In the past two years, the emperor has become obsessed with elixirs, and his health has deteriorated day by day.

At the end of the year, a heavy snow fell in the capital. Lu Yanzhao lifted the thick curtains, and the remaining snow swirled into the house. His face, however, was colder than the biting wind and snow outside.

"What's wrong?" Gu Nanjiao was braiding her daughter's hair when she saw this and put down the comb, telling the two girls to go find Lu's mother.

"His Majesty is critically ill!"

Gu Nanjiao was taken aback upon hearing this: "Really?"

The emperor was suspected of faking illness, so Gu Nanjiao subconsciously thought that he was using the same trick again.

I just don't know who they're testing this time!

"This time, His Majesty is truly critically ill. He is obsessed with elixirs, and although his body appears strong, his internal health has already collapsed. The imperial physician says he doesn't have much time left."

Ever since the Crown Prince forced the emperor to abdicate, the emperor feared that Prince Cheng harbored rebellious intentions and coveted his throne. Therefore, he became obsessed with elixirs, hoping to prolong his life.

Gu Nanjiao knew that emperors had been obsessed with elixirs since ancient times. Elixirs were made by heating cinnabar to separate mercury, then refining mercury with sulfur-containing substances to produce mercuric sulfide, which was then sublimated into elixirs.

In fact, all the elixirs contained heavy metals, and long-term consumption could lead to poisoning. The emperor's health was probably caused by mercury poisoning.

The two had no time to pack up and hurriedly entered the palace.

As the imperial physicians said, the emperor's health had indeed deteriorated. In the past two years, the imperial physicians had advised the emperor to reduce his intake of elixirs, but he did not listen.

In her final moments, all the concubines and princes knelt down in a flurry. The Empress Dowager seemed to have aged ten years overnight, and the white hair at her temples added a touch of vicissitude to her anxious expression.

A suppressed sob came from outside the curtain. Gu Nanjiao looked at the emperor on the bed, whose expression was gradually becoming unfocused. Her heart tightened, but she felt no pain and did not cry.

She and the emperor were not related by blood, and they had not had much interaction over the years. The title of Princess Protector of the Nation was mostly bestowed upon her in recognition of her contributions to the Great Chu. The poor emperor was kept in the dark. Although she did not cry as heartbrokenly as those outside, her heart was tightening more and more.

The emperor's lips moved slightly, and the empress dowager quickly stepped forward: "What do you want to say?"

“Qi…Qi Yue…”

The Empress Dowager's expression hardened: "Even now, you're still thinking about that vixen."

In the Empress Dowager's eyes, Zhou Qiyue was a wicked concubine who brought disaster to the country. Minister Zhou had committed such a grave mistake. Zhou Qiyue had attempted to confuse the royal bloodline, switch the prince with the princess, kill the mother of the Prince, and keep the child. All of these actions were enough for her to exterminate his entire family.

The emperor was merely demoted; he remains the principal wife of a palace. On his deathbed, the emperor's thoughts were still on this wretched woman.

Although the Empress Dowager was furious, seeing the Emperor like this, she felt a pang of pity: "Summon Consort Yue!"

After Zhou Qi came over, she took the emperor's hand and cried for a while. The emperor raised his hand and gently stroked her bright cheek: "Consort Yue, I can't bear to part with you!"

The emperor finished speaking in a weak voice and then fell silent. Even in his dying moments, he was still tightly holding Zhou Qiyue's hand.

"His Majesty!"

The eunuchs wailed and knelt down, while those kneeling outside could no longer suppress their sobs and burst into tears.

Before his death, the emperor called out to Consort Yue, which unintentionally restored her rank.

For a moment, Gu Nanjiao was filled with mixed feelings. She never expected that the person the emperor most wanted to see before his death was Consort Yue.

Such a vicious woman is actually favored by the emperor; what a blessing!

Good fortune?

What was she thinking about? Gu Nanjiao curled her lips into a cold smile.

Listening to the cries coming from outside, I wondered how much of it was real. It's truly pathetic to be an emperor; he was completely unaware that his beloved woman was being cuckolded. And the empress, she seemed to be manipulating a grand scheme.

I wonder if she was involved in the emperor taking elixirs?

Before his death, the emperor issued an edict appointing Prince Cheng as his successor, with Lu Yanzhao as the first-rank chief minister to assist Prince Cheng in ascending the throne.

The mourning hall was set up in the emperor's bedroom, signifying that he died peacefully in his sleep. The emperor's coffin was to be kept in the mourning hall for 27 days, signifying mourning.

When the emperor dies, the whole country mourns. For one hundred days, the new emperor and his officials are forbidden from having sex, drinking alcohol, or playing music. People in the city are forbidden from getting married for three months.

Since regaining her rank, Consort Yue has become increasingly arrogant and domineering. She secretly dealt with the concubines who had previously caused her trouble and had the palace maids and eunuchs who had humiliated her executed.

The Empress Dowager was already heartbroken, and upon hearing this news, she fainted from exhaustion.

On the day of national mourning, Consort Yue showed no sign of sadness, her eyes filled with anticipation and excitement.

She raised the Prince of Cheng, gave birth to the Princess Protector of the Nation, and restored her rank before the Emperor died, making her the rightful Empress Dowager.

Zhou Qiyue waited happily at Qixiang Palace for the new emperor's decree.

A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. After King Cheng ascended the throne, he changed the era name to the first year of Yonghe and became known as Emperor Yonghe.

Before his death, the late emperor was most reluctant to part with Consort Yue. To fulfill the duty of filial piety and in accordance with the late Emperor Chuzong's last wishes, Emperor Yonghe issued a special decree that his adoptive mother, Consort Yue, be buried alive with him. His legal mother, Empress Zheng, was posthumously honored as Empress Dowager.

When the eunuch read out the imperial edict, Zhou Qiyue looked incredulous: "Impossible! I am the Empress Dowager, the Emperor's mother. He would never order me to be buried alive with him."

The Prince of Cheng, the new emperor, looked at Zhou Qiyue with a cold gaze: "Mother, before Father passed away, he held your hand tightly and said he couldn't bear to part with you! Father loved you deeply, so why don't you go down and accompany him to fulfill his wish? I would be extremely sad if you were buried with me, but I cannot fail to be filial, especially since I dare not disobey the late emperor's decree."

"As expected of a bastard's offspring! I raised a heartless wretch; I should have strangled you back then!" Zhou Qi was furious and rushed forward to hit the emperor (Prince Cheng), but the emperor grabbed his arm, his eyes bloodshot: "Do you think I'm still a child whom you can beat and scold as you please?"

"Drag him out and execute him immediately!"

"Wait!"

Empress Dowager Zheng, with her hair styled in a neat Lingyun bun, wearing a bright yellow and vermilion imperial empress dowager robe, and her slender fingers adorned with nail guards made of cold jade, slowly approached, supported by her personal nanny.

"Empress, it's you?" Zhou Qiyue's voice became increasingly shrill, and his expression toward Empress Zheng grew more and more ferocious.

The eunuch standing nearby flicked his whisk and shouted angrily, "How dare you be so disrespectful in front of the Empress Dowager! Kneel down now!"

"What? You're the Empress Dowager!" Zhou Qi was filled with rage, his face trembling and cracked like tattered cloth. "Prince Cheng is my son. Even if he's not my biological son, I raised him. No matter what, it's not your place to be the Empress Dowager. The late Emperor's body is barely cold. How can you bring the abandoned Empress out of the cold palace and make her the Empress Dowager? It's utterly rebellious."

Empress Dowager Zheng sat directly on the throne at the head of the table, her gaze towering over her, and slowly said, "I might as well tell you some good news. The new emperor is my own son, while the crown prince is the son of a palace maid in the cold palace. Thank you for raising my son for so many years and for protecting me from the bloodshed in the court and the harem."

Empress Dowager Zheng's words struck Zhou Qiyue like a thunderbolt, leaving her stunned for a long time. She stood there dumbfounded, her slightly dry lips moving as she murmured, "Impossible, impossible, you're lying to me!"