In early summer, heavy rain always comes suddenly in the evening.
The sky was gloomy, and dark clouds pressed down on the dignified and majestic palace walls. The originally magnificent palace became dark under the dark clouds, like a huge cage, trapping the people inside tightly.
The spacious bedroom's gauze curtains seemed old and thick with dust. Despite the scorching heat, a slight chill could be felt. Clothes and jewelry lay scattered on the floor, as if the place had just experienced a catastrophe.
The woman half-knelt on the ground, looking up at the person in front of her.
The woman was only thirty years old, but her face looked as old as an old woman. There was a murderous look between her brows, and her eyes were like a dry well that had been left for a long time. She could not shed tears, but was filled with bottomless hatred.
"Your Majesty, please." The eunuch beside him held a piece of white silk in his hand, and his tone was full of impatience: "I am still waiting to report to His Majesty."
Shen Miao's gaze fell on the eunuch. After a long silence, she slowly spoke, her voice containing a chaotic hoarseness: "Little Li, when I promoted you, you were still a dog beside Eunuch Gao."
The eunuch raised his head slightly in a haughty manner: "Your Majesty, things are different now."
“Times are different now than they were in the past…” Shen Miao murmured, then suddenly raised her head and laughed out loud: “What a different time now than in the past!”
Because of the phrase, "Times are different now," the courtiers and servants who once treated her with such respect could now order her around. And because of "Times are different now," she would be beheaded with a three-foot-long white silk scarf. What was the past? And where did the present begin? Did it begin with Madam Mei's entrance into the palace? Or with the Crown Prince's dethronement? Or with the Princess' tragic death on her way to a distant marriage? Or with her return to the palace after five years as a hostage in Qin?
From the "past" to the "present", from the empress to the deposed empress, it was all because of Fu Xiuyi's words! The entire court of civil and military officials changed their expressions, and the Ming Qi Dynasty could be turned upside down! What a "present is different from the past"!
The door of the bedroom creaked open, and a pair of green boots embroidered with dragon patterns stopped in front of Shen Miao. Above them, the hem of a bright yellow robe appeared.
"Since you have followed me for twenty years, I will grant you an intact body. Please thank me." said the emperor.
Shen Miao slowly raised her head and looked at the man who stood tall above her. Time had left no trace on his face, and he was as handsome and radiant as ever. He was the wise ruler of the world, the rightful emperor, the man she had been infatuated with for twenty years, the husband who had supported her through thick and thin. Now he said to her, "I will grant you an intact body, thank you."
"Why?" Shen Miao asked with difficulty.
He didn't answer.
"Why do you want to kill the entire Shen family?" she asked.
Prince Ding's wife, Fu Xiuyi, was the daughter of nine sons born to the late Emperor, each with their own strengths and talents. However, the Crown Prince suffered from ailing health, and the late Emperor was hesitant to appoint a new one, leading to a turbulent battle among the princes to succeed him. Admiring Prince Ding's extraordinary talent, Fu Xiuyi, despite her family's disapproval, finally achieved her wish, but this also tied the entire Shen family to Prince Ding.
Because of this, she devoted herself to assisting Prince Ding, rising from a pampered daughter who knew nothing to a princess who participated in court affairs, offering advice and strategies, and ultimately securing the throne. On the day Fu Xiuyi ascended the throne, he made her empress, establishing her as the mother of the nation, a truly glorious achievement.
She thought she was the most glorious queen. The prince's rebellion had just been quelled, Ming Qi's foundation was unstable, the Xiongnu were invading, and neighboring countries were eyeing it covetously. In order to borrow troops, Shen Miao volunteered to go to Qin as a hostage. When she left, her daughter and son were still full-term, and Fu Xiuyi even said, "I will personally bring you back."
Five years later, she finally returned to Mingqi, but there was a new lady named Mei, who was both beautiful and talented, in the harem.
Madam Mei was the daughter of a minister whom Fu Xiuyi met during his Eastern Expedition. He was attracted by her eloquence and understanding, and brought her back to the palace. Madam Mei gave birth to the prince Fu Sheng, who was deeply favored by the emperor. However, Shen Miao's son, the crown prince Fu Ming, was not favored by the emperor.
Fu Xiuyi once said in front of all the civil and military officials in the court: "Fu Ming is too gentle, Fu Sheng is more like my son." His words clearly meant to change the crown prince.
Madam Mei had given Shen Miao a sense of crisis, and within the palace, she and Madam Mei had been battling for ten years. Madam Mei repeatedly gained the upper hand, even instigating Fu Xiuyi to marry his own daughter, Princess Wanyu, to the Xiongnu as a peace treaty. The Xiongnu were known to be aggressive and ruthless, and Princess Wanyu died of illness on the way to the marriage and was cremated immediately. Everyone knew there was something fishy going on, but Shen Miao, as a mother, was helpless.
Finally, we have come to this day.
Fu Xiuyi received an imperial edict, announcing that the Shen family was plotting a rebellion, the crown prince was deposed, and he committed suicide to apologize for his crime. She, the queen, was also to be deposed, and was given a three-foot white silk.
She just wanted to ask: "Why?"
Shen Miao said, "Fu Xiuyi, do you have a conscience? You and I have been married for over twenty years, and I believe I have done nothing wrong to you. When you ascended the throne, it was my Shen family that helped you. When you went to war and the Xiongnu invaded, I wrote your letter of surrender. I knelt down and begged the ministers you wanted to win over to assist me. You suffered the pain and suffering of being a hostage in a neighboring country, and what have you given me in return? Madam Mei wanted Wanyu to marry, and you drafted the decree, and Wanyu died of illness at the age of sixteen. You favored Fu Sheng and neglected Fu Ming, and everyone in the court knew it. Now you are slaughtering my entire family. As death approaches, I want to ask you, why?"
“Chen Miao,” Fu Xiuyi frowned, his expression unchanged, like a cold statue. “When my father was alive, we discussed how to deal with the major families. The Shen family’s achievements surpassed their master’s and they couldn’t stay for long. It was I who persuaded my father. I have kept the Shen family for an extra twenty years, which is already a great gift to them!”
This is already a great gift to the Shen family! Shen Miao's body swayed. She had cried too much these days and her tears could no longer flow. She said to Fu Xiuyi word by word: "Why keep the Shen family? It's not your kindness, nor is it your gift. You just want to use the Shen family's military power to increase the weight of the succession. The cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked. Now that the throne is secured, you cross the river and destroy the bridge. Fu Xiuyi, you have such a cruel heart!"
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