was about to collapse.
Through her blurred vision, she saw the Emperor's bloodshot eyes. Clutching his dragon robe tightly, she stared at him with wide eyes: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince... the Crown Prince? This isn't real, this can't be real, right?"
She looked at the Emperor with hope, desperately wishing to hear a denial from his lips...
But the Emperor avoided her gaze, holding her tightly instead: "Qianying... I will find the culprit. I promise you... I will avenge our Crown Prince."
Avenge what?
Her Crown Prince had been fine just yesterday. When she coughed a few tis, he had even said he would make her honeyed pear syrup himself.
"Liar! You're all liars!"
Zhu Qianying struggled fiercely, her fists pounding against the Emperor's chest. The concubines around them gasped, covering their mouths in shock.
But the Emperor signaled the guards not to intervene, allowing her to vent her fear and anger.
"My child can't be dead... he can't be dead... he can't... wuuu... you're all lying to , all of you!"
Tears and sweat mixed, streaking her face.
At this mont, Zhu Qianying was no longer the elegant Empress.
She was just an ordinary mother, on the verge of collapse after losing her child.
In the Imperial Garden, apart from the chirping of cicadas, there was only the sound of the Empress's heart-wrenching sobs.
Consort Li had initially felt sympathy for the Empress, but when the Emperor, whom she deeply loved, pushed her aside for the Empress, her sympathy turned to resentnt.
So what if she lost a child?
Many concubines in the palace had miscarriages or lost children. Hadn't the Empress herself once advised those concubines to take things in stride?
It was only when the fire burned her own flesh that she knew the pain!
Consort Li's disdainful expression did not escape Zhu Qianying's notice.
Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself with the Emperor's support and walked over.
"Slap!"
She struck Consort Li with all her might, her body trembling from the effort: "Consort Li... for disrespecting the Crown Prince, you shall receive thirty slaps!"
In monts of overwhelming grief and anger, the mind cannot think clearly.
To her, everyone seed like the murderer of the Crown Prince.
Consort Li had walked right into the line of fire.
She needed an outlet to vent her sorrow, or she would go mad.
"You!"
Consort Li covered her face, her eyes filled with disbelief, and raised her hand to strike back.
"Stop!"
The Emperor roared: "Consort Li, return to your palace at once."
Consort Li's chest heaved with rage. That slap was an imnse humiliation, a profound insult.
But with the Emperor's command, she could only glare at the Empress, lower her hand with force, and say through gritted teeth: "You deserved it!"
From that day on, the feud between Zhu Qianying and Song Ni'er was set in stone.
Song Ni'er could not forget the slap, and Zhu Qianying could not forgive her for saying "you deserved it."
At that ti, Zhu Qianying thought that the death of the Crown Prince was the darkest mont of her life, and that nothing could ever be more painful.
But less than two years later, the Second Prince contracted smallpox and was sent out of the palace to recuperate. He died outside the palace.
She didn't even get to see her Second Prince one last ti.
That pain was sothing that, in the long years to co, would suffocate her every ti she rembered even the smallest detail about him.
If she had committed any sins, she should have been the one to bear the consequences. Why did heaven punish her children instead?
That pain made it impossible for her to maintain a good relationship with the Emperor.
No amount of love could bridge the grief of losing her children.
Consort Li... she had to die.
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