989 Previous Life (3)
Consort Mei was slowly replacing her in the harem. She was beautiful and smart, charming and gentle, making people subconsciously want to follow her.
In the beginning, Shen Miao was heartbroken. The man she used to love took a fancy to another woman. She thought that he was equally cold to everyone, but later, she realized that was not the case. He was only cold to her because he never liked her.
After being heartbroken for a long time, she gradually became numb. The pain and dispiritedness gradually turned into hatred and indignation towards Fu Sheng.
Fu Sheng stole too much of Fu Xiuyi’s attention from her child, Fu Ming. Fu Ming was clearly the crown prince. He was talented and hardworking, but in the end, he was neglected. Fu Xiuyi taught Fu Sheng how to write and discussed politics with him, but he never showed concern for Fu Ming.
When being asked, he would say that Fu Ming was the crown prince and had to be mature and learn to teach himself.
However, every time Shen Miao looked at Fu Ming’s disappointed eyes, she felt like a knife was twisting in her heart.
The Shen family was not doing well either. Luo Xueyan was getting sicker and sicker, and Jing Chuchu was scheming against Shen Qiu. The Shen family’s reputation was getting worse and worse, and Shen Xin had aged a lot.
Fu Xiuyi seemed to be suppressing the Shen family. Shen Miao vaguely sensed this, but she had no way of getting to know what was going on in the imperial court. The only way she could know one thing or two was through Pei Lang, but Pei Lang was loyal to Fu Xiuyi. Although Pei Lang was on good terms with her, he would never reveal too much.
Shen Miao’s love towards Fu Xiuyi had been fading away ever since he had Consort Mei. However, she couldn’t abandon her position as the empress. She had to stabilize her position and fight for some opportunities for Fu Ming and Wanyu.
There had been news of the Xiongnu’s invasion recently. Consort Mei seemed to be urging Fu Xiuyi to marry Wanyu to the Xiongnu to build a marriage alliance.
This was what Shen Miao could not tolerate the most.
However, Consort Mei was urging harder and harder. Everyone knew how much Fu Xiuyi doted on Fu Sheng. The Shen family was getting worse day by day, and there were too many people standing on Consort Mei’s side. In addition, Consort Mei’s brother, Li Ke, had recently helped Fu Xiuyi settle a few important matters, and Consort Mei’s status in the harem was rising steadily.
Shen Miao knew what the officials were thinking. They were thinking about when to change the crown prince and when to depose the empress.
Guarding against everyone around her, Shen Miao was already exhausted. If not for her children, she sometimes felt that it was better to burn this palace to the ground.
Bai Lu walked in and said, “Your Majesty, the clothes for the palace banquet have been prepared. We have to comb your hair early.”
Shen Miao nodded.
Shuang Jiang died a year ago. Consort Mei was really scheming. She did not even let her maids off. At this moment, Bai Lu was the only one left.
Tonight was Ming Qi’s palace banquet. The new year was coming, and Fu Xiuyi was holding a banquet to reward the officials. Of course, the most important thing was to bid farewell to the young marquis of the Marquis of Lin’an, Xie Jingxing. The Marquis of Lin’an, Xie Ding, had died on the battlefield in the northern border, and now, his son was going to war in his place.
Shen Miao and Xie Jingxing did not have much interaction because of the subtle relationship between the Shen family and the Xie family. However, the two families were both on decline.
