Chapter 1 She was reborn?
On the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the north wind was blowing, the branches were covered with snow, and the weather was cold and the ground was frozen.
In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, smoke curled up, peat glowed red, and on the huanghuali platform, a green porcelain gooseneck vase contained a bouquet of winter jasmine flowers just sent from the flower room, creating a warm and fragrant scene.
Lu Haozhi, the second emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, stood with his hands behind his back under the west window, admiring the snow scene outside.
The heavy snow fell like goose feathers, carried into the room by the wind, and landed on the handsome face of the young emperor.
"Your Majesty, be careful of the wind and get sick."
A soft and sweet voice sounded, and a pair of bare hands wearing ice flower jade bracelets were raised, trying to close the window.
"Don't close it. I want to see the snow scene."
There was a hint of stiffness in the emperor's tone.
Queen Lin Yanrong's face froze slightly, then she smiled, stood obediently beside Lu Haozhi, and said nothing more.
Lu Haozhi glanced at her. Her gentle and pretty face was full of submissive charm. He felt a little depressed, but couldn't say anything. He just pursed his lips into a line.
Lin Yanrong was his successor, and entered the palace in the fifth year of Qianyuan.
After entering the palace, she was gentle, virtuous, kind and generous, with many of the legacy of the previous queen. She was praised by the six palaces and was deeply appreciated by him. Finally, a few years ago, he appointed her as queen.
He... should have been very fond of her.
Lu Haozhi looked at the snowflakes flying in the sky, but his mind drifted to the cold palace.
Imprisoned there was a woman who had once been greatly favored by him, his former imperial concubine, Meng Yan.
That beautiful and bright girl entered the prince's palace at the age of sixteen to serve him, and gave the best years of her life to him.
She was coquettish, lively, straightforward and cheerful, and was deeply loved by Lu Hao. She was once the number one person in the harem.
However, after being crowned Imperial Concubine, she became increasingly vicious, running rampant in the harems. Using her exceptional medical skills, she resorted to every possible means, even defying the Empress Dowager. Her father and brother even plotted treason. After her disastrous defeat, Meng Yan even conspired with the Imperial Guard, Lin Huaian, to poison the now-Valian Concubine, Lin Yanrong.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Lu Haozhi could only banish her to the cold palace as a warning to others.
To this day, Lu Haozhi also knows that he should hate her, spit on her, and never see this woman again in this life.
However, on such a snowy day, he was still worried about whether she was safe in the cold palace.
It was as if two completely opposite thoughts were pulling back and forth in his heart.
"Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. With such heavy snow, the coming year will surely be a good one. The crops will be abundant, the country will be peaceful and the people will be safe. The emperor has great talent and great vision, and the people of the Great Zhou will surely be grateful."
Seeing the emperor's wandering gaze, Lin Yanrong's heart tightened slightly, but she still wore a gentle smile on her face. "This winter has been extremely cold, with strong winds and heavy snow for days. I am worried about the palace maids freezing, so I have ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to increase the supply of charcoal everywhere, even in the cold palace. I must ensure that no one in the harem suffers from this cold winter."
This shouldn't have happened. Lin Yanrong remained calm, but her hands were tightly clenched in her sleeves.
She had been crowned empress, and Meng Yan had been banished to the cold palace. Lu Haozhi's heart should belong to her alone! How could he still be thinking about that bitch even now?
Obviously, she is the heroine of the novel!
Lin Yanrong transmigrated into a sweet romance novel titled "The Tyrant's Favor." Drawing on her years of experience reading various palace-fighting novels and the powerful aura of the heroine, she found herself with smooth sailing, reaching the novel's ending as she wished. The male protagonist, Lu Haozhi, doted on her like a treasure, crowning her empress. Meanwhile, the book's leading female supporting character, Imperial Concubine Meng Yan, was demoted to a commoner and confined to the cold palace.
Now that the novel has ended, the emperor's exclusive favor and the queen's glory are all in her pocket. She should enjoy them happily!
She is the heroine, and all this should belong to her!
However, no one knows what happens after the novel ends. To heighten the intensity of the conflict, the supporting actress Meng Yan holds a very heavy weight in Lu Haozhi's heart.
Now the novel has come to an end, but Meng Yan is still alive. Judging from Lu Haozhi's expression, it seems that he can't forget his old love.
Lin Yanrong finally sat on the throne of queen and reached the end of the novel. How could she allow any more accidents to happen?
As long as Meng Yan is alive, she feels like a thorn in her back.
After all, the author did not write down what happened next.
After hearing the queen's gentle words, Lu Haozhi's originally depressed mood was relieved a little. Lin Yanrong was not particularly special, but in terms of gentleness, thoughtfulness, and understanding, she was unique in the harem.
"Thank you for your hard work, Queen."
Lin Yanrong felt a little bitter. Ever since she was crowned queen, Lu Haozhi became more and more polite to her. He no longer called her by her nickname "Rong'er", but the cold "Queen".
"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. As the mistress of the six palaces, this is my duty..."
Having been immersed in the harem for many years, she was already accustomed to the words and manners in the palace. She answered casually, but her mind drifted to the cold palace.
I wonder if those servants are doing their job properly?
Lu Haozhi felt a little cold and was about to return to the hall when he suddenly saw a man in a red robe running towards him hurriedly in the heavy snow.
"Rong An? This old fellow is running so fast, I wonder what's going on."
Rong An is his chief eunuch, who has followed him all the way from the prince's private residence and served him for many years. He usually behaves in a mature and steady manner, and it is rare to see him like this.
Rong An brushed off the snow outside the palace, walked in, knelt down and paid his respects to the Emperor and Empress, and reported, "Your Majesty, I dare to disturb you..." Before he could finish his words, he glanced at Empress Lin Yanrong, but saw that she was looking away, her face expressionless. He felt a chill in his heart, "Cold Palace... Over there, Concubine Meng has gone."
Lu Haozhi's heart suddenly tightened and his face suddenly darkened.
"When did this happen? Yan'er had always been in good health, why did she suddenly pass away?!"
In a hurry, the old name came out.
Rong An wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Your Majesty, I heard from the servants in the cold palace that Concubine Meng has been suffering from hysteria since the beginning of winter. She is crazy every day and several people can't hold her down. Although we have asked the imperial physician to see her, it has been ineffective. As you know, the cold palace is always understaffed. Last night, perhaps because no one was watching her, Concubine Meng ran away. This morning, when everyone got up and looked, Concubine Meng was lying in the snow. When they helped her up, they saw that she was gone..."
Before he could finish his words, Rong An was forced to shut up by the emperor's sharp gaze and kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Your Majesty, please accept my condolences. Meng has committed so many evil deeds. I believe she has now come to her senses and is too ashamed to live on, so she has passed away."
Lin Yanrong suppressed the ecstasy in her heart and said to Lu Haozhi with a faint smile.
Unexpectedly, Lu Haozhi looked at her coldly, his gaze like a sharp blade piercing her eyes.
"Queen, I did not order the death of Meng. As Queen, you have the responsibility to look after the six palaces!"
This short sentence sent a chill down Lin Yanrong's spine. She wanted to say something to smooth things over, but lost her voice under Lu Haozhi's gaze.
This was the first time that Lu Haozhi faced her as the emperor, and it was all for Meng Yan.
In the end, the emperor turned away and went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take charge of Meng's funeral arrangements.
Meng Yan was posthumously conferred the title of noble lady and buried as a concubine.
Five years later, the southwestern border was pacified, the emperor issued a general amnesty, and posthumously conferred the title of Rongde Consort on Meng.
Ten years later, on the emperor's birthday, Meng was posthumously named Imperial Noble Consort Yijing Rongde.
At the end of winter in the 30th year of Qianyuan's reign, Empress Lin Yanrong passed away and was buried alone in Jingdong Mausoleum.
It is widely rumored that the Great Zhou Emperor Lu Hao is deeply in love with the Empress Dowager Lin Yanrong and neglects the other six harems for her.
It is also said that Empress Lin had no children throughout her life, so the emperor chose a son from among the royal family to be named the crown prince, who became the heir to the throne of the Great Zhou.
However, only Lin Yanrong herself knew what life had been like in the harem since Meng Yan's death. She was the empress, but only the empress, revered by the people but no longer favored by the emperor.
Lu Haozhi did neglect the six palaces, but he also neglected her as the queen.
Lin Yanrong could not understand until her death why she had deeply angered the emperor when she had only dealt with a useless person in the cold palace, a female supporting character in a novel?
Does that woman really hold such an important position in Lu Haozhi's heart? !
No one knew that she had been in the palace for decades but had never been favored by the emperor, and remained a virgin queen until her death.
Time goes back to the fifth year of Qianyuan. Meng Yan, the villain female supporting role who has been hated by Lin Yanrong all her life, slowly opened her eyes in Changchun Palace.
She was reborn?
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