The Mastermind Behind the Scenes Had Quite a Background

"This had originally been an ordinary visit home. I brought many gifts back, exchanged pleasantries with Mother, my younger mothers, and the others, met with all my sisters, and looked at my old room. If I hadn't acted on a whim and gone to admire the flowers in the rear garden, if I hadn't happened to meet Liu Jinli, perhaps that would have been the end of it."

"Liu Jinli?" Chu Lu frowned. He had not seen this name in the family genealogy and assumed she had married out. He casually summoned someone and ordered her to find and interrogate the Liu Family servants, then said to the Empress, "Continue. So Liu Jinli was the one advising you from behind the scenes?"

"Yes." The Empress nodded. "At first, she merely came to greet me, bringing along a maid who looked rather foolish. With an admiring expression, she asked me about life in the Imperial Palace, but then she began making some earth-shattering remarks..."

Within the filthy Imperial Prison, the Empress described the scene of their conversation in the garden that afternoon.

Liu Jinli: "Sister, are you happy in the Imperial Palace?"

Empress: "I have no worries over food or clothing, and my status is noble. Naturally, I am happy."

Liu Jinli: "I heard that the Emperor has many consorts. Aren't you unwilling to accept that, Sister?"

Empress: "Throughout every dynasty, emperors have had three palaces and six courts. It has always been the custom. What is there to resent?"

Liu Jinli: "But does that make it right simply because it has always been so?"

Empress: "Hm?"

Liu Jinli: "Sister, don't blame me for indulging in wild fantasies, but I have found this strange since I was little. We are all women, born looking the same. Why should there be divisions of high and low, noble and base among us? Why must some women stay at home, assist their husbands, and raise their children, while others can show their faces in public? Why can some people fill an entire harem, while others can only become one member of it?"

Liu Jinli: "Everyone is born equal. There is nothing we cannot do. I think that is what is right."

Empress: "Your views are certainly novel and amusing, but it is enough to keep such thoughts to yourself. Do not speak them aloud, or people will laugh at you."

Liu Jinli: "Sister, do you truly find such views laughable? Have you never, even for a single moment, wondered what the difference was between Xu Liniang and yourself? Where do you fall short of her? Why is she the Emperor, while you can only be an Empress? This throne... could I truly not sit upon it?"

Empress: "Shut your mouth! You are becoming more muddle-headed with every word! Is that something you can say?"

Liu Jinli: "If Sister truly has not the slightest thought of it, then I will slap my own face. But if there is even a trace of unwillingness... perhaps this little sister can lend Sister a hand."

Empress: "...Really?"

Liu Jinli: "Absolutely true."

Empress: "How will you help me?"

Liu Jinli: "First, we must depose the Emperor. With the Liu Family backing us, Empress, you need only employ a small trick to succeed easily."

Liu Jinli then explained in detail how to frame Consort Ping with a dustpan, lure Xu Liniang into the affair, use the Imperial Sword to humiliate Xu Liniang beyond measure, and then further disgrace and poison Xu Liniang, forcing her body to weaken. Once they seized an opening, they could take control of the government, plant their own people, and so on.

Empress: "You... where did you learn all this?"

Liu Jinli: "I was born knowing it."

Empress: "But... even if we could succeed, this would be no different from rebellion. It would surely draw opposition from countless people."

Liu Jinli: "It does not matter. With the Liu Family's power, we can suppress most of them. The rest are nothing more than imperial relatives. If Vassal Kings lead troops to cleanse the Emperor's side, Sister, you can tell them that the rebellion is merely a rumor. You can even turn the tables and accuse them of using the opportunity to rebel. Naturally, they will retreat. As for those who remain... leave them to me."

Empress: "You? How could you do that?"

Liu Jinli: "Before long, I will marry Prince Qin's Heir."

Empress: "What? Prince Qin is the late Emperor's full younger sibling and holds an exalted position. Though our Liu Family is also a distinguished clan, you are only a daughter born of a concubine. How could you marry him?"

Liu Jinli: "Simple. In a few days, it will be Mother's birthday, and Prince Qin's Heir will come to attend. I have already arranged the people. At that time, they will lure her to the riverbank and push her into the water. Then I will jump in and save her. Once my wet body has been seen and my chastity ruined, while I also have the grace of saving her life, she will surely marry me!"

Empress: "There is actually such a method... But Prince Qin's Heir already has a main wife. Even if you go, you can only be a concubine."

Liu Jinli: "A trivial matter. I merely need to serve her devotedly first and make her fall into the land of tenderness. At the same time, I will put miscarriage medicine in the main wife's food, ensuring that I conceive a child before her. Once my standing rises, I will seduce a guard and make her willingly sacrifice herself for me. I will place a belt in the main wife's room, then have others falsely accuse the main wife of having an affair with the guard. That will remove her!"

Liu Jinli: "Then I will slip in through the gap, comfort the Heir's shattered heart, and naturally rise to become the main wife. After that, I will deal with that old hag, the old Prince Qin. The entire Prince Qin Residence will be in the palm of my hand!"

Liu Jinli: "When the time comes, we sisters will work together from within and without, and this vast Great Yan Dynasty will be ours!"

Empress: "This, this..."

Liu Jinli: "Sister, today I have laid my heart bare before you. Just give your little sister an answer—will you agree or not?"

Empress: "...All right!"

The recollection ended there. The Empress's gaze gradually returned, and as she looked around at her surroundings, a trace of bitter desolation appeared in her eyes.

"That is what happened," said the Empress.

Chu Lu's brows were tightly furrowed, and he felt a powerful unease.

That concubine-born daughter named Liu Jinli—her words, actions, and methods all gave Chu Lu a familiar feeling. It was practically as though...

—How strange. This Liu Jinli... she was practically like someone who had transmigrated here. And she was an experienced transmigrator who had read quite a few female-oriented novels and was well versed in all their tropes. Preaching that everyone was equal, losing chastity through getting wet, miscarriage schemes, harem intrigue—weren't those all classic plotlines?

Chu Lu rose to his feet. "Empress, rest well here."

He then left and asked his subordinate beside him, "Have the Liu Residence servants been interrogated?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, not yet."

"Once the interrogation is complete, organize it into a written report and send it to my study."

"Yes."

Half an hour later, in the study of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Chu Lu received the testimony that had just been submitted.

After reading it, he discovered that the Empress had not lied.

There truly was a concubine-born daughter named Liu Jinli, and on Mother's birthday, she had indeed saved the Prince's Heir from drowning and was consequently married into the household as a concubine.

This testimony extinguished Chu Lu's last sliver of hope.

"It seems I must meet this Liu Jinli." With a grave expression, Chu Lu summoned Su Muyun and said, "Go and have Prince Qin's family enter the palace."