Reincarnated as the daughter of my mortal enemy, all I want is to ascend the throne.

The room was silent.

Liu Cairen's eyes widened, as if she had misheard.

Disregarding her image, she climbed to the Empress Dowager's side, grabbed her phoenix robe, and spoke with a mixture of expectation and pleading.

"Aunt, tell me this is all fake, it's all fake."

When Consort Liu insisted on entering the palace, it was because she was tempted by the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager said that since they were cousins, they would protect her in the palace and help her win the Emperor's favor.

Before entering the palace, Consort Liu had met Li Yan once. At that time, he was still a prince, riding a white horse and dressed in military uniform, looking dashing and the most handsome man Consort Liu had ever seen.

Having received the Empress Dowager's promise, he disregarded everything and entered the palace.

But she never expected that the person who would ultimately harm her would be the Empress Dowager, whom she trusted the most.

"Aunt... Aunt, tell me this isn't true. You and my mother are cousins."

Consort Liu's eyes still held hope; she only wanted to hear the Empress Dowager's answer.

The Empress Dowager, who usually doted on her the most, now only showed disgust, shaking off her hand, "Don't touch me, you disgusting thing."

"Who is your wretched mother's sister?"

A mocking smile curled at the corners of her lips, and her words were laced with venom.

"If it weren't for your wretched mother, how could my son have broken his leg? This world should have belonged to my son. It's you, all of you, who owe my son."

One summer at the horse farm, the horse beside Consort Liu's mother went out of control. After she turned to avoid it, the horse charged at the late Crown Prince, causing him to injure his leg and remain depressed for a long time.

But that wasn't Liu Cairen's mother's fault at all.

Even the former crown prince did not blame anyone.

Consort Liu never imagined that such a ridiculous reason would lead her to be tricked into entering the palace and losing her child.

"Hahahaha... How ridiculous, how ridiculous! Your Majesty, you truly deserve it! With such a vicious heart, no wonder you lost your favorite son. You deserve it! You deserve it!"

Upon learning the truth, Liu Cairen burst into wild laughter, her expression becoming almost deranged.

She suddenly lunged at the Empress Dowager and grabbed her by the neck, shouting, "Give me back my child! Give my child back!"

The palace maids quickly pulled her away.

The Empress Dowager covered her neck with one hand and held the memorial tablet with the other.

"If you kill me, your entire Liu family will be exterminated, including nine generations of your clan. Come on, kill me! Hahaha..."

Seeing the Empress Dowager's appearance, Li Yan remained indifferent. With a single glance, a guard rushed out, snatched the memorial tablet from the Empress Dowager's hand, and slammed it to the ground.

The memorial tablet shattered in two with a snap.

The Empress Dowager tried to crawl over, but Cuizhu and Cuiping held her shoulders down and silenced her by pressing her acupoints.

"The Empress Dowager held a ceremony in the palace to appease the traitors, murder the concubines, and harm the imperial heirs. She sent them to the imperial mausoleum to chant sutras and pray for blessings, and to perform ascetic practices to atone for their sins."

Li Yan's voice was calm and even. As he stood up, his foot landed on the broken memorial tablet. Looking down at the Empress Dowager, his eyes were filled with blood. "Mother, those who do wrong must pay the price."

"Send the Empress Dowager to the Imperial Mausoleum immediately."

The Empress Dowager struggled to look into the darkness in his eyes, and suddenly understood something, but she couldn't utter a sound.

She thought she was scheming against Li Yan, but in reality, she had long since become a pawn in Li Yan's hands.

Li Yan was using her to facilitate a reshuffling of power within the court from within the harem.

As Li Yan walked, he patted Li Qingyan in his arms to calm her down, but he couldn't let her fall asleep.

People who have been frightened may fall asleep easily, but who knows what they will become when they wake up? They could go crazy or become mentally unstable.

His offspring shouldn't be treated like that.

"Consort Jing".

Consort Jing, who was called upon, trembled all over. She had been kneeling on the ground for a while, and now, with fear in her body, she almost fell to the ground. "Your Majesty."

She was waiting for Li Yan to speak.

A person who is ruthless to his own mother will be even more ruthless to others.

"Since Consort Jing doesn't understand how to manage the harem, let someone else take care of it for now. Consort Ling is very suitable."

Consort Jing was resentful but could say nothing; she could only kowtow and express her gratitude. Both the emperor's punishments and rewards were acts of kindness.

"Your father's ability to teach his daughter is limited, and he doesn't know how to take care of the children in the harem. In that case, he should take a leave of absence and stay at home to reflect on his actions."

Li Yan's next words sent shivers down Consort Jing's spine. Stripping her of her power was merely a warning, but involving her maternal family was a serious matter. Her father was the Minister of Revenue—a position coveted by countless people.

If she mismanages the harem, the punishment is to strip her of her power, but if she doesn't take good care of her child... Consort Jing's mind raced. Liu Cairen's child, Li Yan, showed no expression at all, which meant that Li Qingyan was punishing her.

At this moment, Consort Jing was glad that Li Qingyan was not dead. If she had really died, wouldn't the Ministry of Revenue's mansion and the harem have been turned into a sea of ​​blood?

Consort Jing's body trembled, and she dared not think any further.

In the past, when Consort Jing suffered a setback, Consort Han would always make a few sarcastic remarks, but today was different. Fine beads of sweat had already formed on Consort Han's forehead.

Li Yan called out names one by one, like the King of Hell taking attendance. Her turn was approaching.

"Han Fei seems to be enjoying the show, but with such poor manners, her sisters at home must not have learned proper etiquette either. They should all stay at home for a couple more years to learn proper manners."

"The palace maid who served Consort Han just fell into the lake and died. It's time to replace her with a new batch of maids."

This punishment may seem mild, but only Consort Han knew how serious the consequences would be.

Her father was a third-rank official in the Imperial Secretariat. Now, her two younger sisters are to marry the Crown Prince and the second son of the Prince of Xun, forming a marriage alliance with the royal family and nobles, which will allow the family to rise to a higher level.

Now that the emperor has spoken, their daughter will find it difficult to find a good husband. How could a noble family allow the emperor to reprimand a woman who lacks manners?

The person who drowned... Consort Han didn't even dare to breathe. She sent someone to push Li Qingyan away in the chaos.

Li Yan did not kill her directly, firstly because there would be no witnesses if she died, and secondly because he replaced the people around her, allowing others to plant people to torture her. Whether she was plotted to die or survived depended on how she fought back.

Since you love to scheme, then live your life in scheming every day, living in constant fear and anxiety, even worrying about whether something has been added to a bowl of soup.

The imperial court and the harem changed in the blink of an eye.

Where was Li Yan carrying her? Li Qingyan was in a daze and didn't want to care, but her mind was still analyzing what had just happened.

"Li Yan is truly a heartless wretch."

"Using the pretext of venting their anger on me, they're actually punishing two concubines while secretly rectifying the affairs of the court. They're utterly ruthless."

The Minister of Revenue is confined to his quarters during this period and cannot associate with others, giving Li Yan the opportunity to replace him. Consort Han's father wanted to form a civil official power base with the old nobility, but Prince Xun, for the sake of his reputation, would never continue the marriage alliance, thus his plan failed.

After thinking about all this, Li Qingyan felt even sleepier. However, just as she was about to fall asleep, she was suddenly slapped on the bottom. Her mind cleared instantly, and she instinctively opened her mouth and cursed, "Li Yan, are you crazy? You hit me. I've already been bullied, and you still hit me."

Hearing her loud and forceful scolding, Li Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had just sensed that she was about to faint, but Li Yan was not alarmed. "You can still scold people? I see you're not scared after all."

In fact, Li Qingyan was suddenly encouraged and had a burst of strength. After relaxing, she started to panic again and curled up in her cloak, too ashamed to show herself to anyone.

It only stopped trembling when Li Yan held it.

Zhao Zheng had been waiting in the Hall of Diligent Governance for a long time, but now that he couldn't take the pulse, even if he had the best medical skills, he couldn't make a diagnosis.

Li Yan reached into his cloak and held Li Qingyan's small hand. It was cold, no, it was icy, so cold that Li Yan frowned.

This temperature feels so familiar; it's the temperature only the dead feel.

When Zhao Zheng touched it, his face was ashen, and his hands were trembling as he wrote the prescription.

"Quickly, quickly, go get the medicine. This is a medicinal bath. Boil water immediately and let the young prince soak in it."

"This is for drinking, go and brew the medicine right away."

Zhao Zheng disregarded whether he was the emperor or not and directly gave orders to those around him.

He kowtowed three times to the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, please be prepared, the young prince is probably... not going to make it."