According to the Empress Dowager, Consort Lian was a very scheming and extremely beautiful woman.

Even if all the women in Kyoto possessed the best qualities, they could not compare to even a fraction of Consort Lian's fair skin and jade-like bones.

At that time, the late emperor was so infatuated with Consort Lian that he insisted on making her empress. The entire court and the people of the capital were shocked. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians knelt down to plead with him, and only then did the late emperor give up.

After Consort Lian, there were no new concubines in the palace; the late emperor only favored her.

Even so, Consort Lian still frequently resorted to tricks, repeatedly driving the late emperor out of the treacherous waters, playing the game of feigning indifference.

Later, Shang Xiye was born, and she was also showered with countless favors.

All the princes and princesses received more imperial favor than this one child.

At that time, all nations were suffering from the calamity of the Black Purgatory, and many children were taken away and disappeared.

The concubines in the palace all hated Consort Lian and Shang Xiye to the core.

Especially those women with children, in order to secure a bright future for their children, vowed to eliminate Consort Lian and her children.

So they united and spent countless resources, finally finding a secret hideout for Black Purgatory in Dazhao. They then provided cover for these hellish demons, allowing Black Purgatory's branch to quietly move to the capital, right under the emperor's nose!

Finally, they cooperated with the people of Black Purgatory and captured Shang Xiye!

Consort Lian has finally rebelled!

She didn't know what methods she used, but in that year, all the women who had participated in framing her either became mentally impaired or went insane, and several women even died at the hands of Consort Lian.

The Empress Dowager inadvertently discovered that Consort Lian was highly skilled in martial arts and fought against one of the leaders of the Black Purgatory.

After Consort Lian arrived at the appointment.

The Empress Dowager added fuel to the fire, claiming that Consort Lian was colluding with the people of Black Purgatory, and encouraged several veteran figures from various dynasties to go and witness Consort Lian's "collusion" with the people of Black Purgatory.

The elders only saw the people from Black Purgatory "sparring" with Consort Lian, and then discussing things.

Little did they know that the man from Black Purgatory had sworn a solemn oath to "never offend the Great Zhao for a hundred years and never harm Shang Xiye," and had fled the capital overnight, disappearing without a trace.

After the late emperor and Consort Lian rescued Shang Xiye, several elders committed suicide to plead for Consort Lian's execution.

Consort Lian originally wanted to take Shang Xiye with her, but the late emperor insisted that both of them stay.

However, the two could not reconcile the conflict between family and country. In the end, they each compromised. Consort Lian left a brocade pouch for the late emperor, instructing him to open it only before his death, and then she left.

The reason why the late emperor did not pass the throne to Shang Xiye was precisely because of this brocade pouch.

It was because Consort Lian did not want Shang Xiye to become emperor.

As for what was written in the letter inside the brocade pouch, only the late emperor himself knew;

The late emperor burned the letter after reading it, and no one ever saw it.

After listening to this long story, Ji Fengyao looked at the Empress Dowager with a puzzled expression: "According to you, you only did something to instigate and frame someone for your own benefit, and you didn't participate in colluding with Black Purgatory to kidnap my prince?"

"Of course not. If I had been involved in that matter, I would have been poisoned by Consort Lian long ago," the Empress Dowager quickly denied.

"But you also have a son, why didn't you participate?" Ji Fengyao asked, puzzled.

The Empress Dowager pursed her lips and paused for a long time before saying, "The Emperor is not my biological son. He is the son of my twin sister. My sister did want to participate, but unfortunately she fell seriously ill and died suddenly. Taking advantage of the chaos in the palace, the clan had me take her place and enter the palace to replace my sister."