"If I had known it would turn out like this, why would I have gone through such a long detour!"

To seek revenge.

What kind of days have I lived through in the past six months, and what kind of days has Qingqing lived through?

Feeling infinitely relaxed and heartache, Zhao Junyao’s expression was quite complex.

Xia Ruqing smiled faintly.

"Indeed!"

"If only you had solved it directly from the beginning, it would have been much better!"

She sat beside him, personally poured a cup of fragrant tea and handed it to him.

"So, you must compensate me well in the future!"

Zhao Junyao turned to look at her, their eyes meeting.

He pulled her into his arms and listened to her steady heartbeat, suddenly feeling everything had become real and warm.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

"Alright!"

"In the future, I will spend my entire life compensating you!"

...

The Seventeenth Year of Jiayuan, April.

Empress Dowager Shih was stripped of her title for betraying the late Emperor, confusing the Royal Family’s lineage, poisoning the Emperor, and causing chaos in the harem, was demoted to commoner and sentenced to death, with the Shih family and nine of their clans eradicated.

Noble Consort Luo was likewise stripped of her rank and sentenced to death for conspiring to harm the Emperor.

Countless palace attendants and eunuchs were implicated, and for days Ningshou Palace and Xifu Palace became places of turmoil, with blood flowing on the grounds, and cries and screams for mercy lasting for three days and nights before quieting.

All palace attendants linked to the Empress Dowager survived none, all clubbed to death.

Even those residing in Xifu Palace, namely Honored Lady Bai and Honored Lady Yang, were drawn into the affair.

After this event, the once bustling Xifu Palace and Ningshou Palace became deserted, echoing with the stench of blood.

The palace attendants deemed these places ominous, avoiding them entirely in their paths.

Fear and anxiety haunted the palace.

Hopes ignited by Noble Consort Luo were dashed, leaving palace consorts retreating into their chambers.

The harem became tranquil, devoid of disturbance, sparing Xia Ruqing many woes.

Before the execution.

Zhao Junyao visited the Imperial Prison.

In three premium cells were Empress Dowager Shih, Shih Wanxin, and Luo Manman.

All three appeared disheveled, their once recognizable features turned gaunt and skeletal, their voices hoarse beyond recognition.

Catching sight of Zhao Junyao.

Shih Wanxin and Luo Manman rushed forward, crying out from behind the bars.

"Emperor!"

"Emperor, you’ve come to see me? Emperor!"

Their voices nearly synchronized.

Zhao Junyao twitched his lips, halted half a yard from them, and surveyed them with a sardonic laugh.

"You’ve reached this point and still don’t repent?"

Luo Manman desperately reached out, her face soaked in tears.

"Emperor!"

"It’s so dark here, I’m terrified. Please let me out!"

"Weren’t you the one who promised to always treat me well?"

"Emperor, Manman asks for nothing but to leave here quickly, afterward..."

"Afterward, I’ll no longer anger the Empress. Emperor, spare me and let me out!"

Luo Manman was on the verge of collapsing.

Shih Wanxin fared no better.

Yet, she uttered no honeyed words, only stood there, tears streaming.

"Cousin... I was wrong!"

Zhao Junyao surveyed them, chuckling coldly.

"It’s good you realize your mistakes!"

"As they say, ’to err and mend is the highest virtue!’" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The two, hearing this, thought hope was at hand, only to face his subsequent words.

"In the next life, correct yourself well, don’t act foolish thinking you’re clever!"

Suddenly, their flags were lowered.

The final spark of hope was doused without leaving any ember.

Face ashen, they collapsed to the ground in silence.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager in another cell remained composed.

Sitting cross-legged on a worn straw mat, she was quietly resting, neither listening nor speaking.

Zhao Junyao went over, his voice cold as he questioned.

"All these years, there’s one thing I’ve never understood. I hope you... can give me an answer!"

Without referring to her as Empress Dowager, nor using the term ’Shih’, ’you’ was all he could muster.

The Empress Dowager snapped her eyes open.

"What is it?"

Zhao Junyao spoke.

"If you hated me so, why did you not kill me at first?"

"Killing me now gains you no advantage, does it? Amid chaos, how will you fare well?"

The Empress Dowager sneered coldly.

"I refrained from killing you then because your identity secured my rank!"

"Killing you now... it loses me nothing!"

"It’s simply that, facing death, I wish to drag along a scapegoat! That’s all!"

Zhao Junyao was deeply astonished.

"You..."

As he scanned her, he noticed her face was unusually pale.

"Are you ill?"

The Empress Dowager chuckled coolly.

"Certainly, I’ve been ill for some time, yet my wishes unfinished prevent me from dying easily!"

"You live happily, while Zongcheng, Junqi, and I, we three perished, leaving me unwilling!"

"Hence, even in death, I drag along a scapegoat. Is this answer satisfactory?!"

Without waiting for Zhao Junyao’s reply, she continued.

"You’re so blissful, with loved ones in the harem, and your children!"

"If fate doesn’t intervene, you’d reign gloriously as Emperor, dying revered by descendants!"

"Your offspring with that woman would inherit the throne, continue your prosperity!"

"And what of Junqi? My Junqi, what wrong did he do? This should have been his!"

The Empress Dowager’s words grew increasingly venomous, her face contorting fiercely.

Zhao Junyao listened, his countenance pale, fists clenched, eyes rife with hate and discontent.

"A matter without trace, how has it become inevitable?"

"How does this throne belong to you?"

The Great Chu Dynasty’s tradition was to prioritize direct line first, eldest if none direct.

Though Prince Yan was of direct descent, he was not the eldest son.

Thus, the Crown Prince title was never his to covet, it was greed, a fault of his own.

Now, how have they become innocent? How is all blame shifted onto the late Emperor?

This is overly absurd, too ludicrous!

Zhao Junyao sneered.

"So, you wish to poison me before you die?"

The Empress Dowager squinted, raising her head proudly to view him.

"And what if I do?"

"Am I heartless? Are you not more so?"

With desolation, Zhao Junyao avoided further argument and shifted the topic.

"I’ve come not to argue today!"

"I wish to know about my birth mother!"

Suddenly, the Empress Dowager burst out in laughter.

"Haven’t you investigated thoroughly already? I seized her child, caused her death, then discarded her body at the Mass Burial Mound!"

"Have you not uncovered all this?"

Listening to this, Zhao Junyao felt anguished, paused for a moment before guessing.

"Did she leave any last words before dying... or any belongings?"

The Empress Dowager ground her teeth.

"Certainly not!"

"No, she did leave something, yet who cared? I burned it all!"

"Hahaha..."