"Night Jingyu, do not forget your station. I spared you and your mother's lives back then, not for you to oppose me now!"
For the first few years, he feigned pity and deceived me. It was one thing to scheme in secret.
But now, with even a sliver of power in court, he dares to move against the legitimate imperial prince.
If I had known he was so ungrateful, I should have cast him into the cold palace with his mother to fend for themselves!
A dark glint flashed in Night Jingyu's eyes, laced with killing intent.
"This King naturally remembers the Empress's great kindness. I remember how you used my mother to force me to be your puppet!"
Back when he was six, his mother was confined to the cold palace.
He pleaded with his father, kneeling outside Changxin Hall for a day and a night without an audience.
In his desperation, he sought her help. She demanded he disfigure himself, vow never to contend for the throne with Night Cheng, and to disavow his mother, calling her "mother."
When he refused, she dragged him to the cold palace and, before his eyes, ordered his mother to be slapped.
If he hadn't hidden his appearance and obeyed during those years in the palace, how could he have survived?
"Insolent! Is this how you speak to me?" Luo Yun'e snapped, a venomous expression clouding her face.
"It seems you've become too ambitious recently. I must teach you a lesson! Guards!"
A wet nurse stepped forward, taking a long, iron whip with barbs from a tray.
This whip, if it struck a person, would surely tear flesh and draw blood!
Luo Yun'e gritted her teeth. "Whip him until he kneels!"
Did he truly believe that the Su family girl's protection meant she couldn't do anything to him?
As long as Noble Consort Liang was in her grasp, he would have no choice but to obey!
The wet nurse swung the whip towards Night Jingyu.
Before the whip could touch him, he caught it firmly.
Everyone gasped in shock.
No matter how the Empress punished him before, he had never retaliated.
Night Jingyu snatched the whip back and swung it fiercely, sending the wet nurse crashing to the ground.
Blood splattered everywhere.
Screams erupted in the hall.
A chilling light flashed in Night Jingyu's eyes, his cold face contorted with a murderous intent, like a king of the night.
Luo Yun'e felt a chill creep into her heart under his gaze, and she instinctively recoiled. "Night Jingyu! You dare commit violence in my presence? Aren't you afraid of what will happen to *that person*?!"
Night Jingyu raised the whip and swept it out.
Luo Yun'e cried out in alarm and stumbled backward.
The whip narrowly grazed her face, knocking her phoenix coronet askew.
The whip's tail struck the imperial couch.
The couch she was sitting on collapsed with a crash.
Luo Yun'e also fell to the ground, her hair disheveled, looking utterly pathetic.
"Your Highness!" Qin Momo quickly rushed forward to help her up.
A bloody scratch from the whip appeared on Luo Yun'e's face, blood trickling down from her eye. She cried out in panic.
The next moment.
A cold, piercing voice, as if from the depths of hell, resounded with chilling finality, dripping with bloodlust.
"Empress, feel free to do as you please. But do not blame this King if Fengqi Palace runs red with blood!"
Night Jingyu let out a cold laugh, tossed the whip to the ground, and turned to leave.
Qin Momo covered the Empress's face with a handkerchief. "Your Highness, are you alright? I will fetch an imperial physician immediately."
Luo Yun'e stared fixedly at Night Jingyu's retreating back, gnashing her teeth in hatred. "No, prepare the sedan chair! I am going to the cold palace!"
Since he no longer cared about his mother's life, she saw no reason to keep that slut alive!
She would carve Luo Yun'e's face to shreds, and hang her corpse outside the Imperial Prince's manor!
The sedan chair was prepared quickly. Luo Yun'e, after a hasty bandage, headed straight for the cold palace.
She alighted from the sedan chair at the entrance to the cold palace and walked alone towards the inner chambers.
Inside, Noble Consort Liang sat on the bed, idly fiddling with the iron chain around her ankle.
Luo Yun'e burst in.
Noble Consort Liang startled slightly at the sight of her, then a flicker of fear quickly crossed her eyes. She retreated towards the corner of the room in panic, "Mmm~"
"Bitch!" Luo Yun'e strode over, grabbed the iron chain on her ankle, and yanked her forward, raising her hand and delivering a fierce slap.
The slap landed squarely on Noble Consort Liang's face, drawing blood from the corner of her mouth.
Noble Consort Liang trembled, clutching herself in a panic, desperately trying to evade Luo Yun'e.
Luo Yun'e gripped her by the neck and shook her violently.
"In those days, you were favored by all six palaces, and His Majesty even intended to depose me as Empress for your sake! Now you are cast aside here, yet your son dares to oppose my legitimate imperial prince!"
"You mother and son are birds of a feather, all deserving of death, death!"
She had finally managed to bring her down, and she would not allow Night Jingyu to regain the Emperor's favor, nor would she permit this slut to appear before His Majesty again!
"Mmm~ Mmm~" Noble Consort Liang tried to call for help, but no words came to mind.
She tightly gripped Luo Yun'e's wrist, her eyes red, her face turning a deep shade of purple from the strain.
Luo Yun'e pulled a hairpin from her hair and drew it across Noble Consort Liang's face, her eyes filled with malice.
"I am the Empress. This harem, at all times, is mine to command. As long as I am here, the lives of you concubines are in my hands!"
"Oh? I had no idea the Empress now wields such power, treating this harem as her personal garden, eliminating whomever she pleases!"
A stern, authoritative voice boomed from behind.
Luo Yun'e's hand froze, the hairpin slipping from her grasp and falling to the ground.
Noble Consort Liang seized the opportunity to break free and cowered in the corner.
Luo Yun'e turned and saw the newcomer, instinctively kneeling. "Mother Empress, why have you come?!"
Why would the Empress Dowager, without reason, suddenly appear at the cold palace?
The Empress Dowager entered, sweeping a glance over Luo Yun'e, her gaze finally settling on Noble Consort Liang. "If I hadn't come, how would I know how formidable the Empress has become!"
Noble Consort Liang on the bed trembled in the corner, clutching herself tightly, her eyes filled with fear.
Her face was pale and unsightly, her lips the color of pale water.
Her left cheek was swollen and red, tears welling in her eyes. Her disheveled hair clung to her face, and her delicate, pale fingers hugged her bent legs.
The iron shackles on her ankles hung heavily, chafing her skin and drawing blood.
The iron shackles were long rusted, stained with streaks of blood.
Even Madam Rongjin looked on with pity at this tragic sight.
Noble Consort Liang had been a beauty when she first entered the palace, gentle and amiable, treating everyone with sincerity. Even if she had erred and been sent to the cold palace, she did not deserve such suffering.
If she were truly wicked, a swift death would have sufficed. The Empress's torment was far too cruel.
The Empress Dowager's expression was naturally grim. "It seems my previous punishment was too lenient!"
Inflicting private torture within the palace, abusing a deposed concubine in such a manner, was not something a mother of a nation should do.
She had always found her actions to be ruthless, and now, not only had she not improved, but she had become even more extreme!
Luo Yun'e's expression changed drastically. "Mother Empress, please calm your anger. Your subject did not intend to do this; I was merely enraged. Today, Imperial Prince Yu was at Fengqi Palace..."
"You need not say more. I know everything. And you have no need to drag Imperial Prince Yu into this!" The Empress Dowager glared at her, her face stern and filled with anger.
"Although I have not been in the palace these years, it does not mean I am unaware of your deeds!"
Previously, she had thought that since the third prince no longer had any hope of inheriting the throne, she would not view him as a threat.
Now, it seemed she had overestimated her tolerance!
"When I brought you into the palace and made you Empress, it seems I made a mistake."