Throughout history, there has been an unwritten rule that while the empress is alive, favored concubines can be granted the title of Consort, but they can never be granted the title of Imperial Noble Consort. Only after the empress has passed away can the position of Imperial Noble Consort exist. In everyone's eyes, the Imperial Noble Consort is equivalent to the empress.
There was no precedent for this, and given the immense power of the Lu family, what kind of unforeseen events might occur if he issued an imperial edict? Wouldn't he lose face? Zongzheng Shen's dissatisfaction accumulated day by day.
First, he started causing trouble for the Lu family in the imperial court. The court officials, seeing which way the wind was blowing, began to impeach the Lu family one by one, making the original owner's days in the palace increasingly difficult.
Such a scandalous affair as taking a minister's wife could not be allowed to spread, and the original owner of this body remained completely unaware. Until one day, feeling utterly dejected, she wandered alone in the Imperial Garden and stumbled upon Zongzheng Shen embracing a beautiful woman in a tender embrace, nearly fainting from shock. As the Empress, she had seen all sorts of people—concubines and noblewomen—how could she not recognize that the woman Zongzheng Shen was holding was the wife of Prime Minister Jun Jiuxian?
The original owner finally broke down. For the sake of the Lu family and the court, she thought of joining forces with the prince to rebel. But in the end, not only did she fail to rebel, but she was also suppressed by Zongzheng Shen with bloody methods. In the end, he took this opportunity to uproot the Lu family. Regardless of the help that General Lu had given him when he ascended the throne, hundreds of members of the Lu family were all executed without a single survivor.
The man she loved so deeply, her only husband, the wise ruler whom the Lu family had painstakingly helped to ascend the throne, ultimately treated her and the Lu family so cruelly. Lu Qingyan felt extremely resentful.
In fact, according to the original trajectory, Zongzheng Shen, as the male protagonist of this world, would not have had any interaction with Consort Li, much less committed such a despicable act as stealing another man's wife. He should have been a diligent, patriotic, and benevolent emperor who, over time, fell in love with Empress Lu Qingyan and lived a loving and devoted life together until old age.
But an unexpected accident occurred, and Zongzheng Shen died before reaching adulthood, his body taken over by another soul. That soul was a scion of a prominent family in the dynasty, intelligent but dying young. His birth mother had passed away when he was born, and he was raised by a wet nurse. Unfortunately, the wet nurse harbored ill intentions and was beaten to death by her master. In a fit of shock, Zongzheng Shen also died of fright. This is why he had different feelings for Consort Li, who was so much older than him, leading to the events that followed.
The so-called forced marriage to the original owner was nothing more than a play he orchestrated out of fear of the Lu family; nothing actually happened between him and the original owner. Poor original owner, a beautiful young woman of sixteen, had half her life ruined by this beast.
Lu Qingyan almost choked on her own blood. System, are you kidding me? Are you sure you didn't get the female supporting role script?
[Master, I'm sure I didn't take the wrong script.] The system said seriously, [Besides, even if I did, you're already in this world; you can't abandon the mission. Master, I believe you can complete this mission.]
Lu Qingyan opened her eyes and couldn't help but sigh. She was so pathetic; she was practically cannon fodder, let alone a supporting female character.
The vast palace was eerily quiet. White smoke rose from the incense burner on the altar, filling the room with a delicate fragrance. Two palace maids knelt carefully beside her bed, gently fanning her with two banana leaf fans.
"Your Highness is awake. Would you like to wash your face?" Upon seeing Lu Qingyan wake up, one of the palace maids' eyes lit up, and she cautiously asked, "This servant has had warm water prepared to serve Your Highness."
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