Lu Qingyan and Consort Xian were both right. Zongzheng Shen was waiting for everyone to make their move. Now that the concubines in the harem were united, he was going to carry out a bloody purge of the palace. Because Empress Lu had no children, he wasn't in a hurry. Consort Shu, who had given birth to a prince and held the highest rank, became the first target. It started with Consort Shu. The Fourth Prince was assassinated by his maid and left half-dead. Then Consort Shu was poisoned and died.
Everyone in the harem was in a state of fear, especially after hearing that a certain concubine who was pregnant with Zongzheng Shen's child had been kicked by him, causing her to miscarry her four-month-old baby on the spot, and ultimately both mother and child died. The people in the harem were terrified and all became quiet for a time.
Only Consort Xian, upon receiving the news, sneered for a while: "In my opinion, the smartest person in the harem is still the Empress. She agreed to join forces with Consort Shu, but Consort Shu is almost dead, while she is still fine."
"Your Majesty, do you mean that the Empress and the Emperor were behind Consort Shu's affair?" a palace maid massaging Consort Xian's shoulders suddenly asked.
Consort Xian scoffed, "How could that be? The Empress is the Empress, and she's a member of the Lu family. Would the Emperor really trust her? It's just the Emperor's scheme at most."
"After so many years in the palace, do you think I don't recognize what kind of person the Emperor is? Once he has cleaned up the court and the harem, no one will be able to escape. Go and tell Father and Mother to pack their things and take their families away before things get too chaotic. As their daughter, I will stay in the palace to put the Emperor's mind at ease."
The pink-clad palace maid looked pained: "But Your Highness, wouldn't this mean you—?" Wouldn't this mean you'd hand your life over to the Emperor?
The virtuous concubine smiled calmly: "I am thirty-six years old now, which is long enough."
Who doesn't hope to live to be a hundred? Why would anyone complain about living too long? Only someone who has long since given up on life can be so indifferent.
In the imperial court, Zongzheng Shen instigated infighting among his sons, using various pretexts to exile or imprison them. He even killed two of his sons as a warning to the two major families, and soon suppressed all the princes who had been stirred up by the court officials.
This series of bloody methods suppressed the apparent opposition from the crowd, which pleased Zongzheng Shen greatly. Little did he know that he had instilled resentment in everyone's hearts. Like water dripping into a bucket, it would eventually overflow.
Which of these ministers doesn't have some kind of kinship with the imperial harem? They've taken advantage of the situation to gain a lot of benefits in the past. How can they possibly give back everything they've taken now?
While everyone in the harem was trying to keep a low profile, Lu Qingyan began to have a large number of tonics and supplements to aid fertility. Everyone was laughing at Lu Qingyan, thinking that this unfavored empress still wanted to have a child for Zongzheng Shen, but Lu Qingyan had everything carried to Bai Li's place!
When the news spread, everyone couldn't help but curse Empress Lu for being cunning and knowing how to please the new concubine. Especially when the Emperor treated everyone in the harem with cold indifference and cruelty, he showed Empress Lu Qingyan more face than before.
The head palace maid, Huixiang, who was standing next to Lu Qingyan, was even more shocked: "Your Majesty, how could you be so confused? If that Imperial Noble Consort were to become pregnant, wouldn't your life be even more difficult? You are the Empress and have no children, but she is the Imperial Noble Consort... Now all those princes have been sent far away by the Emperor. In the future, won't the whole world belong to that woman surnamed Bai and her son?"
Lu Qingyan smiled when she heard this, and stopped pruning the flower branches.
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