Lan Shuang stepped forward, leaned over, held the queen's arm, ignored her sudden stiffness, and helped her up.
"The Queen is surprised?"
The Queen came to her senses and immediately distanced herself from her. "Shouldn't I be surprised? What are you doing here? Are you here to laugh at me? You may be feeling proud now, but don't forget—"
"Am I making fun of you? We are all miserable people, so who is nobler than who?" Lan Shuang smiled suddenly, with a hint of sadness in her smile.
The Queen was startled. "What do you mean?"
"Your Majesty, the Empress, should know that Concubine Xiao is pregnant. Are you still unaware of the rumors going around the palace?"
Lan Shuang withdrew her hand and paced around the hall. "Outsiders only see my infinite glory, but they don't know that I'm just a shield for Concubine Xiao, a living target."
"Your Majesty never had any romantic feelings for me before. The affection he showed me was all fake."
She turned her head and glanced at the Queen, whose face was filled with surprise and disbelief. "How is that possible? Even if you want to lie to me, at least find a good excuse. How can Nangong Yi not love you? The way he looks at you is clearly moved."
Lan Shuang sneered: "Yes, that's the result of my hard work."
These words contained a lot of information, and the queen took a step back in shock.
"I went to great lengths to make Nangong Yi fall in love with me, which is why you saw everything. And behind your back, he was even plotting how to get rid of my father and brother."
"Empress, I came to you today to show you a way out." Lan Shuang turned back and looked directly at the Empress. "You should have thought about your own fate, right?"
The Queen lowered her eyes. "Of course I have thought about it. It's just that when the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked."
She is no longer useful, and Nangong Yi will take her life sooner or later.
"You've disregarded life and death, but what about your parents, brothers, and your clansmen? Can you bear to see them buried with you?"
Lan Shuang's voice became softer and softer, like the devil's whisper in the queen's ear, tempting her to fall.
The queen slowly clenched her hands that were hanging at her sides, but she didn't say anything.
Seeing her struggle, Lan Shuang gave up the last straw.
"You don't know yet, right? We—you, me, and all the other concubines in the harem—are not in Nangong Yi's eyes. The only one he truly loves is Xiao Feiyan. Otherwise, why do you think she's the only one pregnant? There are so many people sleeping with him, why aren't others pregnant?"
The queen had a bad feeling in her heart. She avoided looking into Lan Shuang's eyes, fearing that she would hear something she could not bear.
However, Lan Shuang cruelly revealed the truth, "Because Nangong Yi had already added ingredients to our incense to prevent you from getting pregnant."
"As long as he doesn't want you to, you will never have children in your life."
After Lan Shuang finished her last words, the queen suddenly retreated to the incense table. Her hand trembled and she knocked over the incense burner on the table, and the ashes were scattered all over the floor.
"How do you know all this? And what do you mean by 'you guys'?"
The queen is worthy of being the queen. She can still remain calm at this time.
Lan Shuang gave her an admiring look. "Me? Nangong Yi and I never consummated our marriage, so how could we have a child?"
"What?!"
The Queen was completely stunned. "How is that possible?"
"I was relatively healthy before entering the palace, but became increasingly weak afterward. The Empress never raised any suspicions? Do you understand why now?"
Inspiration struck her in a flash, and the queen asked tremblingly, "Did he drug you?"
Lan Shuang nodded: "The medicine I drink every day to regulate my body is poisoned. If Nangong Yi hadn't fallen in love with me, my fate would not be much worse than yours. Once my father and brother die, it will be my death."
"When you and I are both dead, who do you think will ascend the throne?"
Xiao Feiyan's cold and arrogant face suddenly flashed through the queen's mind.
Lan Shuang paused to give the queen time to think and digest.
All the doubts were connected, and things that once seemed unreasonable became reasonable, but the truth was so heavy and dark that it was hard to accept.
The queen was silent for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahahahahaha——"
The sound became louder and louder. It sounded like laughter, but it was actually crying, which made people feel very uncomfortable.
Lan Shuang was afraid that she would make too much noise and attract the attention of the guards outside, so she stepped forward and covered the queen's mouth.
"Your Majesty, please keep your voice down. Enough of laughing! We should cheer up. Why have we been played around by Nangong Yi our entire lives? What have we done wrong? How innocent are we?"
Lan Shuang saw that the queen had stopped smiling and put down her hand. "Have you calmed down now, Your Majesty?"
The Queen took a deep breath and asked with red eyes, "What are you going to do?"
"Of course, we should pull Nangong Yi down and help the new emperor ascend the throne. Empress, what's the point of being an empress? You have to worry about being deposed. Why not just be the empress dowager?"
The queen's eyes widened suddenly, but she had to admit that her heart was moved.
…
Half an hour later, Lan Shuang returned to her bedroom, changed into her own clothes, and went back to bed to catch up on some sleep, as if nothing had happened.
Sure enough, Nangong Yi was very busy that day and had no time to see her. When he finished his work, it was already late at night. He stayed in the imperial study for the night and came to Lan Shuang as soon as he got out of court the next day.
Lan Shuang was having breakfast. Seeing Nangong Yi coming, she immediately stood up to greet him. "Your Majesty, why do you look so worried? Have you encountered any difficult problems?"
The harem was not allowed to interfere in politics, and Nangong Yi deliberately suppressed the news. If Lan Shuang had no connections, she would not have known about the urgent matter of Babaili, so her behavior was normal.
Nangong Yi did not suspect anything. He walked in and sat down next to Lan Shuang. After a moment's hesitation, he still did not tell the truth. He only said, "The border is 800 miles away and the nomadic tribes are jointly invading."
"Is it so serious? What should we do now?" Lan Shuang looked at him worriedly. Her eyes were so clear and pure that Nangong Yi felt ashamed of himself.
He looked away and whispered, "I have already sent a general to lead the troops to provide support. There shouldn't be any problems."
Lan Shuang held his hand and comforted him, "God bless Daliang. Everything will be fine. Your Majesty, don't worry too much."
"I'll borrow Shuangshuang's auspicious words."
Nangong Yi smiled and touched Lan Shuang's face, "I haven't eaten yet, let's eat together."
"good."
After Lan Shuang finished her meal with him, she coaxed Nangong Yi to sleep.
Nangong Yi didn't leave until the afternoon. The next few days were like this.
But his expression became visibly solemn. Later, he was afraid that Lan Shuang would see through his mistake, so he simply stopped meeting her.
There were frequent reports of victory from the front. Lan Rong was mighty and fierce. He won a beautiful victory as soon as he arrived at the border. The morale was greatly boosted, and he pursued the victory. After a series of victories, Lan Rong's prestige in the army reached its peak.
Nangong Yi looked at the good news, feeling anxious and increasingly fearful.
Finally, he couldn't resist the temptation of power and issued a secret order to take action against Lan Rong.
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