“The Empress Dowager leaked information about the secret palace passage to lure Beihen into a trap, allowing Princess Imperial Ruyang and her two companions to infiltrate Beihen’s forces,” Shen Xihe said with a look of respect. The Empress Dowager’s scheme was remarkable – she dared to play such a risky gambit, relying on Xiao Huayong’s trust and closeness. What’s more, this dangerous move had succeeded.
“Thinking about it now, when Madam Bian poisoned me, it wasn’t under Noble Consort Liang’s orders, but the Empress Dowager’s.”
The Empress Dowager didn’t deny it.
“It was because of Yu Xiaodie, the former Consort Luo of Prince Kang,” Shen Xihe understood everything now. “Others might not know the list from the Rouge Case, but both Beihen and I have seen it. The Empress Dowager had a copy as well. When I let Yu Xiaodie escape, the Empress Dowager realized I orchestrated Prince Kang’s fate.
The Empress Dowager could no longer fathom Beihen’s true intentions, so she was even more unwilling to let him marry someone like me – a woman whose strategic abilities rival men’s. With the Northwestern Army behind me, if I were to bear the first legitimate grandson while having Beihen’s schemes, my tactics, and Northwestern backing, I would become the Empress Dowager’s greatest obstacle.”
Empress Dowager: “Events have proven this to be true.”
“The poison in Beihen’s body was also your doing,” Shen Xihe’s seemingly calm eyes contained turbulent waves. “When he was poisoned in His Majesty’s palace, everyone thought Beihen had taken a blow meant for His Majesty. But that wasn’t the case – Beihen had always been the Empress Dowager’s target.”
“Why do you think so?” the Empress Dowager asked with slight interest.
Shen Xihe looked at Emperor Youning, who lay motionless on the couch with an ashen face: “After I understood His Majesty’s character, I knew the Empress Dowager had to act this way.”
“His Majesty’s character?” The Empress Dowager grew more intrigued.
“His Majesty may not value relationships as much as Prince Qian, but he is certainly not a heartless person.” Shen Xihe had pondered this deeply. Emperor Youning had truly never suspected Xiao Huayong, even as incidents involving the princes occurred one after another.
Even after that year’s test at the temporary palace, when Xiao Huayong drew out Xiao Juosong, did His Majesty truly cease having doubts?
In truth, he did have suspicions, but because Xiao Huayong was Prince Qian’s only blood descendant, His Majesty sometimes needed to numb himself, turning a blind eye. As long as he was given a somewhat plausible reason, he preferred to continue this self-deception.
Otherwise, he would have to face the fact that Xiao Huayong knew his true identity, and would have to personally kill Xiao Huayong – his elder brother’s only blood descendant.
“Beihen once told me that in his childhood, His Majesty indeed treated him more affectionately than the other princes. Perhaps after learning of his true identity, he saw everything as false favor, and left the palace early with the Empress Dowager, never carefully examining whether His Majesty’s feelings were genuine…”
It would be difficult for anyone to remain calm and rational after learning in their youth that the man they called father daily was their father’s murderer. It was only human nature to maliciously interpret every action of this enemy.
“His Majesty must have sincerely wanted to groom Beihen, even intending to pass the throne to him to compensate for the guilt he felt toward his brother. Seeing this, the Empress Dowager knew that if this continued, she would have no chance of seizing the throne.
Only by having Beihen poisoned in His Majesty’s palace could the Empress Dowager naturally tell Beihen about the past events, igniting his hatred. This poison would shorten Beihen’s life, which would dispel His Majesty’s intention to pass him the throne, allowing the possibility of succession struggles among the princes.
Once they had mutually destroyed each other, that would be the time for the Empress Dowager to reap the benefits.
The Woman Emperor ascended the throne at age sixty-seven – how could the Empress Dowager not wait for such an opportunity?”
“Hahaha…” The Empress Dowager finally dropped her facade of detachment. Though elderly, her laughter still carried strength. With her excellent preservation of health and beauty, she didn’t appear much older than Emperor Youning. “Even Seven Prince never suspected me. Youyou truly deserve to be the one who captured Seven Prince’s heart.”
“Does the Empress Dowager truly believe Beihen never suspected you?” Shen Xihe coldly countered.
“Oh? When did he ever suspect me?” The Empress Dowager seemed quite confident.
Instead of answering immediately, Shen Xihe said: “Xiao Wenxi is your person. You must have thought she had everything under control in the Prince of Shunan’s mansion. But I had already suspected you – did you think Xiao Wenxi could maintain stability in Shunan?”
“There’s also Tubo,” the Empress Dowager glanced at Noble Consort Su.
“The Tubo rebellion, the Shunan Prince’s mansion deploying troops, Xiao Wenxi colluding with the Tubo prince…” Shen Xihe raised her eyebrows slightly.
“How did you know it was the Tubo prince!” Noble Consort Su was startled.
Why not the Tubo king?
“I told you, I had already suspected you both. How could I simply wait for your plans to succeed?” Shen Xihe’s expression remained neutral. “Xiao Wenxi even tried to seduce my man. Shen Twenty-seven was promoted by me. When I dared to let him pose as the Prince of Shunan, it was because I trusted those I used and used those I trusted. The Empress Dowager has people skilled in soul-controlling techniques, but unfortunately, Prince Jing Xiao Changyan fell precisely because he relied too much on such mystical arts.”
Both the Empress Dowager and Noble Consort Su’s expressions turned unpleasant.
Shen Xihe pushed open the window. Torches flickered throughout the palace, and occasional arrows could be seen flying through the night sky. The clashing of swords and blades echoed faintly. While the area outside the Hall of Diligent Government remained relatively quiet, the absence of palace servants made it somewhat eerie.
“The Empress Dowager’s people must have already taken control of the palace. Why not have someone keep watch to see if the Northwestern Army’s signal fires will light up the sky at the third watch?”
“How did you know we would act tonight!” Noble Consort Su grew more panicked.
“The people chosen by the Empress Dowager are somewhat lacking in intelligence,” Shen Xihe dismissed Noble Consort Su with contempt.
“If I had an advisor like you by my side, I wouldn’t have had to wait until today.” The Empress Dowager didn’t reproach Noble Consort Su, after all, there were too few people who could match wits with Shen Xihe. “Tomorrow is the day to formally appoint the Crown Prince. I cannot let His Majesty choose another heir.”
So she had been biding her time, wearing down His Majesty. Even if His Majesty hadn’t passed away tonight, she couldn’t wait another day.
Turning her gaze, the Empress Dowager looked at the confident Shen Xihe: “It seems the Shunan situation is unsalvageable.”
“Not just Shunan,” Shen Xihe wasn’t afraid to lay all the cards on the table. “There’s also the Northwest, and besides Xiao Wenxi, there’s Xue Jinqiao.”
The Empress Dowager’s expression changed.
Shen Xihe gazed at the Empress Dowager, cold determination seeping from her obsidian-like eyes: “You used soul-controlling techniques on Qiaoqiao. When you saw that the assassination attempts on me failed, and you dared not go too far for fear of Beihen noticing, you could only follow Xiao Wenxi’s example of turning shadows into light. Qiaoqiao’s affection for me stems from your soul-controlling technique.”
“How did you guess!” If Shen Xihe’s deduction about Xiao Huayong’s poisoning had merely surprised the Empress Dowager, her knowledge about Xue Jinqiao made it difficult for the Empress Dowager to maintain composure.
“I wasn’t certain at first. I just felt that the Empress Dowager, being so meticulous, wouldn’t leave any area unattended. Even if the Northwest was beyond direct reach, it couldn’t be left completely unmanaged. The Empress Dowager excels at using women…” Shen Xihe was very reluctant to accept this truth but had to face the reality. “What confirmed my suspicion was when the Empress Dowager sent Second Miss Yu to seek out the Princess Consort of Prince Xun.”
Yu Sangning-Shen Xihe hadn’t killed her.
She had kept her alive specifically to confirm the Empress Dowager’s deepest hidden identity.
The Empress Dowager’s rescue of Yu Sangning meant she knew about the secret passage. The Rouge Case’s beneficiary was the Empress Dowager – firstly to control court officials’ movements through pillow talk, infiltrating the civil and military officials through their inner chambers, and secondly to accumulate wealth and cultivate power.
Princess Imperial Ruyang and her two sons were the Empress Dowager’s people. The secret passage was revealed to Xiao Huayong under the Empress Dowager’s instructions through Prince Consort Wei. Naturally, the Empress Dowager knew about the passage.
Why did the Empress Dowager save Yu Sangning? Yu Sangning had one use – to tell Shen Yingruo about Madam Tan without arousing any suspicion from Shen Yingruo, to reveal that Madam Tan was arranged by Shen Xihe’s mother.
Shen Yingruo relied on Madam Tan more than the Xiao family; they were more like mother and daughter than master and servant.
Once Shen Yingruo learned that from birth, Madam Tan had been arranged by Madam Tao, the blow to Shen Yingruo would be fatal.
With Yu Sangning’s instigation, it wouldn’t be difficult to make Shen Yingruo develop hatred toward Shen Xihe.
Over the past year, Shen Yingruo and Xiao Changfeng had been inseparable, their mutual affection genuine. Xiao Changfeng controlled His Majesty’s Divine Brave Army. The Empress Dowager must have learned this from Xiao Huayong and intended to use Shen Yingruo to influence Xiao Changfeng.
But the secret about Madam Tan – even Shen Xihe only learned it later from Shen Yunan. How could the Empress Dowager know?
The answer was obvious: Shen Yunan had told Xue Jinqiao, who then informed the Empress Dowager.
“Such deep scheming!” Though the Empress Dowager knew of Shen Xihe’s intelligence and had experienced it firsthand, she was still shocked. “It seems my Northwest piece is also wasted.”
Shen Xihe had harbored suspicions early on and must have sent word to Shen Yunan. Though Shen Yunan and Xue Jinqiao were truly in love, Shen Yunan’s trust in his sister was unshakeable. He wouldn’t be easily deceived by Xue Jinqiao again, and might even have turned the tables on her.
“Empress Dowager, you should be grateful that you only used techniques on Qiaoqiao,” Shen Xihe’s eyes flashed with severity.
Xue Jinqiao had encountered misfortune in her childhood, perhaps accidentally meeting the Empress Dowager or her people. As the legitimate daughter of the Xue family, using a technique on her was a casual investment that might prove useful someday.
If Xue Jinqiao had been like Xiao Wenxi – not passive, but always an enemy spy – Shen Xihe would have made the Empress Dowager pay a terrible price for this.
At least when the soul-controlling technique was removed from Xue Jinqiao, she would forget her actions while under control. She hadn’t truly betrayed Shen Yunan; her feelings for him and her affection for Shen Xihe weren’t fake, and she had been put under the technique before they even met.
No grave mistake had been made. Shen Yunan wouldn’t mind, and would instead be more caring toward Xue Jinqiao. The bond between husband and wife would remain undamaged.
“Such arrogance,” the Empress Dowager snorted coldly. “Do you think you hold all the winning cards?”
“How dare I be overconfident when matching wits with the Empress Dowager?” Shen Xihe remained composed and serene.
“Inside and outside the palace, even thousands of miles away, you’ve planned every step. But have you considered your flesh and blood?” the Empress Dowager asked meaningfully.
Shen Xihe maintained her composure: “Since I gave birth, Fifteenth Brother has frequently visited the Eastern Palace. The Empress Dowager must think he was under your orders, coming to lower my and Junqu’s guard.”
“Isn’t that so?” the Empress Dowager said coldly.
“Earlier, I asked the Empress Dowager – how do you know Beihen never suspected you?” Shen Xihe smiled gently. When mentioning Xiao Huayong, her expression softened. “The Empress Dowager wanted to push Fifteenth Brother to power, then take the throne from his hands. That day when Noble Consort Su schemed to raise Fifteenth Brother, ultimately the right to raise him was personally handed to the Empress Dowager by Beihen.
Fifteenth Brother was Beihen’s spy placed by the Empress Dowager’s side. Junqu is quite safe with him.”
The Empress Dowager spoke so openly with Shen Xihe and revealed everything because she knew Xiao Honglong had succeeded. If Xiao Honglong hadn’t yet succeeded, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t have torn down all pretenses with Shen Xihe so thoroughly, laying everything bare.
“Impossible!” The Empress Dowager’s raised voice covered the increasingly clear sounds of fighting outside the Hall of Diligent Government.
How could he have suspected her so early? If so early, why didn’t he mention it to Shen Xihe? Why did he need Shen Xihe to gradually draw her out?
Shen Xihe could understand all the Empress Dowager’s doubts. She spoke coldly: “The Empress Dowager was his closest person, I am his beloved. He didn’t want to expose such ugly power-hungry thoughts before me. With Fifteenth Brother by the Empress Dowager’s side, I think before the Crown Prince’s death, the Empress Dowager never instilled thoughts of seizing the throne in Fifteenth Brother. Therefore, before then, Beihen only suspected the Empress Dowager and Fifteenth Brother were just a precautionary piece.
After the Empress Dowager revealed herself, she only spoke words to tempt Fifteenth Brother’s ambition. The Empress Dowager wouldn’t reveal any useful pawns to the Fifteenth Brother – he was just a stepping stone to the Empress Dowager’s throne.
The Empress Dowager thought Fifteenth Brother was young and easily manipulated, but princes born in the imperial family who are truly easy to manipulate don’t live long.”
With Xiao Honglong by Empress Dowager’s side, Xiao Huayong didn’t need to inform her early about his unconfirmed suspicions. Deep in his heart, he still held onto a thread of unrealistic hope and fantasy – at its root, it was simply humanity’s yearning for genuine feelings.
If the Empress Dowager meant her harm, Xiao Honglong would warn her immediately.
Until the very end, Xiao Huayong never verbally expressed his suspicions about the Empress Dowager.
The person who raised him since childhood, who showed him the world’s filth without letting him descend into madness or be consumed by hatred – perhaps it was the Empress Dowager’s trace of warmth, though tainted with impure motives from the start.
“Your Highness, the Fifteenth Prince’s whereabouts are unknown,” a person following Xiao Honglong hurriedly reported from outside.
The Empress Dowager had no choice but to believe Shen Xihe’s words. She stared at Shen Xihe for a long while: “I had planned to deal with you last, but it seems that’s no longer possible.”
Keeping Shen Xihe until the end wasn’t out of admiration, but because the crime of forcing the palace coup needed Shen Xihe to take the blame, allowing the Empress Dowager to better execute her plans.
As soon as the Empress Dowager finished speaking, the guards waiting outside rushed in with drawn swords. The consorts scattered in fear, their faces pale with terror.
Yet Shen Xihe seemed to pay no attention, showing not the slightest intention to flee. These men couldn’t even get close to her. Tianyuan and Hongyu had already found an excuse to withdraw after she entered, and Moyu had also infiltrated the Hall of Diligent Government with Emperor Youning’s tacit permission.
His Majesty’s hidden guards were all concealed in the sleeping chambers.
In the blink of an eye, several shadows darted out, with Moyu taking a defensive position in front of Shen Xihe.
“Kill them all!” the Empress Dowager ordered in a grim voice.
Shen Xihe was protected as she retreated, with a circle of people surrounding her. The people the Empress Dowager brought were no ordinary fighters – they had likely entered through the secret passage earlier and had been hiding in the palace.
His Majesty’s hidden guards hadn’t appeared. Shen Xihe stood amid the killing ground, her ears filled with the consorts’ sharp screams. Occasionally, droplets of fresh blood would fly through the air, and despite Moyu’s careful protection, she couldn’t prevent drops of blood from blooming like red plum blossoms on the gauze shawl around her arms.