Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks

Chapter 3583: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (2)

The purest form of love he could show was simply, ‘I only want to sleep with you.’

Ao Tianze did not want to grace the women of the inner palace with his presence because it would make Fu Min unhappy. Furthermore, Ao Tianze felt he had found his true love, and the other women in the inner palace were nothing but trash in his eyes.

They were merely obstacles getting in the way of him and his true love.

Thus, Ao Tianze came up with a ‘fantastic’ idea. He would find someone to sleep with the consorts of the inner palace in his stead.

He got his personal shadow guards to do the deed.

Whenever it was time to turn in for the night, the room would be pitch black. How could these consorts ever imagine that the man making passionate love to them was a shadow guard who could never see the light of day?

That was not even the worst part. God knew what was going through Ao Tianze’s mind, but he would actually stand beside the bed, silently and eerily watching the consort and the shadow guard writhe around in the dark.

He would even think to himself, ‘You can’t even tell that it isn’t this emperor? You truly are nothing but a cheap harlot.’

After taking the medicine, Ning Shu had broken out in a sweat. Her body felt sticky and incredibly uncomfortable. Upon receiving this storyline, she was practically left dumbfounded.

He actually found someone to ‘give him a green hat,’ and he even watched from the sidelines! What kind of sick mentality was this? These women were his own consorts after all, yet he actually brought in shadow guards to sleep with them.

Good heavens!

Was his brain infested with maggots?

Ao Tianze was obligated to favor the noble daughters sent into the palace by the empire’s aristocratic families. Having only recently ascended the throne, he needed to use the inner palace to pacify the outer court.

Once he dealt with those stubborn old officials, he would be able to do whatever he wanted without any hindrance. Then, he could easily dispose of the women in the inner palace as well.

Aside from Fu Min, whom Ao Tianze personally favored, all the other consorts in the inner palace, including Empress Tan Yuxin, were given to the shadow guards.

What a horrifying scandal this was! The empress of a nation had been defiled by another man. If this secret ever got out, it would be the biggest joke in the world. With this, it would be entirely justifiable for Ao Tianze to depose the empress in the future.

Not only would Tan Yuxin’s reputation be utterly ruined, but it would also implicate her maiden family, the Tan family, making them the laughingstock of the entire world.

Even if the consorts in the inner palace managed to get pregnant, they would inexplicably miscarry. This was because the children were never Ao Tianze’s to begin with, and he naturally would not allow any child without his bloodline to live in the inner palace.

Whenever a consort fell pregnant, she would lose the baby. One pregnancy after another ended in miscarriage, and not a single child was ever born.

The lack of children in the inner palace automatically became the responsibility of its master, Tan Yuxin. Every time a consort miscarried, Ao Tianze would come to reprimand her. He would scold her for being an incompetent empress and blame her for the inner palace’s lack of heirs.

Tan Yuxin’s head felt like it was going to explode. Whenever a consort got pregnant, she would be on pins and needles. She personally inspected everything they used or consumed, and act even more nervous than if she were the one pregnant. Yet, the pregnancies still ended in miscarriages.

It was as if the inner palace were cursed.

Over time, Tan Yuxin was labeled as a jealous woman. Every time a consort got pregnant, she miscarried. Wasn’t that obviously Tan Yuxin’s doing, then?

Rumors spread that Tan Yuxin was a jealous shrew who cruelly murdered the emperor’s heirs, and that she had only kept her position because of the emperor’s mercy. This even implicated her father, who was publicly reprimanded by Ao Tianze in the outer court.

Not only that, but Tan Yuxin also drew the hatred of the other consorts. Every woman who had lost a child blamed the tragedy directly on her.

Empress Tan Yuxin was essentially a target set up by Ao Tianze to draw the attention of the women in the inner palace. This allowed him to keep his deep affection for Fu Min entirely under the radar.

Furthermore, Ao Tianze allowed the women in the inner palace to viciously scheme against one another. Whenever something went wrong, he would run over and scold Tan Yuxin again.

The responsibility of the inner palace rested solely on her shoulders anyway. Whatever happened, it was all due to Tan Yuxin’s incompetence in managing the inner palace.

Having a boss like this, especially one who was deliberately out to ruin her, was an absolute disaster of a life.

Tan Yuxin was under immense pressure every single day, leaving her in a constant state of poor health. The most direct symptom was her chronic headaches. She could not handle being startled at all, and even the slightest commotion in the palace was enough to make her heart pound with anxiety.

Later, Fu Min successfully gave birth to a child, the only heir in the palace, and she was promoted to a high-ranking consort.

In the murky quagmire of the inner palace, Fu Min was like a lotus emerging from the mud unstained. She remained pure, independent, and completely detached from the worldly struggles around her, living a blissful and perfect life.

A man had gone to such great lengths for her. Was it thrilling? Was it touching? Was it blissful?

Ao Tianze gradually consolidated his power and planted his own people in important government posts. From then on, whatever he said or did, he no longer had to deal with a bunch of old officials nagging him endlessly.

After dealing with the outer court, it was time for him to handle the inner palace. Ao Tianze gathered the consorts together and bluntly revealed the truth about their situation.

Without any further explanation, he banished the group of consorts to the cold palace. The women were completely bewildered. They had no idea why this was happening. They sent word to their families, but their families gave no response whatsoever.

It was obvious that the families had abandoned the daughters they sent into the palace.

The previous rumors of Tan Yuxin being jealous and murdering imperial heirs were more than enough grounds for her to be declared an immoral empress. She was deposed and, along with the group of consorts, sent off into the cold palace.

Fu Min, being the aloof, fame-and-wealth-shunning, pure and unstained white lotus that she was, told Ao Tianze, “These consorts are so pitiful. Why don’t you just send them back home? The conditions in the cold palace are far too harsh, blah, blah, blah…”

Seriously though? Sending the emperor’s women back home? Their reputations were already ruined, so what good would sending them back do now?

Ao Tianze just felt that his woman was incredibly kind-hearted. However, the emperor’s women had to die in the palace. He then sent people to inform the consorts of the truth, telling them that since they had lost their chastity and virtue, they should end their own lives.

When the consorts heard the truth, they felt as if they had been struck by lightning and began to wail in anguish one by one.

They snatched the white silk, daggers, and poisoned wine from the trays held by the eunuchs and took their own lives.

Tan Yuxin was consumed by despair. The imperial family truly was the most ruthless of all. Beneath the emperor’s throne lay a mountain of bones. She was Ao Tianze’s first, lawfully wedded wife. Why did he have to treat her this way?

She had even dragged her father down. He had been forced him to resign from his post and go into seclusion just to protect the rest of the Tan family.

And under the current circumstances, she had no choice but to die. Tearfully, Tan Yuxin picked up the poisoned wine and drank it. The poison burned her throat and scorched her stomach, causing her excruciating agony. Yet, even after drinking it, death did not come quickly.

While coughing up blood, Tan Yuxin’s vision blurred, but she could vaguely make out Ao Tianze standing at the entrance of the cold palace. Dressed in luxurious robes, he stood tall and proud. The emperor who controlled the fate of everyone in the world possessed a heart as cold and hard as iron.

It was said that a person’s mind became exceptionally clear in the moments before death. Suddenly, Tan Yuxin understood everything. She coughed up a large mouthful of black blood and breathed her last.

The dead consorts were secretly transported out of the palace and unceremoniously buried.

After that, Ao Tianze never took another consort. He crowned Fu Min as his empress and made their child the crown prince.

The commoners all sang praises of the deeply affectionate emperor. The love story between Ao Tianze and Fu Min was passed down and celebrated throughout the world.

The people even erected memorial tablets for Fu Min, proclaiming her the most merciful and beautiful empress under the heavens.

The women among the common folk all looked up to Fu Min as a role model. She set their ultimate life goal—to ensure their husbands never took concubines. In short, Fu Min became a legendary woman who had obtained the lifelong love and devotion of an emperor.

Meanwhile, the other consorts rotted away in a mass grave. They were completely buried by history, without a single word written about them.