Emperor Changde glared at Cao Lan’er with extreme displeasure. "How dare you! Cao Lan’er, you had better keep your mouth shut, or I have plenty of ways to silence you forever. Don’t forget what the cold palace is like. You know better than I how many have died there, many of them were sent by you. Aren’t you afraid their vengeful spirits will come for you once you’re there?"
Cao Lan’er’s bluntness greatly displeased Emperor Changde. She knew too much.
Cao Lan’er was not afraid of Emperor Changde’s threats. "But Your Majesty also played a part in that. If not for Your Majesty’s orders, those people would never have entered the cold palace or died."
"I’m not afraid of vengeful spirits. If they come for me, Your Majesty will accompany me to hell. With company on the road to the underworld, perhaps in my next life, I can still be Your Majesty’s wife. I look forward to it."
But Emperor Changde didn't want that. He cursed, "You shameless wretch! How could I have been so blind as to make you Empress?"
"Your Majesty already said it, because you were blind," Cao Lan’er retorted, her words now filled with venom.
Emperor Changde was furious. "Get out! Go to the cold palace now and never appear before me again. I never want to see you again."
Enraged, Cao Lan’er let out a soft laugh. "I’ve never seen Your Majesty so unsettled before. It seems that doing too many shameful things eventually makes one fearful."
Emperor Changde narrowed his eyes, suddenly stepping forward and grabbing Cao Lan’er by the neck. "This is my final warning to you. Keep your mouth shut tight. Otherwise, whether it’s you, the Crown Prince, or the Cao family, I will spare none of you."
Cao Lan’er pushed Emperor Changde’s hand away, straightened her clothes, and gave a slight bow. "As Your Majesty commands."
She walked out slowly, still carrying herself with the dignity of an Empress, which only made Emperor Changde find her even more irritating.
As she reached the door, Cao Lan’er turned back and said softly, "Your Majesty, I also leave you with a message. If I were to suddenly die in the cold palace, something might happen. I believe Your Majesty understands what I mean?"
"I believe I'm more resourceful than Su Yuan and his daughter."
After saying this, Cao Lan’er truly left. Outside, she heard the sound of a teacup shattering. She knew she would not die in the cold palace. Cao Lan’er smiled, feeling quite pleased.
The Crown Prince had been waiting outside the Xuanzheng Hall. Since the edict to depose the Empress had been issued, Cao Lan’er no longer needed to return to the Changning Palace but would go directly to the cold palace. She said to the Crown Prince, "Accompany your mother for a walk. It will be a long time before I see the scenery outside the cold palace again. What a pity."
The Crown Prince hadn't seen the Empress since reading The Tale of Love and Revenge of the Empress. He never expected that the next time they met would be at her deposition.
The Crown Prince still couldn’t accept that his mother had once been involved with Wei Su. Every time she had mentioned Wei Su or the Wei family, her expression had been filled with hatred.
When the Crown Prince remained silent, Cao Lan’er continued on her own. "In truth, I also regretted it. Although Wei Su was inflexible and blind to my affections, he was a good husband. Back then, when I saw your father bringing one concubine after another into the Eastern Palace, I often thought how nice it would be if he were like Wei Su, who only married one wife."
"Unfortunately, Wei Su was not the Crown Prince, and your father was not Wei Su. That was my regret. But compared to the privilege of being the Empress, standing above all but one, that regret meant nothing."
"Later, I only wanted to win Wei Su over and use him. But he was ungrateful and refused to stand by my side to support you. So, I had no choice but to eliminate him, lest he later side with another prince and block your path."
"My son, remember this, I didn't kill Wei Su, Su Yuan, or the Su family. The truth will come out one day, and I will wait for you to come and bring me out."
"Oh, and one more thing. Make sure to arrange a match between that bastard Yue Heng and Su Qiao. A sickly bastard and a woman who fell into a brothel, a perfect match, truly made for each other."
The cold palace was now in sight. Cao Lan’er walked in step by step, still adorned in her luxurious attire, her demeanor as dignified as ever, as if she was entering not the cold palace but the Changning Palace, reserved only for the Empress.
The Crown Prince watched her back for a long time. There were many things he couldn’t understand.
For example, if his mother didn’t kill Wei Su, who did? Was it his father, whom everyone praised? His mother’s repeated hints gave him a vague answer, but he dared not believe it.
Another example, his mother had ambitiously spoken of eliminating the Wei family and the eldest prince. Yet now, only Old Lady Zhou, who had no real influence on the Wei family, had died, while his mother had been deposed and sent to the cold palace.
Could the Wei family really be so powerful that even the Empress couldn’t defeat them?
The Crown Prince felt that the Wei family was like a hurdle. Whether it was him, his mother, his father, or everyone else, they were all trying to overcome it. If they succeeded, they would thrive, but if they failed, they would be crushed by the Wei family.
But he didn’t want to die. That meant the Wei family had to disappear.
The Crown Prince felt that the truth didn’t matter. As long as Wei Yunzhao died, who in the world would care how one or two dead people had died?
The Crown Prince moved his lips, and after a while, he finally spoke to the eunuch beside him, "Let’s go. Back to the Eastern Palace."
The Crown Prince walked quickly, with long strides. The eunuch following behind felt that the Crown Prince seemed different somehow, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on how.
...
The news of the Empress’s deposition quickly spread beyond the palace. The common people were overjoyed, believing that the Emperor had heard their pleas. Their admiration and love for Emperor Changde grew even stronger.
The Wei family also received the news. It was all within expectations, and they were not surprised in the least.
Jiang Lin pushed Wei Yunzhao out to visit Su Qiao. They had called Chu Ba back to see if he could heal Su Qiao’s hands and feet.
After the cold, summer arrived. The scorching sun hung high in the sky, as if trying to bake the entire earth dry. Jiang Lin looked up at the sky. "The weather is about to change."
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