It's no longer about dislike and disgust, but about a guilty remembrance and pity.
That fierce but foolish woman, after being banished to the cold palace for only a few days, set herself and the cold palace on fire, burning them to the ground. So resolute, she didn't even leave her body for Emperor Hui.
The fire in the Cold Palace burned through half the sky above the inner palace that night. As she watched the blinding flames in the darkness, she felt a sense of comfort, but then she saw Emperor Hui rushing into the inferno like a madman. He called out the name of the Imperial Concubine, tears streaming down his face. When she desperately tried to pull him back and stop him, the look he gave her turned back to chill her to the bone.
Perhaps it was from that moment, from the moment she stopped Emperor Hui from telling him to go and save the Consort, that his heart changed.
The dead become celestial beings, while the living, true lovers become meaningless women.
He missed her, forgetting all the bad things from the past, only remembering her kindness to him and her deep affection for him.
Then what is she?
He always said that he was just using the Consort, and that all the favor and affection he received was fake. But they all forgot that when a man keeps a woman in his heart for so many years, even if it's fake, it becomes real.
What was fake became real.
To maintain her authority, she actually subdued Consort Rong, who was dressed alluringly and strolling in the Imperial Garden, and slapped her twice, telling her to behave herself in the future. But she never expected to cause such a big trouble.
Consort Rong came from a very noble family; her maternal clan was a powerful force under the Regent. She had previously been subservient to the Imperial Concubine. Now, this woman, lacking both power and influence, and only able to become Empress through favor, dared to humiliate her, instantly stirring up a hornet's nest. Not only did the court impeach the Empress for being jealous and beating innocent concubines, but even the concubines of the harem knelt before Emperor Hui, begging him to intervene.
It is said that the empress harmed the concubines and left them no way to survive.
The concubines cried pitifully, and Emperor Hui, who used to scold her for being fierce, came over and gave her a good scolding.
She was so overwhelmed with troubles that Emperor Hui, whose temper had become extremely bad, gave her a severe dressing-down. All the servants, palace maids, and concubines were watching, and no one spared her any leeway.
She saw the triumphant mockery of the other concubines, but she didn't understand what she should do.
She hadn't yet recovered from the Empress's smugness when she discovered she had lost all her dignity.
Dignity and power were stripped away from her by Emperor Hui himself.
From then on, the Empress's status in the harem plummeted. These hateful women even dared not come to pay their respects to her anymore, and became increasingly unscrupulous when facing Emperor Hui.
She wanted to take action, but feared Emperor Hui would once again berate her. She wanted to establish her dignity, but no one paid her any attention. Confined to the palace, she grieved, weeping under the moon, longing for the carefree days of the past. Only then did she realize with horror that, without her noticing, Emperor Hui had stopped sharing a bed with her. Their last intimate encounter was the night after she had persuaded Emperor Hui to depose the Consort and become Empress.
She transformed from a pure and elegant fairy into a resentful woman in the deep palace, constantly on guard.
How could this be?
The empress covered her face, her hands trembling.
Her heavy, gold-embroidered phoenix robe was dazzlingly beautiful, but what she saw in the silver mirror was a woman with a blank, lifeless gaze.
She used to envy the imperial concubine so much for wearing luxurious and expensive palace dresses that made her stand out among all the beauties. But when she put them on herself, she found that such expensive clothes only made her look old.
But she had to dress like this because she was now the Empress. How could an Empress wear such light and thin clothes? What kind of decorum was that?!
"Where is His Majesty?" After thinking about all this, the Empress didn't want to think about anything else. She just wanted to quickly win back Emperor Hui's heart. Even if Emperor Hui still had Consort Gui in his heart, he was probably still bewitched by those vixens in the palace, causing her heartache. But she was already the Empress, and she still had to maintain her reputation, so she couldn't show any jealousy.
She needs to give birth to a son as soon as possible, so that the Empress and her legitimate son can secure their positions in the harem. She didn't have to think about these things back then, but now she has to desperately scheme and plan.
"Your Majesty..." the maid called out hesitantly.
"His Majesty is in Consort Rong's palace again?" The Empress scoffed.
The Imperial Concubine died, but Consort Rong rose up. This vixen was a clever woman. She knew that Emperor Hui missed the Imperial Concubine, so she kept talking about the Imperial Concubine's past.
Emperor Hui was looking for someone to share his memories of Consort Gui, so he naturally valued her even more.
However, who in the palace didn't know that the Imperial Concubine was the Emperor's true love, and that the Empress was just a petty person who had gained power and was someone Emperor Hui didn't care about?
The emperor could lock himself up alone in the Phoenix Palace, which was now without an owner, for several days at a time.
He ordered the palace servants who had served the Imperial Concubine to continue working in the Phoenix Palace. Even though the Imperial Concubine was no longer there, he still instructed them to keep the Phoenix Palace spotless, as if it were just as it had been before when the Imperial Concubine returned.
He wrote many poems and painted many pictures to remember the beautiful concubine's voice and smile, and to remember her protection and devotion to him, yet he could even forget the Empress's birthday.
He left the most luxurious Fengyi Palace empty, but instead ordered the Empress to live in the more remote Huarong Palace.
When he was humiliated by the Regent in the previous dynasty and lost face at the moat, he would not show his vulnerability in front of her, but would weep bitterly in the Phoenix Palace.
He was in so much pain that she even began to doubt who he had truly loved back then.
"His Majesty has gone to Fengyi Palace with his entourage," the maid said cautiously.
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