Chapter 56.2

Shen Fengyue glanced at the letters and could roughly guess their contents. They were letters between Wei Yunan and the Empress, containing rebellious words.

Emperor Chu headed to the Weiyang Palace with Shen Fengyue following him. When they arrived, they saw the Empress standing outside the palace, seemingly waiting for them.

As soon as the Emperor saw her, she rushed over and pulled on his sleeve, crying out, “Your Majesty, why have you come?!”

Emperor Chu brushed off her hand and asked, “With this kind of attitude, do you feel innocent?”

“Your Majesty, what do you mean?” The Empress wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.

Emperor Chu threw the letters in front of her and said, “See for yourself.”

The white letter fluttered in the air, and the empress’s face was hidden behind it, her expression slightly stunned as she stopped wiping away her tears. She said, “Your Majesty, these are just letters from me and my father, is there anything wrong with them?”

Emperor Chu retorted, “It’s not just ‘anything wrong’, it’s clearly a crime of treason! What are you and your beloved father doing in secret? Do you think I don’t know? What are you going to do with my birthdate?”

The couple’s quarrel escalated quickly, leaving Shen Fengyue wide-eyed and shocked. He had originally stood quietly to the side, watching the drama unfold, but the fire was suddenly directed toward him.

The empress looked at him with resentment and tearfully said, “Your Majesty, everything I did was for your own good. Ever since Concubine Yan entered the palace, you’ve been completely smitten by her. She’s arrogant and domineering, looking down on everyone, and no one in the palace dares to cross her. She even treats me, the Empress, like a doormat.”

Arrogant and domineering? Looking down on everyone? Shen Fengyue was bewildered by the accusations, was she talking about him?

“How many foolish things have you done for her? You’ve neglected me, punished and humiliated my Wei family, it’s clear that she’s bewitched you! That’s why my father asked someone to offer your birthdate to a revered Buddha, to protect you from the influence of this demon woman.”

Emperor Chu closed his eyes in pain, holding his forehead as he looked at this former virtuous wife who had been twisted by jealousy into a demonic creature, feeling great anguish.

“Wei Yunan arrived in County A and couldn’t settle down.”

The truth was revealed, and there was nothing left to ask.

“Empress, you are confused.” This was his final kindness to the Empress. The Empress cried even harder as if she had already known her fate.

Her husband had always been cold and indifferent. She thought he was like a stone that could be warmed up and ice that could be melted, but he was not. As an emperor, he was heartless and suspicious, and she had never been able to understand him.

She really was confused. She looked up at the Concubine Yan, who was watching the scene nearby, and a hint of ridicule flashed in her eyes.

Concubine Yan, you won.

Emperor Chu made a decision, “The Empress has committed misconduct and is not worthy of being the mother of the Kingdom. From this day forward, I decree that her position as Empress is abolished, and she will be imprisoned in the Weiyang Palace forever, never to come out. Wei Yunan harbored malicious intentions and incited the Empress. He will be exiled to Ninggu Pagoda and never allowed to return to the capital.”

The Empress was greatly shocked and couldn’t stand, falling to the ground.

Emperor Chu was merciless and did not want to look at her anymore. He left with a wave of his sleeve, and a large group of people followed him.

Shen Fengyue was the last to leave. He stood outside the Weiyang Palace and looked up at the plaque hanging above the entrance, which read;

–“Weiyang Palace”¹ [PALACE OF ETERNAL YEARS/HARMONY]. But in the end, everything had come to an end.

Through the open palace gates, he could see the Empress, who had fallen to the ground in despair. He took one last look at her from afar before turning and walking away.

At the corner, he met with Eunuch Shen, who seemed to be waiting for him there.

“Imperial Concubine Yan, congratulations on your great success,” he guessed that this was Shen Fengyue’s plan, killing two birds with one stone, bringing down the Empress, and dealing a heavy blow to the Wei family. It was indeed a clever strategy, so he bowed to congratulate her.

Shen Fengyue, “…”

He held his breath and said bluntly, “Enough with the hypocrisy. I know you helped me behind the scenes.”

He didn’t specify how he had helped, and Eunuch Shen didn’t clarify either. Both of them knew in their hearts, they smiled at each other and let it go.

After the Empress was deposed, the power naturally fell into Shen Fengyue’s hands. Although he was only temporarily in charge, now that there was only one Concubine left in the harem, and everyone else’s position was not as high as his, it was equivalent to being the Empress.

The matter of deposing the Empress caused a huge uproar in the court, and the prime minister and ministers jointly protested. However, after the Empress was deposed, Shen Fengyue stopped administering the medicine to the Emperor, so his health actually improved. He became even more convinced of the rhetoric of the astrological omens and insisted on using them to refute the ministers in court. In the end, he managed to suppress the ministers.

In the end, both the emperor and the officials compromised, and the harem was left vacant to maintain balance, allowing the civil and military officials to let go of their concerns.

To compensate for his efforts, the emperor rewarded and promoted Shen Fengyue, granting him the title of Imperial Noble Concubine, equivalent in rank to the Empress.

Shen Fengyue was momentarily overwhelmed by his success and couldn’t help but feel amazed that he, a man, not only became the most favored in the harem, surpassing all other beauties but also rose to such a high position.

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  [PALACE OF ETERNAL YEARS/HARMONY]