Swallows in an Empty House

Shen Yu and I agreed that I would marry him.

But he personally sent me to the mansion of the Fourth Prince Xiao Yian.

When Xiao Yian ascended the throne, I became a favorite concubine and he became a powerful official.

But I want freedom.

So I planned a bright future for them.

Everyone in the palace said that Concubine Wen was jealous and arrogant because of her favor.

She actually beat up the face of Concubine Jia, who had just entered the palace and was favored by the emperor last night, and sprinkled salt on the wound. It was an hour later that she allowed someone to call the imperial physician.

It took too long and the face was ruined.

Concubine Jia was so angry that she almost fainted on the spot. She rushed over angrily and wanted to kill Concubine Wen, but she was easily avoided by her. The attack happened to hit the phoenix hairpin that Concubine Wen was playing with, and she died on the spot.

When Xiao Yian arrived, I had just washed the blood off my hands.

He just looked at the body being dragged away, frowning and asking me, “Are you not hurt?”

Seeing me shake my head, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

I glanced at the bloodstained hairpin and felt quite bored. I signaled to the maid, “Throw it away.”

She didn’t dare to look up at me, and walked out tremblingly with the phoenix hairpin in her hand.

Xiao Yian has already set up the chess game and is waiting for me.

When I married him, I was sixteen years old and became his legal wife.

When he ascended the throne, I was eighteen years old, but was only conferred the title of Consort Wen.

Everyone was laughing at me, but after Xiao Yian had favored me for half a year, the rumors gradually faded away.

But even so, there are always blind people who come to me and ask for death.

For example, Concubine Jia, who was favored for only one night, showed off to me in both open and covert ways for most of the day.

Xiao Yian is a sickly person and he can’t help coughing even when he is scolding me.

Not only did he not ask about Concubine Jia, but he started to care about me instead.

“Why are you doing this? You’re ruining your own reputation for no reason? Cough cough cough…”

I took his hand and played the black chess piece, and handed him a cup of hot water. I looked at him with amusement and said, “Reputation? Now I may be married off to a foreign country. What use is this to me?”

Xiao Yian stared at me with dark eyes: “You know everything?”

I motioned for him to continue playing chess, and after he put down a chess piece, I continued, “There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. Moreover, I have offended so many people, and they wish I could hear it every day.”

Seeing that I was sure to win the game, I took a sip of tea with confidence. Seeing that Xiao Yian wanted to say something but stopped, I couldn’t help laughing.

“But the emperor should be worried. If I really go to marry, your reputation will be ruined.”

“Wen Chan.” He frowned and called my name, “Shen Yu, he doesn’t know——”

“I won.” I interrupted him after putting down the last chess piece. “Your Majesty, it is true that he went to the Northern Rong as an envoy and instigated the Northern Rong emperor to force you to let me marry him. What Your Majesty needs to consider is how to save your dignity. After all, we really can’t spare the energy to fight the Northern Rong now.”

Xiao Yian was silent, and I lay down tiredly: “I slept on the big bed yesterday. Today it’s the emperor’s turn to sleep, so I’ll lie down here.”

When I married Xiao Yian, I thought he would die in the next second.

But he held on with all his might, and with the help of the Wen family, he survived many princes and the previous emperor and became the emperor.

He will be the emperor, I will be the queen, and my child will be the crown prince.

This was an agreement between him and the Wen family.

But after I married Xiao Yian for nearly three years, we never slept together, let alone had children. Moreover, the first imperial decree he issued after ascending the throne was to confer me the title of imperial concubine, which was undoubtedly a slap in my father’s face.

The two men fought for half a year, with some wins and some losses. In addition, Xiao Yian’s foundation was unstable, so he really couldn’t spare the manpower and material resources to fight with Beirong.

As for Shen Yu, he is the eldest grandson of Lord Shen, and his father is an expeditionary general guarding the northwest.

He himself is now also doing very well in the court.

That was someone I liked very much, but things have changed and I haven’t seen him for a long time.

But I never expected that he would go on a diplomatic mission to the Northern Rong with the idea of ​​having me marry him.

This is an insult to me, Xiao Yian, and the Wen family.

It was two months later when I saw Shen Yu again. He had returned to the capital with envoys from the Northern Rong.

There was a banquet in the palace, and as the highest-ranking empress, I sat together with Xiao Yian.

There was a lot of noise in the hall. Xiao Yian leaned close to my ear and said, “It’s alright. They won’t mention the marriage again.”

I poured him a cup of hot tea and nodded, “It’s all right once we’ve settled the matter.”

But Shen Yu in my peripheral vision was unwilling to let it go. He gave a wink and someone came out.

“The emperor and the imperial concubine have a very good relationship, which is a happy thing, but the news that came early from the Northern Rong made the old ministers worried. I wonder what the emperor and the envoys think?”

My father narrowed his eyes and sneered, “I am the daughter of the Wen family, and I am also the wife of the royal family. It is hard for Lord Li to take such a humiliating proposal to heart and think about it.”

Lord Li stood firm as a mountain, making it clear that he wanted an explanation.

“It’s good that Master Li brought it up.”

Xiao Yian said, “But those are just groundless rumors. Wen Chan is already my concubine, so why would she want to marry me? The envoys have already talked to me. They came mainly to discuss border trade. Lord Li, please don’t mention it again.”

Lord Li retreated back in frustration. Shen Yu glanced coldly in the direction of the envoy and drank a few glasses of wine in silence.

After drinking and chatting for half an hour, he suddenly stood up and knelt in the hall.

“I would like to ask your Majesty a favor.”

Xiao Yian frowned slightly: “You say.”

Shen Yu smiled, and I clearly saw the tip of his tongue lightly touching his fangs, which was a sign that he was plotting against someone.

“I would like to ask the Emperor to grant me marriage.”

Xiao Yian finally looked at him seriously: “Which girl?”

Shen Yu raised his head and looked at me: “Wen family.”

My heart was in my throat, as if I had been hit by a heavy punch.

Shen Yu smiled, and the youthful spirit in his heart was fully revealed: “Miss Wen Qi, Wen Tang.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Anyone from the Wen family would do, except Wen Tang. My father would not marry her off casually.

As expected, my father said the next second, “Your Majesty, Lord Shen, Xiao Qi is my concubine’s daughter. Marrying Lord Shen is already marrying up. How can you expect the Majesty to grant her marriage? Besides, Xiao Qi is weak. Her aunt is an old lady who has been with me for a long time. Before she left, she entrusted her to Doctor Cui. Now she has followed Doctor Cui to Jiangnan to recuperate.”

Shen Yu did not give in at all: “Lord Wen, you are too kind. I have admired Miss Wen for a long time. If she is ill, I will wait for her to come back.”

My father was silent for a few seconds and nodded.

And I still didn’t loosen my clenched hands.

This little farce was over quickly, but everyone was still in high spirits and the atmosphere was very lively.

I felt a little bored, so I said hello to Xiao Yian and left.

The early autumn night was very cool, and the wind blew away the heat on my face soon after I came out.

Originally, I dismissed the palace maids so that I could get some fresh air on my own, but I didn’t expect that it would make things convenient for Shen Yu.

There was a strong sense of aggression in his aura, not to mention that he was only half a step away from me.

“You and Xiao Yian have such a good relationship!”

I ignored this and asked, “You let me go to marry, then what?”

Shen Yu was stunned, as if he didn’t expect me to be so direct. The smile on his face was a little presumptuous: “The Emperor of Beirong has never seen you, so he doesn’t know what you look like. The envoys sat far away and drank, so naturally they couldn’t tell what you looked like. I replaced you in the middle of the trip and no one knew.”

I gathered my cloak and looked up at him: “Shen Yu, you are too bold.”

He laughed, then looked at me with a gloomy face after a moment: “Wen Chan, sometimes I really want to kill you.”

After looking at him silently for a while, I looked away first.

“Wen Tang, you can’t marry me.”

Shen Yu distanced himself from me and looked at me coldly: “I like her, why can’t I marry her?”

I nodded to him slightly, then took out the dagger from my sleeve and stabbed it into my shoulder before he could react.

Seeing that Shen Yu finally showed some different expressions, I finally smiled: “The day you welcome her into the mansion, this knife will pierce my heart. Is that enough?”

Seeing that he was still silent, I sat down on the stone bench with a pale face: “But since you wanted to kill me anyway, I’m afraid this won’t work for you.”

Shen Yu finally spoke: “My Lady Imperial Concubine, you are really capable.”

After saying that, he didn’t even look at me and walked away.

I covered the bleeding wound and did not move for a long time.

When Xiao Yian was applying medicine to me in the evening, he was rarely angry.

But when he saw the wound, he couldn’t help but soften his strength.

“Why are you doing this?”

It was this sentence again. Xiao Yian really sounded like an old man in his seventies or eighties.

I couldn’t help laughing, and my laughter hurt the wound. Xiao Yian had no choice but to hold me still with his hands.

“Behave yourself.”

I calmed down.

Xiao Yian paused for a moment, then asked me as if nothing had happened, “Do you like him that much?”

I didn’t answer, but just gently stroked his face: “Your Majesty, I am your concubine, and I am naturally pleased with you, but it has been so long, why don’t you really favor me?”

Xiao Yian’s ears turned red due to my actions, but he still said seriously: “Don’t say that, I know you… But I will wait until you really like me…”

No matter what, he couldn’t continue.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Yian calmed down, came over to tuck in the quilt for me, and said softly, “I will speed up the matter with your father.”

Although Xiao Yian is a profit-oriented person, he has never broken his promise to me in the past three years. Hearing him say this, I felt much more relieved.

But I also know that my father will not let it go so easily.

“Your Majesty, Lord Wen is here.”

I put down the book in my hand, turned my head and saw myself in the bronze mirror. After staring for a moment, I withdrew my gaze and said, “Please let him in!”

My father frowned when he saw me and asked, “Why do you look so bad?”

I smiled and said, “I had a long fight with the Emperor yesterday, and I woke up with a cold this morning.”

He frowned even more and moved his eyes to my belly: “No matter what, you’d better get pregnant as soon as possible.”

I lowered my eyes and stroked my belly, sighing, “Father, what should I do if I can’t get pregnant?”

“Can’t get pregnant?” My father lowered his voice slightly, “With so many daughters in the Wen family, there will always be one who can get pregnant.”

“That’s right.” I said, as if I had just realized something. “So this is why Dad sent Concubine Jia to the palace?”

As soon as he finished speaking, my father’s face darkened: “Wen Ling, you are too bold.”

“But Daddy, this is what you taught me. Never let yourself become a useless pawn. After all, the Emperor still loves me the most right now.”

Seeing that he didn’t say anything, I took the initiative to change the subject: “Shen Yu wants to marry Wen Tang, what are your plans?”

My father looked displeased: “I still can’t figure out Shen Yu. Let’s wait until everything settles down!”

“Okay, I’ll listen to you then.”

This topic obviously made him even more unhappy. After all, Shen Yu was also a difficult person, so he didn’t sit there for long before he was ready to leave.

But before leaving, my father still warned me meaningfully: “Wen Chan, don’t forget your identity.”

As I watched him leave, I also understood his attitude.

My father is a very ambitious man, and the position of Duke Wen alone is not what he wants.

He had been planning for the throne for many years, but Xiao Yian refused to cooperate, and he also sacrificed me. For him, it was a losing deal. In addition, the dealings over the past six months have already pushed his patience to the limit.

I would also believe that he would start a rebellion the next second.

But Wen Tang treats him differently. Even in the current situation, he is afraid that Wen Tang will be hurt, so he is unwilling to use her to exchange for Shen Yu’s support. He also thinks that Shen Yu is not an easy man to deal with, so he agreed vaguely. He wants to wait until everything is over before marrying Wen Tang to Shen Yu.

He is so attentive to every detail, and the love between father and daughter is really touching.

I withdrew my gaze, turned and went into the house.

Xiao Yian did not lie to me. After he said that that day, he has become even busier.

But I was worried that he would die before he could accomplish his mission, so every night, I would go to the imperial study and invite him back to rest.

I lit the calming incense, and Xiao Yian hugged me from behind, resting his head on my shoulder with a tired look on his face: “Ah, your father is such an old fox, it’s so hard to catch him!”

Before I could say anything, he rubbed my head again and said, “If only I had met you earlier, then Shen Yu wouldn’t have had to deal with it.”

“Your Majesty.” I turned around and hugged him with both hands, “It’s nothing for him to do anyway. I’m always waiting for your favor.”

Xiao Yian calmed down for a while before answering: “Okay, wait until I have dealt with everything and everything is stable, Ah-Jing, then you will be my queen.”

I didn’t answer, but I felt a little amused in my heart. It turned out that everyone had to wait until things stabilized.

Except Shen Yu.

Wen Tang returned to Beijing a few days ago. Shen Yu is a man who understands the principle of saving the country through roundabout ways. He knows that my father’s approach won’t work, and that the little girl Wen Tang is much easier to control.

She is at an age when girls often have their own thoughts, and Shen Yu is first-rate in terms of appearance and family background, so I am not surprised that Wen Tang likes him.

But Wen Tang, who was secretly spoiled by my father when he grew up, now has some concerns.

“Eldest sister, I like him, but I am a concubine’s daughter after all. Although Daddy doesn’t care about these things, the Shen family is a century-old family of scholars and nobles, and I am afraid…”

“What are you afraid of?” I asked her with a smile, “Shen Yu is a man, these are things he should worry about.”

Wen Tang breathed a sigh of relief. This was her first time in the palace. After looking around, she said, “Eldest sister, I really envy you. Even though you and A Yu were not destined to be together back then, the Emperor was still waiting for you.”

I looked at her with an unchanged smile: “Shen Yu and I were never meant to be together.”

Wen Tang finally showed his first smile since entering the palace, but before he could smile, his expression turned into horror.

The reason was simple: I spat out a mouthful of black blood.

I held her hand tightly and didn’t let go, “Wen Tang…you, you actually poisoned…my elder sister…”

My breathing gradually became unstable, and I saw her waving her hands anxiously, “No… I didn’t… Eldest sister…”

Before she could finish her words, I lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, Xiao Yian was standing by my side.

Seeing that I was moving, he quickly brought me a bowl of black medicine and said, “Drink this quickly. The doctor said that you should take it immediately when you wake up.”

I finished the drink with a frown on my face, and after eating some candied fruit, I finally came back to life.

I can see that Xiao Yian is angry.

I took the initiative to say, “I have carefully calculated the dosage of the poison and asked several famous doctors to consult. It won’t kill you.”

Xiao Yian’s brows were still furrowed, “Then you can’t gamble with your own life.”

I pulled his clothes and said softly, “Don’t you want to stabilize things as soon as possible? Wen Tang is my father’s favorite. If something happens to her and there is solid evidence, he will definitely lose his composure. You can use this opportunity to negotiate with him, or you can take the opportunity to find his flaws.”

He pursed his lips and listened to me, then sighed for a while and held me in his arms, “We are all your father’s daughters, why is he so partial to us?”

I closed my eyes, but said something with a hint of coquettishness, “Your Majesty, I have helped you a lot, please let me see Shen Yu, I have something to tell him.”

Xiao Yian didn’t say anything, and I could feel him stiffen for a moment.

So I continued, “This will definitely help the emperor to stabilize quickly and achieve twice the result with half the effort.”

After a while, he seemed to say helplessly: “Okay, I’ll let you meet him.”

When Shen Yu came, I took off my palace dress and put on a pink and white dress. I didn’t wear any makeup, and my shoulder-length hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin.

Before he could say anything, I started coughing.

He frowned, picked up the cloak beside him and put it on me, “Why are you humiliating yourself?”

I looked at him with a pale face, smiled miserably and said, “I told you, if you want to marry her, then I will have to die.”

Shen Yu looked a little annoyed, “I don’t really want to marry her.”

“I know. You want to test my father. You suddenly want to marry Wen Tang because you discovered that she treats my father differently, right?”

I coughed a few more times and continued, “There are so many daughters in the Wen family, including me, the only legitimate daughter, all of them were married to various officials, except for Wen Tang, who stayed until now on the pretext of poor health.”

Shen Yu sighed and finally admitted, “Yes, I just want to know why you suddenly married Xiao Yian. If you don’t tell me, I can only look it up myself. After all these years, I have some clues.”

I tucked my hair behind my ears, and the wind made my eyes a little red.

“This dress is the first dress I saw you wearing, Shen Yu. Once upon a time, I also thought I could become your wife.”

Meetings in youth are so simple. Boys and girls aged fifteen or sixteen meet for the first time in the beautiful spring days.

I changed out of my long skirt and put on riding clothes. When I galloped on the horse, the confidence and carefreeness on my face were so different from the fear and shyness of many noble ladies.

When I caught a glimpse of Shen Yu’s eyes looking at me from time to time, I knew very clearly that this first encounter arranged by my father for him and me was a success.

It was worth it that I had practiced horse riding for three months. My legs hurt so much that I couldn’t sleep every night.

Shen Yu seemed to have remembered the past and lowered his eyes.

After pouring him a cup of hot tea, I continued, “You also know my father’s ambition, right? He wants too much, too big, and he can use anything for this, except Wen Tang. Something happened to her, do you know how many letters my father sent me in the past two days?”

Shen Yu was silent for a moment, then asked me, “Why? Aren’t you all his daughters?”

I smiled and shook my head, “No, his only real daughter is Wen Tang.”

Since I was conscious, I grew up in the Wen family with a group of other children, and the servants all called us Miss.

In those days, there were people who taught us etiquette, music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and they would write down their evaluation of us every month.

Some of the disobedient ones and those who ranked last every month would be made to go over and watch a small person being beaten to death.

Those bloody warnings linger in my mind. Even at that time, I understood that only by becoming the best would I have a say.

When I was seven years old, everything was decided. Because of my outstanding performance, I became the legitimate daughter of the Wen family.

What Duke Wen wanted to do was too dangerous. Wen Tang was his only child, and he had to protect her. He had to place her among a group of concubines. If she was not outstanding, no one would notice her.

Fortunately, I was educated and had some ability to read people’s expressions, so I could see that Duke Wen treated Wen Tang differently.

Any young lady who behaves badly today will be punished. If she says something wrong outside, she will kneel down and reflect on herself when she returns home.

Only Wen Tang was not trained with us because the maids said she was a sickly girl.

But I clearly saw that she was swinging high up on the swing, laughing from the bottom of her heart, and the nanny who was serving her was looking at her with a loving face.

She is so different from us.

In addition, since I became the legitimate daughter, my relationship with Duke Wen became closer, so it was not difficult to imagine the relationship between the two of them.

Even though Shen Yu felt that something was wrong here, he still couldn’t hide his surprise after listening to what I said.

I took a sip of hot tea to suppress the cough in my throat and looked at him with a pale face.

“The only thing he didn’t expect was that I really fell in love with you. Although it was calculated at the beginning, at my age, my emotions were the most uncontrollable. The way you looked at me became more and more affectionate. At that time, I really wanted to marry you.

But you know what? Every time I go home after we part, I have to report to my dad about our time together. I suddenly came to my senses and realized that I couldn’t drag you into this mess.

The Shen family has stood firm for so many years, and its foundation is far beyond that of the Wen family.

So the Shen family is the one my father is trying to win over. If I marry Shen Yu, I will have to report all the movements of the Wen family like other married sisters.

“Wen Rong…” Shen Yu murmured my name.

I looked at him with a wry smile, “That kind of love is too embarrassing to show, Ayu, the first time I rebelled against my father, I was punished to kneel without food or water for three days, and then I replaced you with Xiao Yian.”

But Shen Yu didn’t know this at that time.

After my marriage with Xiao Yian was settled, Shen Yu came to find me and made a fuss, but there was nothing he could do. On the day of my wedding, he came with Xiao Yian to welcome the bride and personally welcomed me into the Fourth Prince’s Palace.

After hearing everything, Shen Yu closed his eyes, pursed his lips and said, “I’m sorry.”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at him lovingly, “Fortunately, you don’t really want to marry Wen Tang.”

Shen Yu sighed and wiped the tears from my face. “Of course it’s not true. I only like you.”

Seeing me cough a few more times, he reached out and tightened my cloak, then looked at me carefully, frowned and asked, “Is this poison not a big deal to you?”

I shook my head. “The dosage was calculated in advance. This is what Xiao Yian and I discussed. He is going to take action against the Wen family.”

Shen Yu looked more serious, “What does he want to do?”

I picked out some of the ones I mentioned.

Shen Yu frowned even more tightly and didn’t speak for a long time. It was unknown what he was thinking about.

I wasn’t in a hurry and waited for him to react slowly.

After a long while, he finally said, “I understand. I will help.”

I forced a smile and shook my head gently, “I didn’t come to you for this.”

Shen Yu looked at me, “What is that?”

“I want to ask you to take me out of the palace after everything is settled. Ah Yu, I have been married to Xiao Yian for three years, and we have never slept together. He knows that I have you in my heart. If my father falls, I will have no worries.

I want to have a chance to be with you again, even if I can no longer appear in front of others openly.”

After all, this was the person Shen Yu loved when he was young, and with so much love and hate entangled in them for so many years, Shen Yu was finally shaken.

He sighed and nodded slightly.

“I won’t let you suffer.”

I gave her a genuine smile.

After Shen Yu left, I finally felt a little relaxed.

After I burned all the letters my father sent to the palace, I felt much better.

If I really helped Wen Tang to clarify the matter according to his wishes, then all the suffering I suffered for this poison would be in vain.

What’s more, after this incident, he naturally knew that I would no longer be under his control. If I really let this matter go easily, he would naturally not let me go.

So Shen Yu and Xiao Yian, you must successfully bring him down.

After the conversation between Shen Yu and I that day, Xiao Yian was able to do things much more smoothly.

In addition, my father was too busy with Wen Tang, and by the time he reacted, his power had already been affected a lot.

I hadn’t seen Xiao Yian for several days, so I was a little surprised to see him sitting in my bedroom.

“Is Your Majesty done with your work?”

Xiao Yian didn’t say anything, just looked at me steadily.

After a moment, he continued to talk to himself: “For the Wen family now, only the final blow is left. Shen Yu has helped a lot these days, but this final key has to be taken by the Shen family, but he proposed a deal.”

I already knew the answer in my heart, but I still asked, “What?”

Xiao Yian came over with a sullen face, pinched my chin, stared at me and said, “He wants you, my Concubine Wen.”

After hearing this answer, I finally felt relieved.

I looked back at Xiao Yian seriously and asked, “Then what will the emperor choose?”

Xiao Yian withdrew his hand, his expression was a little complicated, but I could understand what he meant.

As expected, he said, “You know I like you, but I also know that the person in your heart is Shen Yu. You chose to marry me just to protect him.”

To me, these words have a different meaning: I have been controlled by the Wen family for so many years, and the problem is finally going to be resolved. It just so happens that you two like each other, so I might as well help you to overthrow the Wen family.

This is what I expected.

I lowered my head and said softly, “I will follow the emperor’s arrangements in everything.”

When Xiao Yian heard this, he looked a little crazy for some reason.

He smashed a lot of things, and finally said dejectedly: “Last time you said you wanted to meet Shen Yu, were you going to discuss this with him?”

Looking at the debris on the ground, I was silent for a while, then asked, “Your Majesty, are you so angry because of me, or because you will soon lose the Wen family’s restraint but have to be threatened by Shen Yu?”

Xiao Yian was speechless for a moment.

In fact, we all know the answer, but we are just protecting the surface.

Xiao Yian was a candidate I had my eyes on for a long time. His mother’s family was weak and his own health was not very good, so he seemed like an easy target to control.

But at a certain banquet, I noticed the ambition in his eyes.

Compared to the difficult-to-control Shen family and Shen Yu, he as a prince is undoubtedly a better choice.

I lied to Shen Yu. I knelt and was punished for him, but in fact, I didn’t do that.

I just spent two days convincing my father to choose Xiao Yian.

On the wedding night, Xiao Yian and I were frank with each other. I helped him to securely ascend the throne, and in return, he had to help me get rid of the Wen family.

This was a deal from the beginning, but Xiao Yian always thought I knew nothing.

Xiao Yian sighed deeply, “Yes, it’s really frustrating for me to be the emperor.”

I sighed, helped him sit down in a safe place, and coaxed him: “Your Majesty, you are the emperor now. As long as you sit on the throne for one day, they will not be able to surpass you. The Wen family is so powerful, but you have destroyed it. If the Shen family has this intention in the future, you can do it too.”

Xiao Yian asked hesitantly, “Really?”

I nodded slightly.

He breathed a sigh of relief, reached out and hugged me, and said sadly, “Wen Chan, thank you.”

I looked at the top of his head and said nothing.

After that day, the messages my father sent to the palace became more urgent and more numerous.

I didn’t open any of them and burned them all.

He also used the palace maid who delivered the message to uncover the spies he had planted in the palace.

But judging from the speed and frequency of sending letters, my father is very anxious.

It seems that his situation is not very good now.

But Xiao Yian avoided me a little and never came to my palace again.

It was more than half a month later that the Wen family’s property was ransacked. The incident was not too sudden. After all, the entire court had been discussing this matter all day long during this period of time.

And the people in the palace were all waiting to laugh at me. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, I was still the legitimate daughter of the Wen family.

This incident didn’t make me feel at all, but the inevitable resentment that had been weighing on my heart for years finally dissipated a little.

Xiao Yian probably hated my father very much, so he sentenced the entire Wen family to death.

After everything was settled, he had no choice but to come and see me.

After the Wen family, who had been holding him back for so many years, disappeared, Xiao Yian couldn’t hide his excitement. He took my hand and said, “Wen Chan, I did what I promised you.”

I smiled at him and said gratefully, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

He still couldn’t control his excitement, and walked around the room several times while talking. “The ministers who have daughters of the Wen family as wives have been particularly nervous recently. Shen Yu is right. If we put pressure on them and ask them to go back and interrogate them, we will get more information than we imagined.

On the day when the Wen family was raided, the look on Duke Wen’s face made me feel the most happy. He used to be so high and mighty in front of me, but now he was finally under my feet.

Sweetheart, I did it.”

I sighed secretly, pulled Xiao Yian to sit down, and waited for him to calm down slowly.

Not long after, Xiao Yian returned to normal, and he and I fell into a long silence.

In the end, he was the first to speak: “Wen Chan, as long as you say you are willing to stay with me, I will take care of Shen Yu’s problem.”

Even though he had made a great decision to say this, I still shook my head.

Xiao Yian’s face turned pale, and he smiled bitterly and said, “Do you like him that much?”

“No, no, it’s just that the Emperor doesn’t like me that much.”

He became excited again when he heard it, “How could I not like you? It was your wish that I overthrew the Wen family. I let you do whatever you want in the palace. There are so many concubines, and for your status, I won’t go anywhere else, even if I can only sleep in a separate bed from you. Wen Tong, isn’t this called love?”

“Really?” I asked softly, “But Your Majesty, the Wen family has been confiscated for almost ten days, and you haven’t made me the queen. You didn’t come to see me, but just watched coldly as everyone in the palace laughed at and embarrassed me. If I’m not mistaken, you want me to beg you, right?”

Xiao Yian was stunned for a moment and then explained: “No, that’s not what I meant.”

I waved my hands tiredly, “It doesn’t matter anymore, Your Majesty. Now I can only say that I don’t dare to like you.”

He looked even more surprised when he heard this.

I smiled and continued, “In order to pretend that you doted on me, you stayed at my place most nights. Even though we never slept together, you were still worried that one day you might have sex with me. The next morning, the medicine you sent was not a tonic, but contraceptive soup, right?”

Without looking at Xiao Yian’s expression, I continued, “Why don’t you really take my body? Because if there is no movement in my stomach, I will definitely get suspicious, which is not a good thing for you.

Because you are afraid, there are too many things between us. If the Wen family fails to be overthrown, and I get pregnant with your child, that will be your death. But if the Wen family is successfully dragged into the water, you dare not let me get pregnant. We have been together for so many years, and we know each other too well. “

What’s more, for the sake of his power, he allowed me to meet Shen Yu even though I had just been poisoned.

He was calculating too much, so I didn’t dare to be moved from the beginning.

Xiao Yian has always been clear about what is more important.

But I was clear-headed from the beginning, so I just did what he wanted.

Xiao Yian fell silent, then smiled bitterly and said, “Wen Chan, I really admired your talent at first, but later on, I was a little afraid of your cleverness, so…”

That’s why he was on guard against me everywhere. This is what he didn’t finish.

He shook his head and sighed heavily. After a moment, he asked again, “The only person you care about is Shen Yu, right?”

I didn’t answer, but Xiao Yian seemed to have understood the answer.

He stood up, turned his back to me and said, “In three days, Concubine Wen will die of illness. I will arrange for someone to send you out of the palace by then.”

Xiao Yian left after saying this. His back looked a little bleak, but I felt completely relaxed in my heart.

It’s all over at last.

Three days later, I died of illness.

Everyone in the palace came to pay their respects to me, and Xiao Yian also stood guard beside my coffin.

I couldn’t see everyone’s crying and laughing because I was in the sedan chair leaving the palace.

When the voices started to get louder and louder, I asked someone to stop.

“Before I entered the palace, I really liked eating the cakes from this shop. I’ll go down and buy some.”

The attendant said respectfully, “Then I will buy it for you.”

I shook my head and said with a smile, “No, I can go by myself.”

This is the person arranged by Xiao Yian, so he will naturally listen to me.

After getting off the sedan chair and breathing the fresh and free air, I walked forward with a smile, and got lost in the crowd, turning left and right, and disappeared from their sight.

By the time they realized what was happening, I had already left the city gate.

I understood one thing when I was very young: the only person you can rely on in this world is yourself.

I am actually not very satisfied with Shen Yu, whom Duke Wen arranged for me.

Because I know very clearly that if I marry him, I will be restricted in every way like other girls in the Wen family.

That’s not what I want.

What’s more, Shen Yu’s liking for me can only be considered liking.

The Shen family has been able to grow and stand firm until now, and their vision is ruthless and long-term. How could they not see the ambition of the Wen family? Letting Shen Yu marry me is undoubtedly a time bomb for them.

And Shen Yu understood the reason behind this even more. His feelings for me were not enough to make him take such a big risk.

After realizing this, I started looking for other people.

In addition to various considerations, the biggest reason for choosing Xiao Yian is that he is a prince.

If he ascends the throne in the future, he will be the emperor. Once I enter the palace, no matter how long my father’s hands are, he will not be able to control me completely.

But my marrying Xiao Yian is also a thrill for Shen Yu.

For a gifted child like him, the thing he can’t stand the most is that others abandon him first, so he opposes me in every way, but the more he does this, the more he cares.

I told him all the affairs of the Wen family because with the help of the Shen family, the Wen family would fall faster.

The Shen family will also take advantage of this to get a piece of the pie, they will not sit idly by.

If you think about it carefully, this is killing two birds with one stone.

And how could I, who had finally left the palace, choose to be trapped and shameful beside Shen Yu?

Ever since I married Xiao Yian, what I have been calculating is my freedom, which is what I have wanted for more than ten years.

Their likes are too cheap.

I knew it very early on.

Now that my identity has been erased, no one would dare to look for me in a high-profile manner.

Except for Beijing, I am free to go anywhere.

This is what I want—the sky is high and the birds fly freely.

Wen Juan Extra

The Wen family is indeed extremely powerful.

Even though I was far away in the northwest desert, I could hear news about them.

“I heard that Duke Wen insisted on seeing the emperor before his execution. This is really strange. He didn’t ask for his own life, but begged the emperor to save his concubine’s daughter. Madam, don’t you think it’s strange?”

What’s so strange about this?

It was simply because my father had something valuable that could be exchanged that Xiao Yian agreed.

But Wen Tang, she has nothing to do with me anymore.

I glanced at the guests who were eating meat and drinking wine, smiled and said nothing.

I opened the door curtain and walked out of the backyard. The sun had already set and wisps of fireworks began to emerge from the houses one after another.

The desert is filled with solitary smoke and the long river is filled with round sunset. I think it is just like this.

After staying in the northwest for half a year, I started heading north again.

Before reaching the destination, he heard the news that Xiao Yian was going to establish a queen.

After taking a good look at my weathered appearance in the mirror, I decided to take a detour back to the capital to take a look.

The capital city is always bustling at any time, let alone the wedding of the Emperor and Empress.

I was wearing a coarse linen shirt, my hair, which had not been washed for several days, looked like dead grass, my skin was darker than before and dotted with freckles. I mingled with the crowd and enthusiastically accepted the tips given by the eunuchs along the way.

The current Queen is Shen Yu’s cousin, so he was the one escorting her on horseback.

I haven’t seen him for a long time.

I just heard that Shen Yu took over his grandfather’s position and was very successful at a young age.

A group of little girls nearby were chattering, and the topic all revolved around Shen Yu. Their cheeks were slightly red as they imagined what their future husbands would look like.

I listened with a smile, but my thoughts couldn’t help but drift back to the day when I first met Shen Yu.

Even though it was a deliberate arrangement, how could I not be happy for a young man like that?

But there is no way, we all love ourselves more.

The convoy slowly disappeared into the palace, and everyone’s appearance gradually blurred in my eyes.

I withdrew my gaze and slowly walked out of the capital.

After taking off all disguises, I started the next journey with ease.

Shen Yu Extra

Wen Ling was the first girl I liked.

The first time I saw her, I knew she was so different. Just standing there, I couldn’t help but look at her.

At that time, I thought she liked me too.

Although her family was satisfied with her identity, they also had many concerns about it.

My marriage with her was delayed like this. I was afraid that she would be sad, so I didn’t dare tell her. But when I looked at her, there was more or less some guilt in my eyes.

Wen Chan probably understood it, but she didn’t complain at all. She turned around and married Xiao Yian cleanly and neatly.

How good is their relationship?

She was so good that she could use her family to help him succeed to the throne, and I was so jealous that I wanted to send her to marry him during my diplomatic mission to Xirong, and then hide her by replacing her with another one.

But she refused to tell me why she suddenly wanted to marry Xiao Yian.

So I had to check it out myself, and later I realized that this might also be part of her plan.

But I didn’t know it at that time. I just saw her threatening my life because I wanted to marry Wen Tang.

I was both happy and distressed, so I spent more time checking out the Wen family.

When I saw her again later, she had just woken up from being poisoned.

I thought it was a sacrifice she made to help Xiao Yian bring down the Wen family, so it was impossible for me not to be angry.

But Wen Chan has the ability to make me feel sorry for her.

I went to see her anyway.

When I heard her tell me everything with a pale face and begged me to take her away, my heart softened into a puddle of water.

I think we still have a chance.

But as the future successor of the Shen family, I still used the things she told me to gain a lot of benefits.

On the day Xiao Yian arranged for her to leave the palace, I walked around the study countless times.

The Wen family has just fallen, and there are many people eyeing the Shen family. Wen Ling’s identity is undoubtedly a big handle, so I can’t expose it and can only wait quietly for her arrival.

But when it was far past the agreed time and I still hadn’t seen Wen Chan, I still went out, only to see an empty sedan.

There is a small wooden box in the middle, which contains all the things I have ever given her.

She left in a clean and decisive manner, and she had anticipated that we would not be able to look for her openly after Concubine Wen’s “death”.

Wen Zhen is indeed very smart.

She was so smart that I was a little scared, especially after she disappeared, then I realized that we were the chess game she set up.

So I transferred all my anger to Xiao Yian.

After successfully taking over my grandfather’s position, I became more and more calm. After forcing Xiao Yian to accept my cousin little by little, the Shen family’s dream of becoming the queen finally came true.

Because of this incident, the elders in my family finally felt comfortable handing over the power to me.

After doing all this, my freedom reached its peak.

And Xiao Yian is not someone who can be manipulated by others. It’s just the position of queen. After being sent to the palace, isn’t he the one who has the final say?

As for the Shen family, I brought them to the pinnacle of honor, and they still have to rely on me to deal with the royal family. Who can stop me from finding a warm and gentle woman?

I drew her appearance and arranged for my trusted Deadpool to investigate bit by bit, and finally found some traces of her.

Wen Zhen lived in Mobei for more than half a year and opened a pub, which she liked. She always liked to listen to gossip from people coming and going.

The wine brought back was very strong, different from the mellow wine in the capital.

I couldn’t help laughing while drinking. She actually dared to return to the capital to watch the wedding of the emperor and empress.

There was heavy snow and wind in the north, so she went there to start a fabric business.

Wen Chan is a person who can live well wherever he goes.

Of course, she hid it very well.

Often, just when I got a little news, she disappeared without a trace.

This became the spice of my boring life.

But it has also become my hope for the second half of my life.

Or maybe I shouldn’t have restrained myself when I was young and in love, so I’m here to pay my debt now.

When I was almost thirty years old, I had met quite a few women. Being in this position, some people also discovered this thought in my heart. The people they sent to me were more or less similar to Wen Chan.

I was happy to see this, so I turned around and sent them all to the palace and gave them to Xiao Yian.

He might be annoyed by what he saw, and he would have to deal with a large group of people the next day.

After a few rounds, no one dared to do this anymore.

After so many years, few people still remember the Wen family or dare to mention those people in the Wen family.

Only I am still looking for warmth and tenderness.

I don’t know when.

Perhaps until death.