boom!
Su Wanqing felt as if her world was spinning.
They've arrived.
It finally came.
Her worst fears came true.
Once Su Qinghe gives birth to a prince, she will rise in status because of her son. As queen, she will either be deposed or imprisoned forever in this magnificent Phoenix Palace. There will be no other outcome.
Her daughter, Princess Lin Nianxue, will also find herself in an awkward position with an uncertain future.
"No... I can't just sit here and wait to die..." Su Wanqing murmured to herself, a kind of almost insane obsession appearing in her eyes.
She thought of her daughter, Lin Nianxue.
Yes, Nianxue!
my daughter!
She is His Majesty's first child, the eldest princess of the empire! His Majesty's blood flows in her veins too!
An incredibly bold, even insane, idea took shape in Su Wanqing's mind.
Since I can't have a son, why can't a daughter inherit all of this?
Who stipulated that the monarch of an empire must be male?
Once this thought takes root, it can no longer be suppressed.
It became the only ray of light that Su Wanqing saw in the endless darkness. This was her last gamble, and her final charge as a mother for her own and her daughter's future.
She dismissed all the servants, sat alone in front of the mirror, removed all her hairpins and jewelry, took off the phoenix robe that symbolized glory and constraint, and put on a simple white long dress.
She was going to see Lin Feng. Not as a queen, but as his wife, as the mother of his daughter, to make one last plea.
She did not ride in the Queen's phoenix carriage, but instead walked alone, step by step, through the Starry Garden that separated the Phoenix Palace from the Nine Heavens Moon-Embracing Hall.
The garden is a riot of color, dotted with starlight, just like it was back then.
However, the feelings of those who admire the flowers have long since changed.
When she arrived at the Nine Heavens Moon-Embracing Palace, she was stopped by the guards.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty is currently discussing matters with several officials from the Academy of Sciences and has instructed that he will not see anyone."
Su Wanqing stared at the tightly closed palace doors, her heart turning cold. She knew he wasn't discussing business; he must be reviewing Su Qinghe's monitoring report.
She did not force her way in, but stood quietly on the white jade steps outside the palace, letting the biting wind from above blow against her thin clothes.
She stood there, from dusk until late at night.
The palace gates finally opened.
The chief scientist, beaming with pride, stepped out. Upon seeing Su Wanqing, he paused for a moment, then gave a hesitant look, before simply bowing and hurriedly leaving.
Su Wanqing knew that what he wanted to say was nothing more than "Congratulations, Your Majesty."
She took a deep breath, and with her legs, which were already somewhat stiff, she stepped into the hall that was both familiar and unfamiliar to her.
Lin Feng stood with his back to her in front of the enormous holographic star map. He wasn't wearing a dragon robe, just a black casual outfit, but his aura of supreme authority was more imposing than ever before.
"You've come." He didn't turn around, his voice calm and even.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects." Su Wanqing slowly knelt down, performing a standard wifely greeting.
"Get up." Lin Feng turned around, looking down at her. "What's the matter so late?"
His tone was flat, even somewhat impatient.
Su Wanqing stood up and looked directly into his eyes, those golden eyes that had once captivated her, but now held only coldness and divinity.
"Your Majesty, I have come for Nianxue."
"Nianxue?" Lin Feng raised an eyebrow. "What happened to her? Who dares to bully the Empire's eldest princess?"
“No one bullied her.” Su Wanqing shook her head, mustered all her courage, and said, word by word, “Your Majesty, I humbly request that you appoint Princess Lin Nianxue as…the Crown Prince of the Empire!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell into a deathly silence.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
The calm expression on Lin Feng's face vanished inch by inch. He was first taken aback, then his awe turned into absurdity, and finally, it transformed into a raging, icy fury.
He didn't roar or shout; he simply looked at Su Wanqing with the eyes of someone looking at a madwoman, and slowly, word by word, spoke:
What are you saying?
"Your Majesty, I humbly beg you to appoint Nianxue as Crown Prince!" Su Wanqing repeated, enduring a terrifying pressure that could crush the stars: "Nianxue is Your Majesty's eldest daughter. She is intelligent, decisive, and has a broad perspective, having inherited Your Majesty's true qualities. With careful nurturing, she will surely become a qualified heir to the empire!"
"Hahaha...hahahaha!"
Lin Feng suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter filled with endless mockery and disdain, which made the entire hall vibrate.
He walked down the steps one by one, came to Su Wanqing, lifted her chin with his fingers, and forced her to look at him.
"Su Wanqing, are you out of your mind? Or has the position of Queen given you unrealistic fantasies?"
His voice was icy and chilling: "Utterly ridiculous! What female emperor is there in this world?"
Su Wanqing's body trembled, but she did not back down. This was her last hope.
“Yes!” she retorted loudly, meeting his gaze. “The Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Wu Zetian!”
She believed that this example was sufficient to form the basis for a rebuttal.
However, the mockery on Lin Feng's face deepened.
"Wu Zetian?"
He chuckled dismissively, as if listening to a three-year-old child telling a childish story: "Oh, you mean Wu Zetian, who slept with her father and then her son, climbed to a high position through shameless means and the bloodshed of countless people, and then lost nearly a third of the territory that the Li Tang dynasty had painstakingly expanded for her own power?"
He let go, shaking his hand in disgust as if he had touched something dirty.
"A woman who rose to power through intrigue and selling her body, a woman who, during her reign, allowed cruel officials to run rampant and a culture of informing to flourish, incurring the wrath of both heaven and man. A woman who gnawed away at the very foundations of the Tang Dynasty's golden age, leaving them riddled with holes. Is this the role model you speak of?"
“Women can become good emperors with proper training!” Su Wanqing argued unwillingly, her voice becoming somewhat shrill with excitement.
"Oh? Is that so?" Lin Feng's lips curled into a cruel smile. "What you said may be very true. So here's the question: Su Wanqing."
He took a step closer, his golden eyes fixed on her, and asked the question she couldn't answer:
"Did Wu Zetian, whom you admire so much, ultimately pass the throne to her daughter, Princess Taiping?"
One sentence, like a bolt of lightning from the heavens, struck Su Wanqing hard on the head.
She was completely stunned.
yes……
Wu Zetian... in the end...
Ultimately, he did not pass the throne to his daughter, Princess Taiping, who was equally ambitious and capable.
In the end, she returned the throne to her son, the Li family.
After she abdicated, she was even re-honored as "Empress Wu Zetian," returning to the ultimate female identity of "Queen."
Even that woman who broke through all the constraints of her era ultimately chose her son.
Su Wanqing's lips moved, but no sound came out. All her arguments, all her hopes, were shattered in the face of this simple yet fatal truth.
Seeing her distraught appearance, Lin Feng's last bit of patience disappeared.
He turned around and walked back towards the huge star map, as if looking at her even once more would be a waste of time.
He waved his hand, his voice cold and devoid of any emotion.
"There's no need to discuss this further. You may leave."
"For the sake of our marriage and Nianxue's mother, I will let bygones be bygones today. But if it happens again, don't blame me for... crippling you."
Su Wanqing stood there, like a sculpture whose soul had been taken away.
Her high-stakes gamble ended in utter defeat.
Her last hope was crushed to dust by his own hands.
After a long while, she slowly turned around, her legs as heavy as lead, and walked out of the palace that symbolized the highest power of the empire and buried all her youth and love.
Outside the palace, the cold wind was even stronger.
She knew that from this day forward, her world would never see the sun again.
What awaited her was only endless darkness, colder than the frigid night sky. And the future of the empire would quietly take shape within another woman's womb.
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