But he still died.
Twenty-five-year-old Bai Yunshu saw him off on his final journey.
The sky was overcast, and snowflakes drifted down from the sky, making it hard to tell whether what was being carried by the wind was paper money for the dead or snowflakes.
The emperor played his part very well, personally seeing off the thirteenth son of the Mu family, accompanied by the empress and his most favored concubine, Consort Shu.
This is a timeless tale.
A loyal, brave, and skilled general, and an emperor who personally saw him off.
But only Bai Yunshu knew just how ridiculous it all was.
But that's alright.
At least, this person gave her an answer.
That is, being a ruthless scourge means you live longer than being a kind-hearted good person.
Bai Yunshu didn't want to die. She still had many things to accomplish. If she wanted to die, she would have died countless times since she was a child.
She was neglected by her father and mother from a young age. When she was four years old, her parents and brother went out, and the oxcart overturned down the mountain, leaving her all alone.
The kind-hearted Wang family next door wanted to adopt her, but Wang already had her own grandmother's family, so it was neither right nor reasonable for her to take her in.
My grandmother's family told others that she had gone to the city to enjoy a better life, but in reality, they sold her.
However, it was thanks to her grandmother that she was sold off.
They traveled a long and arduous journey, enduring countless hardships.
Although she suffered a lot, she learned more, saw more, and gradually developed her own ideas.
It wasn't that the journey wasn't difficult; it was that she was afraid of dying and dared not die. Time and time again, she gritted her teeth and endured the deadly situations, learning and growing along the way.
She learned a wide variety of things, was beautiful, and had a sweet tongue, making the most of her strengths.
When she was eleven years old, she came to the capital with her master's family and was bought by a wealthy family because of her beauty.
It was in this year, by fate, that she met King Wen, who had come to a banquet, and only then did she see the moment when King Wen was stunned.
She knew she could give it a try and boldly seize an opportunity.
It was this time that she truly seized the opportunity to change her destiny.
King Wen had ulterior motives, and so did she; they each had their own agendas.
The higher she climbed, the more she realized her own insignificance. A sense of unease began to subtly envelop her, for those in positions of power could so easily decide a person's life or death.
She didn't want to die, so she had to climb higher so that she could truly control her own destiny.
But as she secretly built her own power base, she grew increasingly disgusted with herself, with the filthy "rats" in the court, and even with King Wen...
Bai Yunshu raised her eyes to look at King Wen walking ahead, her gaze calm as still water, but beneath it lay an unknown undercurrent of turmoil.
She dared to gamble for two years.
Within two years, Daewoo will inevitably experience major upheavals.
It's not a curse, it's a fact.
It's not that King Wen is unsuitable to rule now.
King Wen was better suited to a prosperous country, not to the present-day Da Yu, which appears prosperous on the surface but is actually riddled with internal problems.
All she needed to do was prepare herself and seize an opportunity to realize her ambitions.
...
The first year after the death of the Thirteenth Son of the Mu Family.
Daewoo is plagued by frequent natural disasters, its national treasury is empty, and there are countless refugees who have left their homes.
The Empress gave birth to a son, and auspicious omens appeared in the sky.
Just then, a merchant offered a new crop called potato.
He said he discovered the crop last year, studied it for a year, and was able to determine its yield. As a result, his hometown started planting some on a large scale.
The emperor was overjoyed, and the empress's status rose accordingly.
Bai Yunshu's life became less easy.
As the autumn breeze stirred, the light gauze curtains inside the pavilion fluttered, and Bai Yunshu emerged from them, unadorned, at the prime of her life.
She is elegant and clean, seemingly unassuming, but only those with discerning eyes can tell how expensive she is from head to toe.
"Your Majesty..."
Looking at the food delivered by the imperial kitchen, Ningxin said with a hint of self-reproach, "Your favorite dish, Jade Belt Clams, is gone. It was all given to Jiaoning Palace."
The Empress and Consort Shu are not people that ordinary people can afford to offend. Even though Consort Shu may not seem as prominent as the Empress now, her treatment is still far better than that of ordinary consorts.
"It's alright, just give it to her. It's just a shame it's a waste..."
The Empress couldn't eat seafood, so she only hoped to give it to the servants and not throw it away.
"Your Majesty, you really..."
Ningxin really wanted to ask, but she kept quiet because of her identity.
Bai Yunshu retorted, "No rush. What, do you feel ashamed to be with me?"
Ningxin immediately shook her head and knelt down.
Bai Yunshu calmly told Ningxin to get up, picked up her chopsticks with her right hand, and began to eat.
As they put down their chopsticks, they seemed to be reflecting on something, yet it also felt like they were just having a casual chat.
"What a pity about the cicadas' song next year."
Concentration: ?
Didn't the Empress hate the sound of cicadas the most?
How is that a pity?
...
But by the end of spring the following year, Ningxin suddenly understood.
Because the once-glorious empress was banished to the cold palace, her maternal family was implicated in a rebellion, and even the princes were entrusted to Consort Shu for upbringing.
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