Shen Nian felt the same way. He had no fondness for envoys. They always appeared to respect Da Qi, yet they were often the first to break treaties and strike against the empire.
Qi Junmu had not intended to linger on this topic, so he changed the subject. "The weather is turning cold. It's time for you to leave the palace."
"Leave the palace?" Shen Nian was taken aback. He had not really considered that.
A smile flickered in Qi Junmu's eyes. "What, is the mighty Marquis Zhenbei planning to stay in the palace forever, serving as nothing but my personal guard?"
"If Your Majesty wishes it, this humble subject is willing," Shen Nian replied calmly.
If he and the Emperor were merely ruler and subject, he would naturally not want to stay in the palace day after day. But now that their relationship was far from ordinary, he naturally wished to see him every day and keep him in his thoughts.
Once he left the palace, many things would become less convenient, and they wouldn't be able to see each other as freely.
Still, Shen Nian understood that Qi Junmu was doing this for his own good—he did not want to confine him, to clip his wings and keep him caged in the palace. Between them, there was both affection and ambition. Qi Junmu did not see him as a mere accessory, and Shen Nian was fully aware of this—and deeply grateful for it.
Shen Nian knew all too well how rare it was for someone who could decide life and death with a single word to treat another as an equal. And he, without a doubt, was the fortunate one.
Qi Junmu looked at Shen Nian and could read his thoughts with a single glance.
He did not deny it. In matters of the heart, he had always been earnest and steadfast. Back when he loved Wen Wan, he had cherished her despite her frail health, even when she was not particularly warm toward him. He had kept only her by his side.
Now, with Shen Nian, it was no different—and because their feelings were mutual, Qi Junmu had laid bare the heart he so rarely offered to anyone.
So after Shen Nian spoke those words, Qi Junmu let out a low chuckle. "How could I bear to?" he said.
Some things need not be spoken to be understood, but when they are spoken aloud, they carry a flavor all their own.
Shen Nian's ears grew slightly warm. Qi Junmu continued, "The affairs of the palace have been settled. For now, there is nothing pressing at court. It is time for you to take care of matters in your own household."
Shen Nian glanced at the Emperor. He knew exactly what he meant—his mother, Wen shi, and that half-brother of his.
Wen shi had been ill for some time, unable to receive visitors. Shen Qing stayed by her side.
Her illness had come on very suddenly. She was sick but not dying, not raving and disturbing the peace, and not bringing shame upon Shen Yi in the afterlife. Shen Nian knew this had something to do with the Emperor, but he had never asked, and the Emperor had never spoken of it.
In truth, Qi Junmu had originally wanted to simply eliminate her. But he had reconsidered, knowing that Wen shi was still Shen Nian's mother—and if she died, Shen Nian would have to observe mourning for her. So he had spared her life, waiting until the palace had stabilized before leaving Shen Nian to handle it.
Some people, when left within sight, are simply impossible to ignore.
Shen Nian fell silent for a moment, mulling it over, then said, "I will take care of it properly."
Qi Junmu nodded. The real reason he had brought this up today was to give Shen Nian a chance to rest. If the man wore himself out with exhaustion, it would be his heart that ached in the end.
Since he now understood the Emperor's intentions, Shen Nian lost no time in acting on them.
Leaving the Emperor's presence, he went straight out of the palace. Naturally, this did not go unnoticed—many began to speculate that the Emperor was now discarding him after using him up.
The Emperor had joined forces with Shen Nian to deceive everyone. Now that the princes had been subdued, Prince Ying eliminated, and the Lin family stripped of power, the Emperor held absolute authority at court—and Shen Nian was no longer of use.
Others, however, wondered: if the Emperor trusted Shen Nian that much, could there be some misunderstanding? After all, no one had ever imagined that Shen Nian and the Emperor would enter into such a partnership in the first place.
But no matter what anyone was thinking, Shen Nian's departure from the palace was a settled fact. No one could pry out any information, and no one dared to try at such a sensitive moment.
After Shen Nian left the palace, the Emperor suddenly grew lazy. Unwilling to review memorials, his thoughts turned to the ailing Empress Dowager.
He had not visited her these past days, though she had repeatedly sent word that she wished to see him. Everyone said the rift between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager was over the Lin family—but only the two of them knew the truth. The Lin family was one reason; the real core of it was Lin En.
Lin En was dead, and he had died before the Empress Dowager's very eyes.
She had favored him for so long, yet in the end she had not chosen him—and now her guilt over his death weighed on her to the breaking point.
Qi Junmu went to see the Empress Dowager. This time she was truly ill—frail and gaunt, her eyes dull and lifeless. When she saw Qi Junmu, her gaze flickered, and beneath it lay barely concealed loathing, hatred, and fear.
Qi Junmu did not bow to her. At this point, there was no need to keep up even a pretense of respect.
The Empress Dowager did not like him, and he saw no reason to accommodate her.
She broke into harsh, racking coughs as Qi Junmu watched her with heavy, somber eyes until the fit finally subsided.
Wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, she rasped, "Does Your Majesty intend to place me under house arrest?"
Qi Junmu smiled at her, then said languidly, "You are the Empress Dowager of this palace. You lack for nothing in food or clothing—how is that house arrest?"
The Empress Dowager laughed, her eyes reddening at the corners as tears spilled like snapped strings of white jade beads. "Where did you bury him?" she asked.
The "him" was, of course, Lin En.
Qi Junmu replied flatly, "He is no longer a member of the Lin family, and the Lin family can no longer take him in. Naturally, he has been buried where he belongs."
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager felt as though her very heart had been torn from her chest. Lin En was no longer part of the Lin family, nor had he ever been acknowledged by the imperial household—so his final resting place could only be the common burial ground outside the capital.
She said, "You are every inch the Emperor. You have fooled everyone."
Qi Junmu lowered his gaze.
The Empress Dowager continued, her voice nearly breaking with blood and tears, "Are you not afraid that Fuhua will turn against you when she learns of this? You killed her own birth parents."
Qi Junmu lifted his brow. "Does Imperial Mother think I care?"
He paused, his expression cold and detached. "If Fuhua knows what's good for her, she'll stay a princess. If she doesn't—if she can't let this go—then she'll become an ordinary commoner. Why should I be afraid of her?"
The Empress Dowager stared at the Emperor, as if seeing him for the first time.
After a long silence, she closed her eyes. She had once thought Qi Junmu would soften toward Fuhua—after all, he had once defied her for Fuhua's sake. But now she realized: the Emperor had no heart. He would not soften for anyone.
Seeing her expression, Qi Junmu's lips curved into a mocking smile.
He too had once trusted the Lin family completely. He too had once been soft toward the Empress Dowager and held Lin En in high regard. And in the end, all he got in return was betrayal—born from nothing but greed for power. He had died with nothing—and no one would even remember him.
So why should he be soft toward any of them?
He was the Emperor, holding absolute power. He was meant to live as he pleased.
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