Free Web NovelChapter 170: Chapter 170: The Death of the Late Empress
Shen Ningning gave a small bow and called out in a sweet, obedient voice, "Greetings, Consort Rong."
Consort Rong’s eyes curved as she smiled, her expression elegant and gentle. "Such a good girl."
The elder aunt beside her stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your Highness, the hour is late. If we don’t go to worship now, I’m afraid we’ll be late."
Only then did Consort Rong come to her senses, looking apologetically at Mo Lingwei. "Crown Prince, I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."
Mo Lingwei gave a faint nod.
He felt neither fondness nor anger toward Consort Rong, so he wouldn’t go out of his way to target her.
After bidding farewell to Shen Ningning as well, Consort Rong departed in her sedan chair.
After she left, Shen Ningning curiously asked Mo Lingwei, "Brother, why does Consort Rong go to worship Buddha?"
"Consort Rong is a Buddhist. On the first and fifteenth of every month, she observes a vegetarian diet for three days and recites Buddhist Scriptures to show her sincerity."
In earlier years, Consort Rong would even chant scriptures to pray for Mo Lingwei’s health, and the Emperor often praised her for her kindness.
But this soon attracted Consort Li’s jealousy and hatred. Consort Rong was framed several times and suffered greatly. Afterward, though she continued to pray for the Emperor and Mo Lingwei, she only dared to do so in secret.
Now that Consort Li was confined within the palace, she had lost her power to manage the Six Palaces.
Consort Rong could finally practice her faith without having to hide.
Upon arriving at Zichen Palace,
Mo Lingwei brought out a scroll. When he unrolled it, it revealed elegant and neat calligraphy in small regular script.
Shen Ningning’s sparkling eyes widened. She looked closely and was surprised to see it was the very knowledge the mad scholar had taught her.
"Brother, what is this?"
"Before she passed, my mother, the Empress, once helped create questions for the National Academy. The three questions on this scroll are from the entrance exam ten years ago. You can take a look; it might be helpful."
Shen Ningning was overwhelmed by the gesture. Surprised and delighted, she reached out her small hands, about to take it.
But then she remembered something and quickly pulled her hands back, covering her big eyes.
"No, no, I can’t look!" she said, her voice soft and full of childish innocence. "What if there’s a similar question this time? Wouldn’t that be cheating?"
Shen Ningning shook her head, her little body swaying back and forth.
"I can’t look. I promised the mad scholar I would get into the National Academy on my own merit."
Mo Lingwei laughed. "The questions from ten years ago are completely different from today’s. It won’t matter if you look."
He reached for Shen Ningning’s small hands, but the little one simply turned her back to him.
She shook her little head firmly. "No, no! Brother, let’s just eat something instead!"
Seeing her act this way, Mo Lingwei let out a hearty laugh.
"Fine, have it your way. And here I went and turned all of Zichen Palace upside down to find this scroll."
Hearing this, Shen Ningning turned her little body slightly. Her hands were still covering her eyes, but she parted her fingers to peek through two small gaps.
Her pair of big, dark eyes looked at Mo Lingwei, filled with gratitude.
"Thank you, Brother, but I really can’t look. However, I can ask your mother, the Empress, to bless me so I can pass the exam in one go."
With that, the little one closed her eyes, turned her whole body around, and pressed her palms together.
Facing the scroll, she said, "Your Highness the Empress, I am Shen Ningning. Please bless me so I pass my exam."
Mo Lingwei leaned lazily against a soft cushion. Seeing this, a faint smile graced his thin lips.
He seemed to recall something, and the look in his eyes drifted into a distant memory.
"Shen Ningning," Mo Lingwei began quietly, "do you know how my mother, the Empress, died?"
The little one shook her head.
The Empress’s death was a taboo topic in the palace. The entire group of Palace Attendants involved back then had been secretly executed by the Emperor.
Few people who still knew the truth of the matter remained.
Mo Lingwei, however, was one of them.
He lowered his gaze, his dark lashes casting a shadow on his eyelids.
"She burned herself to death."
Shen Ningning was horrified. "What?"
"It sounds shocking, doesn’t it? But it’s true. She did it for me. When I was born, my father, the Emperor, had a dream that the karmic flames from the Eighteen Layers of Hell swept through and burned the entire Cangyun Country to the ground. Because of that, I’ve been seen as a symbol of misfortune since birth, which has deeply troubled my parents for years."
Mo Lingwei’s tone was flat, as if he were recounting a story that had nothing to do with him.
He rested his cheek on his hand, his eyes dark and profound. "That year, Consort Li somehow met a renowned Demi Immortal, and she secretly presented this person to my mother."
"The Demi Immortal told my mother that if she was willing to endure the pain of being consumed by flames, my strange cold affliction would be cured. I was gravely ill at the time, the affliction flaring up almost daily. For my sake, my mother was willing to try."
"Consort Li locked the palace gates. She lied to my mother, saying the fire only needed to burn for a moment before she would bring people in to extinguish it. But while my mother was screaming in agony inside the fire, Consort Li went to the Imperial Study Room to attend to my father, the Emperor, during his afternoon rest."
"By the time I heard the news, my mother had already perished in the inferno, her body a charred corpse, burned beyond recognition."
Shen Ningning’s heart pounded with terror as she listened, and her little face turned pale.
’So that was Mo Lingwei’s past. It was so tragic. No wonder he could never let it go.’
He toyed with the scroll his mother had written before her death. "Do you think my mother was stupid? To fall for such a clumsy trick concocted by that Demi Immortal and Consort Li. But I know she wasn’t stupid."
"She was only willing because she was a mother. For me, she would try anything, no matter how impossible, and endure the pain of her flesh burning. She just wanted me to be like a normal person—healthy and happy."
"But Consort Li murdered her, and my father, the Emperor, failed her."
Shen Ningning’s soft voice was filled with indignation. "Why didn’t Uncle Emperor punish Consort Li? She’s so evil!"
Mo Lingwei sneered. "He didn’t believe Consort Li would use such a bizarre reason to trick my mother into self-immolation. Because back then, Consort Li was a beauty presented to him by my own uncle. She was considered one of us."
The Empress’s family held a pivotal position in Cangyun Country. It had produced nine Prime Ministers, seven Empresses, and countless dukes and marquises.
After entering the palace, the Empress and the Emperor were deeply in love—a young couple in the prime of their affection.
But unexpectedly, the Empress was suddenly struck by a strange illness.
It was at this moment that her family, fearing their influence was becoming unstable, sent the beautiful Consort Li into the palace to solidify their power in the harem.
As soon as Consort Li entered the palace, she won the Emperor’s favor with her graceful figure.
The Empress’s health also miraculously recovered. For a time, the Emperor even believed that Consort Li’s arrival had brought the Empress good fortune.
That period was likely the most difficult time for the Empress, which is why rumors later spread that she had resorted to using Evil Magic to conceive a child in her desperation to compete with Consort Li for favor.
"My father refused to depose Consort Li, so I could only punish my uncle in my own way."
As Mo Lingwei spoke, his eyes grew dark and chillingly cold. "He was my mother’s own brother. How could he send another woman to her husband’s side when she was gravely ill and needed care the most?"
Shen Ningning nodded. "Your uncle was awful, Brother! You should have cut him off for five years! No, ten years!"
Mo Lingwei gave a slight smile. "It doesn’t matter. Everyone in his family who deserved to die is already dead."
Shen Ningning blinked her big eyes. Mo Lingwei immediately composed his expression and changed the subject. "Stay for the imperial lunch. You can leave after we’ve eaten."
As soon as he finished speaking, a eunuch entered the room. "Crown Prince, it is time for your medicine."
Before he even got close, Shen Ningning caught a whiff of an extremely pungent and bitter smell.
