The Lantern Festival had just passed, and colorful lanterns still hung high in Hualin Garden, but the lights in the Sunrise Tower and Sunset Moon Tower had been extinguished, shrouded in darkness. At this time, former Empress Fu Rong, who had long resided in the Sunset Moon Tower, had not yet gone to sleep. She sat alone by the window, gazing at this night’s garden full of flower lanterns, and at the Sunrise Tower that would never light up again.

Looking at the dark, hollow windows of the Sunrise Tower, she inevitably thought of old people and old stories—the late emperor from years past.

Your Majesty… She still remembered the hand he had extended to her at the flower gathering on Qingji Mountain. At that time she had just been publicly slapped by his sister, yet he came to her afterward in private.

Heaven knew, what she needed was never to climb to heights together with him. She had agreed, and from then on they became each other’s stepping stones. She gathered the Fu family’s power for him, found blade edges sharp enough to kill Qi Ying for him, dealt with the Han family for him… did everything for him.

And even more for herself.

They had once been so, so close to the true peak, infinitely close, but unfortunately… in the end they still failed at the crucial moment.

He died.

Everyone said the late emperor had committed suicide, but she knew better than anyone—if there had been hope, he would not have killed himself. He was murdered. He was killed by Qi Ying.

His appearance like a gentleman, his heart like an asura… The world’s judgment was indeed correct—Qi Ying was a blade.

He had already killed the late emperor, so what was the next step? Would he kill her son?

She couldn’t sit and wait for death. She had to kill him.

She had endured and hidden for so many years. Did Qi Ying think that by pushing her son out as a puppet, she would just watch herself decline and be squeezed out of court by unknown minor humble families? Absolutely impossible.

They would resist, they would compete, they would drag those obstructing them into the abyss at any cost. They would not let Qi Ying have an easy time.

She had been secretly building her network for many years, and most of her efforts would bear fruit tonight! She wanted Qi Ying to pay with his life for the late emperor! To make way for her and her son!

Fu Rong’s hands trembled with excitement, her emotions too complex for her to untangle. She was waiting… waiting for her people to report back on tonight’s events turning the world into hell.

Someone came.

She heard footsteps.

The night wind in Hualin Garden was so cold, blowing through the window shutters and disturbing her heart. Her long fingernails dug deeply into her flesh, yet her eyes burst with blazing light—

The footsteps stopped—

The door opened—

She saw the visitor—

…It was an unexpected guest she hadn’t anticipated.

Shen Xiling.

She recognized her immediately, though it had been over ten years since she last saw her. That person was Shen Xiling from years past. At that time she was still called Fang Jun, a solitary girl in the Qi family whom no one dared offend, even that brainless daughter of the Zhao family feared her.

She had expended almost no effort to drive her out of the Qi family back then, effortlessly accomplishing what many had failed to do for years, and had pushed her onto the political stage within days, publicly shattering the barriers Qi Ying had carefully built for her and pulling Qi Ying down from the clouds as well.

At that time she thought she had won, but she hadn’t expected that after going around in circles, this person would become Qi Ying’s beloved, his darling. She bore him a son who was about to seize everything that originally belonged to her son…

And now she… had actually come before her.

Fu Rong hadn’t seen Shen Xiling for over ten years. The appearance of that orphan girl in her memory had become somewhat blurred, and she was somewhat uncertain—was the person before her eyes really the child she had easily driven from the Qi family back then… If so, why wasn’t she a defeated general?

Fu Rong felt momentarily panicked. Shen Xiling’s sudden arrival left her somewhat flustered—she didn’t know what this meant. Had her plan succeeded? Had Qi Ying died, so she came to seek revenge? Or had Qi Ying not died and her plan failed?

Fu Rong’s mind raced, but before she could sort out her thoughts, she heard Shen Xiling’s icy voice: “Master Xu.”

Fu Rong looked up and saw someone else entering—it was the current powerful minister of the Privy Council, Xu Zhengning.

He expressionlessly waved his hand, and several crude palace servants rushed forward, roughly twisting her arms and forcing her to the ground.

Fu Rong became even more agitated. While being forced down, she loudly demanded of Shen Xiling: “Is this palace rebelling against superiors? He—”

Her words hadn’t finished when a sharp “crack” suddenly rang out in the Sunset Moon Tower. Fu Rong’s voice was immediately cut off, as if someone had grabbed her throat.

…It was Shen Xiling who struck her hard across the face.

That slap was extremely heavy—if not for the palace servants restraining Fu Rong from behind, she would surely have been knocked to the ground. Everyone present was stunned, and in Shen Xiling’s eyes was undisguised pain, hatred, and disgust.

“Who gave you the right to call yourself ‘this palace’? How are you worthy of such status?”

She was completely different from her usual self.

Xu Zhengning knew of her existence. During the Northern Expedition negotiations, they had even met at the Governor’s Residence in Shangjing, and in recent years he often met with the Grand Tutor’s wife. He knew this was a gentle, graceful woman, but he hadn’t expected she would have such sharp words and actions today. That suddenly delivered slap used tremendous force—even the Empress Dowager’s face was scratched, yet she seemed not to see it.

He could feel her towering rage. An invisible pressure emanated from her, making people unable to suppress their fear. In a trance… she was remarkably similar to the Grand Tutor.

After a brief daze, Fu Rong regained her senses. She slowly raised her head, her expression showing no signs of madness or breakdown, as if she still maintained rationality and continued thinking.

She couldn’t panic. She had to think about what Shen Xiling was here to do, and she didn’t need to hold back about anything.

Fu Rong slightly lowered her eyebrows…

But what responded to her was an even louder slap!

Shen Xiling used even more force than before. After this strike, even her hand trembled from excessive force, but she paid no attention, only stepping forward to press closer to Fu Rong.

“Put away your calculations.”

The night wind was harsh.

“You think by pushing Pan Xian forward you can destroy everything he has painstakingly built?”

“Fu Rong, you are so selfish and vicious.”

Sentence by sentence, word by word, Fu Rong heard every punctuation mark clearly, but couldn’t immediately react.

How… did she know everything? Then what about Qi Ying? Did he also know? If he knew everything… what would he do? How would he deal with her? And… her Zhao’er. Her unfortunate child.

Fu Rong was truly in chaos.

Shen Xiling looked at her and said coldly: “Your son will personally see his mother’s corpse.”

Fu Rong had already become numb and speechless, but upon hearing Shen Xiling mention her son, she immediately became like an enraged beast! She frantically tried to break free from the palace servants’ restraint. That face which had always been proper and dignified completely lost composure, and the pearl hairpins on her head fell to the ground due to violent struggling, yet she still couldn’t break free.

She was so powerless, and in the end could only stare venomously at Shen Xiling with extreme sharpness and spite, her voice shrill as she shouted: “My son is mine! You will all die horrible deaths!”

When a cornered beast faces death, what can it ultimately leave behind? Probably only empty curses.

Shen Xiling didn’t know why she was so calm at that moment. She felt no hatred, no anger, not even sorrow or joy. She just looked down at the woman before her.

She had once been the object of her resentment and hatred in the north, but now looking at her, her heart held only calm. That calm gave her an emotion she couldn’t explain or name. What was more serious than contempt? She didn’t know.

She only heard her own voice, frighteningly cold, even carrying mocking laughter.

“Can’t you see clearly?”

“Whether he lives or dies depends entirely on his single thought—there’s no room for bargaining.”

She reached out to grasp Fu Rong’s chin, appearing somewhat sinister at that moment.

“Fu Rong, you have nothing—what do you have to gamble with?”

This final mention of the late emperor’s words collapsed Fu Rong’s last line of defense. She suddenly burst into tears.

She absolutely didn’t love him, not for a single moment, but she also didn’t know why she would shed tears the instant others mentioned him. Was it because he symbolized infinite glory and success in her memory? Or did she miss him? Missing someone with whom neither had ever given their true heart.

Shen Xiling watched Fu Rong collapse dejectedly to the ground, her eyes vacant, ultimately wailing loudly in complete defeat. She couldn’t describe her feelings at that moment and finally turned to leave.

Only the night wind carried her words, leaving them in this Sunset Moon Tower filled with despair.

“If he dies, she will kill her own son afterward.”