“Yes!”
The eunuch withdrew to pass the message to Wen Meier.
At that moment, Wen Meier was standing not far from Feng Zhao’s room. She had already begun to regard herself as the future Empress Dowager with great pride.
Hearing Wen Chenglin’s warning, she dismissed it casually.
“Father worries too much. I naturally know what I’m doing.”
“The time is about right.”
Wen Meier gave Yunxiang a glance. Yunxiang immediately began shouting:
“Empress! Empress, where are you? The sealing ceremony is about to begin—why have you disappeared? Someone, quickly, search for the Empress!”
Yunxiang and the others pretended to search room by room, deliberately making a loud commotion.
Feng Zhao had stayed in the side hall the previous night for convenience while keeping vigil. The noise had already reached the mourning hall.
Everyone exchanged silent looks—they already understood what was about to happen.
A court official who often flattered Wen Chenglin quickly spoke up:
“Where is Her Majesty? Why is there such panic?”
He followed along with a worried expression, as though Feng Zhao were someone extremely important to him.
Once one person moved, many others followed. Each had their own motives.
When they reached the side hall, Yunxiang pushed open Feng Zhao’s door.
Because she already knew what would happen, she screamed on purpose and swung the door wide open so everyone could see inside.
On the bed lay a man.
He was turned away from the door, covered by a blanket, his face unclear—but the visual impact was strong.
Some officials avoided looking out of propriety, while others stretched their necks to see more clearly.
“What are you all doing here? Yunxiang, have you found the Empress?” Wen Meier arrived at the right moment.
She walked to the doorway and saw the scene inside, letting out a shocked cry.
“Empress! How could you—!”
Pretending to be shocked, she pushed the door open further and walked toward the bed, preparing to stage a “catching adultery” scene.
But when she reached the bed, she saw only one person: Wang Shan.
“Why is it only you? Where is Feng Zhao?”
“May I ask, what does the Concubine want from me?”
Feng Zhao appeared from the shadows with Lianqiao, stepping calmly into view.
Everyone had expected to see a disheveled Empress.
Instead, Feng Zhao appeared perfectly dressed, dignified, and radiant, without a trace of fatigue.
“Hmm? Why is everyone gathered outside my room? Don’t tell me you’re here to chat with me.”
Her words seemed addressed to everyone, but her target was clearly Wen Meier.
Wen Meier’s heart began to race when she did not see Feng Zhao on the bed. She forced herself to stay calm.
“Your Majesty, since you say this is your room, then what is a man doing inside it?”
“What man? Oh—you mean that intruder from last night?”
Feng Zhao instructed Lianqiao to pull back the blanket.
Wang Shan’s bound hands and feet were revealed to everyone.
“Last night, I was ordered to keep vigil for His Majesty. During dinner, an intruder broke in. I called for help three times, but no one responded. Fortunately, my maid Lianqiao knows martial arts and reacted quickly, otherwise who knows what would have happened—or whose wish would have been fulfilled?”
Wen Meier knew she was lying. She had clearly arranged for Feng Zhao’s maids to be dealt with the night before.
But with so many people watching, she could not contradict it.
“Your Majesty, where did you sleep last night?” she pressed.
Feng Zhao had expected this question and pointed toward several unnoticed princes among the crowd.
“I already said—I was ordered to keep vigil for His Majesty. Naturally, I stayed in the mourning hall.”
Several princes immediately nodded.
“Yes, the Empress was indeed with us last night, keeping vigil for Father.”
They had no reason to lie—everyone had seen it in the mourning hall.
Wen Meier had arranged for people to be removed near Feng Zhao’s room, but had forgotten to monitor the mourning hall itself.
No one expected someone who had just suffered such an incident to calmly return to keep vigil.
The crowd’s expressions shifted subtly. Their gaze toward Wen Meier changed, and even Wen Chenglin grew uneasy.
Wen Chenglin shot his daughter a cold glare, meaning:
“You fool! How could you make such a huge mistake?!”
Wen Meier, if not for the occasion, would have already lunged at Feng Zhao.
“Your Majesty, it seems this was just a misunderstanding,” she forced out.
“A misunderstanding?” Feng Zhao smiled faintly. “You made such a huge scene, and now you call it a misunderstanding? If I had truly encountered danger last night, what would you have done?”
Wen Meier quickly steadied herself.
“Your Majesty is making too much of this. The person in your room—wasn’t he your own guard? Perhaps he entered your room last night for official discussion?”
Feng Zhao folded her hands calmly.
“Even guards have ranks. Would the Concubine ask a servant who cleans toilets to enter her chamber and discuss state affairs with her?”
She continued:
“Last night, I encountered an intruder, yet not a single guard was stationed outside. That is the first issue—it must be investigated thoroughly. Secondly…”
Her gaze locked onto Wen Meier.
“I also have something I must confront the Concubine about. Since all the officials are present, let us settle everything at once.”
“Bring in Fuling!”
At the mention of Fuling, Wen Meier panicked completely. She looked to Wen Chenglin for help.
Wen Chenglin gave her a reassuring glance.
He had already anticipated this and controlled Fuling’s family outside the palace, even keeping a token as leverage. Fuling would not dare speak nonsense.
But he did not expect that Feng Zhao had already fed Fuling a truth serum.
Even seeing her mother’s embroidered pouch in Wen Chenglin’s possession could not stop her from speaking.
“Concubine Wen bought me land and helped my younger brother secure a good job in the capital. She told me that if I poisoned the Empress’s cup with aconite, she would reward me with fifty taels of gold and let me escape freely!”
“I was momentarily blinded by greed and agreed. Later, it was the Empress herself who discovered it and punished me by cutting off both my hands.”
Everyone looked at her arms.
There were no hands.
The wound was a clean, precise cut.
Such ruthless methods… were far too brutal…