Chapter 10

Who would have guessed we were going to take command of the veterans the Empress Dowager had secretly kept in the army?

The Empress Dowager and Xiao Che had a realm of their own to win.

I had my own vengeance to claim.

We helped one another play our pieces,

while concealing the real killing move from each other.

Now the final piece had at last been placed.

The Emperor stared at Xiao Che’s face and recognized the image of someone he once knew.

His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed in the throne hall.

10.

The Emperor fell gravely ill. The Empress Dowager once again took up regency, and the old Lu family case was sent to the Three Judicial Offices for joint review.

Madam Lu still refused to confess when she was brought before the court.

“She’s nothing but a bastard talking nonsense. What evidence do you have?”

She had no idea that Granny Qian was not dead at all.

The moment Granny Qian saw her former mistress, she threw herself forward, weeping bitterly.

“Madam, I was willing to risk my life for you!”

“I agreed to risk everything and remove that thorn in your side for you and Eldest Miss.”

“But after I had gone this far, why did you still send someone to poison me?”

I had deliberately avoided a vital spot with the hairpin that day.

When Granny Qian regained consciousness, she had made a scene and demanded death, trying to pin the crime on me.

“Our young lady is so noble. How could she let a little wretch like you harass her day after day?”

Madam Lu’s personal maid later sneaked into the Ministry of Justice. While Granny Qian was “unconscious,” she poured that “poison” into her bowl.

The maid thought Granny Qian would certainly die, so she confessed everything.

“Don’t blame me, Granny Qian. It was Madam’s order.”

“Madam said that once you were dead, I would take over your position as head nursemaid.”

Only then did Granny Qian see that in the eyes of the noble young lady she had served,

she was no different from Qinghe: a servant who could be discarded at any time.

She not only confessed that Madam Lu had ordered her to strangle Qinghe,

but also exposed the truth about Qinghe’s parents’ deaths years ago.

“The old couple couldn’t believe their daughter had betrayed her masters. They wanted to come to the capital and ask Qinghe themselves!”

“But the Old Madam was afraid they’d cause trouble. She had people tie their hands and feet and throw them straight down a well!”

As she recalled Qinghe’s final moments, Granny Qian finally broke down sobbing.

“Qinghe didn’t want to die…”

“She said her daughter had promised to take her away and give her a peaceful life.”

“She begged me to show a little mercy. She only wanted to live quietly with Second Miss.”

“She said if she died, Second Miss would spend the rest of her life just like her, crushed by guilt until she could hardly breathe!”

By then, there was no denying the truth.

Madam Lu was sentenced to exile for the deaths of several people.

Father was dismissed from office and sentenced to life under house arrest for allowing his wife to govern the household without discipline.

On the day Madam Lu left the capital, Lu Yunchu covered her head and secretly went to see her.

The moment Madam Lu saw her daughter, tears streamed down her aged face.

“Yunchu, my darling girl! At last you’ve come to see your mother off!”

Lu Yunchu cried, too, but pulled a severance letter from her sleeve.

“Mother, please sign it. I beg you, don’t drag your daughter down with you…”

Madam Lu stared in a daze at the daughter she had cherished and raised in the palm of her hand.

At last, she understood where that cruelty came from.

Yunchu had learned it by watching her mother abuse Qinghe and mistreat me.

She had also learned it when, years ago, I was exiled and the Lu family immediately sent me a letter severing ties.

At the city gate, Madam Lu saw me from afar and suddenly fell to her knees, bowing her head.

“I’ve confessed. Please spare my daughter. Can you do that?”

She had killed so many people, yet still believed her daughter deserved mercy.

The Empress was deposed for her lack of virtue and confined to the Cold Palace. Lu Yunchu was demoted to penal labor for corrupting the Empress.

My elder sister begged to see Gu Jingchuan several times. He only sent back one reply: He would neither see her in life nor in death.

Three months later, the Emperor died of illness.

Xiao Che reclaimed his ancestral place and, with the Empress Dowager’s support, inherited the throne.

Of course, before he ascended, I had already divorced him.

He asked sourly,

“Do you still have feelings for Gu Jingchuan?”

“You’d even give up the throne as Empress!”

Gu Jingchuan did come to see me. He had also guessed most of the game.

“What would you have done if I had truly married you back then?”

I only answered,

“But you never did marry me.”

He left the capital for a remote post and even voluntarily gave up the title of Duke.

Xiao Che was still there, sulking with jealousy, so I raised my hand and knocked the Emperor’s crown askew with a slap.

“I went through life and death with you, and schemed for years alongside Grandmother the Empress Dowager!”

“Now you’ve become Emperor and claimed the whole realm. Why should I be confined to the inner palace?”

Xiao Che rubbed his head and said that, just as he thought, I could never give up my competitive streak.

He asked what I wanted.

I did not hold back. I told him to create a new rank just for me:

a princess who outranked every high official, with a title her descendants could inherit.

He saw the salary I demanded and mourned over it for a long while, but in the end he still stamped it with the imperial seal.

After that, I went to bring Qinghe home myself.

If I could switch the poison meant for Granny Qian,