novelraw Chapter 589 - 1: Peace Be Upon the Empress Dowager (Part 1)
Chapter 589 - 1: Peace Be Upon the Empress Dowager (Part 1)
"Empress, you must take great care of your phoenix body, otherwise His Majesty worries about you, and I fear it will be even more detrimental to the holy body."
Li Shuning’s head was somewhat dizzy, hearing these words, she realized she had entered the Task World again.
She did not open her eyes: "Xiao Six, receive the storyline."
"Okay, master."
The Shenglong Dynasty had been stable and peaceful for seventy to eighty years, with favorable weather, and the people were living and working in peace, enjoying a scene of prosperity and peace.
The Emperor was forty-two, in his prime.
The Empress had passed away three years ago, and the Emperor remarried to the successor Empress.
The original host was that successor Empress.
The original host came from an illustrious lineage, as the only daughter of the Great General of the dynasty.
The Great General had achieved remarkable military feats and high martial arts skills, and doted on his only daughter greatly.
Due to various reasons, the original host, only sixteen years old, married the Emperor and became the successor Empress.
After spending five years, the original host entered the Emperor’s heart.
Unfortunately, due to various reasons, the Emperor did not wish the original host to become pregnant.
Thus, the original host never had children.
The Emperor initially believed everything could gradually be planned out, but unexpectedly, at the age of forty-eight, owing to a cold, his body inexplicably started having issues, and from then on, deteriorated day by day, confined on the bed.
The Crown Prince had not been established, and in an instant, several princes began to stir trouble.
Previously, the Empress only bore a princess, and considering various aspects, the Emperor had never established a Crown Prince. Now, as he was failing, naturally this issue had to be addressed.
He thought of his Empress, still young, and considered the attitudes of the princes towards her.
If they harbored hostility towards the Empress, should they become Emperor, it would be hard for the Empress to live peacefully.
A young Empress Dowager with no children is quite concerning.
And with the Empress Dowager’s father having retired from his position, power was no longer as before and the threats of old no longer remained.
The Emperor thought about all the good the Empress had done for him over the years, and his heart grew sympathetic.
Thus, when considering the next Emperor, he included the young Empress in his contemplation.
He had the Empress help him deal with affairs daily.
This way, the Empress’s status naturally became more and more prestigious.
The princes also each tried to curry favor with the Empress.
Among them, the Third Prince stood out.
The Third Prince was thirteen, yet acted reliably and held great respect for the original host, treating people with earnestness.
Moreover, in the fourteenth year, he married the original host’s cousin.
Every time the original host saw the Third Prince and cousin in loving scenes, she felt comforted and thus took special care of the Third Prince.
The Third Prince was also well-behaved, listening to the original host’s arrangements in everything.
The original host understood the Emperor relatively well, after all, they had been together for so many years.
Under the original host’s direction, the Third Prince had naturally garnered the Emperor’s attention.
At fifty years, when the Emperor passed away, the original host was only twenty-four, in the real world, it was the best age for a woman, but the original host was destined to grow old alone in the Imperial City.
When the Emperor passed at fifty, the original host became the Empress Dowager.
While the Third Prince had the Empress Dowager’s support to become the Crown Prince, naturally, the other princes were dissatisfied. With the Empress Dowager’s backing, the Third Prince ascended the throne justifiably.
Yet the princes were unwilling to accept, taking advantage of the new Emperor’s unsteady footing, constantly causing trouble.
Without the Empress Dowager’s assistance, even working some contacts and forces of the Li Family, the new Emperor would not have managed to secure his throne.
Thanks to the Empress Dowager’s help, the new Emperor gradually solidified his position.
Another two years passed, the original host was twenty-six.
The original host was inherently beautiful, graceful and charming.
With the new Emperor gaining confidence, naturally he took action.
His mother concubine was ennobled as the Holy Mother Empress Dowager, and the original host naturally became the Mother Empress Dowager.
The two palaces were revered in the harem.
These were not things the original host particularly cared about, after the previous Emperor departed, all she wanted was to live peacefully and quietly in the harem.
As for some authority within the harem, she did not take much heed.
What she did not know was, her indifference did not mean others ignored it.
The Holy Mother Empress Dowager was very displeased with her and would occasionally trip her up.
When the Holy Mother Empress Dowager controlled the harem and the Emperor gained control of the court and front hall, the Emperor took action.
First, he secretly imprisoned the original host.
The original host never anticipated that the Emperor she wholeheartedly supported, once in glory, would imprison her.
Previously mentioned, the original host was beautiful, the Emperor even drugged her and handled her forcefully.
The original host felt greatly humiliated and confused.
Why had it turned out this way?
Additionally, what was her cousin Empress doing?
Being imprisoned, did the cousin Empress not know?
Due to the Emperor drugging her, the education the original host received made her unable to face herself, further feeling she had wronged the previous Emperor.
She wanted to end her life, but being tightly watched by the Emperor, she couldn’t find the opportunity at all.
She stopped eating, wasting away day by day.
The Emperor was furious, feeling she was ungrateful.
It was then the Emperor revealed some things to her.
Back then marrying her cousin was due to some of his machinations.
Her cousin was pure and unknowing of worldly dangers and was ensnared by the then Third Prince, saved by him, resulting in physical intimacy, thus could only marry the Third Prince.
However, the Third Prince did not like her.
Especially once his position became secure, since the original host wasn’t concerned with the harem, it was unknown to her that her cousin had already been relocated to the Cold Palace, left to fend for herself.
All the fine qualities the Third Prince previously displayed were merely a facade.
He was lustful, depraved, expanding his harem, even targeting the original host.
Now seated firmly on the throne, he didn’t care what became of the original host.
The original host refused to cooperate, so he threatened her, intending to ruin her father’s reputation and bring the downfall of the Li Family.
How could the original host possibly cooperate?
Her body, having long ceased to receive sustenance, had no strength to support her.
The Emperor, angered and humiliated, directly imposed a false charge on the original host’s father, who had spent his life in service to the country, wounded, only to be caught in a dungeon with a baseless charge.
The original host’s father, already elderly, tormented by old injuries, endured some torment in the dungeon and directly passed away.
The Li Family was directly eradicated.
All these events, the Emperor made sure the original host heard.
The original host only blamed herself for being blind, helping him ascend the throne, the Li Family loyal for generations, and the end result was such a downfall.
Upon learning of the Li Family’s fate, the original host died spitting blood.
Because of the Li Family’s situation, the court was turbulent.
The Li Family could be considered the Guardian God of the Shenglong Dynasty, for years, the men of the Li Family dedicated themselves to the country, until the original host’s generation, there were no more male descendants.
Yet, the Emperor’s actions left everyone cold-hearted.
The Shenglong Dynasty, stable for many years, ultimately invaded by foreign nations due to the Emperor.