Chapter 274: Three-Day Empress Dream

He is a eunuch; among the noble masters, he is just a despised dog.

Only Wan Tang treats him as a human.

Even at this point, she still thinks, let them run, let their lives—how can their lives be lived a little better?

Xiao Lùzi's eyes reddened, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

Staring at Wan Tang, he gritted his teeth: "Master, rest assured, you will be fine."

"Although I, the Nubi, am just a useless eunuch, even if I stake my life, I must protect the Master."

After Xiao Lùzi finished speaking, his gaze steadfast on Wan Tang, he nodded heavily and turned to leave.

Wan Tang stood where she was, the sorrowful expression on her face fading.

After all, this is in Kunning Palace, on the Empress's turf.

Shei could not worry?

Li Ping'er hurried to Kunning Palace, her face full of worry; seeing Wan Tang unharmed, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sister, are you okay?"

Wan Tang gently shook her head, her gaze calm and sharp: "I'm fine."

She slowly looked around Kunning Palace.

"Ping'er, do you think this Kunning Palace is beautiful?" she suddenly asked, her voice calm and even.

Li Ping'er, full of doubt, followed Wan Tang's gaze and answered honestly: "Extremely splendid, every corner exudes luxury. Yet it always feels overly solemn, dead and stagnant."

"Living here, it must be very oppressive!"

Wan Tang smiled lightly: "Precisely because of this dead air, it better matches the Empress's position."

Li Defu, following behind, suddenly lifted his head at the words, his murky eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

With a trembling voice he said: "Empress, do you intend to sit on…"

He stopped there, daring not to continue.

Wan Tang slowly turned her head, looking at Li Defu.

A faint smile on her face, she opened her mouth, her voice sharp as a knife: "Why not?"

"This position has always been contested."

"Why can't that person be me?"

【Right, right, Tangtang is right; letting others go ahead is worse than taking the reins oneself.】

【The original says the one who finally ascends the throne is San Huangzi. Now the pregnant one is Liu Guiren; does that mean the one who finally becomes Emperor is also Liu Guiren's son?】

【Hard to say, after all Tangtang's usual moves never harm innocent children.】

【Never mind, as long as Tangtang is determined to become Empress. Go go.】

【Ladies, look, the show begins: Xiao Mingshu is about to meet with the Xiao Family, just three steps away, before they meet, Ouyang Qing appears and takes the person away.】

【Right now Xiao Mingshu is like a pig, completely unaware that the world outside has changed. Xiao Sihai has already been thrown into the big prison, Zhou Su is rigorously investigating Mo Family cases and various crimes of the Xiao Family.】

Wan Tang gave a cold smile.

She turned to Li Ping'er, smiling, "Want to watch a good show?"

Li Ping'er stared at the person before her; she once thought there was a certain gap between herself and Wan Tang.

Now, since Wan Tang returned from outside the palace, Li Ping'er seems unable to see through the person before her.

Her heart seems to have sunk to the sea floor, perhaps impossible to retrieve.

Yangxin Hall.

Xiao Yurou hurried forward, seeing Chu Yunzheng she fell to her knees, unable to cry.

She opened her mouth and shouted: "Emperor, you must decide for me."

She lifted her tear‑streaked, mottled face, deliberately exposing the reddened, swollen cheek marked with finger prints.

Her voice was full of indignation: "Virtuous Consort is utterly lawless, daring to trespass Kunning Palace, hurling insults at me, even committing insubordination by slapping me."

While saying so, she showed the red slap mark on her face, excited: "I am now Empress; such conduct of hers, where does it place the Palace Rules?"

"Where does it place the Emperor's face?"

Overly emotional, even her voice trembled: "Please, Emperor, severely punish Virtuous Consort, to rectify the inner palace!"

Chu Yunzheng set down the vermilion brush in his hand; the desk was covered with memorials concerning the Xiao Family.

Those infuriating pieces of evidence had piled up like a mountain.

His gaze fell on the obvious red scar on her cheek, his eyebrows subtly furrowed.

His tone, unreadable as to joy or anger: "Are you sure that slap was given by Virtuous Consort?"

"Absolutely certain, the Guanren of Kunning Palace can all testify!" Xiao Yurou said urgently.

Every word was deliberately enunciated with emphasis.

Yet Chu Yunzheng's face showed no sign of anger, instead he let out a snort of laughter.

He had already been scheming how to destroy the Xiao Family, let alone this Empress who disgusted Chu Yunzheng to the utmost.

If it weren't for repeated threats and compromises, how could this woman be allowed to don the phoenix crown?

He looked at Xiao Yurou, his voice containing a barely perceptible sarcasm: "Virtuous Consort's temperament is a bit fierce, but she never provokes without cause."

"She slapped you surely because you provoked her."

"Otherwise, why wouldn't she hit others, but specifically you?"

"Emperor?!" Xiao Yurou could hardly believe her ears.

She covered her burning cheek, shock, grievance, and anger tangled together, nearly causing her to collapse.

Her eyes stared like copper bells.

The Son of Heaven, yet he dotes on a woman to such a clueless extent.

It is all because of Wan Tang.

My ten‑plus years of training and performance have become a joke.

She also became the first Empress in history who was never favored by the Emperor.

Humiliation and anger have completely eroded all her reason.

She thrust her head up sharply, eyes wild, voice sharp: "Emperor, I, your servant, am now the Empress."

"I hold the Phoenix Seal and oversee the Six Palaces."

Chu Yunzheng sneered: "So what?"

Xiao Mingshu snorted: "If the Virtuous Consort is so overbearing and the Emperor refuses to intervene, then I will, with the authority of the Empress, deal with her according to Palace Rules."

"I must be able to manage this imperial harem!"

"Audacious!" Chu Yunzheng's face darkened suddenly, his dragon aura fully displayed, "My subjects are not for you to dictate."

"But I am the Empress." Xiao Yurou's voice rose a bit.

Chu Yunzheng sneered: "So what?"

"You have struck Tangtang again and again; I have not yet settled that account with you."

"Stay properly in the harem, and I can still tolerate you a little; if you dare cause trouble again, I won't even spare the Empress Dowager's face."

Seeing the Emperor's blatant favoritism, Xiao Yurou was driven to a desperate corner.

She is the prized jewel of the Xiao Family!

At home, if she merely furrows a brow, the whole family falls into disarray.

Why?

Why must she be treated this way.

Xiao Mingshu sneered: "Emperor, don't forget that the Xiao Family still stands."

"Father once said he would never allow his daughter to suffer any grievance."

Mentioning Xiao Sihai, Xiao Mingshu couldn't help but puff out her chest: "If you persist in indulging the Virtuous Consort and humiliating me, are you not afraid of chilling the hearts of the entire Xiao clan?"

"Aren't you afraid the Former Dynasty will become unstable?"

A cold glint flashed in Chu Yunzheng's eyes, and the pressure around him dropped to a terrifyingly low level.

He rose slowly, stepping toward Xiao Yurou, looking down upon her from above.

His voice was ice‑cold and piercing: "Xiao Yurou, are you threatening me with the Xiao Family?"

"I would not dare," she said, though even so the corners of her eyebrows lifted.

"Heh." Chu Yunzheng let out a light laugh, and the bone‑chilling cold swept across the Yangxin Hall in an instant.

Xiao Yurou was stunned by the murderous aura, her body went rigid, and a hint of fear appeared.

She opened her mouth, but thinking that the Xiao Family still backed her, she continued: "What fault have I committed?"

"The Emperor is at fault for indulging a demonic concubine."

"Simply incompetent…"

"Enough!" Chu Yunzheng shouted, cutting her off, his last ounce of patience exhausted.

He turned, walked to the imperial desk, lifted a vermilion brush, and without any hesitation, wrote swiftly.

The edict was completed and placed on Xiao Mingshu.

With disgust, he waved his hand: "Take her out."

Outside the Yangxin Hall, the Fēng xuě had not stopped.

Wan Tang led a group, walking slowly, and saw Xiao Yurou collapsed in the snow.

A bright yellow edict fell onto the snow beside her, dazzlingly conspicuous.

Li Ping'er saw this, furrowed her brows, and tried to pull Wan Tang away.

Wan Tang, however, approached calmly and stopped in front of Xiao Yurou.

She slightly bent her knee in salute, her voice gentle: "Your Majesty, the Empress, are you well?"

"Why are you sitting fallen in the snow? No one is there to attend you?" Wan Tang said, even reaching out as if to help.

"Get out of my way!" Xiao Yurou flung her hand away: "Stop pretending to be concerned."

"I am already doomed; I don't need any help from you."

Wan Tang was unbothered; if you won't let me touch, then I won't.

She bent down with the flow and picked up the edict.

She brushed off the snow, unfolded it, and, looking at the text, a smile curled her lips.

Fearing Xiao Yurou would not come over, she read the contents aloud, clear and steady, word by word:

"Empress Xiao, of unworthy conduct… effective immediately, her post is revoked… returned to the Xiao Family…"

Having finished, she closed the edict,

Her gaze fell on Xiao Yurou's pallid face, a cold sneer curling her lips: "How impressive."

She leaned slightly, her voice lowered, each word like a knife: "An Empress who has not even served in the bed yet is sent back to her natal family; you must be the first in history."

Deposed Empress!

Returned!

The force of those two words is overwhelming.

Xiao Yurou could not accept it at all; she felt the world spinning.

But with Wan Tang right there, how could she show any weakness?

"Don't be smug," Xiao Yurou shouted sharply, eyes fierce: "With the Xiao Family and the Empress Dowager present, this edict counts for nothing; I am still the Empress!"

"Of course, the sense of security those backers bring, you a lone girl could never comprehend," Xiao Yurou said with a mocking smile.

"Oh? Not necessarily."

Wan Tang, with a compassion that sees all, said, "Does Miss Xiao still not know what situation the Xiao Family is in now?"

She looked down from her height at Xiao Yurou, slowly spitting out the cold truth: "Xiao Sihai has framed the loyal, embezzled military provisions, formed cliques for personal gain… multiple crimes punishable together, evidence is solid, and now he cannot even protect himself."

"As for the Empress Dowager…"

She deliberately paused, savoring the fear spreading in Xiao Yurou's eyes.

"She is advanced in years, and the Emperor is, of course, a filial son; how could he bear to let her worry about these matters?"

The color drained completely from Xiao Yurou's face; her aunt, could she not even receive news from outside?

In those eyes that once brimmed with ambition and pride, now only immense terror and despair remain.

Wan Tang watched her in that state, a cold glint swirling in her eyes.

If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have fallen into this peril.

Why would Su Yanci need to risk death to rescue?

Those droplets of bright red falling onto the snow are proof of their crimes.

Wan Tang has no reason, for anyone, yet she forgives these executioners.

Moreover, she cannot quell the raging hatred in her heart.

She leaned down slightly, closing in on Xiao Yurou, her voice as light as a whisper:

"Xiao Yurou, after being Empress for three days, now that the dream has ended, how does it feel?"

Her gaze, sharp as an arrow, pierced straight into the other's heart:

"Is there even a trace of regret?"

"You say you, why back then did you have to put me in a deadly situation?"

Wan Tang said, then suddenly let out a light laugh, and with a hint of self‑mockery said, "Now that I think of it, I have to thank you."

"If it weren't for you, I truly have no interest whatsoever in the Empress's position."