The bright dragon robe on Tuoba Zhen’s body flashed with an unusual brilliance in the hall, appearing quite dazzling to behold. His eyes shone brightly, his brows raised, his face as handsome and upright as usual, yet covered with dark clouds. Li Changle had never seen him reveal such a cold expression and was momentarily stunned. Her heart instantly raised towering waves. She forced herself to calm down and gracefully bowed as usual: “Your Majesty.”

Tuoba Zhen didn’t glance at her. Instead, he first helped up Feiyue beside him, his voice also very gentle: “Rise.”

Feiyue was only fifteen years old—youthful and beautiful, with bright clear eyes, fair skin, and a willowy figure. Standing beside her, one could feel that wave of youthful vitality rushing forth. Tuoba Zhen looked at her, his expression unconsciously softening: “Since you’re with child, you must take extra care. What are you running here for?”

Though young, Feiyue was a clever and quick-witted girl. She immediately put on a smiling face: “Reporting to Your Majesty, I came to accompany my aunt in conversation.”

Just conversation? When he entered, he had heard Li Changle’s shrill cries.

That sound was like a doe’s scream when being slaughtered—aged, desperate, terrifying. It made one doubt whether it truly came from this dignified and beautiful Empress’s throat. Li Changle had always been noble and reserved. Even when reproaching people, she spoke in gentle, soft tones. When had she ever been so harsh and severe? But all this was what Tuoba Zhen had personally heard with his own ears—it couldn’t be denied.

Glancing at Feiyue, Tuoba Zhen didn’t pursue the matter publicly. He merely said indifferently: “You may withdraw.”

Feiyue and Li Changxi exchanged glances and respectfully withdrew.

Li Changle looked toward the Emperor. Her heart softened—after all, he was mindful of their marital affection. She hurriedly smiled: “Your Majesty, regarding this matter—”

“The eighth of next month is an auspicious day. Feiyue will formally enter the palace and become my consort.” Tuoba Zhen said indifferently.

Instantly, Li Changle’s smiling face seemed to freeze, becoming incomparably ice-cold. She stared at Tuoba Zhen abruptly, her face revealing uncontrollable anger: “Your Majesty, Feiyue is my niece! How can you do this?”

“As long as I like it, nothing under heaven is impossible.” Tuoba Zhen said without the slightest guilt, walking straight to sit at the side.

“No, I don’t agree. I absolutely won’t agree! If Your Majesty likes others, I can accept them all, but she absolutely cannot!” Li Changle blurted out.

A trace of approaching storm-like cruelty appeared on Tuoba Zhen’s face: “Empress, do you know what you’re saying? When has my decision ever been yours to question?”

Li Changle felt a surge of resentment rise to her throat. She exerted all her strength to swallow it down, staring at him fixedly: “Your Majesty, when you married me, what did you promise? You said you would only love Changle alone in this life. You said Changle was the most wonderful woman in the world, that you would absolutely never fail me. These words still ring in my ears—have you forgotten them all? What does Feiyue have? She’s merely younger. What does she have!”

Tuoba Zhen glanced at her, revealing an expression that was half-smile, half-not: “Haven’t I favored you enough all these years? I made you Empress, brought unlimited glory to your family, gave your son the Crown Prince position. I’ve fulfilled all my promises to you!”

“But now you’re taking it all away. I know, I know everything. You like Feiyue because she resembles that slut by three parts. Everything from back then—you regret it, don’t you!” Li Changle’s voice was like a sharp knife, carrying a stance of mutual destruction.

Tuoba Zhen’s expression changed dramatically in an instant. He stood up abruptly and said sternly: “What did you say?”

What did she say? Your Majesty knows best in his heart what he’s thinking. If you’re not afraid, why seal off the Cold Palace? Why put away all her things? Why does Your Majesty, who fears neither heaven nor earth, have rituals performed for her? You even personally wrote a memorial text for her! Do you dare say you don’t regret it? Throughout his life, Tuoba Zhen had killed countless people, climbing upward stepping on fresh blood. He feared nothing, had done all kinds of bad deeds, because those people were all his enemies—killing them wasn’t regrettable. But only one person had helped him in his most difficult times, supported him when he had nothing, saved him with her life when he was in mortal danger. That person was his first wife. To everyone else he could say “the victor is king, the vanquished is bandit,” but not to Li Weiyang.

However, loving beauty was a man’s nature. Li Changle was Dali’s foremost beauty. He didn’t know how many years it took to obtain everything—why couldn’t he enjoy the very best? Li Weiyang should have understood. At the beginning, he hadn’t wanted to deprive her of everything—she was the one who ruined it all herself! As long as she had been obedient, he would have kept her, given her a place. Who knew she would be so resolute, so hateful, preferring death to bowing her head to him? Her day and night curses in the Cold Palace made it difficult for him to be at peace, which was why he had bestowed a cup of poisoned wine to kill her. She said he fundamentally didn’t understand love—he wanted to let her know he truly loved Li Changle.

She said he wouldn’t obtain happiness—he wanted to let her watch how harmonious the Emperor and Empress were together.

Even though he had long grown disgusted with Li Changle’s wonderful face, even though he had long seen through the essence beneath Li Changle’s beautiful skin, in this life he would make Li Weiyang see from underground that his decision wasn’t wrong.

Tuoba Zhen was the master of all under heaven—how could he be wrong?

The one who was wrong was Li Weiyang, who didn’t know when to advance or retreat, didn’t know how to yield—it was his arrogant first wife. However, though he thought himself blameless, he would repeatedly see her blood-covered face in midnight dreams, repeatedly hear the miserable screams from the Cold Palace. So for all these years, he hadn’t allowed anyone to mention Li Weiyang. Because he was terrified—from the depths of his heart, he couldn’t suppress that kind of terror. This terror made it so he never could happily enjoy everything, made him constantly uneasy.

Days passed one by one. In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. He gradually couldn’t recall the savagery of Weiyang’s death. Instead, he increasingly recalled the beginning of their marriage. Fairly speaking, she had been a qualified wife—considering everything from his perspective, intelligent, beautiful, appropriate. Whatever he wanted to do, she would always think of it first. Beautiful memories could make him gradually forget his fear. When he saw Feiyue’s face, he vaguely saw Li Weiyang’s youthful appearance.

The same pointed chin, fair skin, a pair of clear bright eyes—only lacking that deep-boned resoluteness and stubbornness.

He should have felt fear, yet he obtained another kind of pleasure. Because Feiyue was very compliant. A compliant Li Weiyang—this was something he found hard to imagine. This was completely another kind of charm and experience. He also hadn’t intended to make Li Changle unhappy. Women should just be a bit obedient, understand their position, not harbor improper ambitions, much less presume to dominate his decisions.

So when Li Changle suddenly pierced through his thoughts, Tuoba Zhen was incomparably furious. Like a vicious wolf, he glared fiercely at Li Changle, wanting to pounce and tear her apart: “Shut up, shut up!”

Li Changle looked at him revealing a terrifying expression she’d never seen before and was momentarily scared stiff. The jealousy and anger that had just supported her vanished without trace. Her body went soft, her momentum also weakened: “Your Majesty… I…”

Tuoba Zhen grabbed her long hair with one hand and mercilessly dragged her before the bronze mirror: “Look at yourself carefully. What can you compare to Feiyue? You’re older than her, uglier than her. Your skin feels like rotting stinking meat about to decay, filled with the aura of aging. I’ve long been unwilling to touch you. If you know what’s good for you, just stay put and be a proper Empress. Otherwise, I don’t mind replacing you. When that time comes, what will happen to you? What will happen to the Crown Prince? Think it over carefully!”

His teeth ground forcefully, almost squeezing out these sentences from between them.

What this man said was completely a kind of threat. Li Changle hadn’t expected he would actually say such heartless, ungrateful words. Flames nearly shot from her eyes. Both her arms exerted force, trying to break free: “Your Majesty, I’m telling you—Feiyue mustn’t think of replacing me. No one can replace me!”

A steel-needle-like light had already emerged in Tuoba Zhen’s eyes: “Then we’ll just wait and see!” He threw her down, the expression on his face bone-chillingly cold, making one’s heart turn cold just looking at it. Then he turned and walked away without looking back.

Li Changle prostrated herself before the bronze mirror. She was deeply wounded by those words. She stared at herself in the bronze mirror, the muscles on her face violently twisting. Her eyes gradually showed a confused brilliance. Her mouth panted heavily. All the veins on her forehead bulged out. She grabbed a palace maid and questioned her harshly: “Have I aged? Where have I aged? Why, why have I aged? Speak! Speak?!”

The palace maid trembled fearfully, her entire body shaking.

Li Changle threw her down with one motion and looked at herself in the bronze mirror neurotically, muttering to herself: “No, I haven’t aged. I haven’t aged. I’m Dali’s foremost beauty. I’m the true foremost beauty. What is Li Weiyang? What is Feiyue? What do they have that can compare to me? Why, why should Feiyue snatch away everything that’s mine! No, I absolutely cannot let her succeed. Everything is mine, belongs to me!”

The expression on her face slowly returned to calm, only this calm carried a trace of savagery.

Li Weiyang didn’t know why she was seeing this scene, but she watched Li Changle rally her spirits, recover her energy, and once again become that usually smiling, dignified and virtuous Empress. Soon, Li Changle indicated she had thought things through and personally invited Li Changxi and Feiyue to enter the palace. After lavishly entertaining them, she invited them to stay overnight in the palace. That very night, several palace maids took advantage of Feiyue’s deep sleep to quietly cover her mouth. One person pressed on her chest, one person pressed on her upper body, her hands and feet were also each held down by people. After fastening a rope noose around her neck, everyone exerted force to pull the noose, strangling Feiyue to death while she was still alive. Then they deliberately dragged Feiyue out and threw her on a palace guard’s bed. When it was discovered the next morning, Li Changle harshly interrogated and tortured the guard. The final conclusion reached was that during Feiyue’s palace stay, she had long been secretly communicating with this guard and conceived his child. But in order to climb up by attaching herself to the Emperor, she intended to break cleanly with this person, which backfired and resulted in her being murdered to silence her. The guard confessed to this without denying it. Several other guards also stated they had indeed seen Feiyue secretly coming and going. For a time, rumors flew throughout the palace. Li Changxi wailed and made a scene, claiming everything was the Empress’s false accusations, insisting the Emperor must give her justice. However, she was struck and killed by a crazed carriage on a street under the blazing sun. Everything returned to calm.

However, this calm didn’t last long. One night, a great fire broke out in the Empress’s palace. The blaze quickly spread. The Empress was consequently severely burned, lying in bed barely alive. The Emperor was very sorrowful and personally issued an edict for the Empress to move to another palace to recuperate.

Li Changle lay in bed. Her flowery beauty had been burned until the skin peeled. Her entire face was covered everywhere with accumulated scars. Her breathing was very heavy. She opened her eyes, but there was no one by her side. She felt extremely thirsty. She barely extended her hand to reach for the water cup on the tea table beside her, but no matter what, she couldn’t reach it. Unable to help feeling anxious and angry, she desperately stretched her neck, wanting to call someone.

Just at this moment, a slender hand holding a teacup delivered it before her. She hurriedly lowered her head to drink the water, but the cup suddenly tipped over—not a single drop remained in the cup. Being toyed with like this, she couldn’t help flying into a rage. She suddenly lifted her head and saw Tuoba Zhen’s handsome face. If it were normal times, she might have been infinitely joyful, but at this moment she fearfully immediately retreated backward.

“You… it’s you…” She opened her mouth wide, strenuously spitting out these three words.

“What, does the Empress not recognize me anymore?” He smiled.

Li Changle stared at him with increasing terror, the depths of her eyes filled with venomous hatred.

“Indeed not too stupid. You guessed correctly. It was I who set the fire, and it was I who ordered people not to rescue you.” Tuoba Zhen answered her with an elegant smile.

Li Changle couldn’t catch her breath and was almost instantly choked. Her eyes instantly rose with blazing hatred. Pointing at him, she was flustered with rage: “Beast… beast… Ungrateful wolf!”

Tuoba Zhen sighed: “This is all because you yourself didn’t listen to me, Empress. I said long ago, I don’t like disobedient people.”