However, the world is unpredictable. On the twelfth day of the second month, during the Flower Festival, the palace was suddenly in chaos. It was said that Concubine Xue was bumped in the garden and unfortunately miscarried.
The palace maid who bumped into Concubine Xue was from the empress’s palace. During interrogation, she remained silent, performed a kowtow to the empress, and then immediately threw herself against a palace pillar, dying on the spot.
Now the empress had no way to clear herself. Emperor Changzhi was furious but, considering their marital relationship, did not severely punish her. He only ordered the empress to be confined for a month to reflect, with palace affairs temporarily managed by the Virtuous Concubine.
Emperor Changzhi might not be unaware that the empress was likely framed, but he didn’t need the truth. The Xue family was backed by the Jiangnan scholarly families – half of the new dynasty – and the emperor still hoped these people would serve him. The empress’s family, the Fu family, was now just an empty shell. Comparing the two, the choice was clear. For the greater good, he could only choose to sacrifice the empress.
However, he forgot that there was a “Fu family person” in the court who did not bear the Fu surname.
On the fourteenth day of the second month, the day after the empress was confined, Concubine Xue was dragged into the Cold Palace by someone. She was gagged with a handkerchief, her hair disheveled, and thrown into an empty room by two strong eunuchs.
This was the residence of the concubine who had previously harmed the princess. After her death, palace maids and eunuchs rarely entered. Concubine Xue was thrown onto the cold, dirty ground, her delicate skin immediately smeared with mud, looking utterly miserable.
Raised delicately since childhood, she had never suffered such humiliation. Frightened and scared, tears began to fall.
In her blurry vision, someone seemed to block the light. Moments later, a pair of black boots stopped before her eyes, and a young male voice asked: “Is it her?”
The eunuch who captured her had a fierce expression but was extraordinarily respectful: “Yes, sir, it is Xue.”
