Favored concubine deposed empress? I'll seize your throne and marry you to a powerful minister.

In the third year of Dongxu, there was a heavy snowfall in the dead of winter.

Two soft coughs came from beside me, and a delicate voice, filled with a pitiful charm, asked, "Your Majesty, will His Majesty come to fetch you?"

A blizzard had fallen at noon, and the official road back to the palace was blocked. Wei Rong was stranded halfway for two hours, and the hot water bottle in her hand was cold, her fingertips turning red.

Wei Rong lifted the curtain. The snow had not stopped, a strong wind swept through the forest, and the twilight sky was a hazy gray.

Today marks the 100th day since her father's passing. Wei Rong had been preparing for this trip out of the palace for several days to Changhua Temple to light lamps and chant sutras for her father.

Before leaving the palace, Xiao Heng brought Shen Mingxiu with her, saying that she had not been sleeping well these past few days and wanted to come to Changhua Temple to offer incense and pray for blessings, asking Wei Rong to take good care of her.

"You are the Empress, so you should protect the concubines. Mingxiu is frail, so the palace servants must be extra careful."

These words made it sound as if Wei Rong was deliberately treating Shen Mingxiu coldly.

But he offered no help whatsoever to his father.

Xiao Heng will definitely come.

But not to pick her up.

Wei Rong lowered the curtain and listened to the gradually clearing sound of carriage wheels in the cold wind outside.

crunch.

crunch.

Then came Xiao Heng's urgent voice: "Xiuxiu!"

Shen Mingxiu excitedly opened the door, and a pink figure rushed out, looking delicate and pitiful: "Your Majesty! You've finally come! I was so scared."

A cold wind rushed in and extinguished the last embers in the charcoal brazier; the chill seeped into my bones.

The fact that the supreme emperor, who held absolute power, was willing to condescend to come and personally receive someone in the freezing cold would become a legendary tale.

Xiao Heng took the fox fur cloak from the eunuch and draped it over Shen Mingxiu, while a palace maid offered her a hand warmer.

The white fox fur accentuated Shen Mingxiu's delicate cheeks, which were slightly flushed. She was completely protected in Xiao Heng's arms, as if the wind and snow of the world could not disturb her in the slightest.

He acted as if no one else was around, as if Wei Rong wasn't even there.

"What happened to your hand?" He frowned as he held Shen Mingxiu's palm. "How did it get injured?"

"It's all my fault," Shen Mingxiu said, on the verge of tears. "There's a wishing tree at Changhua Temple. I wanted to hang a prayer charm for Your Majesty, but the ground was slippery—"

"Did you fall?" Xiao Heng's voice suddenly rose.

His tense expression was even comparable to when he ascended the throne.

For the first time today, he looked directly at Wei Rong, his rebuke undisguised: "Where are the servants? Is this how you take care of people?"

Wei Rong's palm was scratched by a fingernail.

It didn't hurt at first, but it was so cold, my hands were icy cold, and the pain pressed against my heart, a sour and astringent feeling.

Before she could speak, Xiao Heng had already carefully helped Shen Mingxiu into the car and tucked the curtains in.

She looked as if she was afraid a single snowflake would fall on her.

Then he turned to Wei Rong, the gentleness on the young and noble emperor's face fading, leaving only calm: "Xiuxiu is injured. I will take her back to the palace first. The carriage is too small. You can return after the guards have repaired the official road."

Wei Rong knew that the excuse that the carriage was too small was just that—an excuse.

But since Shen Mingxiu was injured, he wanted to find an excuse to punish himself.

But Wei Rong was too lazy to bother with it.

She had argued in the past, but what she got in return was mostly criticism.

For example, as the Empress, you should have a broad mind; as the Mother of the Nation, you should not be preoccupied with petty love affairs; you should set an example in maintaining peace in the harem.

She was cold, and even more exhausted from lighting 366 ever-burning lamps herself, so she said nothing and just nodded.

This concession also displeased Xiao Heng.

He looked at Wei Rong, who was dressed plainly today, her small face pale against the gray fur collar: "Are you dissatisfied?"

"No." Wei Rong curtsied and said, "Respectfully seeing Your Majesty off."

Wei Rong knew that even if she had grievances, Xiao Heng would still use the excuse of "you are the Empress" to either appease or suppress her.

So I simply said nothing.

Her silent obedience caused Xiao Heng to pause slightly.

The woman before him looked haggard and thin, a far cry from the radiant Wei Rong of the past.

He took a step forward, about to speak, when Shen Mingxiu softly called from the carriage behind him, "Your Majesty."

Wei Rong then saw Xiao Heng turn around without hesitation, and the carriage sped away.

As for what he was trying to say, Wei Rong didn't want to guess. She leaned back against the car wall and closed her eyes tightly.

The maid Qiaoyu muttered complaints in her ear: "How could His Majesty do this? The general has been dead for over a month, and he doesn't even care. The Consort Xian was promoted from a concubine to a noble consort, which violated the ancestral rules. If the general knew, how could he rest in peace—"

Wei Rong stopped her: "Qiaoyu, be careful what you say."

Qiaoyu felt wronged, but she was already extremely repressed from her cautious words and actions in the palace. At this moment, she couldn't help but say, "Back then, when I was asking for your hand in marriage, I was so humble and subservient that I practically wore out the threshold of the General's Mansion!"

Fortunately, the guards were busy repairing the official road, and there were no other attendants around.

"So you married someone based on the title of our General's Mansion, and now that you have the throne and the General is gone, you turn your back on us!"

"Qiaoyu!"

Wei Rong scolded her.

If even a single word of these words were to get out, Qiaoyu would lose her head.

"Don't you know what you should say and what you shouldn't say?"

"Can--"

Wei Rong closed her eyes again and lowered her voice: "Qiaoyu, things are not like they were three years ago. The emperor of Dajing has changed, and we were the ones who helped him to the throne."

Qiaoyu fell silent.

She carefully moved closer to Wei Rong, rubbing her hands together to warm them, like two little animals huddling together for warmth.

Exhaustion allowed Wei Rong to relax her mind, and she vaguely entered a dream in which she saw her father.

Wei Beimu, who spent half his life on the battlefield, eventually died in the desert, his body and head separated at the time of his death, with only his lonely head in the coffin.

But in the dream, the father was whole, still imposing, only his expression was reproachful: "Wei Rong, this is the man you're going to marry. Are you satisfied?"

After her father passed away, Xiao Heng gradually sidelined the Wei family's collateral branches, supporting his confidants while abandoning his old subordinates. Wei Rong did not cry.

Later, when the favoritism became so severe that her position as empress was rendered meaningless, Wei Rong did not cry.

Wei Rong did not cry on the day Xiao Heng made Shen Mingxiu a Noble Consort.

But when Wei Beimu asked this question, it shattered Wei Rong's last line of defense.

She ran towards her father, crying, "I was wrong, I was wrong, Father! The late emperor was suspicious of the Wei family, and I thought Xiao Heng's offer was sincere."

Wei Rong never doubted his wolfish ambitions, but she thought that there was a part of genuine affection for her in them.

Even though everyone outside laughs at her, saying that Wei Rong is a puppet empress who has been bewitched by Xiao Heng and instigated Wei Beimu to plot a rebellion to seize power from Xiao Heng, everything she is doing now is retribution.

"I didn't do it for Xiao Heng. Back then, the late emperor was suspicious, and I could only trust Xiao Heng," Wei Rong said, tears streaming down her face. "Surrounded by tigers and wolves, the Wei family was in danger. I had no other choice, Father."

Three years ago, the late emperor became suspicious of Wei Beimu, and Wei Beimu nearly died twice at the hands of his former master.

Faced with the stalemate, Xiao Heng visited the Wei family three times to ask for Wei Rong's hand in marriage.

Believing in his sincerity, Wei Rong chose Xiao Heng. In the ensuing palace coup, Wei Beimu had no choice but to choose Xiao Heng as well.

Looking back now, the palace coup was a part of Xiao Heng's plan long ago.

Wei Beimu didn't say anything more, but just stood there, looking at Wei Rong with extremely cold eyes.

His vision grew darker and darker until Wei Beimu was swallowed up.

Wei Rong woke up with a start: "Father!"

At the same time, an unfamiliar voice came from outside the carriage: "Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress."