Chapter 285
**Chapter 283: The Rest of My Life**
Liu Ruyan sighed, gazing at the yellowing autumn leaves not far away. “What’s the point of fighting and struggling? It’s like leaves falling in the wind; all prosperity will eventually wither.”
With the queen’s downfall, the harem was in turmoil, as the concubines eyed the queen’s position. Liu Ruyan found it all rather amusing.
Wealth, fame, and power are but fleeting illusions.
Shen Wei turned around. “Cai Ping, let’s head back to the palace.”
Liu Ruyan was truly beautiful, and her mind was equally extraordinary. She was someone to admire from a distance, not to engage with.
Shen Wei dashed away.
In the East Pavilion, a palace maid named Xue Mei peeked out from behind a pillar. She returned to Liu Ruyan’s side and cautiously said, “My lady, the wind is picking up. Your health isn’t good, and the physician said that too much wind could give you a chill. Should we go back to the palace?”
The autumn wind was chilly, and the East Pavilion was right in the path of the breeze. Xue Mei was indeed cold.
But alas, her lady insisted on sitting alone in the East Pavilion, admiring the slowly yellowing leaves and the gradually reddening maple leaves.
Liu Ruyan remarked, “Autumn is truly beautiful; the maple leaves are like blood, a unique sight.”
Xue Mei felt like pinching herself. If it weren’t for the fact that the current Concubine Chen had raised the salaries of the palace maids since taking charge, Xue Mei would have seriously considered quitting.
Back in the East Pavilion, Liu Ruyan sat quietly on a stone bench, watching the flowers bloom and wither, the leaves turn yellow.
While the harem was in chaos, she wished to be like a plum tree in the depths of the palace, far from the storms, enjoying her own solitary beauty.
Xue Mei silently counted the days until she could leave the palace. Once a palace maid turned twenty-five, she could leave. Just one more year, and she would be free from this torment.
...
...
The former palace and the harem were all waiting for the emperor’s decree to depose the queen.
Strangely, time flew by, and as the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the decree had yet to be issued.
The Xie family was the first to lose patience, joining forces with several ministers to petition the emperor, detailing the queen’s crimes, hoping he would issue the decree. In the court, the emperor was furious, reprimanding the ministers, demoting many and punishing their salaries.
The emperor declared that although the queen had committed numerous offenses, she was the mother of Princess Li Yao. Out of respect for their past, he had no intention of deposing her.
Only then did everyone realize that despite the fall of the Dantai family, the emperor did not plan to depose the queen.
...
In Kun Ning Palace, the queen was tormented daily, waiting for the decree of her deposition, for the white silk and poison wine that would grant her death.
But she waited in vain.
Instead, she received a message from Gonggong Deshun, who conveyed the emperor’s order for her to “rest” in Kun Ning Palace, never to step outside again for the rest of her life.
The palace maids were dismissed, and only an old matron was left to bring her meals, with guards stationed at the door.
After Gonggong Deshun left, the queen slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the empty courtyard. She murmured, “Not deposed... he... he actually won’t depose me...”
Could it be that her daily prayers and offerings had moved the Bodhisattva, allowing this devout believer to keep her life?
The queen stumbled back to the Buddhist hall, kneeling on the mat, staring vacantly at the compassionate statue of the Bodhisattva. “For the rest of my life... I can only accompany the Bodhisattva...”
She had completely lost.
Outside, soft footsteps approached. Li Yao came to the Buddhist hall. She softly called out, “Mother.”
The queen turned to see her timid daughter by the door.
Li Yao whispered, “It’s getting cold. I brought you a thick quilt. Take care of yourself, and I’ll come to see you once a month.”
A palace maid set down the thick quilt.
Li Yao didn’t dare to get closer to the queen.
Kneeling in the Buddhist hall, the queen looked emaciated, her eyes bulging, cheekbones protruding, resembling a terrifying skeleton. When she looked at Li Yao, her expression was fierce.
Li Yao felt a pang in her nose. After placing the quilt down, she quickly left with the palace maid.
The bond between mother and daughter was reduced to this. Once she married, she would never visit the queen again. She had her own life and would never follow in her mother’s footsteps.
The queen sat in the Buddhist hall, watching her daughter’s retreating figure, suddenly enveloped by a heavy sense of sorrow.
Her family had collapsed, her sons had died one after another, and her husband had grown weary of her... in the end, the only one left by her side was the daughter she had always looked down upon.
The queen buried her head, letting out a mournful sob.
Time passed, though she couldn’t tell how long.
Footsteps sounded outside again.
This time, it was Shen Wei.
The sunlight was bright, but Kun Ning Palace’s courtyard had long been neglected, with wild grass growing rampant, and chrysanthemums blooming wildly, blending in with the weeds.
Shen Wei paused to admire the wild chrysanthemums. Most of the palace’s flowers and plants were neatly trimmed, but the wildflowers, growing untamed, had their own unique beauty.
The queen dragged her numb feet out of the Buddhist hall, her gaze dark and menacing as she fixed her eyes on Shen Wei. “What do you want? To come and watch my humiliation?”
Shen Wei turned back, smiling gently. “Yes.”
Amidst the wild chrysanthemums, Shen Wei stood, her beauty outshining the flowers.
The queen’s eyes filled with jealousy. In the depths of the palace, Lan Pin, Shu Fei, and Mei Fei had all slowly withered away. Yet Shen Wei continued to shine brightly, as if she would never fade.
Years ago, the queen had elevated Shen Wei to a concubine, never imagining that the lowly maid she had looked down upon would one day outshine the entire harem.
The queen sneered, “Shen Wei, no one can be successful forever. There will come a day when you fall into the mud.”
Shen Wei smiled. “Even if I fall into the mud one day, I can rise again. But you? You’ll never step out of Kun Ning Palace again.”
Keeping the queen alive was merely a means to balance the powerful families.
Once Li Yuanjing had dealt with the noble families, the queen’s life would come to an end.
The queen’s nails dug into her palm.
Shen Wei strolled closer, tilting her head to scrutinize the queen, softly telling her, “I manage the harem with an iron fist, with eyes and ears everywhere. The slightest stir in Kun Ning Palace won’t escape my notice.”
The queen froze, confused. “What do you mean?”
Shen Wei smiled. “Not long ago, you slipped out of Kun Ning Palace repeatedly, sending messages to the Dantai family, scolding in Li Chengzhen’s palace, secretly colluding with Dantai Yinxue... Did you really think the guards were lax?”
The queen stood frozen in place.
A chilling dread surged from her ankles to her scalp, enveloping her in a terrifying cold.
This was too frightening!
Shen Wei was too frightening!
The queen’s eyes reddened as she desperately lunged at Shen Wei, screaming, “It’s you! You’re the one stirring the pot behind my back! You’re the one who killed my son! You’ve ruined my family! Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose your true nature to the emperor?”
Shen Wei stepped back two paces, evading the queen’s attack.
Shen Wei shook her head. “A wife who is unworthy, a mother who is unkind, a daughter who is unfilial, a ruler who is unbenevolent, and a subject who is disrespectful—all of this is your own doing.”
After a pause, Shen Wei’s gaze turned icy as she continued, “I remember, back in the Wang residence, you prided yourself on being as unassuming as a chrysanthemum. For the rest of your life, you can just accompany these chrysanthemums.”
Shen Wei left Kun Ning Palace.
She instructed the guards at the entrance, “Repair the dog hole in the back courtyard, and check the courtyard walls for damage every month.”
The guard cupped his hands in acknowledgment. “Yes.”
Shen Wei took her sedan chair back to Yong Ning Palace.
From then on, there would be no more loopholes for the queen to exploit; she would never step out of Kun Ning Palace again.
As soon as Shen Wei’s sedan chair arrived at Yong Ning Palace, the maid Cai Lian joyfully ran over to report:
“Congratulations, my lady! Congratulations! There’s good news!”
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