Yu Yao, upon hearing the news in the Qionghua Palace, simply sighed softly.
She looked at the baby boy and the little princess in the cradle, filled with a sense of relief.
If it were not for her vigilance, she might already have fallen behind Yunfei.
Jianfei also received the news in the Ningshuang Palace, and she held her son, the Crown Prince, closer in her arms.
The Crown Prince had recovered much of his health during this period of nurturing, his little face flushed, and his eyes sparkling brightly as he looked around.
Jianfei felt a complex mix of emotions in her heart, the Empress had indeed done harm, but she was an indirect beneficiary.
If it were not for the Empress' betrayal of Yunfei, the Crown Prince's fate wouldn't have fallen onto her shoulders either.
Jianfei's heart was complex, she felt that the Empress, who had yet to have any children of her own, was being overly hasty in striking others.
In the west side hall of Yihetian, Shufenguan knew that she had been drugged, her heart was filled with fear and anger.
She had been looking forward with joy to the birth of the child in her womb, daydreaming about the appearance of the baby after its arrival.
However, all of these beautiful imaginings have been shattered by the Empress's evil actions.
Shufenguan sat on the bed, her hands tightly covering her already bulging belly for seven months, tears welling up in her eyes.
Her personal maid, Biyan, stood beside her, both shocked and scared, not knowing how to comfort her mistress.
"Biyan, why? Why does the Empress have to be so cruel? I've never wronged anyone."
Shufenguan, with tears blurring her eyes, asked angrily.
Biyan bit her lip and said in a low voice, "Madam, in the royal concubines' quarters, the competition for favor and power is too cruel. The Empress may be afraid that after you give birth to a prince, it will threaten her position."
Shufenguan felt a sense of desolation in her heart. She had always been careful in surviving in the palace, never participating in any disputes, and only thinking about having a safe delivery of her child.
"What should I do? My child...?"
Saying this, her hand instinctively clutched her belly more tightly.
She didn't want to die, she didn't want her child, who she had struggled to bring into the world, to be given to someone else.
And she didn't want the child to be born as weak as the Crown Prince had been initially…
Shufenguan became extremely emotional and suddenly thought of Yu Yao, Concubine Chen.
"Yes, let's go find Concubine Chen, she must have a way to save me..."
Shufenguan wiped her tears away and went to the Qionghua Palace with her belly in her arms.
Biyan and the other palace maids followed carefully behind.
As night fell, the Forbidden City was shrouded in a sense of menacing aura.
Qin mother, secret guards, midwife, all to be executed in the prison on that night.
Palace of Benevolence.
The former majesty has long disappeared, and it is now like an isolated island being devoured by darkness.
The red gate was tightly closed, yet it could not block the deathly silence emanating from within.
The Empress sat on the throne in the main hall, her makeup still delicate, but her eyes were empty and lackluster, as if she were a wooden doll without a soul.
The palace maids and eunuchs stood far away, afraid to approach her, and the entire palace was silent except for the faint sound of breathing.
Jin Xuan knew she was in a corner, anger and unwillingness surging within her, yet she understood that the situation was beyond salvage.
"I wish to see the Emperor..."
The Empress struggled to hold on to her body, and spoke to the attendant Jinyuan beside her.
Jinyuan knew this journey was fraught with danger, yet she dare not disobey, and could only hurry to the Imperial Study to seek an audience.
The Imperial Study.
Emperor Jing put down his brush, slowly walked to the window, looking outside at the scenery, filled with a complex mix of emotions.
He remembered his moments with the Empress, though their affection was not deep, she was his original wife and they had once shared a period of love and happiness.
Young couples are always beautiful.
Just as he surrounded himself with more and more beauties, the Empress became increasingly focused on power, coupled with her personality that was not to his liking, causing their relationship to gradually wane.
Although their relationship had cooled off, he had always respected the Empress and never treated her unfairly.
At this moment, Lu Xi hurriedly entered and reported, "Your Majesty, the Empress... no... Concubine Zhao wishes to see Your Majesty."
As the Empress had been abolished of all titles and became a commoner, she no longer deserved to be addressed as Your Majesty the Empress.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jing fell silent, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.
After a long time.
"Never mind, considering we were once married, I will go to see her for the last time."
He heaved a sigh and stepped out of the Imperial Study.
Palace of Benevolence.
Emperor Jing also didn't know how long it had been since he last visited this place. He felt that the palace was somehow unfamiliar to him.
He stepped through the palace gate, and the palace was so quiet, like a deep pool into which a stone has been thrown, causing ripples to spread out.
The Empress sat on the phoenix chair in the main hall, her simple court dress seemed to blend in with the surrounding deathly silence.
Her makeup was still exquisite, but her eyebrows and eyes revealed deep fatigue and sorrow to the bone.
Their eyes met, as if they had traveled through the years back to the naivety and innocence of their first encounter.
"Your Majesty, you have finally come..."
The Empress wanted to speak but hesitated, tears welling up in her eyes.
Emperor Jing looked at the Empress in front of him, once his wife, now so destitute, feeling a mix of emotions in his heart.
But more than that, he was filled with anger at her crimes, "Empress, do you know what you have done?"
The Empress lowered her head, and tears finally fell: "The Empress knows she is guilty, but everything the Empress has done is to maintain the dignity of the imperial family and to maintain peace in the palace."
"Peace? The peace you speak of is built upon the suffering and lives of others!"
Emperor Jing's voice rose a few notches, but then returned to its calmness. "I remember that when we were young, we also had a sweet time. Then, you were gentle and virtuous, and I thought I had found a lifelong companion. But later, I found that you were becoming increasingly unfamiliar and cold."
The Empress heard this, tears fell like broken beads: "Your Majesty, the Empress is also human and has feelings. How could the Empress not be bitter seeing you show favor to other concubines? The Empress has no children, and can only place her hopes on the order of the palace, thinking that only in this way can she hold onto your heart."
"Keep the Emperor's heart?"
Emperor Jing sneered, "Empress, you are mistaken. True feelings are not maintained by calculations and schemes. Concubine Chen, though she comes from humble origins, is pure and kind-hearted, and dares to speak out her mind, which is what the Emperor admires. But you, step by step, have walked down a road with no return."
The Empress cried without sound, "Your Majesty, I have always wanted to be a virtuous empress, to raise the standard of the world together with you, and spend the rest of my life with you. But Your Majesty, Your Majesty is capricious and generous, first favoring the beautiful Concubine Zhu Guifeng night after night and then falling in love with Concubine Chen. In your heart, where is there a place for me? Oh, Your Majesty, I am your wife..."
Emperor Jing was slightly stunned, he hadn't expected the Empress to say this.
He furrowed his brow, and a complex mixture of emotions flitted across his eyes, including anger and a hint of guilt that was barely perceptible.
"As the emperor, it is common for there to be numerous beauties in the harem. You, as the queen, should lead by example, showing great composure and tolerance. How could you commit such a great sin out of jealousy?"
Emperor Jing's voice softened slightly, but remained cold and imposing.
The Empress laughed bitterly, "Composure and tolerance? Your Majesty, how can the Empress be composed? Watching those women one by one give birth to children for you while the Empress has nothing. In this deep palace, without children there is no reliance. The Empress is afraid, afraid that one day she will be replaced, trampled upon, and also afraid that Your Majesty will dismiss the harem and depose the Empress for Concubine Chen..."
Your Majesty has already stopped calling for concubines with green headbands, and such a thing is just a matter of time.
The Empress did not feel that she had done anything wrong, what was wrong was not being careful enough, and was discovered, which led to her current situation.
Emperor Jing fell silent for a long time after hearing the Empress's words, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.
He had indeed once had such thoughts; Yao'er was the woman he loved the most.
He had also promised her that they would spend their lives together, forever and ever, in a pair. They would be by each other's side, sharing the world's prosperity and wealth.
The Empress, as his original wife, became a bit of an eyesore.
But he hadn't done anything wrong, either.
After a long silence, Emperor Jing spoke complexly, "Empress, even if you have a thousand reasons, this is not the reason for you to harm the children and concubines."
The Empress let out a pitiful laugh, her tears blurring her vision.
She knew she could no longer make things right, and she could only beg, "Your Majesty, the Empress knows that her sins are deep, but I humbly beg you, as we were once husband and wife, to spare my family; they are innocent."
Emperor Jing remained silent for a moment, and finally sighed, "Empress, you have committed great sins, and I have not ordered the execution of your entire family, saving their lives out of the sentiment of our being married."
The Empress heard this, her tears gushing forth like a spring, wailing, "Your Majesty, you have such a heartless nature."
Emperor Jing's expression was complex, though his heart was unwilling, he didn't say anything else and turned to leave slowly.
The Empress watched the back of Emperor Jing as he left, despairingly slumped in the phoenix chair.
The palace maids and eunuchs dared not breathe a word.
Soon, Lu Xi carried in a tray. On the tray were white silk threads, poisoned wine, and daggers.
Lu Xi bowed his head, his expression complex, "Concubine Zhao, this is the edict from the Emperor. Please end it yourself."
The Empress looked at the things on the tray, a pitiful smile on her face.
She knew that she was doomed to die today. She thought back on her life.
From her initial marriage into the East Palace as the concubine of the Crown Prince, to her grand entrance into the central palace and eventual glory, to today's betrayal and humiliation, her heart was filled with seething anger.
She slowly picked up the cup of poisoned wine, her eyes flashed with a thick resentment. Biting her teeth, she said, "Concubine Chen, you this tempting woman, today I may die, but I curse you. May you be transformed into a mouse in your next life, and I will become a cat. We will pursue and bite each other for eternity, so that you may never have peace in this life and suffer and die forever."
She drank the poisoned wine in one gulp.
Lu Xi listened attentively and was greatly alarmed, knowing that this matter was not something to be taken lightly.
After the Empress's poison took effect and she died, he hastily ordered her body to be properly collected and made arrangements for her affairs after death.
He dared not delay for a moment and, after everything was properly arranged, he hurriedly went to the Imperial Study.
When Lu Xi entered the Imperial Study, Emperor Jing was frowning as he reviewed the petitions.
Lu Xi rushed to his knees, his forehead pressed firmly against the ground, his voice trembling slightly as he reported, "Your Majesty, the servant has come to report a major matter. The deceased concubine Zhao... Before she died, she spoke out a very vicious curse towards Concubine Chen. The servant is too afraid to conceal anything, so I have come to inform Your Majesty."
After that, he recounted the curse that the Empress uttered just before her death in detail.
After finishing, he crawled on the ground, too afraid to look up, seemingly realizing the impending storm of rage.
At the sound of this, Emperor Jing's face instantly turned dark. He slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, grinding his teeth: "That wicked woman, having committed such heinous crimes, dared to curse Yao'er on her deathbed. She deserves to die."
He paced back and forth in the Imperial Study, the rage in his heart still difficult to quench.
He suddenly stopped and, loudly addressing Lu Xi, said, "Transmit the Emperor's edict. The Zhao family has committed so many crimes. They dared to curse Concubine Chen now. The Emperor cannot tolerate it anymore. The Emperor requires that all members of the Zhao family be made slaves for generations to come and whores for generations to follow. They are not to be forgiven. And from now on, cats are not allowed in the palace."
Then, thinking further, he continued, "Also issue an edict that from the time the child turns one month old, the Emperor and Yao'er will go out of the palace for a tour. In addition, throughout the Great Qing Empire, no cats are to be allowed. In short, cats must not exist within the borders of the Great Qing Empire."
The Emperor's edict was like a boulder dropped into a tranquil lake, causing ripples to spread across the previous imperial harem and court.
In the court, when the ministers heard this news, they all showed expressions of disbelief.
The Zhao family was suddenly plunged into a disaster.
The Zhao family's mansion was surrounded by soldiers. The men were driven out roughly, their faces filled with terror and confusion.
Some elderly men were shaken and dragged out, while children nearby cried loudly, only to be shouted down by the soldiers.
The men's hands were bound with ropes, forming a chain. Under the escort of the soldiers, they stumbled forward toward an unknown place of slavery, with eyes filled with despair.
The women wailed and cried, but were forcibly dragged to the Teachments Department.
The young women were haggard and their hair was disheveled. Their struggles and cries were futile in the face of the soldiers.
Once pampered and well-raised young ladies, now resembled lambs to be slaughtered. They were herded into the disgraceful Teachments Department.
What awaited them was endless torment and the miserable fate of being a courtesan.
The entire capital was thrown into chaos because of this incident.
Every street and alley were filled with discussions about the fate of the Zhao family, and people showed expressions of fear.
In the teahouse, where the lively chatter and laughter had been just moments ago, silence fell as people whispered to each other: "The Zhao family, due to the Empress's evil deeds and curses, have suffered such a fate. It's truly terrifying."
Even the street vendors had no heart to do business; they were all talking about the impact of the royal court's affairs on the capital.
The people were filled with unease. They didn't know if such a court upheaval would affect their own lives.
And the officials were even more cautious. They warned their families to act low-profile, afraid that they might accidentally be drawn into the whirlpool of palace intrigue.
At the same time, Emperor Jing's ban on cats swept across the country like a storm.
In the palace, a few cats that were previously used for catching rats had now been driven out.
The palace maids and eunuchs searched everywhere, fearing that they might miss a single cat and offend the Dragon.
Outside the palace, it was even more chaotic.
The news quickly spread through the streets and alleys of the capital, causing panic in every household.
Those who kept cats either heartlessly killed them to avoid punishment for being found.
Others released the cats into the distant suburbs under the cover of darkness.
As time went on, this news spread nationwide.
Whether it was the prosperous towns or the remote villages, this edict was being enforced.
In one night, countless cats were either killed or banished, their cries echoing like the background music of the nation's upheaval.
The news quickly spread to the Qionghuang Palace.
Yu Yao, despite being on maternity leave, was not completely isolated from the outside world.
She had heard about what the Empress had done, as well as the venomous curse she uttered before her execution, but she did not care.
She is a taskmaster and has no need to be reincarnated, so she naturally cannot become a mouse or a cat like the Empress.
She heard that Emperor Jing had issued a nationwide ban on cats, feeling both sad and amused. The common people must think she is a demon queen.
She was about to send Xiaoqing to call the Emperor over so she could talk about this matter properly.
Just then, Shu Concubine, carrying a large belly, came to find herself, looking anxious and tears in her eyes.
Shu Concubine rushed in, holding her belly and hastily bowing, sobbing and pleading, "Sister Chen, please save me and my unborn child."
Yu Yao was startled by seeing Shu Concubine bowing with a large belly, and hurriedly instructed Amber and Jade to help support her.
After helping Shu Concubine sit down, she then said, "Sister Shu, please don't panic. I've also heard about your situation. Don't be too alarmed. The palace physicians are skilled in their craft and can ensure both your safety and that of the fetus you carry. Please calm down."
"Thank you, Sister Chen. I'm really afraid, afraid of ending up like Consort Yun. I'm still so young; I don't want to die, and I don't want my child, who might have been born to a narrow escape from death, to end up in someone else's hands. Please save me, Sister Chen."
Shu Concubine was extremely emotional and said with a worried expression.
Yu Yao felt helpless in her heart and could only keep consoling her gently.
After that, she instructed Xiaoqing to send for the palace physician.
