Before long, the day of the palace banquet arrived. Shang Shaoyan did not wear the palace attire befitting a county princess, but instead donned more practical riding clothes. She carried a dagger and a signal flare in her bosom, and made an appointment with Hua Qing to lead the army into the imperial city at the end of the day. After that, she prepared to enter the palace.
Bai Feng was very worried about this: "Princess, I'm afraid your attire is not in accordance with the rules."
Shang Shaoyan smiled and casually stepped onto the carriage: "What rules? I am the rule."
After saying that, she didn't explain anything further to Bai Feng and closed her eyes to take a nap, leaving Bai Feng, who had followed her into the palace, feeling uneasy the whole way.
The palace guards were already under Shang Yunlan's control. When Shang Shaoyan's carriage stopped at the palace gate, the guard leader gave her a barely perceptible nod.
Shang Shaoyan smiled, then looked at the majestic imperial city buildings and stepped into the palace gate first.
...
The Southern Chen Dynasty, the imperial palace.
Lu Yi sat in the imperial study, feeling extremely restless and uneasy.
He heard that the Princess of Heyang had led a large army to garrison in the suburbs and was carrying the late emperor's decree. Without even thinking, he knew that this was his good nephew's trump card.
If it weren't for the fact that he had no children and that his position wasn't obtained through illegitimate means... Lu Yi's expression was gloomy as he led several palace servants towards the residence of the Dowager Consort.
The late Emperor Lu Zhi did not have many concubines left. Currently, there are only the Empress, Consort Shu, Consort Liang, and one Beauty.
The palace servants following behind him naturally recognized that this was the road to Chaolu Palace. They were all somewhat hesitant, but no one dared to speak up. They could only resign themselves to their fate, lower their heads, and follow behind Lu Yi.
As soon as Lu Yi reached the entrance of Chaolu Palace, he heard a commotion coming from inside.
It was Empress Li and Consort Shu.
"The late emperor has passed away, and you are no longer the Empress Dowager. Who are you putting on this act for?" Su Qianqian was already short-tempered and spoiled. When Lu Zhi was alive, she could barely restrain herself, but now she had reverted to her original self. "I have always been most disgusted by your hypocritical and malicious face. You dare to harm people but dare not admit it. Li Shuyan, you really disgust me."
Empress Li seemed flustered, and she raised her voice: "I did not harm her!"
Su Qianqian sneered, her voice sharp: "You can even lay a hand on your own cousin and niece, what else are you incapable of doing?"
Empress Li scoffed, her tone laced with sarcasm: "I admit that Li Shuangyan's entry into the palace was my doing, but Li Langhuan—I have never touched her!"
Lu Yi listened for a moment, then kicked open the door of Chaolu Palace. Looking at the suddenly silent crowd, his expression was sinister: "Why aren't you continuing?"
Su Qianqian gave Lu Yi a forced smile and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
The others quickly followed suit and bowed, it seemed that they were now led by Consort Shu.
Lu Yi glanced at Empress Li, who kept her head bowed, and smiled slightly. He then said to the eunuch behind him, "My sister-in-law was saddened to hear of my brother's passing. It is understandable that she died suddenly from an illness."
Before the eunuch could respond, Empress Li raised her head in disbelief: "Lu Yi!"
Lu Yi ignored her and continued to instruct the eunuch: "Be quick and efficient, I still have a palace banquet to hold."
The eunuch bowed respectfully and said, "Yes."
Su Qianqian's brow twitched, and she glanced subtly at the pale-faced Empress Li—she seemed to want to speak, but the eunuch covered her mouth.
Su Qianqian knew that Lu Yi was making an example of Lu Zhi to warn others. On the day Lu Zhi "passed away," all of them were present and witnessed Lu Yi strangling Lu Zhi. She was one of the smarter ones and left Lu Zhi's palace immediately after realizing something was wrong, but Lu Yi still found her.
Consort Liang and the beauty surnamed Zhu watched as Empress Li slowly lost her life, both trembling with fear. Lu Yi was very satisfied with this scene, but when he looked at Su Qianqian, he found that the latter was not afraid at all, but raised her eyebrows and looked at him with a smile.
Lu Yi was enraged, but he couldn't touch Su Qianqian because she still had a handwritten edict from Lu Zhi, which Lu Zhi had personally told the Consort Shu about the matter of the heir, which was placed there in front of all the officials.
Therefore, Lu Yi could only glare at Su Qianqian with resentment and say meaningfully, "Consort Shu, you'd better behave yourself from now on."
Su Qianqian smiled radiantly and curtsied, saying, "Your Majesty, I respectfully see you off. Your subject obeys your decree."
Lu Yi then left.
Su Qianqian stood in the light of the setting sun, looking down at the unseeing corpse of Empress Li, and suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter. Consort Liang and Consort Zhu stared at her in fear and astonishment.
Su Qianqian looked at the woman she had fought with for three or four years who had died in a very undignified manner, and she couldn't describe what she felt.
They were all the same, pitiful people confined to the deep palace—and what was even more ridiculous was that Su Qianqian knew she was imprisoned, while Li Shuyan did not know it was a constraint and even enjoyed it.
Su Qianqian heard Consort Liang and Consort Zhu crying behind her, and felt only mockery in her heart—of those who have survived to this day, where are there any truly innocent and kind people? They are just feeling sorry for the dead Empress Li.
For example, Consort Liang lost a prince and was responsible for at least ten deaths; and Consort Zhu's hands were not clean either...
Who is more pitiful?
Who is more hateful?
After a long while, Su Qianqian seemed to have finished laughing. She wiped away the tears that had come out of her eyes and waved to the palace maids guarding outside: "Go and bury the Empress."
...
Shang Shaoyan was led into the Taiji Palace, where the banquet was being held, and he was stared at by many people along the way.
The eunuch beside the crown prince approached her respectfully and said, "Princess, His Highness invites you to sit next to him."
Shang Shaoyan nodded indifferently and followed the eunuch to the front few seats, which immediately attracted more attention.
The Crown Prince had already reserved a seat for Shang Shaoyan. When he saw her arrive, he gave a deliberately charming smile: "Princess Heyang, it's been a long time."
Shang Shaoyan: "..."
She looked at the prince, whose left cheek was described as "wicked" and whose right cheek as "greasy," paused for a moment in an eerie silence, and then smiled and said, "Your Highness, we don't seem to have met before."
Crown Prince: "...?"
He was immediately furious and wanted to fly into a rage, but when he thought about how he desperately needed Shang Shaoyan's help to make a comeback, he could only swallow his anger and said with a forced smile, "Your Highness is so humorous. Please sit down."
Shang Shaoyan then sat down leisurely. Before long, everyone had arrived, except for Lu Yi and the current Empress.
Shang Shaoyan toyed with the wine glass in her hand but did not drink. The Crown Prince had been waiting for her to take the initiative to flatter him, but now that he saw Shang Shaoyan acting like this, he felt both anxious and frustrated.
After a long while, Shang Shaoyan seemed to notice the Crown Prince's hesitant expression and asked with a smile, "Does Your Highness have something to say?"
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