Chapter 99
The portrayal of Wen Xin as a seductive concubine is rather exaggerated.
It's not that Emperor Chengyuan wasn't good to her or didn't give her any power.
On the contrary, Wen Xin often felt that the entire palace revolved around her.
Even her role as the troublemaker was taken care of by someone else.
For example, on the fourth day after their marriage, Emperor Chengyuan resumed the morning court session.
The emperor was not in Changchun Palace, and all the beauties in the harem who had previously been unnoticed suddenly appeared, rushing to pay their respects to Wen Xin.
After thinking about it, Wen Xin decided to meet with them.
As a result, the palace intrigue and jealousy she had envisioned ended before they even began!
The reason is that His Majesty the Emperor, who was originally in the morning court, suddenly stormed over with a fierce aura. His dark and gloomy face made people think that he was the one who came to catch the concubine cheating, while she was the king with two concubines on her left and right.
Emperor Chengyuan immediately ordered his men to drag several beauties who were arrogant about their birth and who were disrespectful to Wen Xin to the Shenxing Division.
Wen Xin didn't even have time to react.
The remaining beauties collapsed to their knees, trembling, none daring to beg for mercy, and none daring to look up at the emperor.
Emperor Chengyuan embraced Wen Xin as they sat on the phoenix throne, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the beauties.
In his eyes, these women were not his concubines, but rather eyesores sent into the palace by powerful officials to annoy him.
He was an extremely domineering and powerful monarch, inherently suspicious and tyrannical.
Apart from Wen Xin, Emperor Cheng Yuan would assume that any woman who approached him had ulterior motives, was full of greed and scheming, and would disgust him.
Before Wen Xin existed, Emperor Chengyuan did not touch the women in his harem. This was partly due to his severe mysophobia, and partly because he did not want to give powerful officials and ministers their wish.
Now that he has a sweet little dumpling, he would never touch another woman. He only wants to stay with her cleanly until they grow old together, and he will not allow anything to affect their relationship.
Therefore, this group of women became even more of an eyesore.
A cold killing intent flashed in Emperor Chengyuan's eyes.
"His Majesty."
Wen Xin intertwined her fingers with his and called to him in a clear, sweet voice.
Emperor Chengyuan softened the fierceness in his eyes and looked at her gently. "What's wrong?"
Wen Xin looked up at him, her phoenix hairpin swaying gently. "Weren't you attending court? Why did you come here?"
Emperor Chengyuan gently stroked her face, "If I hadn't come, would you have been bullied to death by them?"
After saying that, he gave Xiao Miaozi a cold look. Who told him to let these women in?
If his soft little dumpling gets hurt while surrounded by a bunch of ugly, twisted monsters, who will take responsibility?
The group of beauties: "..."
Has even His Majesty's eyes become distorted?
How could these beautiful women, who are as lovely as flowers, be considered ugly and distorted?
But the emperor was an unreasonable tyrant, and they dared not argue back; they were terrified...
Without saying a word, Xiao Miaozi knelt down and begged for forgiveness.
Wen Xin was truly helpless. "I asked Xiaomiao to let them in. They didn't mean anything by it; they just came to pay their respects to me."
Emperor Chengyuan was exasperated. What was with the greeting? Those women were all mocking and manipulating her, this soft little dumpling.
Look at her, this imperial concubine, she doesn't have any dignity at all!
Wen Xin: "..."
No, may I ask, Your Majesty, have you given me the opportunity to show my power?
You've stolen all my plot points as a wicked and troublesome concubine!
But in Emperor Chengyuan's eyes, the little dumpling was innocent and naive, pure as snow, completely unaware of the wickedness of human nature, which worried him, her husband, to death.
Thankfully he arrived quickly!
Wen Xin: "..." I don't even want to talk anymore!
Emperor Chengyuan narrowed his deep eyes, his imperial aura heavy and cold, terrifying the group of beauties below.
"I'm giving you three choices: either leave the palace and return to your respective families, or stay in the palace and become a toy to please the Imperial Concubine, or die!"
"Your Majesty, have mercy! Your Highness, Imperial Concubine, spare my life!"
The beauties begged for mercy pitifully.
Wen Xin: "..."
I didn't say anything!
Emperor Chengyuan grew impatient, "If you keep arguing, I'll cut out your tongues."
The beauties: "..."
Could this tyrant be any more terrifying?
They thought that with the imperial concubine in his life, he would be more considerate and gentle with women.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have rekindled a sliver of delusion.
Which woman who enters the palace doesn't want to vie for the emperor's favor?
Unexpectedly, although His Majesty had changed, he still treated the Consorts with the same ruthlessness, showing no mercy whatsoever.
Indeed, they were pawns sent into the palace by their families to gain favor, whisper sweet nothings in the emperor's ear, and secure benefits for their families. Ideally, they would give birth to princes bearing their blood, ensuring that the empire would forever remain in the hands of their powerful and influential civil officials.
Emperor Chengyuan was exceptionally wise; how could he not see through the dirty schemes of the powerful officials and ministers? And how could he possibly be soft-hearted towards them?
In the end, all the beauties chose to stay in the palace and become the concubine's toys.
It's not that they still harbor illusions, nor that they don't yearn for freedom, but that they can't go back.
With strict social etiquette, in the eyes of their families, they were already the emperor's women, like water spilled from a cup, with no reason to go back.
If they dared to go back, they would either be sent to the family temple to spend their lives in seclusion, or they would "die suddenly," because keeping them in the family would be a disgrace to the family.
If the family truly loved them, they wouldn't have sent them to the palace as pawns to seek personal gain.
Did Emperor Chengyuan know the fate of these women?
He understood, of course, but he didn't care.
The emperor's heart is as cold as an ice cave. If he were to pity them, wouldn't that be like stabbing Wen Xin in the heart?
Besides, even their own blood relatives don't pity them, so why should he be the good guy? Is he just bored?
Emperor Chengyuan waved his hand, and Mo Zhi took the group of beauties out and sent them to the Shenxing Division to see what fate awaited those women who had disrespected the Consort.
To make an example of them, the emperor intended to keep them to entertain the little dumpling, but toys should act like toys, and any thoughts they might have were suppressed and not even allowed to arise.
The bloody horror of the Imperial Prison once again paralyzed the group of beauties.
What terrifies them most is that when they die, their families don't even utter a sound, as if they are only useful if they can bring benefits to the family, otherwise they are useless and their deaths are simply a matter of life and death.
The beauties felt utterly disheartened, and even the deepest feelings for their families were worn away.
In the depths of the palace, in order to survive, they could only try their best to please the Imperial Concubine.
Not long after, a clever concubine named Wang combined sword dance and acrobatics to amuse the Imperial Concubine. Although her rank was not promoted, she was assigned a separate palace as her residence the next day and also received a raise.
Wang Meiren was overjoyed and tried even harder to please the Imperial Concubine, striving to become a... lackey who could speak for the Imperial Concubine!
As a result, as she was able to frequently enter and leave Changchun Palace, her family secretly sent her a message, using her seriously ill mother as leverage, to make her an informant and act as the vanguard for the family to deal with the Imperial Concubine at crucial moments.
Wang Meiren was a concubine's daughter in her family. Her birth mother had been struggling to make a living under the care of her stepmother for many years and was now bedridden and unable to get up, yet she was still being used by her family as a pawn to blackmail her.
Wang Meiren was furious!
She gritted her teeth and made a bold decision: she knelt before the imperial concubine and laid out her family's plans in detail.
Wen Xin was stunned for a moment, then said nothing, but told Xiao Miaozi to invite Emperor Cheng Yuan over.
Emperor Chengyuan was not surprised at all, and said calmly to Consort Wang, "Your decision today has saved your life."
Lady Wang broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that the entire palace was under the Emperor's control. The fact that she received the message from her family was a deliberate act by the Emperor to test whether she was destined to remain by the Emperor's side.
Emperor Chengyuan directly turned Consort Wang into a double agent, using her to dismantle the Wang family, one of the five leading families in the powerful civil official group, from within.
Of course, the Wang family still exists, but the direct descendants are either dead or insane. Wang Meiren's elder brother became the head of the family, and her mother became an old lady of imperial rank, with the emperor firmly controlling the family.
For the direct descendants of the Wang family, it was a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead; for Wang Meiren, it was a chance to turn the tables and become the master of her own destiny, with a bright future ahead.
Wen Xin even helped her ask the emperor for a favor, allowing her to return home once a year to visit her family and reunite with them.
Lady Wang was extremely grateful and became even more loyal to Wen Xin. She was willing to act as the Consort's eyes and ears in the harem, keeping an eye on the other beauties and maids. If anyone dared to be disobedient, she would be the first to rush forward and tear them apart without the Consort having to lift a finger.
The Imperial Concubine is now her backer and her big boss. Anyone who dares to disobey her will die!
As for leaving the palace, Consort Wang had never considered it. She understood that she had to stay in the palace as a hostage, and also as a testament to the Wang family's loyalty to the emperor.
But Wang Meiren had no regrets. She was already content that her brother and mother were able to escape persecution from the direct descendants and rise to prominence.
One should not be too greedy.
The other beauties were disdainful of Consort Wang's obsequiousness to the Imperial Concubine, but their actions spoke louder than words. Some sang operas, some danced, and others were proficient in various cuisines, preparing all sorts of delicacies for the Imperial Concubine every day.
This leads to a promotion and salary increase, and you can also help your brothers and sisters. It's perfect!
Emperor Chengyuan also made the most of these toys, disintegrating the entire powerful civil official group from within without shedding a drop of blood.
When those people came to their senses, they were horrified.
In their view, although Emperor Chengyuan was shrewd and calculating, he was extremely domineering and arrogant, and always confronted them head-on, disdaining to use those roundabout methods.
But who would have thought that he would lie low and use those neglected blood relatives in their family to dismember them from the inside?
mean!
Oh, I wonder who sent their family's women into the palace, hoping to use women to deal with the imperial concubine and thus control the emperor?
Wow, how bright must that be?
However, it was too late for those powerful officials and civil servants to regret it; their inner quarters were on fire, and their power was already lost.
They were no longer able to contend with the emperor and could only watch helplessly as his power reached an unprecedented peak, with no one daring to challenge his authority and forced to submit to him.
However, the officials were somewhat puzzled. Since no one could stop the emperor anymore, why didn't he take the opportunity to make Consort Wen the empress?
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