Entering the palace means entering a high position; I'm His Majesty's cousin, who am I afr

When she received the news, Empress Luo was struck dumb and almost fainted.

Fortunately, Lianqiao reacted quickly and caught her in time.

Empress Luo sat absentmindedly on the bed.

She couldn't figure it out.

Does His Majesty hate her to this extent?

They treated her so heartlessly, continuing to imprison her.

"Hahahaha..."

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but Empress Luo laughed instead, a laugh that was both self-deprecating and poignant.

Lianqiao was too frightened to go forward and only stood guard at the entrance of the palace.

After an unknown amount of time, Empress Luo's laughter finally stopped. She wiped away the tears on her face, stood up, and walked outside.

When she arrived at the entrance of Chengxi Palace, the guards stopped her as usual.

Empress Luo's eyes were cold and resolute: "I wish to see His Majesty."

The guard clasped his hands in a respectful bow: "Your Majesty, please return. His Majesty will naturally come to visit you when he has time."

Empress Luo's voice suddenly rose, sharp and piercing: "Get out of my way, I want to see His Majesty."

The guards remained unmoved.

Empress Luo was furious and tried to force her way out, but as a woman, her strength was ultimately limited, and she could not budge the guards at all.

She reached out and pulled out the hairpin, holding it to her neck, threatening, "Get out of my way! Otherwise, if I die here, you will not be able to bear the consequences."

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment.

That's absolutely true.

After all, the imperial message only instructed them to guard the gates of Chengxi Palace, not to disregard the Empress's safety. If anything were to happen to the Empress as a result, they would naturally be held accountable.

The group exchanged glances, and the head guard stepped aside first, with the others no longer obstructing them.

Empress Luo's gaze was calm and cold as she strode towards the palace gate.

She had just stepped out of the palace gate when a heavy force suddenly struck her, and a sharp pain shot through her back.

Caught off guard, she was plunged into darkness.

The head of the guards at the gate had palace servants carry the unconscious Empress Luo into the hall, and then hurriedly went to the emperor to report the news.

Upon learning this, Qing'an's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly entered the hall, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, something has happened at Chengxi Palace."

The man sitting behind the long table, after hearing the whole story, showed no change in expression. "I understand."

Qing'an couldn't guess what he was thinking for a moment.

Does saying "I understand" mean they're going to meet? Or are they ignoring it altogether?

Seeing that the emperor said nothing more, Qing'an wisely withdrew.

*

When Empress Luo woke up, she found herself lying on the couch. Recalling the hand chop, she realized that she had been deceived.

She desperately wanted to see the emperor, and now that she hadn't succeeded, she naturally wouldn't give up.

And so another commotion broke out.

The commotion at Chengxi Palace was quite significant, and many of the concubines in the six palaces had heard about it.

Shen Jiayu also found out, but didn't care.

She's very busy right now, making wristbands for the Duke of Zhenguo, and has no time to deal with these things.

So what if Empress Luo makes a scene?

It will only make the situation worse. It's better to stop having illusions, think things through, and live a more peaceful life.

However, she couldn't control what Empress Luo wanted to do, since she wouldn't be the one to suffer the consequences anyway.

After making a scene for several days, Empress Luo finally got what she wanted.

On the sixth night after the fire at Fengyi Palace, she met the Emperor.

The emperor, dressed in a dark brocade robe, maintained his usual aloof and noble demeanor, exuding an overwhelming sense of oppression.

Unreachable and unattainable.

Empress Luo tidied her appearance, which was somewhat disheveled from her earlier crying, and pursed her lips. "Your Majesty has finally arrived."

The emperor sat on his throne in the main hall, looking down at her. "Why do you wish to see me?"

Empress Luo glanced up, a hint of barely suppressed resentment flashing across her face: "Your Majesty, you haven't ordered the Fengyi Palace to be repaired. Do you intend to trap me here for the rest of my life?"

This is also the news she has heard in the past two days.

Since the fire at Fengyi Palace, His Majesty has not ordered the Six Bureaus to repair it! He only ordered people to clean up the ruins and did a simple tidying up.

This news further disheartened Empress Luo.

Upon hearing this, Pei Yan replied expressionlessly, "Isn't this what you wanted?"

Empress Luo was taken aback: "What did Your Majesty say?"

Pei Yan said coldly, "The Sixth Bureau has already interrogated the palace servants on duty that day and also went to the main hall of Fengyi Palace to investigate. That fire was not an accident, but a deliberate act."

Empress Luo froze, involuntarily taking a step back.

Pei Yan scrutinized her, his gaze sharp and piercing: "It's you, isn't it?"

Empress Luo remained silent for a moment, then directly admitted it, her eyes filled with sorrow, "It was my doing, but so what? If I hadn't done it, did His Majesty intend to confine me to Fengyi Palace for the rest of my life? No, now His Majesty has already done it, wanting to trap me in Chengxi Palace to live out my days!"

The pent-up emotions of the past six months erupted at this moment.

Empress Luo's emotions poured out, and she became somewhat out of control.

Her dignified face twisted slightly: "Just because of that palace banquet, Your Majesty hates me so much? Not only did you elevate Consort Hui to such a high position to suppress and provoke me, but you also set a trap to imprison me. But I had my reasons back then. As the Empress, I had been childless for many years, and this was a last resort. Why can't Your Majesty understand me even once? How can you be so heartless?"

Pei Yan looked at the Empress Luo, who was already somewhat delirious, and said calmly, "I gave you a choice. When Consort Lan gave birth to Qi Zhan, I asked you, out of consideration for our relationship, whether you wanted to raise Qi Zhan as your own son, but you refused."

Empress Luo's chest heaved as she retorted, "Consort Lan is merely the daughter of a merchant, of lowly birth. How could her child be worthy of being the legitimate heir? Not to mention that the Crown Prince is weak and incompetent, incapable of shouldering great responsibilities and utterly unfit for important duties!"

A chill ran through Pei Yan's eyes, and he said in a cold tone, "Luo family, you are too greedy."

Empress Luo's pupils contracted, understanding his unspoken meaning.

It turned out to be the case.

He was saying that out of consideration for this relationship, he was only asking her to raise the prince; she was overthinking things and even dreaming of reaching the highest palace.

As her emotions erupted, Empress Luo's voice grew increasingly rough, hoarse, and unpleasant: "But I am the Empress, and if I have a child, I naturally have to think long-term..."

Pei Yan abruptly interrupted her, his imposing presence almost suffocating her: "So you dare to scheme against me? Luo Shi, who gave you the audacity?"

Empress Luo looked at the aloof and cold emperor on the throne.

At that moment, she finally understood why she had ended up in this situation.

Even her beloved younger sister, Consort Hui, was mistaken.

Consort Hui once told her, "In the imperial family, husband and wife should be ruler and subject first, then husband and wife."

Only now does she understand that in the emperor's heart, there are only ruler and subject, not husband and wife.

He never considered her his wife.

From beginning to end, she was nothing more than a subject.

In his mind, her scheming against the emperor was treason.

At this moment, the last glimmer of hope in Empress Luo's heart was completely swallowed up by the deep darkness of the night.