In the Shenlong Hall, Emperor Longxing had also not slept all night.

For some reason, he had been particularly anxious the previous night. Even with Consort Hui’s armor to keep him company, he still couldn’t fall asleep. After daybreak, he canceled the court session for the day. After all, he was already a puppet—what difference did it make whether he attended court or not?

When the Empress heard that he was unwell, she hurriedly came to see him. This gentle and beautiful wife truly cared for her husband and had specially prepared a medicinal soup with magnolia bark and ginseng to bring to him. However, Emperor Longxing felt annoyed just looking at her. He glanced at the soup and said, “This is not something an Empress should be doing.”

The Empress felt somewhat hurt, but she still endured it and gently advised him to take care of his health. This woman, whether he was a powerless puppet or an emperor with authority, had always treated him the same.

The Empress Dowager had not been wrong in her choice of person, but he had been wrong.

In this lifetime, he would never be able to love the woman chosen by the Empress Dowager.

While the Empress was speaking, suddenly a palace servant reported that the Empress Dowager had arrived.

According to the mother-son relationship protocol, Emperor Longxing had always gone to Penglai Hall to see the Empress Dowager. She had never come to Shenlong Hall before. Both Emperor Longxing and the Empress were slightly surprised. At that moment, the white-haired Empress Dowager, supported by palace servants, tremulously walked in.

The Empress covered her mouth in shock. The Empress Dowager did not explain anything to her, merely waving her hand to have the palace servants escort the Empress out.

The vast Shenlong Hall was suddenly left with only the Empress Dowager and Emperor Longxing.

The tension in the air was palpable, like a mountain storm about to break.

Emperor Longxing keenly sensed something was wrong. He looked around, his face turning pale, before going to support the Empress Dowager: “Mother, what happened to your hair?”

The Empress Dowager brushed off his assistance with a single motion. She stared at him, on the verge of tears: “Buddha protect us, were you or were you not involved in the Tianwei Army incident?”

Emperor Longxing was stunned for a moment. After he recovered, he resolutely denied: “No!”

“Really not?”

“No!”

Emperor Longxing became somewhat agitated and paced back and forth: “Mother, who has been slandering me to you? Cui Songqing? Xue Wanzhe? Hmph! They want to save Cui Xun, so they dare to slander me!”

“No one has slandered you!” the Empress Dowager raised her voice: “But you simply cannot explain away your daily records, nor can you explain Wang Xuan’s death!”

“How can I not explain? I’ve already said that the statement in the daily records was because I wanted to stop the tribute from Qingzhou. As for Wang Xuan’s death, it was solely Consort Hui’s doing. What does it have to do with me?”

The Empress Dowager looked at him with sorrow: “Buddha protect us, are you treating your mother like a fool? Are you treating those top scholars as fools? Are you treating everyone in the world as fools?”

“I’m not treating anyone as a fool. I didn’t do it, so I didn’t do it!”

Emperor Longxing refused to admit it. The Empress Dowager gave a bitter laugh. She leaned against the wall painted with vermilion and white designs, and collapsed weakly onto a purple sandalwood table. A strand of white hair fell from her well-pinned coiffure, making her appear exceptionally old and desolate. She slowly said, “If you won’t admit it, it doesn’t matter. Let the Three Judicial Offices investigate. Pull out all the daily records from that period and examine them character by character. Then find all the palace servants who attended to you at that time and question them one by one. The truth will eventually be revealed.”

Emperor Longxing’s face instantly turned ashen: “Mother, what are you saying?”

“You said you didn’t do it, right? If you didn’t, what are you afraid of? Unless you did it!”

Emperor Longxing gritted his teeth. He suddenly fell to his knees and crawled to the Empress Dowager, pleading: “Mother, you can’t do this. I am the Emperor! You’re having people investigate the Emperor? Are you leaving me with no face at all?”

“Is it that I’m not leaving you any face? Or is it that you didn’t leave yourself any face?” the Empress Dowager said sternly: “I’ll ask you one last time, did you or did you not participate in the Tianwei Army case?”

She glared at Emperor Longxing with no trace of hesitation or softness left. Emperor Longxing knew she had made up her mind this time. He dared not quibble anymore. He knelt before the Empress Dowager, trembling and silent. The Empress Dowager’s heart turned completely cold. She slapped Emperor Longxing across the face.

Five finger marks appeared on Emperor Longxing’s handsome face. The Empress Dowager was heartbroken: “How could you do this? Those were soldiers guarding the borders for you! Those were subjects who respected and honored you!”

“Mother…” Emperor Longxing’s tears streamed down. He clutched at the hem of the Empress Dowager’s garment, pleading: “I was also deceived by Lu Yumin. He said to just let the Tianwei Army be defeated once, and that would be it. He didn’t say there would be such serious consequences! I didn’t know it would be like this!”

“Were you deceived by Lu Yumin?”

Emperor Longxing nodded frantically. With tears and mucus streaming down his face, he said, “Mother, you know that your son has always been timid. If he hadn’t deceived me, how would I dare to do such a thing? Mother, please forgive me. I will never dare to do it again…”

He cried so pitifully, with tears and snot all over his face. The Empress Dowager looked at him, reminded of when he was young and had been punished to kneel for being naughty. He had cried just as miserably then. At that time, she had been heartless and said, “Your father still has other sons and grandsons! If you don’t want to be Emperor, there are plenty of others who do! If you continue to be so unmotivated, I will depose you!”

In the end, it was Lu Yumin who had pleaded for him, carrying the then five-year-old Emperor Longxing away, and only then did she relent. From that time on, Emperor Longxing feared her like a tiger and never dared to anger her again.

Tears slid down the Empress Dowager’s clear eyes: “Buddha protect us, your mistake this time is not like when you were a child—being playful, throwing a tantrum, or not attending court. This time, you have committed an unforgivable sin…”

“Mother, I know I’ve committed a terrible sin, but I can change. I promise, in the future, I will never do such a foolish thing again…”

“There won’t be a next time.” The Empress Dowager said sorrowfully, “Your mother is the Empress Dowager of the Great Zhou. Your mother must explain to the fifty thousand soldiers of the Tianwei Army and the people of the six provinces.”

Emperor Longxing looked at her in disbelief: “Mother, you want to depose me?”

“No.” The Empress Dowager stretched out her trembling hands and stroked his face, just as she had when he was a child: “Buddha protect us, your mother has taught you since you were young that if you make a mistake, you must bear the consequences. The Luoyan Ridge is piled with corpses, and the people of the six provinces have lost their homes and families. You must take responsibility for your mistakes…”

Emperor Longxing was stunned. His teeth began to chatter: “Mother, you want to kill me?”

The Empress Dowager could no longer hold back her tears, which poured out like a spring. Her heart was so hurt that she could barely support her body: “Buddha protect us, your mother will eat vegetarian food for the rest of her life, will use the rest of her life to govern this country well, will create blessings for all people, and will… atone for your sins…”

Emperor Longxing’s face grew increasingly pale. He pushed the Empress Dowager away: “Mother, have you gone mad? You would kill your son for those lowly insects?”

But what followed was a desperate slap from the Empress Dowager: “They are not insects! They are your subjects! You are their ruler and father!”

This slap brought Emperor Longxing back to his senses somewhat. He suddenly came to his senses and crawled to the Empress Dowager’s feet, begging bitterly: “Mother, I truly know I was wrong. You can’t kill me. I’m your only son! How could you do this?”

He kept pleading. How could the Empress Dowager not be heartbroken? She forcibly suppressed her rising grief and softness. She said, “Buddha protect us, your mother doesn’t want to kill you either. But last night, your mother saw your elder sister.”

Emperor Longxing looked up in shock. The Empress Dowager murmured: “Sixteen years old, such a wonderful age. And the Lotus Pond was so cold and dark… While outside, the Lotus Pond was the flourishing national power, the increasingly abundant national treasury, the formidable army… All of this was paved with your elder sister’s life, as well as your throne and my regency. If it weren’t for your father’s guilt towards your elder sister, how could all of this have been achieved so smoothly? Buddha protect us, you have failed your elder sister, and your mother has failed her even more. What your elder sister exchanged with her life should not be an Empress Dowager who shields her son, much less an Emperor who betrays his people.”

The Empress Dowager’s face was covered in tears: “Buddha protect us, you have made a mistake, and so has your mother. For the sake of your elder sister, your mother cannot allow this mistake to continue. Otherwise, your elder sister would be disappointed in your mother…”

The Empress Dowager had brought up Li Ying, and Emperor Longxing knew there was no way out for him this time. His teeth made a grinding sound, and suddenly he laughed: “What do you mean, you saw my elder sister? Can the living see ghosts? Excuses! All excuses! At the bottom of it all, Mother just wants to use this opportunity to kill me and seize power for herself! Mother, don’t forget, you don’t have a grandson yet. If you kill me, how will you remain as Empress Dowager?”

His words made the Empress Dowager even more sorrowful: “Buddha protect us, do you think that your mother has been shielding you all this time because of her position as Empress Dowager? It’s not like that. Since the Taichang Blood Incident, your mother has been involved in court politics. It’s been thirty years now. What makes you think that thirty years isn’t enough for your mother to secure her position as Empress Dowager?”

Emperor Longxing didn’t believe it at all: “If not because of your position as Empress Dowager, then because of mother-son affection? Hmph, you had that for my elder sister, but do you have it for me? I’m nothing but a tool for you to consolidate your power. You never loved me!”

At this point, he simply didn’t care anymore: “Mother, I’m going to die anyway, so I might as well tell you. Your son, the son you always thought was weak and obedient, not only participated in the Tianwei Army case, but he was the mastermind!”

A trace of madness appeared on his face: “What do you mean, deceived by Lu Yumin? It was I who forced Lu Yumin to participate! It was I who told him to seek out Pei Guanyue and Shen Que! It was I who personally sent the fifty thousand soldiers of the Tianwei Army to their doom!”

Six years ago, in Shenlong Hall, Lu Yumin had been shocked. He prostrated himself, looking at his student, whom he had taught with all his heart, in disbelief: “Your Majesty must not do this! Even if you want to seize power from the Empress Dowager, there are other ways. Why sacrifice our Great Zhou’s soldiers?”

“I can’t wait any longer! I’m already seventeen! She still won’t relinquish power! She’s in excellent health and will live at least another eight or ten years. What am I supposed to wait for?” Emperor Longxing paced back and forth in frustration: “I can’t wait another day. Guo Qinwei is a general promoted by the Empress Dowager herself. The Tianwei Army is her greatest political achievement. If the Tianwei Army is defeated and the six provinces of the Guannei Circuit are lost, it will announce to the world that the Empress Dowager has appointed the wrong people. What right would she have to control the court then? What right would she have to give orders? At that time, even if I could tolerate it, the world would not!”

“But the Tianwei Army is also Your Majesty’s subjects. Moreover, the six provinces of the Guannei Circuit have always been the territory of the Great Zhou. How could Your Majesty hand over territory and subjects to be trampled by the Turks? This… this would bring eternal infamy!”

“Those who accomplish great deeds don’t bother with minor details. If I don’t tell, and you don’t tell, who will know? People will only know that Guo Qinwei was greedy for merit and acted rashly, causing the Tianwei Army’s defeat and the loss of the six provinces of the Guannei Circuit. At that time, Guo Qinwei and the Tianwei Army would become the shame of the Great Zhou. Who would try to redress a shameful incident? Besides, once I regain power, I will reclaim the six provinces from the Turks. I will not let the people remain under the iron hooves of the Turks.”

Emperor Longxing made a solemn vow, but Lu Yumin just shook his head with a pale face: “Your Majesty should reconsider. This is not the act of a benevolent ruler.”

“Benevolent ruler? What is a benevolent ruler? Can a monarch who has a kind heart but no power be called a benevolent ruler? A benevolent ruler must not only be benevolent but also be a true ruler. Teacher, right now, I can’t even appoint you as Left Deputy Director. Am I still a ruler?”

Lu Yumin wept openly: “The Empress Dowager, as a hen that crows like a rooster, is indeed hateful. But Your Majesty cannot abandon your soldiers and subjects just because you hate the Empress Dowager…”

“Soldiers? Those are soldiers loyal to my mother. As for the subjects, I will only make them suffer for a short time, not for their whole lives.”

Lu Yumin was stunned. He looked at his student and, for a moment, felt so unfamiliar that he couldn’t find words to respond.

Emperor Longxing grew increasingly agitated: “Teacher, I can’t wait any longer. I’ve studied the maps for a long time and have thought about it repeatedly before coming up with this plan. This plan, though cruel, will be fatal. Teacher, trust me.”

Lu Yumin just trembled, saying nothing. Seeing this, Emperor Longxing sighed: “Teacher, you are the person I trust the most, which is why I’m plotting this great matter with you. Alright, if you’re unwilling, I’ll contact the Turks myself.”

“No.” Lu Yumin looked up, anxiously stopping him. His expression was extremely pained. After a long moment, he finally said: “Your Majesty must not dirty your own hands. Let this subject do it. In the future, if it’s exposed, I will take all the blame.”

He finally agreed. A faint smile appeared at the corners of Emperor Longxing’s lips—a smile that was innocent yet cruel. This seventeen-year-old youth confidently instructed: “Teacher, Feng Prefecture’s Governor Pei Guanyue is ambitious. We can use him. And there’s also the Central Commandant Shen Que, my cousin. He has always harbored resentment against my mother. We can use him too. Go find them and have them help you. They will agree.”

Emperor Longxing had already planned the conspirators. He revealed his entire plan to Lu Yumin. Lu Yumin was still apprehensive. He asked Emperor Longxing: “If the Turks’ appetite is too great, and after taking the six provinces of the Guannei Circuit, they still refuse to withdraw their troops, and instead ally with Pei Guanyue to march south directly to Chang’an, what then?”

“That won’t happen.” Emperor Longxing denied it outright: “For Nidu Khan, the Great Zhou is too large to swallow. Even if he could swallow it, he would have to expend a hundred times the effort to fight against the remaining forces of the Great Zhou. This deal is not worth it. It’s better to follow the agreement and only take the six provinces of the Guannei Circuit. The six provinces have a population of one million, which is enough for him. As for Pei Guanyue, leaving aside the fact that his wife and children are all in Chang’an, just considering the man himself, although he is ambitious and unscrupulous, he is not a fool. If he allies with the Turks, he would be attacked by the entire world. So he might as well pretend to resist the Turks in Ningshuo, become a hero of the Great Zhou. That way, besides high office and rich rewards, glory and splendor, he can also earn a place in history.”

Emperor Longxing had observed the participants in this plan hundreds of times, so he was very confident that Nidu Khan would not march south and Pei Guanyue would not betray him. But finally, he added: “Of course, if Pei Guanyue betrays me, causing the Turks to directly threaten Chang’an, then I can only say my luck is bad and I lost the gamble. But who knows what fate holds unless you take a gamble? And I would rather be a failed gambler than an incompetent puppet.”

Emperor Longxing revealed everything, leaving the Empress Dowager dumbfounded. After a long while, she finally reacted, her lips beginning to tremble, tears bursting from her eyes, and one slap after another landing on Emperor Longxing’s jade-like face: “Are you even human? You’re worse than a beast!”

Emperor Longxing’s teeth were stained with blood. He laughed: “Yes, I am a beast. And there’s also the cat ghost case. When Shen Que wanted to harm you, that stolen headrest was given to him by me. It was I who wanted your life!”

“You… you…” The Empress Dowager was heartbroken: “How did you become like this?”

Compared to the Empress Dowager’s agitation, Emperor Longxing was quite calm. He giggled: “Mother, I’ve always been like this, never changed. I am your son. How many corpses did you step on to become Empress Dowager? I am also my father’s son. How did he act like a pig to eat the tiger and cruelly kill his foster mother? I am your flesh and blood. Which one of you two is a kind person? You are both so vicious. How could you think you would raise a kind son? Oh, my elder sister was kind, but she died. Even her death was used by you to push forward new policies. Hah, she doesn’t seem like your daughter at all!”

The Empress Dowager was so grief-stricken that she nearly gnashed her teeth: “You… you beast without humanity, no matter how vicious your father and I were, we never sold out our country! Are you fit to be an emperor? Are you fit to let the subjects call you ‘Your Majesty’?”

“Why not? Father knew that my elder sister wasn’t killed by Zheng Yun, yet didn’t he still instigate the Taichang Blood Incident, killing tens of thousands? Weren’t those tens of thousands his subjects? He could still be called ‘Your Majesty,’ so why can’t I?” Emperor Longxing laughed heartily: “Since ancient times, winners have been kings and losers have been bandits. What is selling out the country? What subjects? If I had succeeded, the history books would have written that I was a sagacious ruler who brought order out of chaos! Besides, they would also praise me for enduring humiliation to seize power in one move!”

The Empress Dowager was so angry that her body trembled. She picked up a document from the table and struck Emperor Longxing with it: “You still don’t repent! Are you fit to be ‘Your Majesty’? You’re not even fit to be human!”

Emperor Longxing’s forehead was injured, with bright red blood flowing down, streaming over his eyes, making him look like a ghost. He smiled: “Mother, why I colluded with the Turks, why I wanted to kill my mother—it’s all thanks to you!”

The Empress Dowager was stunned. Emperor Longxing said, “Since I was young, you’ve taught me to be a sage. I couldn’t have my likes and dislikes, couldn’t have my sorrows and joys. I was just a tool you created to realize your dreams. You and my father, each more vicious than the other, yet you demanded that I be a sage. Ask yourself, are you a sage? If you couldn’t do it, why did you demand that I do it? All I got from you was endless punishment, kneeling, criticism, and intimidation. You are my birth mother, but you weren’t as good to me as Lu Yumin was! I could never feel your love for me. How could I believe that you would return power to me? That you wouldn’t depose me? To protect myself, I colluded with the Turks and plotted to kill my mother. In the end, isn’t it all thanks to you, Mother?”

The Empress Dowager was so angry that she wept bitterly: “You say everything is thanks to your mother? You say your mother doesn’t love you? When you were four years old and seriously ill, who stayed by your side day and night to take care of you? When you were ten years old and assassins sent by the Prince of Jiangzhou tried to kill you, who pushed you away and shielded you with her body? It was your mother, whom you claim doesn’t love you! Why did your mother want you to be a sage? It’s because your mother and your father killed too many people, and future generations will certainly have mixed evaluations of us. Your mother wanted you to be a benevolent ruler praised by all, so that thousands and tens of thousands of years later, whenever you are mentioned, there would only be praise. Is that wrong?”

“Of course it’s wrong!” Emperor Longxing refuted: “That’s your idea! Did you ever ask me? You always wanted me to become another elder sister, but I’m not my elder sister! I am like you and my father—selfish, cruel, and vicious. I can’t become my elder sister!”

The Empress Dowager gritted her teeth. She glared at Emperor Longxing, but she couldn’t find a trace of remorse on his face. She suddenly felt hopeless and nodded: “Fine, not raising you well was your mother’s fault. There’s no point in saying more between us, mother and son. Let everything end today.”

Emperor Longxing sneered disdainfully. He staggered to his feet, took Consort Hui’s armor, then sat on the ground, placing the armor on his knees. At this moment, he would rather let this distorted love accompany him than open his mouth to plead with the Empress Dowager again.

He straightened his clothes and calmly said: “Is it poisoned wine or white silk, Mother? Give it to me. Anyway, I won’t regret it.”

He finally said, “Mother, you don’t need to eat vegetarian food for the rest of your life to atone for my sins. I don’t care for it.”

The Empress Dowager seemed to have aged ten years. She leaned against the painted wall and struggled to her feet: “Even if you don’t care, your mother will still do so.”

She leaned against the wall, slowly walking out of Shenlong Hall. Only when she left the hall did her body weaken, almost falling to the ground. The eunuchs hurriedly supported her. She glanced at the golden cup in the eunuch’s hand, slowly closed her eyes, and her voice was filled with endless sorrow: “Give it… to His Majesty.”