That Imperial Concubine is both wicked and cunning! Your Majesty, wake up!

Xia Yun knelt on the ground, head bowed, sobbing uncontrollably. "Your Majesty, it's true! The news has spread throughout the palace, and the imperial edict has already reached the Meridian Gate. Something really has happened!"

Consort Rong felt a "buzz" in her ears, as if a thunderclap had exploded.

Her vision blurred, and she felt rooted to the spot. The chill from her fingertips instantly spread to her limbs and bones, and her throat felt blocked, preventing her from making a sound.

Without warning, she fell forward and crashed heavily onto the cold gold bricks. The kingfisher feather hairpin in her hair fell to the ground with a "thud," breaking off a corner.

"Your Majesty!" Xia Yun scrambled over, grabbed her arm, and burst into tears. "Your Majesty, please don't frighten me..."

"Impossible..." Consort Rong's gaze was unfocused, her voice hoarse and barely audible. "This is impossible..."

Why wouldn't her father listen to her advice? Knowing that Prince Rui was ambitious, why did he still associate with him, and even... plot a rebellion? She had advised him repeatedly, but why was her father so stubborn?

With the passing of his grandfather and the imprisonment of his father, the Su family's glory was about to be lost.

The Su family is truly doomed.

The father was sentenced to death by a thousand cuts, and the mother and younger siblings were also in danger of losing their lives.

Consort Rong shook her head. No, absolutely not. She had to protect the Su family.

Consort Rong murmured to herself, "I have been with the Emperor for many years and we have a deep bond. My father is also the Emperor's tutor. The Emperor will surely show leniency out of consideration for our past relationship."

A moment later, Consort Rong stood up, her hair disheveled and her hairpins askew. Completely disregarding her appearance, she stumbled and rushed out of the palace.

Outside, heavy snow was falling, with snowflakes like shattered jade dancing in the air. Consort Rong didn't care about anything else. She neither summoned her sedan chair nor asked the palace servants to hold an umbrella for her. She rushed forward as if she had lost her soul.

Outside the Hall of Diligent Governance, Li Fuquan led several eunuchs to stop her.

Consort Rong, abandoning her usual haughty and arrogant demeanor, hunched her back and said, "Chief Eunuch Li, I have important matters to discuss with the Emperor. I hope you will convey my message."

Li Fuquan was also a shrewd person.

In the past, Consort Rong was arrogant because of his favor, and she often treated him coldly and even deliberately made things difficult for him. He remembered all of these things. Now that Consort Rong has fallen into such a state, he would never flatter and fawn over her as before.

Li Fuquan smirked, his tone cold and businesslike: "His Majesty has said that he will not see anyone today. Your Majesty, you should return."

Consort Rong's heart sank, but she was still unwilling to give up. She lowered her posture and said, "Steward Li, please, go and inform them again."

Li Fuquan didn't even lift his eyelids. "Your Majesty, please don't make things difficult for this servant anymore." After saying that, he composed himself and stood outside the door with his head bowed.

Consort Rong bit her lower lip hard, and blood instantly seeped from it. She lifted her skirt and knelt down on the ground outside the Hall of Diligent Governance with a thud.

Consort Rong kowtowed and shouted towards the direction of the palace, "The daughter of this sinful official, Lady Su, requests an audience with Your Majesty."

"The daughter of a disgraced official, surnamed Su, requests an audience with the Emperor."

"The daughter of a disgraced official, surnamed Su, requests an audience with the Emperor."

She cried out again and again, kowtowing repeatedly, each time with a more desperate and vehement voice, each time with a heavier thud. But the Hall of Diligent Governance remained silent, as if the pleas of the wind and snow outside had nothing to do with the person inside.

The wind and snow intensified, the snow fell even more heavily, and the goose-feather snowflakes stung her face. Consort Rong shivered uncontrollably from the cold, and her ten fingers turned bluish-purple from the cold.

Later, she hit her forehead and a bloody gash appeared, the blood slowly seeping down and staining the cold ground.

Her voice grew softer and hoarser, "Your Majesty, I beg to see you. I only ask that Your Majesty see me once."

She didn't know how much time had passed, but as her consciousness began to fade, a cold voice finally echoed from within the hall:

"Let her in."

Upon entering the hall, Consort Rong staggered and knelt on the gold bricks, pleading repeatedly:

"Your Majesty, I know my father is guilty of grave sins, but I beg you to consider our past relationship, to spare his life, for the sake of the decades of teacher-student bond he has shared with you, and for the sake of the many years we have known each other."

She kowtowed repeatedly, crying as she continued, "Your Majesty, for Shu'er's sake, I beg you to spare my father's life."

On the throne, Xiao Yan suddenly chuckled softly, the laughter extremely faint, "Do you know what crime your father committed?"

Consort Rong trembled slightly, her face turned almost bluish-white, and the light in her eyes dimmed in an instant.

Yes, treason is a heinous crime that can implicate nine generations of one's family. Even being slowly sliced ​​to death or having one's bones crushed and scattered to the winds is too lenient.

Consort Rong slightly raised her head, her eyes still glistening with tears. "Your Majesty, Father must have been deceived by Prince Rui. He is your tutor, having taught you for decades. Don't you know what kind of person he is?"

Xiao Yan's face was clouded with gloom. With a heavy flick of his wrist, several letters on the imperial desk floated down to Consort Rong's feet.

The envelope was unfolded, revealing not only her handwriting but also a reply from her father.

Consort Rong read through the letter one by one. In her father's reply, he instructed her to be careful with her words and actions, to be obedient and keep the emperor's mind at ease. He was determined to succeed in this matter. If she could succeed, the Su family's reputation would rise to a new level, far beyond what it was today.

Consort Rong's eyes slowly reddened, and tears silently streamed down her face.

It turned out that all of her father's replies had been intercepted by the emperor, and her correspondence with her father was entirely under the emperor's control.

The Emperor had long suspected her and the Su family; it wasn't something that happened overnight, but rather a very, very long time ago.

Xiao Yan said, "Consort Rong, I have already been more than kind to the Su family. And even more so to you."

For you even more so.

These four words were like a knife plunged into her heart.

Consort Rong knew she couldn't persuade the Emperor to change his mind.

Because the Emperor had long been wary of the Su family, both of her father and her.

Consort Rong sorted through all the letters one by one.

Xiao Yan's fingertips caressed the jade thumb ring, his tone utterly devoid of warmth: "You are Shu'er's mother, I will spare your life."

"From this moment forward, you are no longer Consort Rong, but have been demoted to Imperial Concubine. Shu'er can no longer be raised by your side. I will choose a virtuous concubine to raise her. From now on, I will not allow her to be corrupted by you, nor will I allow her to become a pawn in your struggle for favor and to secure your position."

Xiao Yan raised his eyes and looked at Consort Rong's pale face. "You no longer need to live in Zhaoyang Palace. Move to Lengquan Palace. It's a remote and quiet place, perfect for you to reflect on your mistakes in seclusion."

Lengquan Palace is the most remote palace, overgrown with weeds, no different from a cold palace.

Your Majesty truly has no regard for past feelings whatsoever.

Consort Rong gazed at the indifferent figure on the throne; it seemed she had never truly understood the Emperor.

"All the affection you've shown me these past few days has been fake."

Blood streamed down her forehead, mingling with her tears, making her look utterly disheveled. "And today, you stood up for Consort Yuan. In your heart, I am not even a fraction like her, not even comparable to her, is that it?"

Xiao Yan parted his thin lips slightly: "Yes."

His unhesitating words stunned Consort Rong.

"You can't compare to her in any way. Ningning is kind and innocent, what about you?"

Ningning?

That day, that sound wasn't calling her.

Was he calling for Yuan Jieyu?

It turned out that the Emperor had shown her absolutely no affection or joy.

Ha, so he really likes Yuan Jieyu?

She suddenly felt a sense of absurdity and desolation. The emperor was a heartless and emotionless man, as cold and indifferent as ice that never melts.

All those years of companionship, those seemingly loving times, were nothing more than his charade and her wishful thinking.

It's more like a dream, a mirage.

This realization caused her even greater heartache.

The agonizing pain of the family's downfall had not yet subsided when this excruciating pain struck again.

Consort Rong's vision blurred, a metallic taste rose in her throat, and she could no longer hold on. Her body went limp, and she fainted.