“Think about the meaning behind His Majesty’s words just now—it’s as if the Regent is his only family member, and we are not! The Empress Dowager is not either! Only the Regent is good to him, good for Yan! We are all heartless wolves!” The clan relatives grew more agitated as they spoke, angrily slapping their chests. “His Majesty now only listens to the Regent’s words and won’t heed our loyal but harsh counsel. I fear… sooner or later, this entire court will belong to the Regent!”

The Yan Empress Dowager nearly collapsed. Was it… A’Yan?

Was it A’Yan who made A’Li send her away?

“The blame lies in the Empress Dowager trusting the Regent too much before. Who would have thought the Regent was the venomous snake behind it all! To seize power, he would even strike at his sister-in-law! He bewitched His Majesty into acting against the Empress Dowager—this is even more sinister than murder! Making a son drive his birth mother from the imperial palace—how will the world view His Majesty a hundred years from now? How will they view our Murong imperial family? Simply outrageous!”

The last trace of color drained completely from the Yan Empress Dowager’s face. It was A’Yan!

A’Yan… why must he treat her this way! She was A’Yan’s sister-in-law!

A’Yan had once promised he would protect her and protect A’Li, but why did he sow discord between mother and son? Inciting… making A’Li insist on sending her from the imperial palace!

She was A’Li’s mother! She was the one who gave birth to A’Li… she was the one who gave A’Li life!

She had only done it once—that one time she drugged A’Li, and it was only medicine that made A’Li’s body weak without harming him. She believed that with A’Li’s soft-hearted and filial nature, he would never be cruel enough to send her from the palace on such a snowy night. A’Li was so filial to her and dependent on her—how could he bear to separate from her?

The Yan Empress Dowager remembered how, before the New Year, Murong Li had softened his heart and let her remain in the palace to celebrate. But today… No matter what, he refused to keep her, insisting she brave the wind and snow to leave on this snowy night!

This happened so suddenly—it must have been Xiao Rongyan… it must have been Xiao Rongyan’s letter to A’Li yesterday. Xiao Rongyan must have learned that she stayed in the palace for the New Year, so he urged A’Li to send her away! It must be him!

She looked up at those towering palace gates, her eyes reddening, the expression in them seeming to burn with extreme fury…

Everything she did was for Yan, but why did Xiao Rongyan treat her this way? Had she not been good enough for Xiao Rongyan? Even though she was also the Regent Empress Dowager, after A’Li ascended the throne, she hardly opposed any decisions Xiao Rongyan made, trusting him wholeheartedly!

Why was he still so impatient to remove her?

Could it be because she had once conspired with Xi Liang to betray Great Zhou, causing the relationship between Xiao Rongyan and Bai Qingyan to fracture and separating him from his flesh and blood, so Xiao Rongyan wanted revenge on her, to also separate her from her flesh and blood?

Yes! It must be so!

How vicious Xiao Rongyan was!

He was a man, different from women… A woman could have only a few children in her lifetime, but a man could have many children. He always had to choose between flesh and blood affection and the nation—he chose the nation… Could she, as his sister-in-law, watch him grow old alone? She would naturally help him marry and have children!

She was the eldest sister-in-law—the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother!

Everything she did was for Yan, but Xiao Rongyan, to vent his personal grudge, actually wanted to forcibly separate her from her flesh and blood, and incited A’Yan not to trust her… to abandon her!

So cruel…

How she hated him!

“Your Majesty…” The Yan Empress Dowager’s maid called softly to the Empress Dowager, already tearful. She knew how much the Empress Dowager hoped, standing here watching expectantly, that the clan relatives had come to invite her back to the palace!

“The Regent has always been ruthless—isn’t this the first day we’ve known this? After conquering Wei, why haven’t the Wei people’s hearts fully submitted to our Yan? Isn’t it because when the Regent dealt with the Wei imperial family and nobles, his methods were extremely vicious, inspiring fear but not true submission?”

“Exactly! When His Majesty first ascended the throne, the Regent immediately struck at our imperial clan relatives. How many were driven back to Li Yi—those who wouldn’t leave faced certain death! Even then, we knew our Regent was someone who would disown his own family!”

“And that matter of wagering the nation—tell me… His Majesty was young and didn’t understand the gravity, but didn’t the Regent know either? What was Yan’s situation then? The Great Zhou was at the height of its power. Wagering our nation against the Great Zhou—wasn’t that a certain defeat? His Majesty didn’t understand, but did the Regent also not understand? This was wanting to hand over our Murong clan’s great kingdom to the Great Zhou!”

These imperial clan relatives spoke one after another, not mentioning Yan’s predicament at the time at all, as if without wagering the nation they could have coexisted peacefully with Great Zhou, as if Great Zhou hadn’t deployed troops at the border, and as if Yan wouldn’t have been in grave danger the moment the Great Zhou Emperor gave a single command.

The four words “hand over to Great Zhou” struck the Yan Empress Dowager’s nerves.

The Yan Empress Dowager’s pupils trembled violently—what she feared most was Xiao Rongyan handing Yan over to Great Zhou… handing it to Bai Qingyan.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty!” The maid, seeing the Yan Empress Dowager’s whole body trembling with suppressed emotion, was terrified. “Your Majesty, don’t frighten this servant!”

The Yan Empress Dowager, who had originally seemed drained of strength, full of indignation yet helpless, suddenly straightened her body and gripped the maid’s hand tightly, with such force it seemed she might break the maid’s fingers.

“Your Majesty?!” The maid’s fingers turned white, and she gasped from the pain.

She understood now—she finally understood…

Now, Bai Qingyan, the Great Zhou Emperor, was on Yan territory. Xiao Rongyan used the excuse of inspecting plague-stricken cities to calm the people’s hearts, but actually… he went to secretly meet with Bai Qingyan, didn’t he!

Xiao Rongyan probably wanted to reconcile with Bai Qingyan, so he was going to hand Yan over to Bai Qingyan!

No, perhaps even earlier, Xiao Rongyan had already conspired with Bai Qingyan to seize Yan!

After all, those two children of Bai Qingyan were also Xiao Rongyan’s children, and rumor had it that Bai Qingyan was not easily with child. Moreover, a woman’s offspring in her lifetime were indeed limited. If Yan fell into Great Zhou’s hands… it would be equivalent to falling into Xiao Rongyan’s children’s hands! For Xiao Rongyan, there would be no loss!

Otherwise, as these imperial clan relatives said, when A’Li didn’t understand the gravity of wagering the nation, didn’t Xiao Rongyan know either? Why didn’t he fight desperately to stop A’Li? It was all for his two children!

No wonder Xiao Rongyan insisted on driving her from the imperial palace overnight—he had reached some agreement with Bai Qingyan to hand over Yan!

What about her A’Li then?

“What a Regent! What a Xiao Rongyan!” The Yan Empress Dowager’s heart burned with towering fury. “With his mouth, he says he’ll lead A’Li forward, but in reality, he wants to deliver my Great Yan into Bai Qingyan’s hands, into his children’s hands! Deceived—we’ve all been deceived! The Late Emperor, A’Li… this Empress Dowager—we’ve all been deceived!”