When the emperor is enraged, rivers of blood flow!
The emperor flicked his sleeves and left, and Wang Defu hurriedly followed.
The stench of blood lingered in the air for a long time.
The Empress slowly stood up, feeling a wave of dizziness.
Her palms were bleeding from being pinched so hard.
How pathetic!
She was the emperor's wife, but the emperor had never shown her such favoritism.
The Emperor, in order to avenge Consort Mei, indiscriminately punished a mere concubine without distinguishing right from wrong.
Once the main hall was empty, Granny Gan came up to help her: "Your Highness! Let's go back to the palace."
The Empress swayed slightly: "Let's go!"
Did Granny Gan know what the Empress was disappointed about?
She had no way to persuade her.
From the moment the Empress first saw the Emperor, he was all she could think about.
Like Consort Wu, she was also the daughter of the prefect.
At that time, the emperor's power was unstable, and noble families would send their daughters into the harem in order to secure a place for their families.
The Emperor does not want to be a puppet emperor like his predecessor.
The emperor had already witnessed the suffering of powerful maternal relatives when he was a prince.
He won the throne, which he fought for amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and he would not hand it over to his maternal relatives.
So he made the prefect's daughter his empress.
At that time, the Empress thought that the Emperor loved her as much as she loved the Emperor.
Little did she know, the Emperor only saw her as a tool to deal with the powerful families.
The emperor never stood up for her.
When faced with the encirclement and suppression by various powerful families, the Empress was overwhelmed and disorganized.
The emperor always watched coldly from the sidelines.
However, the emperor did not want to lose this pawn.
That's why he helped her shield her from the bloodshed at the last moment.
Over the years, the Emperor has seen her suffering, but has never offered her any comforting words.
Even when the Empress was bullied by powerful families, the Emperor would make sarcastic remarks, saying that she was all talk and no action.
"Granny, why is the Emperor so heartless? I used to think he was a cold-hearted person, but it wasn't until Consort Chen appeared that I realized the Emperor would try to please a woman."
The Queen's tears fell unexpectedly.
"Your Majesty! All of that is in the past." Granny Gan looked at the Empress with heartache.
But the Empress had already started talking.
"When Consort Chen was favored, I was living a life worse than death. Later, because of Consort Zheng's scheme, the Emperor, just like today, banished Consort Chen to the Cold Palace without even asking any questions."
“At that time, I knew that the Emperor only cared about himself, and that all of us were just playthings in his eyes.”
"Your Majesty! Be careful what you say!" Granny Gan dismissed everyone.
If these words were overheard by someone with ulterior motives and reached the Emperor's ears, the Empress would incur his further displeasure.
"Since His Majesty dislikes me, why is he putting on an act outside? All the officials in the capital believe that none of the concubines in the harem can surpass me. His Majesty is truly cunning!"
"Your Majesty! You still have the Crown Prince." Granny Gan interrupted in time.
"Yes! I still have the Crown Prince and the Imperial Grandson." The Empress wiped away her tears.
"So what if Consort Mei is favored? With Consort Chen as a precedent, favored consorts never end well." But as she spoke, her heart ached again.
At least Consort Chen had always received the Emperor's favor, while she had never received anything in her entire life.
"Let's go! To the East Palace." The Empress hadn't seen the Crown Prince for many days.
As soon as the Empress stepped into the East Palace, a wave of sandalwood fragrance wafted towards her.
To the untrained eye, it might look like a temple.
Upon seeing the Empress, the palace maids and eunuchs all knelt down in fear and trepidation.
"Where is the Crown Prince?" The Empress could not hide her anger.
What kind of mess is this?
The Crown Prince turned what should have been a peaceful Eastern Palace into a chaotic mess.
"Your Majesty, please calm down! The Crown Prince was just causing a ruckus in the Eastern Palace, and no word of it has spread outside," Granny Gan hurriedly defended the Crown Prince.
When the Crown Prince was in Fengyi Palace, he was almost entirely raised by Granny Gan.
In fact, the Crown Prince's extreme actions are inextricably linked to the Empress.
She could only say these words to herself.
The emperor disliked the empress, and consequently, the eldest prince received very little attention.
The emperor had established a crown prince early on, but because the mother and son were isolated and helpless in the palace, they did not receive the treatment that a crown prince should receive.
The Empress also knew that establishing a Crown Prince, just like her being made Empress, was merely a temporary measure by the Emperor.
The position of Crown Prince must not fall into the hands of the Zheng State Duke's family, the maternal family of the Imperial Concubine, or the Su State Duke's family, the maternal family of the Empress Dowager.
The Empress placed high hopes on the Crown Prince, believing that as long as he could establish himself, the Emperor would certainly give him an important position.
As long as the emperor still fears the powerful families, the crown prince's ascension to the throne will be a matter of course.
So the Empress devoted herself to teaching the Crown Prince, wanting the Emperor to see that her son was truly capable of upholding the Great Qing Empire.
However, the Crown Prince was physically weak and could not withstand the Empress's high pressure.
The prince's health was deteriorating, he couldn't sleep all night, and his spirits were becoming increasingly weak.
Later, this even displeased the emperor.
Regardless of the dynasty, once a crown prince was established, the emperor would personally train him so that he could stand on his own when he grew up.
The emperor never truly groomed the crown prince to be the future emperor.
The Emperor felt that it was still early.
His decision to establish a crown prince is merely a temporary measure. Establishing an heir as soon as possible will reduce the desire of the Zheng State Duke's Mansion and the Su State Duke's Mansion to compete for power.
If either of the two families dared to openly compete for the position of crown prince, it would be a grave act of treason.
Like the empress, the crown prince also became a pawn used by the emperor to shield him from harm.
However, the Crown Prince's temperament was not as resilient as the Empress's.
He was in poor health from a young age, and everyone except his mother wished for his death.
As a child, the crown prince was unaware of the intricacies of court politics.
As he grew older, the crown prince realized that he was a pawn in the power struggle between his father and the aristocratic families.
He felt that his efforts were meaningless.
Given the Empress's family background, he and his brothers simply couldn't compete with her.
Half of the people in the court were from the Zheng State government, and the other half were from the Su State Duke's mansion.
From the time he could remember, the crown prince had begun to give up on himself.
Now he devotes himself to Buddhism, and only in the presence of Buddha can he find a moment of peace.
"Lin Mujing, come out here!" the Empress shouted.
If things continue like this, the Crown Prince's Palace will belong to someone else.
"Amitabha!" Then a thin figure staggered out.
The Empress was stunned: "Jing'er, how did you become like this?"
The prince was dressed in plain clothes, with his hands clasped together. Except for not being bald, he looked just like a monk in a temple.
The Empress took a step back. Was this still her Jing'er?
His eyes were sunken and unfocused, and his face was so thin and pale that it looked like a sheet of paper.
"Jing'er, why are you doing this! How am I supposed to live now?"
The Empress hugged the Crown Prince and burst into tears.
What terrible things has she done? What will become of her and her son now?
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