Chapter 8
Qin Zheng had worried for nothing.
I had no desire to compete with his consorts for favor.
When he visited my palace, I served him with perfect obedience. When he did not, I went to Cining Palace to keep the Empress Dowager company.
The women of the harem knew that the Empress Dowager protected me. Once they saw that I had no interest in vying for favor, they left me alone.
Instead, they all turned on my sister.
She came from no great clan, possessed none of the dignity expected of the mother of the realm, and lacked the authority to command the harem.
Within a month of my arrival, she had already humiliated herself three times.
The first was when Noble Lady Shu provoked her to her face. A few barbed sentences left my sister scarlet with embarrassment. She opened her mouth to answer but stammered helplessly, unable to produce a single sharp reply.
In the end, she could only look to me for help.
I lowered my eyes and drank my tea.
The second incident occurred at the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. To please her, my sister presented longevity peaches she claimed to have made herself.
Someone had hidden a purgative in them.
After eating one, the Empress Dowager remained bedridden for days. She had never liked my sister’s temperament, and this disaster turned dislike into disgust.
Qin Zheng stripped my sister of her authority to assist in governing the Six Palaces.
Holding me in his arms, he sighed. “What has happened to the Empress in this life? She keeps making one foolish mistake after another. She was kindhearted before, but at least she was competent.”
I curled my lips in mockery and said nothing.
My sister came to me in tears. I brewed her a pot of tea and comforted her patiently.
The same thing had happened in our previous life. I had anticipated sabotage, tested the peaches in advance, discovered the poison, and replaced them before anyone was harmed.
The third incident involved Noble Consort Liu.
She accused my sister of practicing witchcraft to curse her. Witnesses and physical evidence supported the charge. The case was undeniable.
My sister knelt at Qin Zheng’s feet, tears streaming down her face.
Again and again, she repeated the same feeble defense. “It truly was not me. I have no way to prove my innocence…”
I quietly avoided her pleading gaze.
She had done it.
In my previous life, I had merely cleaned up her mess and taken every precaution so that she would never be caught.
Now the truth had come to light.
Before the Golden Throne Hall, Qin Zheng flew into a rage unlike anything anyone had seen.
After years of marriage, he had always believed that although the Empress was foolish, she was at least kind and honest. That was why he had accepted every word she spoke on her deathbed without question.
Now, for the first time, he saw his wife for what she was: stupid and base.
Could the last words of such a woman truly be trusted?
Qin Zheng did not dare follow the thought to its end.
He closed his eyes and saw Shen Wanning’s despairing face in his mind.
She had only just given birth. Still weak, she had dragged herself to his feet and begged in a trembling voice to see her child.
Just once.
If he had truly wronged her…
After half a lifetime of humiliation and the agony of being separated from her own flesh and blood, how could he ever repay what he had done?
Qin Zheng drafted a decree deposing the Empress.
He brought neither guards nor eunuchs and allowed no one to announce his arrival. Alone, he walked through the gates of Zhongcui Palace.
Shen Wanning reclined beneath a magnolia tree, teaching a parrot to speak.
She had always possessed the gift of finding ease wherever life placed her. In triumph or defeat, she found a path forward. Whenever he was with her, his heart settled.
Now, watching her peaceful profile, he felt an inexplicable terror.
She had been reborn, yet she still entered the palace and became his consort.
Why, then, did he feel that something between them had been lost forever?
Without a word, Qin Zheng pulled her into his arms.
Shen Wanning started and pushed at him with a laugh. “What is wrong, Your Majesty?”
“We will send the Empress to a Daoist convent to recuperate.”
The woman in his arms went still.
Qin Zheng kissed her hair, his voice low and hoarse. “Afterward, you will be the Empress We have chosen.”
“You will become the mother of the realm, govern the Six Palaces, and receive the reverence of all beneath heaven.”
He lowered his head, desperate to find even a flicker of joy in Shen Wanning’s eyes.
She only smiled.
“Your Majesty forgets that I am a woman of low character. How could I ever be worthy of succeeding as Empress?”