Seeing that Xiao Heng's health was deteriorating, Consort Li had no choice but to start making plans for herself.

She had no one to rely on in this deep palace, only Chunfeng, but recently he refused to see her no matter what.

Consort Li was unaware of Chunfeng's scheme; she assumed he was disgusted with her and that was why he didn't want to see her.

Panic gripped her heart.

In order to see Chunfeng, she had to have those around her spread the news that she was seriously ill to him.

Upon hearing that Consort Li was seriously ill, Chunfeng felt a pang of anxiety and momentarily forgot Lin Yan's warning, heading straight to the inner palace.

It wasn't until he entered the palace and saw people who looked well that he realized he had been deceived, and he was both anxious and angry.

"Why did you lie to me and come here if you weren't sick?"

The people in the bedchamber had already been dismissed by Consort Li. Upon seeing Chunfeng, she threw herself into his arms without a care in the world, looking up at him with a tearful face.

"Brother Feng, are you... starting to dislike me...?"

Meeting her wet eyes, Chunfeng hugged her tightly and sighed helplessly.

"Don't think nonsense. Ling'er is the most beautiful woman in the world. How could I dislike you?"

Leaning against the warm embrace of the spring breeze, listening to his rapidly beating heart, Consort Li's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.

But she was still slightly uneasy, and asked with a troubled expression:

"Then why have you refused to see me since you returned to the capital?"

"Ling'er, just remember that everything I'm doing now is for you and our child. Once we get through this difficult time, we can be together peacefully."

Chunfeng knew that what he was doing was too dangerous. If he were exposed, he would rather die alone than let his woman be implicated.

Thinking of Xiao Heng's deteriorating health recently, Consort Li frowned and voiced her bold idea.

"Brother Feng, His Majesty seems to be paying special attention to the Ninth Prince these days. Do you think His Majesty might...?"

Before she could finish speaking, Chunfeng abruptly interrupted her sweet dream, shouting in a low voice:

"Ling'er! Stop having such unrealistic thoughts! The Ninth Prince is still young, and His Majesty will absolutely not allow a situation where the son is weak and the mother is strong. Besides, the Ninth Prince is hiding a secret..."

"But given the temperaments of those princes, if they ascend the throne, they will definitely not let my son and me go!"

Seeing the panicked look on Consort Li's face, Chunfeng gently patted her back, comforting her with heartache.

"Don't worry, the throne won't fall into their hands. Ling'er, just wait patiently. Once the mission is complete, I'll take you far away, far from this cannibalistic palace!"

With the soothing touch of spring breeze, Consort Li's previous desire to compete completely vanished, and she nestled sweetly in his arms.

...

Another half month has passed.

Xiao Heng's illness had become so severe that he was almost in a coma and lay on his bed all day, but even so, he still refused to appoint a crown prince.

Several adult princes began to have their own ideas and started contacting various forces to urge him to establish a crown prince.

Xiao Heng was not a kind and benevolent person to begin with. Because of the matter of establishing a crown prince, he felt that those people were cursing him to die early, and he went into a bloodthirsty rage, killing several ministers.

In an instant.

The court was in increasing chaos.

Over the years, the Empress has been childless. Among the several adult princes, only the fourth prince, born to Consort Chen, and the fifth prince, born to Consort Shu, have the most supporters.

Because Consort Chen's family was of high status, there were more ministers supporting the fourth prince than the fifth prince.

Seeing that he had little hope, the Fifth Prince led a group of private soldiers and stormed into the palace one dark night.

Because he had bribed most of the imperial guards in the palace, he easily captured Xiao Heng.

Looking at his beloved son, who had now resorted to imprisoning his father and forcing him to abdicate, Xiao Heng was so enraged that he vomited another large amount of blood. He struggled to sit up, pulling on the bed curtains, and cursed in a trembling voice:

"You beast! You beast! Cough cough cough..."

Xiao Yu scoffed at his curses, sat down on the opposite side of the bed, and threw a written will at him.

"Father, thanks to you, I learned all of this from you! Doesn't this prove that I am the one who is most like you? Now you have no way out. I have had someone imitate your handwriting in this edict. You only need to sign and stamp it. Rest assured, as long as you sign it, I will honor you as the Retired Emperor. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Beast! Beast!"

Xiao Heng was furious, wishing he could drink Xiao Yu's blood and devour his flesh, but now he was nothing but a powerless rage.

People who have been ill for a long time are always afraid of death. Even if they are unwilling, they can only sign and stamp the will with trembling hands when a group of imperial guards hold a knife to their necks.

The power struggle ended quietly.

The next morning.

Seeing the Fifth Prince sitting on the dragon throne, the ministers in the court whispered among themselves, unaware of what was happening.

It wasn't until Xiao Yu produced the imperial edict and looked at the handwriting and seal that everyone belatedly realized the emperor had been replaced.

During this period, Xiao Heng became increasingly cruel and ruthless, killing several court officials and losing the support of the people.

Although the ministers knew there was a conspiracy behind his abdication, they were secretly relieved and quickly accepted the new emperor.

But they seemed to be celebrating too soon.

Compared to Xiao Heng, Xiao Yu is clearly more ruthless!

Before he had even settled on the throne, he began to clean up the court, confiscating the property of all those who had previously supported the fourth prince, exiling them, or executing them.

Not only that, he also imprisoned all the princes who had once competed with him for the throne.

In an instant, the entire capital was shrouded in bloodshed.

On the very day the coup succeeded, with the help of the Chen family, Consort Chen quietly left the palace and departed the capital with the Fourth Prince.

Consort Li and the Ninth Prince were taken away early by Xie Muqing's men and secretly settled in a house outside the city.

Of course, how could Xiao Yu forget his formidable rival, Xiao Jue?

On the first day of his ascension to the throne, he arranged for someone to deliver the imperial edict to the Northwest by fast horse.

Within five days, the imperial edict was delivered to the Prince's residence.

At that time, Shangguan Yun had been married to Xiao Jue for two months. After hearing the contents of the imperial edict, the two looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

When they returned to the capital last time, Father Emperor was in good health. How could he suddenly become seriously ill?

After all, it had only been five days since the new emperor forced the emperor to abdicate, and the news had not yet reached the northwest, thousands of miles away. Therefore, they were unaware that the throne had changed hands.

But Xiao Jue wasn't one to be trifled with. He vaguely sensed that something was amiss, so he politely said:

"My lord, why don't you rest here for the night? I'll have people make preparations now, and we'll be ready to head to the capital early tomorrow morning."