Consort Xian, Yun Yirou, was actually dead?
Everyone in the palace who heard the news was shocked.
Even though the Empress announced that Yun Yirou died from a cultivation accident, almost no one believed it.
After all, just yesterday, many people had seen Yun Yirou themselves and knew she was perfectly healthy.
Besides, His Majesty had only just sent Yun Yirou to the Cold Palace.
And now, almost immediately, Yun Yirou was dead from "going berserk while cultivating"? No one believed such a coincidence.
Many had also seen that the Empress visited the Cold Palace right before Yun Yirou's death.
With that, it wasn't hard to guess the truth.
Yun Yirou had been killed by the Empress.
In an instant, a cold dread spread through the entire harem. Countless concubines were filled with fear toward the Empress.
After all, that was Consort Xian—a consort ranked fourth in the entire harem hierarchy.
And she was the Empress's own sister.
Yet the Empress had killed her without hesitation, showing not a shred of mercy.
It showed just how domineering and ruthless the Empress truly was.
In Radiant Sunlight Hall—
Noble Consort Zhuang's breath caught in her throat.
In her memory, the Empress Yun Liyue had always been gentle and calm.
They had competed for years, yet she had never seen Yun Liyue lose her temper or even raise her voice.
That had made her think Yun Liyue was soft by nature.
But now, the Empress had done something so cold and ruthless without a hint of warning.
She had also heard about Yun Yirou hiring the Seven Kill Society to assassinate the crown prince.
And when she learned that, she knew Yun Yirou was trying to win her and Yang Xiu's favor.
That was why, when Yun Yirou was later banished to the Cold Palace, she paid close attention.
She had assumed the incident with the crown prince's assassination attempt would end with Yun Yirou's exile.
She had even planned to find a chance to rescue Yun Yirou from the Cold Palace in the future.
But she never imagined the Empress would act so swiftly and mercilessly.
Yun Yirou hadn't even been in the Cold Palace for half a day before the Empress killed her.
"She's gone mad—she must be insane," Noble Consort Zhuang muttered. "Just recently, the Madam of Duke Wei had even entered the palace to plead for Yun Yirou's release."
"Yun Liyue's actions aren't just unfilial—they're a slap in His Majesty's face."
"I have to go to Tranquil Longevity Palace and report everything to the Empress Dowager," she decided.
Her eyes gleamed with both fear and excitement.
She thought this was the perfect chance to bring Yun Liyue down. Maybe she could even strip Yun Liyue of the Empress seat entirely.
A quarter of an hour later—
Tranquil Longevity Palace.
This was where Empress Dowager Meng lived.
Empress Dowager Meng was nothing short of a legend.
Thirty-seven years ago, when the late emperor led an expedition to Northern Yan, he was killed by a poisoned arrow.
Great Zhou was thrown into chaos.
In that crisis, Empress Dowager Meng stepped forward, restored stability, and held the empire together.
She then presided over Great Zhou for seventeen years, only returning power to Emperor Qian Yuan twenty years ago.
Since the births of Yang Cheng and Yang Xiu, Empress Dowager Meng's attitude toward them had been drastically different.
She was cold and distant with Yang Cheng, but showed great affection for Yang Xiu.
In the garden of Tranquil Longevity Palace—
"Empress Dowager, Noble Consort Zhuang is here," Gui Mama announced softly.
"Let her in," Empress Dowager Meng replied, calmly trimming a flower branch.
As soon as Noble Consort Zhuang entered, she began crying. "Empress Dowager, you must get justice for Consort Xian. The Empress has gone too far—she killed her own sister without hesitation. How can she be so heartless and cruel?"
She had brought Yang Xiu with her.
She knew how much Empress Dowager Meng adored Yang Xiu. With him here, she believed the Empress Dowager would definitely take her side.
Empress Dowager Meng's face darkened. "You are a noble consort. You should know how to conduct yourself properly. Crying and wailing like this—do you think that's fitting behavior?"
Noble Consort Zhuang quickly lowered her voice. "Empress Dowager, I didn't mean to act like this—I'm just so scared. Today the Empress dared to kill Consort Xian. What if tomorrow she dares to kill me, or even Xiu'er?"
Empress Dowager Meng's face darkened instantly. "Gui Mama, go summon His Majesty and the Empress here at once."
Gui Mama accepted the order and hurried out.
"Xiu'er, come here," Empress Dowager Meng said, her expression softening as she looked at Yang Xiu.
"Grandmother Empress, let me massage your back," Yang Xiu said sweetly, knowing exactly how to please people.
Empress Dowager Meng beamed with delight at his words.
There was another person in Tranquil Longevity Palace: Princess Changle.
Right now, Princess Changle was deeply shaken. 'How could this happen? How could Consort Xian be dead?'
A year ago, she had inherited an ancient Heavenly Secret Pavilion legacy. She sacrificed half her heart's blood into the Heavenly Secret Divine Stone, allowing her to glimpse the secrets of the next 500 years.
Through that vision of the future, she learned Yang Xiu was the child of destiny.
At first, she had some doubts. But over the past year, everything she experienced perfectly matched what she'd seen in the future. That erased any hesitation.
She never imagined something like this would happen today.
In her vision of the future, Consort Xian—Yun Yirou—would one day become the Western Empress Dowager of Great Zhou. But now Yun Yirou was dead?
This was the second time reality had diverged from her future vision. The first was when the crown prince nearly became a cripple from the Myriad Despair Divine Water.
That thought made Princess Changle uneasy. After all, her foresight into the future was the foundation of her plans and security.
'Maybe it's because of all my interventions this past year. I've been changing the future bit by bit, and it's causing a butterfly effect.'
She quickly reassured herself. Going forward, she would act less and interfere as little as possible. As long as the grand trajectory of the future stayed on course, she could remain in control.
While Princess Changle was deep in thought, noise erupted outside—His Majesty and the Empress had arrived.
Moments later, the emperor and empress stepped into Tranquil Longevity Palace, with the crown prince following right behind them.
"Your Majesty," Noble Consort Zhuang blurted out anxiously. "You just sent Consort Xian to the Cold Palace to spare her life, but right after that, the Empress killed her. This is blatant defiance of your decree. I beg you to punish the Empress, so she doesn't continue down this reckless path."
Emperor Qian Yuan frowned. "Noble Consort Zhuang, don't speak nonsense. Consort Xian died from a cultivation accident. The Empress even petitioned to give her the posthumous title of Virtuous Consort."
Noble Consort Zhuang's face grew flushed with emotion. "Your Majesty, how can you believe such a story? You're the emperor—how could you let yourself be fooled by a woman…"
"Silence!" Emperor Qian Yuan shouted coldly. "How dare you slander the Empress's reputation!"
Noble Consort Zhuang froze, caught between shock, anger, and fear.
"The one who needs to stay silent is you," Empress Dowager Meng's voice cut through the room.
Her gaze was stern and forceful, fixed on Emperor Qian Yuan himself.
The emperor hesitated, then fell silent. He was the ruler of a nation, but Empress Dowager Meng was his mother.
"Noble Consort Zhuang is right. You're the emperor. How could you let yourself be misled by a woman of the inner palace?" Empress Dowager Meng said coldly.
"Grandmother Empress, I know Father is a wise ruler. He would never let anyone deceive him," Yang Xiu chimed in, taking the chance to speak up for Emperor Qian Yuan.
Empress Dowager Meng's expression softened immediately. "You really understand, Xiu'er," she said fondly.
Her affection for Yang Xiu was even clearer than her regard for her own son.
Just then, Gui Mama brought over a large chair for Empress Dowager Meng. She sat down and pulled Yang Xiu onto her lap, letting him sit with her.
Seeing this, everyone on the Empress's side couldn't help showing worried looks.
Empress Dowager Meng held immense power in the palace. Her clear favoritism toward Yang Xiu was definitely not good news for the Empress or the crown prince.
Then Empress Dowager Meng turned to Yun Liyue. "Empress, don't try to fool me with nonsense about cultivation accidents. Tell me the truth—what really happened?" she demanded.
Yun Liyue answered calmly, "Empress Dowager, Consort Xian truly died from a cultivation accident."