Outside the imperial city, it's bustling and noisy. Inside the imperial city, everyone is on high alert, speaking and acting with caution, as if they are all walking on thin ice, one misstep away from disaster.

  The royal relatives were "kept" in the palace since the imperial banquet, while a batch of secretly sent-out imperial edicts had arrived at the mansions of various civil and military officials in the capital.

  "Your Majesty, can you hear what I'm saying?" The empress held the emperor's hand, her eyes welling up with tears. That once vigorous young emperor now lay prostrate due to illness, his face wan and unable to express joy or sorrow, merely staring blankly at the empress before him.

  The emperor tried to open his mouth to speak, but the words reached the tip of his tongue and couldn't be uttered, forcing a pale yellow old face to turn bright red.

  "Don't, just lie there, don't exert yourself anymore." The queen sobbed as she looked at his struggling and helpless appearance, her heart aching to the point of being unbearable.

  At this time, the prince was about to go forward to see what's going on, but he was stopped by the tearful empress.

  "The Crown Prince, your father the Emperor is still ill, it's best not to get too close." She gave a signal with her eyes to the imperial physician standing beside the bed to come forward and take his pulse, which also happened to be a good reason for the Crown Prince to retreat.

  The queen gently stuck to the emperor's temples, using a voice similar to whispering in his ear, saying softly: "Cheng Lang, if you really can't hold on, just go with peace of mind. Don't worry, I will give you justice even if it costs me my old life."

  Some withered hands gently brushed the hair bun in front of the emperor's forehead, as gentle as willow catkins. It seemed like many years ago on a certain spring day, in the small garden of the palace, these hands also lightly combed his sideburns and tied up his hair bun. This was the loving time that belonged to the young couple alone, without any extra calculations or new people, everything was so natural, so warm.

  Time flies like a song, and has sung away many people and things in a sighing and complaining manner, finally stopping at this moment. From long ago to now, it's still the same, only you and I have grown old. And your heart no longer belongs to me alone, but my heart has always been yours from beginning to end.

  "Cheng Lang, go to sleep."

  In the heavily guarded imperial city, the heavy funeral bell finally tolled. The emperor who had reigned for decades finally passed away unexpectedly on this cold Spring Festival. At that moment, a heavy snow fell from the sky, covering the already solemn world with an inexplicable layer of white.

  From now on, dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth. Those who are still in this world continue to struggle.

  Many other royal relatives were shocked that the Empress, who had always been detached from worldly affairs, put away her grief after the Emperor's death. Just as some of the royal relatives were about to kneel down and pay their respects to the Crown Prince, asking him to become the new Emperor, they were met with strong opposition from the Empress on the spot.

  "Gentlemen, the Emperor has just passed away. Everything should be done with the Emperor in mind. As for other matters, they will unfold as they should. Why rush? Can't you see that you're forgetting the kindness the Emperor had shown to each of you? Are you really so impatient?"

  The empress today seemed to have a premonition, from the moment she entered the palace, she was dressed in a phoenix crown and phoenix robes, compared to the simple dress of the imperial noble consort, it didn't give people a slightest feeling of disrespect, on the contrary, it made her feel majestic.

  This remark was made, and the crown prince, who was secretly delighted to be about to wear the yellow robe, was suddenly stunned on the spot. However, what the empress said was not easy to refute. If he had appeared to refute it, it would have been embarrassing. The feeling of swallowing a stinky fly was truly suffocating.

  The imperial noble consort, who is about to be promoted to empress dowager, appears somewhat impatient and speaks with some agitation: "Your Majesty the Empress, when the previous emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended to the throne, this was just the natural order of things. Throughout history, every dynasty has followed this rule. Why should there be a different set of rules now? Moreover, if the new emperor does not inherit the throne, it will inevitably lead to difficulties in all matters."

  The Empress Dowager immediately stood up and said to the relatives kneeling at the gate of the palace: "Everyone, many of you are old people who have gone through two dynasties. I hope that the virtuous and prestigious relatives will tell the empress about the rules of our ancestors."

  "The Empress's words are quite wrong." The Empress, wearing a large red dragon robe, walked down from the bed with a long skirt and stood in the hall, looking serious and smiling sadly at her relatives: "Before His Majesty passed away, he entrusted me with a few words. Please ask this palace to put the words on the Wuying Hall before the new emperor takes over, and inform all the imperial relatives and civil and military officials."

  "Can't even the imperial noble consort spare a few moments for this?" The empress's mouth curled up in a subtle sneer, and she suddenly glared at the imperial noble consort who thought she was reasonable, frightening her so much that her heart skipped a beat.

  "In front of all the relatives, I might as well speak directly. You have been eyeing the position of Empress for many years, but you have never been able to shake my status, even when I lost the Emperor's favor. But don't forget, I am still the Empress, and the mother of the country, my words can become imperial decrees, while you are forever just a concubine."

  "As for the crown prince, what belongs to you will eventually be yours. I think that Your Majesty's chosen crown prince wouldn't be in such a hurry to take the position before your father's bones are even cold, and completely disregard your father's last words!"

  "I dare not, Your Majesty!" The crown prince's eyes followed the bright red figure as it moved back and forth in the hall, but like his mother, he had no choice but to lower his head and make a bow. He clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to show respect, but in his heart, he thought, this was all inevitable, could there still be another outcome?

  Outside the imperial city, the civil and military officials who had received the edict all entered the palace according to the emperor's instructions. By the time the empress dowager arrived with her relatives, everyone in the Wuying Hall was already kneeling, waiting respectfully for the empress dowager and the crown prince.

  She stepped onto the familiar steps of the Queen's station, only a few steps away from the throne. In a daze, all the past events replayed before her eyes, with sorrow and joy, laughter and tears. She took a deep breath, turned around to face the ministers, and finally turned her back on the throne.

  "His Majesty the Emperor has ascended to heaven on the back of a crane, and this palace is filled with unbearable grief."

  The people below bowed their heads and knocked their foreheads on the ground, shouting: "Long live the Queen! Take care of your phoenix body!"

  Looking out from the steps, one can vaguely see the layered city walls and crimson gates of the imperial city, like a heavy lock that chokes people to death. The empress collected her thoughts and gazed intently, as if muttering to herself: "His Majesty has gone west, and this palace is also dead as ashes. But as his first wife, there are still a few important words to entrust to you all, I hope you relatives and ministers will remember what this palace said today."

  The Empress's face suddenly turned resolute, and she pointed directly at the Imperial Noble Consort and the Crown Prince standing on the steps below, rebuking them: "His Majesty was originally in good health, but on New Year's Eve, he was poisoned with Guanxincao by the Crown Prince and others during dinner, causing His Majesty to bleed profusely from his internal organs, and was actually tormented to death!"

  "Seize her! Seize this poisonous woman who deceives the people with her wicked words!"

  As soon as these earth-shaking and frightening words came out, not only the relatives but also the ministers were terrified. And the most frightened one was naturally the crown prince who was about to become the new emperor.

  Fully armed imperial guards swarmed in from outside the palace, charging straight for the empress who was not far from the throne.

  "Haha! Not yet emperor, but already referring to himself as 'We'! Crown Prince, you are truly audacious! In vain did your father the Emperor dote on you, and yet he raised such a white-eyed wolf!"

  The nobles and high-ranking officials were shocked by the crown prince's slip of the tongue, even more astonished by the swift entry of the imperial guards into the palace. But just as everyone was in a state of panic, the empress, who was sitting high above, unfolded her large red phoenix cloak, and on her originally solemn and tired face, layers of blushes emerged, her eyes shining brightly, and her entire person dazzling to the point of excitement!

  In an instant, a streak of red flowed down from her white neck and dripped onto the steps in front of the throne, stinging everyone's eyes.

  "Cheng Lang, slow down, wait for me, wait for me! Don't leave me behind!"

  "Cheng Lang, in life we cannot be together, but in death I wish to rest with you. Wait for me..."

  The grand red robe unfolded like the wind, and then crashed down again. The magnificent figure rushed to the place she had longed for, leaving behind a man in the hall who was shocked beyond words.

  Distant bell sounds echo across the sky, green birds wail incessantly, amidst the snowy vastness, as if everything has fallen into silence.

  A generation of emperors and queens who had been entangled in a lifelong feud, died one after another, leaving behind endless rumors and gossip, causing the entire capital to be filled with mournful noise once again.