Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 205 should be banished to the cold palace...

When Murong heard that Empress Dowager Chen was so angry that she almost fainted, he rushed to Xianfu Palace immediately.

He looked at the room full of beautiful women, his expression imposing without anger, his brows furrowed and his eyes cold as he asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

The others didn't want to offend Liang Wanying, but Lou Suying wasn't afraid. Seeing that no one spoke up, she stepped forward to explain the situation.

Upon hearing Liang Wanying's treasonous remarks, Murong looked at Liang Wanying with icy eyes: "Consort Hui, is what Su Yi said true?"

Liang Wanying had never seen such a cold look in Murong's eyes. She feigned innocence, lowering her head slightly: "I was angry at the time and did not intend to harm the Empress Dowager. Even if you gave me a hundred lives, I would not dare to curse the Empress Dowager. Please, Your Majesty, see the truth."

She still relied on Murong's usual pampering and was reluctant to admit her mistakes.

Lou Suyi only told half the story. It was clearly Empress Dowager Chen who first humiliated her, and she only retaliated in anger? Is she the only one at fault, and Empress Dowager Chen is without fault?
Murong suddenly slammed his hand on the table and shouted in a deep voice, "Did I give you some kind of illusion, making you think that everyone can disrespect my mother?!"

The emperor was furious, and everyone turned pale with fright and knelt down in unison.

Liang Wanying originally did not want to kneel, but when Murong gave her a sharp look, she was so frightened that she turned pale and hurriedly knelt down as well.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. It was my fault. I will never dare to do it again!"

Now she finally understood that Murong was truly angry.

Murong curled her lips into a cold smile: "You know you're wrong? This is your attitude when you know you're wrong?!"

Liang Wanying was speechless. At first, she thought she could get away with it and that Murong wouldn't punish her for the sake of Empress Dowager Chen. It was only because Murong had been too lenient with her in the past that she had such a misconception.

Or perhaps it was during the reign of the late emperor that, no matter what she did, the late emperor always put her first, leading her to believe that Murong would be like the late emperor.

It turned out she had misunderstood.

"I truly know I was wrong, Your Majesty, please forgive me." Liang Wanying felt wronged and looked at Murong with teary eyes.

He publicly reprimanded her, making her lose face. Couldn't you be a little more lenient with her?

Murong, seemingly oblivious to the beauty's tears, coldly issued an imperial edict: "Consort Hui has shown disrespect to the Empress Dowager. She is to be fined one year's salary and confined to her quarters for three months to reflect on her actions. Without my order, she is not to step out of Quanfu Palace!"

Liang Wanying immediately collapsed, tears streaming down her face.

Murong then looked at the other concubines: "In today's chaos, not a single one of you stood up to stop it. Everyone here shall be fined three months' salary!"

With Liang Wanying as a cautionary tale, no one dared to show the slightest dissatisfaction, and they all expressed their gratitude.

"Everyone, disperse." Murong waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave Xianfu Palace.

The crowd withdrew one by one, none daring to look at Murong again.

After everyone left and the room returned to quiet, Murong asked Imperial Physician Liu to examine Empress Dowager Chen.

After examining her pulse, Imperial Physician Liu reported to Murong: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the Empress Dowager is merely suffering from a heart attack due to anger, and is otherwise fine. She will recover soon."

Murong breathed a sigh of relief and dismissed Physician Liu.

Lou Suyi felt quite guilty: "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have left."

If she were alive, she would never have given Liang Wanying the chance to anger Empress Dowager Chen.

After seeing Liang Wanying punished, Empress Dowager Chen felt much better and had recovered.

She also saw Lou Suyi protecting her, and her heart warmed. She stepped forward and took her hand: "It's none of your business. It's Consort Hui who is disrespectful to her elders. She thinks she is the only one in the harem and therefore doesn't care about me." After saying that, she looked at Murong reproachfully: "You saw it too. Liang is wicked. I advise you to stay away from her in the future."

Lou Suyi was worried that the mother and son would quarrel because of Liang Wanying, and was thinking about whether to intervene and change the subject, when she heard Murong reply: "I have already confined Consort Hui to her quarters. She will not appear in front of the Empress Dowager recently, so please rest assured."

"In my opinion, this kind of woman should be banished to the cold palace..."

Lou Suyi coughed twice forcefully, and the Emperor and Empress Dowager both looked at her.

Lou Suyi pointed to her throat: "It's a little itchy, I want to drink some water."

As she spoke, she placed the child in Murong's arms, saying, "Your Majesty rarely comes here, please hold Chen'er. My arms are getting tired from holding him."

Murong took Xiao Muchen and weighed it in her hand: "It is indeed heavy."

The little guy changes every day; right now he's grinning at him, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons. The child is dressed all in red, like a New Year's picture doll, looking very festive.

His heart softened, and he kissed the little guy on the cheek, making the little guy wave his hands and laugh even more happily.

Seeing Murong holding the child, Empress Dowager Chen decided not to mention Liang Wanying, that spoilsport, anymore.

Su Yi knew that she was using the child to distract the mother and son because she didn't want to see them arguing.

This time, Lady Liang did not fare well against her and was punished by the emperor with confinement, which was actually a good thing.

Since we're not talking about Lady Liang, let's discuss the matter of establishing an empress. With only Su Yi present, she couldn't very well ask.

"Suyi, go to the small kitchen and tell them that the Emperor is dining at Xianfu Palace today," Empress Dowager Chen said to Lou Suyi.

Lou Suyi thought to herself that she had never been asked to deliver messages before. Today, Empress Dowager Chen asked her to go to the small kitchen. She guessed that it was to get her away and talk to Murong about sensitive topics.

For example, a major event like choosing an empress...

"Alright, I'll go tell Granny Fan to make more of His Majesty's favorite dishes." Lou Suying said, and quickly walked away.

Empress Dowager Chen and Murong watched Lou Suying's departing figure, both of them momentarily lost in thought.

Once Empress Dowager Chen was certain that Lou Suying had gone far away, she asked, "Is the Emperor planning to appoint an Empress?"

Murong didn't reply, and continued to tease little Mu Chen.

Seeing this, Empress Dowager Chen continued to probe: "Does the Emperor already have a suitable candidate in mind?"

At least when she raised this question, Murong didn't deny it. Doesn't this mean her guess was correct? He does indeed intend to establish an empress, and may already have a candidate in mind.

Murong seemed not to hear Empress Dowager Chen's words and poked little Muchen's pink face again.

When Empress Dowager Chen saw that he was avoiding the question, she bluntly stated: "Emperor, don't even think about avoiding this issue. As long as you don't establish an empress, those ministers will not give up their plans to send their daughters into the palace. They will only pressure you more."

Upon hearing this, Murong finally met Empress Dowager Chen's gaze: "Mother, who do you think should be chosen as the successor?"

"Of course, she should be virtuous and obedient, from a respectable family, and preferably a capable assistant to the emperor's imperial cause." Empress Dowager Chen had her answer without hesitation.

Murong Wan'er: "It seems that the person I have in mind does not meet the Empress Dowager's expectations."

Empress Dowager Chen's eyes lit up: "The Emperor really has a candidate? Who is it? Whose daughter is she? Could it be one of the concubines in the harem?"