Chapter 1 Rebirth in Dragon's Nest
"Your Majesty, no, no more... I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..."
In the dead of night, the woman on the dragon bed suddenly sobbed and begged for mercy in a low voice, waking up the emperor beside her.
Pei Yan slowly opened his eyes. There were several copper lamps in the bedroom that were on all night. With the little light, he turned his head and saw Concubine Jiang breathing rapidly in her sleep, her face flushed, her brows tightly furrowed, and she looked very uncomfortable.
It must be a nightmare.
Pei Yan did not wake her up immediately. He wanted to hear what wrong his favorite concubine had done and what she had done wrong and asked for forgiveness in her dream.
However, Jiang Shuyi calmed down after repeating "I admit my mistake" for a while.
There was no need to wake him up, so Pei Yan simply closed his eyes and continued to sleep. Just as he was about to fall asleep, someone beside him suddenly shouted angrily, "Pei Yu! You bastard!"
Pei Yan opened his eyes again.
He looked at the bright yellow tent ceiling, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Pei Yu is the prince born to Jiang Shuyi. He is now five months old and still in swaddling clothes.
Why did she call her child a bastard in her dream?
Pei Yan was deep in thought when Jiang Shuyi suddenly murmured bitterly: "Jiang Wanqing, if there is an afterlife, I will not let you go..."
He frowned.
Jiang Wanqing is Jiang Shuyi's sister.
During the talent show half a month ago, Jiang Shuyi begged him to allow her to keep her sister's name tag. During this period, she was very interested in decorating the palace for her sister and selecting servants.
Tomorrow is the day when the newcomer enters the palace. What happened to her tonight?
Pei Yan was silent for a while, sat up, lowered his eyes to look at Jiang Shuyi who was frowning, and reached out to pat her face.
"Wake up."
Jiang Shuyi's eyelashes trembled twice. Pei Yan slapped her again with a little more force, and she suddenly opened her eyes.
"What did you dream about? Tell me."
After Pei Yan asked, Jiang Shuyi did not respond. Instead, she looked at him stupidly.
After a long time, she suddenly lifted the quilt, stepped over him, got off the bed, and looked around the hall.
This behavior was too outrageous. Even if Pei Yan doted on her, he would not indulge her to this extent. His calm eyes sank slightly, staring straight at her, and his voice became much lighter: "Jiang Fei, what are you doing?"
Concubine Jiang?
Jiang Shuyi came back to her senses and looked at Pei Yan again, the emperor who suddenly looked a lot younger.
She remembered that Jiang Wanqing had been strangling her neck madly just a moment ago. She felt pain and suffocation, and her eyes went dark. When she opened them again, she found herself on the dragon bed in the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Jiang Shuyi wanted to find a bronze mirror to see if her face had become younger. Before she found it, she heard Pei Yan calling her Concubine Jiang.
She was promoted to concubine after giving birth to Pei Yu, and remained in this position for the next five years.
During this period, she eliminated Concubine Xue and Concubine Wu, but was not promoted until Pei Yu was six years old. During a big quarrel with her, he said that he did not want such a vicious and domineering woman as his mother, and hoped to be reborn in the belly of his gentle and kind aunt.
Jiang Shuyi almost collapsed upon hearing this and did not recover for several days. In order to appease her, Pei Yan promoted her to the rank of imperial concubine.
Afterwards, Jiang Wanqing brought Pei Yu to admit her mistake. Jiang Wanqing cried pitifully and said that it was all her fault for leading Yu'er astray. Pei Yu was severely beaten by Pei Yan's order. He was supported by two palace maids and knelt on the ground crying, "Mother, I was wrong. Don't blame my aunt."
One is her biological sister, and the other is her son born after ten months of pregnancy. No matter how painful Jiang Shuyi's heart was, she could not really hold a grudge against them.
Afterwards, Jiang Wanqing advised her privately: "Yu'er is young and naive now, so just keep fighting for him. When he becomes the crown prince, he will know how to be grateful and filial to you."
So Jiang Shuyi continued to pave the way for Pei Yu like a madman. She suppressed and intimidated all the concubines in the harem, regardless of whether they were favored or not. She eliminated those who were slightly dissatisfied with her as soon as possible. Since the eldest prince occupied the status of the eldest son, she repeatedly slandered him in front of Pei Yan, falsely accusing him of speaking unfilial words. She also often bullied her younger brother and abused the palace maids for fun.
Pei Yan must have listened to some of what was said, and his attitude towards the eldest prince became colder and colder. But Jiang Shuyi was still not satisfied. She wanted to completely eliminate the trouble once and for all, and under the instigation of Jiang Wanqing, she decided to poison the eldest prince.
The matter was exposed. It was Jiang Wanqing who revealed it to the Queen. She also listed all the evidence of her crimes of harming concubines over the years, with solid evidence and too much to list.
Jiang Shuyi's own son testified for his aunt and looked at her with disgust: "Mother, my eldest brother has never bullied me. I was forced by you to deceive my father. You have already made my father's harem a mess. Do you want to alienate us brothers and bring chaos to the previous dynasty?"
Pei Yu was eight years old at that time. The young boy was full of vigor and spoke righteously.
Jiang Shuyi was so angry that she was shaking all over. She could no longer care about anything else and shouted in front of everyone: "Isn't mother doing all this for you?"
"What do you mean by 'for me'? You don't even know what I want! I want brothers to be friendly and respectful to each other, and fathers to be loving and sons to be filial, but you don't let me get close to my eldest brother, and you even complained to my father and asked him to beat me!"
Brothers are friendly and respectful to each other? Before he was born, Jiang Shuyi had a grudge with the eldest prince's biological mother and they fought each other fiercely. How could they be friendly and respectful to each other?
A loving father and a filial son? Without her, Pei Yan, the ruler of a country, would not be his father!
Jiang Shuyi fainted due to anger. When she woke up, she learned that Pei Yan had deposed her and imprisoned her in Zhaoyang Palace, and she was not allowed to leave the palace without the emperor's order.
She thought that after Pei Yan learned the truth, he would be like Pei Yu, disgusted with this vicious woman and planned to let her die miserably in the palace. However, she didn't expect that Pei Yan would come again that night.
Jiang Shuyi was no longer in the mood to please him. She just sat on the couch with her hair disheveled, staring blankly out the window. Pei Yan came over, gently lifted her chin, lowered his eyes to look at her, and asked calmly: "Jiang Shuyi, do you still remember how you lived before giving birth to Pei Yu?"
Jiang Shuyi's eyes moved slightly.
She entered the Qiandi Palace a year before she came of age and became Pei Yan's concubine. Since she was the youngest among all the concubines, Pei Yan treated her as his sister at first. When he learned that she was a concubine's daughter and that her stepmother had not allowed her to study since childhood and only let her learn needlework, Pei Yan personally taught her to read in his spare time.
Those were the happiest days for Jiang Shuyi. Her sister, the Crown Princess, was amiable and kind. Although the other sisters fought fiercely with each other, they were all very kind to her who was young and had never served in the emperor's bed. Of course, occasionally one of the sisters would call her a little vixen, and she would cry and go to Pei Yan to complain, and Pei Yan would stand up for her.
Later, the previous emperor passed away and Pei Yan succeeded to the throne. She was conferred the title of noble concubine, and then she was summoned to sleep with him.
It felt weird, a little uncomfortable and painful, but Pei Yan had always been a very patient master, just like he taught her to write, he taught her little by little.
Jiang Shuyi was also a clever student. Although she felt shy after completing her studies, she was also quite proud of herself and even wanted to bully her teacher.
After having the emperor's exclusive favor for half a month, the sisters in the palace looked at her differently.
No, not the sisters, they each have their own position and are their own enemies.
After Jiang Shuyi realized this, she felt lost for a while, but she quickly cheered up.
Because she is the center of attention and the favored concubine's life is really good, there is no need for her to make these people happy and leave herself alone in an empty room, miserable.
At worst, we can just fight!
Jiang Shuyi still loves to eat and play, loves gorgeous clothes and beautiful jewelry, and will also go to Pei Yan with a book and ask him to explain the parts she doesn't understand.
All this came to an abrupt end after Pei Yu was born and Jiang Wanqing entered the palace.
She started out as a strong mother and had far-reaching plans for her son, but in the end, she even forgot who she was.
When Pei Yan asked this question, Jiang Shuyi immediately burst into tears.
But one's temper cannot be changed in an instant, especially for a mother who thinks she has worked hard for seven years to return to her former carefree self.
She was still unhappy.
Pei Yan was not in a hurry. He would come to Zhaoyang Palace to see her whenever he had time. After he realized that her emotions had stabilized a little, he began to favor her.
One time, she couldn't help asking about Pei Yu's recent situation. Pei Yan's face immediately turned cold, and he pressed her down and gave her a severe lecture, warning her not to mention Pei Yu again in the future and to pretend that she had never given birth.
Jiang Shuyi was imprisoned in Zhaoyang Palace as a deposed concubine for two whole years.
During this period, except Pei Yan, no one came to visit her. Gradually, she became too lazy to ask about things outside. She just read books and painted every day, waiting for Pei Yan to accompany her. She forgot about her son and sister.
Suddenly one night, Pei Yan told her that he would lead the army in person in a few days, and promised to lift her house arrest order and restore her position when he returned.
Jiang Shuyi hadn't left Zhaoyang Palace for two years. She felt a little excited and expectant, but also a little helpless.
However, she did not wait for Pei Yan to come back.
Not long after he left, a piece of news reached Zhaoyang Palace: Pei Yu suddenly fell seriously ill, his life was hanging by a thread, and he wanted to see her for the last time.
Jiang Shuyi unexpectedly found that her heart was calm.
You know, in the past, whenever Pei Yu got bumped into something, she would cry out of heartache, which made him very annoyed.
However, after all, it was me who brought Pei Yu into this world, so it was only natural for me to see him off for the last time.
She took out the token that Pei Yan left for her before he left and ordered the guards to take her to Wenhua Palace.
Pei Yu was already ten years old, much taller than he remembered. He was lying on the bed with a fever and his cheeks were red. When he saw her coming, his eyes suddenly turned red and he cried, "Mother."
Jiang Shuyi paused and walked towards him, not noticing the slight movement of the curtain beside her.
When she walked to the bed and looked at Pei Yu indifferently, someone suddenly strangled her neck with a hemp rope from behind.
She was completely defenseless and couldn't even utter a sob. She turned her head in horror and saw that Jiang Wanqing's usually pitiful face had turned hideous and terrifying.
"Sister, go to hell."
She was like a madman, with amazing strength in her hands, laughing crazily in Jiang Shuyi's ear: "When my aunt left, you promised her that you would take care of me for the rest of my life. If that's the case, I want to be a favorite concubine, I want to give birth to a prince, why don't you help me!"
"You've been hiding for the past two years, letting me suffer the criticism, insults and torture for you. Are you very proud of yourself? Do you know that your son is not having a good time either? Today he will have to watch his mother die with his own eyes, hahaha..."
Jiang Shuyi could no longer hear what she said. She wanted to pull the hemp rope around her neck, but the rope had already sunk deeply into her neck.
Everything in front of her eyes went dark, and the hatred in Jiang Shuyi's heart reached its peak at this moment.
Does Jiang Wanqing feel that she owes her a life by promising to take care of her?
The events of the past ten years flashed through her mind like a kaleidoscope, and Jiang Shuyi suddenly realized that her sister had never been sincere to her since she entered the palace.
She always looked timid, saying that this person was not a good person and that person had bad intentions. She said she was afraid that her sister and nephew would be harmed. She was so scared that she couldn't sleep all night long. Jiang Shuyi also became frightened. She wanted to protect her sister and cub like a cat with its fur standing on end, and then she went crazy and hurt people.
The result...haha.
Before losing consciousness, Jiang Shuyi gritted her teeth and thought: Jiang Wanqing, if there is an afterlife, I will not let you go.
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