Why Mei Yinshu was favored has been a topic discussed in Beiyuan’s harem for twenty years.
In the first ten years, everyone attributed the reason to her stunning appearance. In the second ten years, she grew older and her position as the most beautiful woman in the harem was threatened by the young concubines, but the emperor still loved her as much as before. At this time, everyone said that she was able to gain status because she gave birth to the second prince.
At first, even Mei Yinshu herself didn't know what the emperor liked about her.
When she first entered the palace, she was not very smart, and was even a little stupid. In order to save her mother's family who were convicted and exiled, she also clumsily fought for favor. The emperor could see through those clumsy tricks at a glance, but he never punished her, but only laughed at her.
After gaining favor, she naturally became the thorn in the eyes of other concubines in the harem, and the conspiracies and frame-ups that followed made her frightened. Fortunately, the emperor always stood by her side, patiently helping her analyze her motives, find the mastermind behind the scenes, teach her how to fight back, and even asked her in a joking tone if she wanted to harm others.
She likes His Majesty, very much. His Majesty is handsome and charming, protecting her and pampering her, she can't control her heart. But she doesn't want to hurt others, she just wants to protect herself and her family.
She became smarter and smarter under His Majesty's training, and the children she gave birth to for His Majesty were much smarter than other princes and princesses. However, she became less and less intelligent, and no longer dared to like and rely on His Majesty as much as she did at the beginning.
Because the smarter she got, the less she knew the man beside her. Sometimes, she recalled something the emperor had said in the past, which she didn't understand at the time, but now it could make her break into a cold sweat.
She gradually realized that as the emperor's favorite concubine, she had to be smart, but also not too smart.
In front of His Majesty, she has been as cautious as ever for the past twenty years, always saying the right words and doing the right things at the right time, neither taking advantage of the emperor's favor to become arrogant nor belittling herself.
She couldn't fall out of favor. For her mother's family, and even more for her children. Once she fell out of favor and was trapped in the palace, it would be difficult for her to see her children. More importantly, her child was so outstanding and capable, he must have a decent mother.
During the last time she slept with him, she was as cautious as ever. The emperor said Zhen Feng had made great contributions on the battlefield of Western Xia and asked her what reward she wanted. Her answer was impeccable.
The emperor looked at her for a long time, then said in boredom, "Go to sleep."
She lay on the dragon bed with her eyes closed. When she heard the emperor's breathing as he fell asleep, the tension in her heart relaxed a little and she allowed herself to be overwhelmed by sleepiness.
After an unknown amount of time, she vaguely felt the lights in the bedroom turn on. She opened her eyes and found that the man beside her pillow had disappeared. She looked around and saw the emperor standing by the window with his back to her, motionless.
Just as she was about to speak, His Majesty suddenly chuckled. His voice was so cold and chilling that it seemed as if he was dragging her into hell.
The emperor had never smiled like this in front of her. She felt cold all over, as if the thing she was sleeping on was not a dragon bed, but a cold arrow that could pierce her body at any time.
What should she do? Should she make a sound to indicate that she was awake? However, her instinct told her that this was not the time for her to wake up—she had to be asleep.
The more the man laughed, the hoarser his voice became. Suddenly, the laughter stopped, the man was quiet for a while, slowly turned around, and cast his eyes towards the dragon bed.
Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the emperor's gaze on her, as if he was examining a pet that he had trained and raised and could keep or abandon.
Keeping it would bring him a lot of fun, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn't come back to bite him one day. Throwing it away would be a pity.
Don't move, she warned herself, she saw nothing, heard nothing.
But can she deceive a man's eyes
Waking and sleeping, life and death, are all in one thought.
The man walked towards her step by step, standing beside the bed and looking down at her. She remembered that in the past, no matter who committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, the emperor would find out. She was taught by the emperor, and she didn't think she could be an exception.
Rather than planting the seeds of doubt in His Majesty's heart, she might as well... tell the truth.
So, she gritted her teeth and opened her eyes under the man's gaze: "Your Majesty?"
The man's tone was no different from usual: "When did Shu'er wake up?"
"I just woke up and saw the emperor standing alone by the window. I didn't dare to disturb him." She told the truth as calmly as possible, "Is the emperor unable to sleep?"
The man got back on the bed and gently held her in his arms from behind: "Shu'er, you are shaking."
She suddenly opened her eyes wide. She controlled her expression very well, but she couldn't erase the fear of this man in her heart.
"What are you afraid of?" the man asked softly, "You have never been afraid of me before."
"I... don't have any."
She didn't hear anything and she told the truth, but why did it end up like this
When she was tortured by the poison and was in excruciating pain, she finally understood.
It wasn't that she had chosen wrongly. No matter how she chose, the result would have been the same.
The fact that she did not die that night proved that His Majesty had doubts and hesitations, and was still considering it.
At this time, he learned of the Queen's plan to poison her.
The man knew everything in the harem like a firefight. The fights between the concubines were just a wonderful or boring drama in his eyes. Every concubine, including the queen, had his people around him. How could he not know the queen's intention to poison him
It depends on his decision whether to stop it or to let it go.
He might feel that the Queen's stupidity came at just the right time, and that she had made the decision for him.
After all, she was the imperial concubine he had loved for many years, so he was somewhat reluctant to personally issue the order. So, let her die at the hands of the queen, so that he could have peace of mind.
Zhao Mian roughly understood the truth of the matter from Concubine Mei's posthumous writings.
Concubine Mei returned to the palace that night and had a bad feeling, so she wrote this letter. If she really met with an accident, Wei Zhenfeng had the right to know the truth.
Zhao Mian stood beside Wei Zhenfeng in silence.
He watched the boy's tears fall on the envelope with his name on it, drop by drop, as if they were falling into his heart.
After growing up, he never cried again. Even when he first detoxified with Wei Zhenfeng, his eyes were red with pain, but he refused to let the tears fall.
But Wei Zhenfeng was crying.
Wei Zhenfeng is taller than him, more skilled than him, and has experienced more life and death situations than him.
Wei Zhenfeng has never been a weak person, but he just let the tears flow.
How miserable he must be.
Zhao Mian didn't know how to face Wei Zhenfeng. He had been well-read and eloquent since he was a child. He had a hundred ways to mock Wei Zhenfeng, but he couldn't find a word to comfort Wei Zhenfeng.
There are no words in this world that can comfort a person who has just learned that his mother died because of his father's suspicion.
He could only walk up to Wei Zhenfeng and bury his face in the boy's shoulder.
(End of this chapter)