The empress is both charming and seductive, rising through the ranks of palace intrigue.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Palace was surrounded by guards outside its walls.

With no one left to inform the Empress, she stood in the courtyard, staring intently in the direction of Zhaochen Palace.

Yes! She was waiting! Waiting for the bells to ring in the Emperor's death.

As long as the emperor doesn't wake up, he can't punish her. Once the emperor dies, she will rightfully become the Empress Dowager.

Unfortunately, what she received was not the sound of bells.

Instead, it was Eunuch Xi who arrived with the imperial edict deposing the empress and ordering her death.

The Empress was stunned, frozen in place, as if struck by lightning, by the words of Eunuch Xi.

At this point, Eunuch Xi no longer needed to be polite, and said coldly, "Your Majesty the Empress... oh no!"

He paused slightly, then said coldly, "Madam Feng, the Emperor has decreed that you be cut in half at the waist."

The Empress immediately came to her senses, abruptly stood up, and glared fiercely at Eunuch Xi: "Insolence! How dare you falsely convey an imperial edict!"

The Emperor was poisoned, and the poison was difficult to cure. Even the antidote was something she had gone to great lengths to obtain.

Even if the emperor were not dead, he would be unconscious at this moment.

How could he possibly write the edict to depose the empress?

Then there is only one possibility—it was all Consort Zhao's doing! She actually dared to forge an imperial edict.

The eunuch looked at the empress impatiently: "If you don't believe me, take a closer look. This is the emperor's handwriting."

After he finished speaking, he presented the imperial edict with both hands.

The Empress hurriedly took the imperial edict, and the moment she touched the handwriting, her pupils dilated violently, and she froze completely, murmuring, "The Emperor has awakened? He's been cured?"

"Now you are merely a sinner, how dare you interfere in the Emperor's affairs?"

The Empress shook her head in disbelief, her face deathly pale: "Impossible! Impossible! Where is the First Prince? Where is my father?"

She clearly instructed her father to bring the eldest prince into the palace, and those guards also had their own people, so if anything happened, someone would escort them into the palace.

What exactly went wrong?

What the Empress didn't expect was that Ning Shuyan had already received a carrier pigeon from the palace when her father went there.

Furthermore, Cheng Fei was stationed at the city gate and palace gate in case of emergency. With the general personally leading the troops to guard them, who would dare to rebel?

Moreover, the Feng family has no military power whatsoever.

The eunuch Xi raised his voice and said, "Returning to Duke Feng, the entire Feng family has already been imprisoned and is just waiting to be beheaded at the Meridian Gate tomorrow."

He paused, then gave a chilling smile: "Is Your Majesty worried that you'll be lonely in the underworld? Don't worry, plenty of people will keep you company tomorrow!"

The Empress's eyes gradually turned bloodshot, becoming unusually fierce and terrifying. She screamed madly, "I want to see the Emperor!"

The eunuch frowned at her screaming and winked at the eunuch behind him, saying, "She's no longer the Empress! Come forward and shut her up!"

The eunuchs quickly agreed, one stepping forward to restrain the empress while the other took out a wooden stopper.

The Empress roared, "Rebellion! You've all rebelled! I demand to see the Emperor! Hmm..."

Before she could finish speaking, the Queen's mouth was stuffed with a cork, and she could only make muffled sounds.

The eunuch raised his chin and said softly, "The Imperial Concubine said that Phoenix Palace was the place you, the Empress, were most reluctant to leave. Before you died, she granted your wish, allowing you to die in Phoenix Palace. She wanted you to see every blade of grass and every tree in this palace one last time, and... all those you harmed have come to take you away."

Although the empress could not speak, her eyes were wide open, as if they were about to burst into flames.

She harbored too much resentment and bitterness!

She hated the Feng family, hated their incompetence, hated their single-minded desire to groom her to be the mother of the nation, but they never taught her how to be a qualified wife and principal wife.

She hated Xiao Yu! She hated his ruthlessness, hated that he had placed her on the throne of empress, but had let her heart grow cold along with that throne.

I hate Ning Shuyan even more!

She never imagined that after defeating the Nangong clan, another Consort Zhao would appear, and she never expected that she would fall into her hands.

After struggling for a moment, she seemed to give in, knowing it was futile, and let the eunuchs force her to lie face down on the hard chopping board.

She looked up at everything in the courtyard, at the magnificent Phoenix Palace.

This place bestowed upon her supreme glory, but it was also because of this place, because of the Empress's throne, that she lost her conscience and lost her life, not even receiving a complete corpse in death.

However... she believed that Consort Zhao would be the next her.

They will all come to a bad end!

"Execute!" came the high-pitched, thin voice of Eunuch Xi.

The Queen slowly closed her eyes, hiding the last ray of sunlight into the infinite darkness.

It seems that death is not so scary.

What's terrifying is that in this life, besides wealth and glory, one gains nothing else.

She, Feng Yunxian, said that in her next life she would not ask for wealth, status, or honor, but only for her husband's heart.

From then on, in the eyes of the world, all that remained was the deposed empress and the sinner, Lady Feng.

There is no record of the name Feng Yunxian in historical books.

Subsequently, the palace issued another edict, which stated that the emperor was benevolent and, considering the concubines in the harem, had at least worked hard even if they had not made any great contributions.

Those who wish to leave the palace will be allowed to do so, and will be generously rewarded. Those who wish to remain in the palace will be allowed to enjoy their remaining years there.

Since Shen Cainu and He Baolin did not serve the emperor in bed, they should have either been buried alive with him after his death or become nuns.

Xiao Yu meant that since they had neither served nor slept with him, they could not be considered true imperial concubines. Not only were they rewarded, but their family members who were eligible for promotions were also given a rank increase.

This reward was undoubtedly due to Shen Cainu's connection with He Baolin.

He Baolin's father was favored by the Emperor and came from a scholarly family. The Emperor had now promoted him, bestowed rewards upon him, and allowed his daughter to return home and marry at her own discretion. This was already an act of great imperial grace.

He had previously worried that Consort Zhao's favor would cause his daughter to suffer injustice in the palace.

Now... I don't have to worry anymore. I don't have to worry about my daughter becoming a nun at such a young age.

Although Xiao Yu's decree was against the rules, it was made with a benevolent heart. Moreover, the king was about to ascend to heaven, so the ministers had nothing to say and even hoped for a miracle.

When the news came out, few of the concubines were willing to leave the palace, as they were all used to being served in the palace.

If the Emperor were to pass away, they would simply become widows. If the Emperor were to recover, they would simply fall out of favor.

However, everyone knew perfectly well that once the Emperor issued this decree, it was probably doomed to fail.

And they would become imperial concubines or imperial consorts.