The Queen sealed her heart and locked up her love, and the Emperor was trapped in the crematorium

However, just before Gu Qingjian got any official position, the sudden imperial decree of marriage made Xie Yaoqing the well-known consort of the fifth prince, and half a year later she married into the royal family and became the wife of Xiao Chengxu.

From then on, the relationship between Gu Qingjian and Xie Yaoqing was completely severed.

Xie Yaoqing later ascended to the throne of the Empress, while Gu Qingjian was sent out to serve as an official. After that, except for a brief encounter when they were worshipping the wife of Marquis Yongchang at Jiu'an Mountain, the two never met again.

Now, Xiao Chengxu suddenly mentioned Gu Qingjian, and even suspected that there was still some unbroken emotional entanglement between her and Gu Qingjian. This instantly ignited the anger in Xie Yaoqing's heart.

Is Xiao Chengxu blind? Since she married him, when has she ever looked at other men? Doesn't she love him wholeheartedly?

Just because the arranged marriage did not go through and just because of a chance encounter, he began to doubt her.

In Xiao Chengxu's mind, what kind of person was he? Was he fickle? Or was he just a frivolous person?

These thoughts kept circling in Xie Yaoqing's mind, making her feel extremely angry and aggrieved.

To put it bluntly, when the Yongchang Marquisate and the Gu family were planning to form a marriage alliance, it had nothing to do with Xiao Chengxu, so he had nothing to do with it.

But now Xiao Chengxu insisted on bringing up the past. If he really cared so much about the fact that he had been engaged to Gu Qingjian, then why did he marry her?

There are countless ladies of noble families and daughters of aristocratic families in the capital, and many of them are worthy of the precious prince.

Could it be that she had begged Xiao Chengxu to marry her? If it weren't for the emperor's order, she wouldn't have bothered to be the fifth prince's consort, let alone the queen.

Xie Yaoqing was so angry that her lips trembled slightly. She thought that she had been hurt badly by Xiao Chengxu in her previous life and would never have any expectations of him again, but she never expected that Xiao Chengxu could do even more excessive things.

"So?" Xie Yaoqing asked sharply, her eyes full of sharpness and coldness, "Your Majesty suspects that I betrayed you and was entangled with other men? Words are not enough, where is the evidence?"

Xiao Chengxu's face instantly became somewhat embarrassed. He didn't even dare to look Xie Yaoqing in the eye and turned his gaze away guiltily.

How could he not know that the Queen had only met Gu Qingjian once in all these years, and that meeting was in the presence of many people at the Yongchang Marquis' Mansion. It was not a private transaction, and there was no misconduct between the two of them, and they had not even spoken a few words.

However, the anger in his heart surged like a tide, and he could hardly control himself.

It is an indisputable fact that the Yongchang Marquisate and the Gu family had a close relationship in the past. Even today, the two families still maintain exchanges. The queen did have an engagement with Gu Qingjian. If the Gu family had not encountered misfortune and cancelled the engagement, the queen would not have become his queen, but Mrs. Gu.

Perhaps, they will become a pair of fairy lovers who respect each other and love each other, and maybe even have children.

Xiao Chengxu has always been resentful about Xie Yaoqing's past engagement, and he was especially dissatisfied with Gu Qingjian, who had an engagement with Xie Yaoqing and was almost about to get married. He just couldn't stand Gu Qingjian.

But he had never shown any hostility towards Gu Qingjian in front of Xie Yaoqing before.

This time, first Xie Yaoqing and Gu Qingjian met by chance, and then Gu Qingjian refused the marriage proposal. After these two things happened one after another, Xiao Chengxu naturally felt that Gu Qingjian was still obsessed with Xie Yaoqing.

As a minister, he actually dared to covet the queen. How could Xiao Chengxu not be very angry? He immediately flew into a rage. Not only did he demote Gu Qingjian's official position in public, he even transferred his anger to Xie Yaoqing.

A preliminary list of selections became the flashpoint for the conflict. Xiao Chengxu was indignant that his queen could handle the selection openly and calmly, and was not at all jealous of the selections entering the palace.

Seeing that Xiao Chengxu said nothing, Xie Yaoqing shook his head gently, with a self-deprecating smile on his face.

This was the person whom she had once loved with all her heart, yet he could easily be suspicious of her and doubt her. His trust in her was so shallow that it could not stand up to scrutiny at all.

"We have been married for seven years, and yet the emperor treats me like this. I dare to ask, what do I mean to him? Am I just a thing that can be summoned and dismissed at will?"

Xie Yaoqing was well aware of the cruelty and ruthlessness in the palace. That bone-chilling feeling had already made her suffer the consequences in her previous life. She had originally thought that she could endure it and barely get through this life.

But at this moment, Xie Yaoqing could no longer bear it.

Isn’t a woman’s reputation important?

The answer is of course yes.

However, Xiao Chengxu doubted her innocence and loyalty so easily.

Even though her heart had long since died and been engulfed in the fire, it did not mean that she could be trampled upon by others at will.

What qualifications does Xiao Chengxu have to treat her like this?

When he saw the look of despair on Xie Yaoqing's face, Xiao Chengxu's heart trembled violently. He realized that his words just now were too fierce and excessive, and hurriedly said: "I have no such intention, Queen, please don't belittle yourself."

He regarded the Queen as the only love of his life. All he wanted was to live with her till old age and spend the rest of his life together. How could he just treat her as a plaything?

Xie Yaoqing sneered, bent his legs, knelt down and kowtowed.

"I know that I am jealous and incompetent, and I am really not qualified to be the Empress of the Central Palace. I beg the Emperor to give me a divorce letter and allow me to leave the palace for the sake of our past love."

What a tolerant and kind queen who is the mother of the country. She is tired of playing such a false role and has no interest in continuing to pretend.

Even if she could temporarily pretend to be tolerant and virtuous, how long could it last? Even Xie Yaoqing herself was not sure whether she could keep up this disguise.

The ambitious concubines in the harem, the empress dowager with ulterior motives, and an emperor husband who was suspicious of her and even wanted to cut off her fate of having children...

The ubiquitous intrigues and deceptions made Xie Yaoqing feel exhausted and tired.

She is a person who is afraid of trouble, and now she doesn't want to be involved in a lot of troubles.

Xiao Chengxu was stunned, and a look of astonishment gradually appeared on his face. He spoke word by word with a difficult tone: "Queen, what did you say? Do you want me to grant you a letter of divorce? Do you want me to leave you?"

Xie Yaoqing's back was straight. Her thin and frail figure revealed a firm and stubborn aura. She said in a cold and indifferent voice, "Yes, I voluntarily request to leave the palace. A letter of divorce is enough. If the emperor can grant me a divorce, then I will naturally be grateful and thank the emperor for his kindness."

In fact, if it were possible, between divorce and being abandoned, Xie Yaoqing would naturally prefer the former. After all, it was a more favorable choice.

However, the most important thing for Xie Yaoqing was to be able to leave the palace. She didn't care even if she was divorced. As long as she could gain freedom, away from the constraints and disputes of the palace, and let her walk out of the palace, it didn't matter if she was divorced.

"dream!"

Xiao Chengxu almost squeezed out these two words from between his teeth, his ink-black eyes flashing with heart-pounding anger, and his entire handsome face was shrouded in gloom.

"Leave me? Don't even think about it. I will neither divorce you nor abandon you." He

Xiao Chengxu's voice was low and firm, with an unshakable determination.

After a brief pause, Xiao Chengxu tried to adjust his emotions, then slowly walked towards Xie Yaoqing, stretched out his arms, as if wanting to help her up.

"My dear, do you still remember? We once swore an oath together between heaven and earth, and worshipped our ancestors together. We also held hands and drank the wedding wine that symbolized our everlasting love. From that time on, we were husband and wife, and we will stay together forever. A lifetime is a lifetime, not even a day or a moment less will do."

Xie Yaoqing sneered twice.

How could it not be counted as a lifetime? In her previous life, she never left the palace until her death.

"What happened today was indeed because I was too impulsive and my words were out of control, but how could you be so cruel to hurt my heart? You clearly know how I feel about you."

Having said that, Xiao Chengxu's eyes revealed a trace of pain and helplessness.

Xie Yaoqing had long guessed that whether it was a divorce or a divorce, it would not be that easy. After all, as an extremely noble and high-ranking emperor, he had long been accustomed to the flattery and fawning of everyone around him. Any behavior that dared to go against his will would be regarded as contempt and provocation of the imperial power, which would undoubtedly touch the bottom line of his dignity as an emperor.

If Xie Yaoqing was smart enough and knew how to read people's expressions, he should have found a way to save his face at this moment, or admitted his mistake and showed weakness in time to appease the emperor's anger.

But Xie Yaoqing's temper broke out at this moment.

She really couldn't understand why Xiao Chengxu could be so furious and suspect her just because of some insignificant past events?

What made her even more indignant was that Xiao Chengxu had many concubines in the harem, and she had to pretend to be tolerant and magnanimous, and properly place them one by one in a virtuous and kind manner. She would be blamed for being jealous and accused of not having the bearing of a queen. But when she no longer cared about these things, she would be considered to not care about him.

All these injustices and grievances filled Xie Yaoqing's heart with anger and unwillingness.

So what should she do to satisfy Xiao Chengxu?

Xie Yaoqing stood up and dodged the hand that Xiao Chengxu extended.

Xiao Chengxu's hand stayed in mid-air, trembling slightly. His brows were unconsciously furrowed, and his eyes revealed a hint of loss and confusion.

"I don't know whether you have me in your heart or not. It's just a matter of a word from you. Can I peel open your heart and see the truth?"

Xie Yaoqing's voice was a little helpless and bitter.

"You care about me? Maybe, but you care more about your power, your throne."

Xie Yaoqing's tone gradually became excited, and tears flashed in his eyes.

"Ask yourself, wasn't it you who broke the oath between us? All the concubines in the palace are evidence of your betrayal. You want to say that you haven't touched any of them, but that's because I watched them closely before, and I couldn't tolerate even a grain of sand in my eyes. I couldn't stand any concubine with ulterior motives, and I took strict precautions and didn't give them any chances. Even so, aren't there many women who tried every means to climb into the dragon bed, and each of them was eyeing the queen position, ambitious, and wanted to overthrow me, the jealous queen. Besides, can you not touch them for the rest of your life? What can you guarantee?"

Her words were like a string of cannonballs, leaving Xiao Chengxu unable to refute. He listened silently, with a complex emotion in his heart. He understood Xie Yaoqing's dissatisfaction and grievance, but as an emperor, he had too many responsibilities and constraints, which was a reality he could not avoid.