Reborn Daughter: The Young Lady Wants to Make a Trouble

"Even the Emperor is impatient." The Empress was delighted to see a pot of freshly brewed tea being served. She waved for the maids to leave and poured herself a cup of tea.

The Empress smiled and handed the first cup of tea to Li Xueyue, which surprised Li Xueyue.

"You know, it took a tremendous amount of effort for me to give birth to the eldest prince," the Empress said softly, pouring herself a cup of tea and then setting down the porcelain pot.

"But the emperor didn't seem to care. Not long after the eldest prince was born, he wanted more."

The Empress brought the boiling liquid to her lips. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Crown Princess protesting, but it was too late. The Empress fearlessly took a sip. The pain didn't bother her; she was used to it.

"But for some reason, my body couldn't give him anything. After giving birth to my first child, my body became weak and powerless."

The Empress put down her teacup. "It's normal. Every woman is tired during her first pregnancy."

Li Xueyue felt there was more to the story. She sat there patiently listening, but found it strange that the Empress was suddenly revealing so many secrets.

Is it because they look alike? They both married men from other places and both suffered miscarriages?

“After my first child was born, I went through one miscarriage after another. I believe you can understand my pain. It felt like I wasn’t fulfilling my responsibilities as a woman.”

The Queen sighed softly. "I am the most unfortunate woman you have ever met, but my only child brought a ray of light to my dark world. I cherished him with all my heart. I thought... he would be my only child in this life."

Li Xueyue deeply sympathized with the Empress. Being alone in this vast, city-like palace... it must have been incredibly lonely. The Empress's only companion was her son, the only person who could stay by her side through all the trials and tribulations she had endured.

"But do you know how cruel my husband is?" The Empress smiled coldly, a pure hatred flashing in her eyes.

“After my second miscarriage, he got another woman pregnant. A lowly servant who dreamed of gaining power through her child.”

Li Xueyue's breath hitched. If she remembered correctly, one of the candidates sent to Wuyi was Yu Zhen's half-sister. What was her name again?

Princess Yu Xiyan, the down-on-her-luck examinee who escaped from Wuyi with her maid, has been missing ever since... Without a doubt, the princess has either perished or is simply living a secluded life away from the court's gaze.

"Do you want to know who that maid is?" the Queen asked in a low voice.

Li Xueyue nodded quickly.

“My personal maid. She is always by my side, caring for and comforting me when I am depressed. That woman, she sleeps with my husband when I sleep.”

Li Xueyue's eyes widened, and she reacted involuntarily.

“I did not stop having miscarriages until she gave birth to a daughter, because she was taken to another part of the palace.”

Li Xueyue's heart sank to the bottom; she knew how this story would unfold next.

"Li Xueyue, can you believe it?" The Empress gripped the porcelain cup tightly, gritted her teeth, and glared at the tea.

"These coincidences are too hard to ignore, don't you think?"

Li Xueyue nodded. She was listening to the story with great interest. There must be some resolution, right?

"Interestingly, she died mysteriously a few weeks before the candidate selected by Han Jian was sent to Wuyi."

Li Xueyue swallowed hard. Mysterious and unpredictable? She didn't need to guess at all; the Empress had poisoned that maid in revenge.

“However, I still kindly told her about her lovely daughter’s fate,” the Queen said thoughtfully. A sinister smile appeared on her face, and her eyes gleamed with pleasure.

She was terrified. Her only daughter, beautiful and charming, had become the wife of a mediocre foreign general. Her daughter, Princess Jian of Han… had been reduced to a concubine. You should have seen the horror on her face.

The Empress burst into laughter, which startled the palace maids, who hadn't heard her laugh so wildly in a long time.

The Empress assumed the Crown Princess would be overwhelmed with shame, her face pale and her eyes wide open, as if the Crown Princess wanted to stay anywhere else but here.

The Empress was pleasantly surprised to find that the Crown Princess was completely absorbed in the conversation, listening intently. This was strange; why wasn't the Crown Princess afraid at all?

"That would be very satisfying."

The empress looked bewildered, but soon she grinned.

"Indeed! That woman finally received the punishment befitting her sins. She died alone in the palace, without her daughter's company. She knew before she died that all her efforts for her daughter's bright future would be in vain!"

Li Xueyue thought to herself, what else could the emperor say? As Han Jian's only concubine, she would surely plead with the emperor for mercy, wouldn't she?

“Do you know how stupid she is? That woman actually begged my husband for forgiveness, saying that she only has one child, while I have several! She even said that it would be fair for Princess Yu Xiyan to stay in the Han River.”

The Empress sneered as she recalled that disgusting memory: that vile woman had actually tried to exempt her youngest daughter, Princess Yu Xiyan, from the selection process.

"Ha! If my youngest daughter is leaving, then that illegitimate son, Xiyan, must leave too!" she thought to herself.

My dear husband was furious at her unreasonable demands. This only made the revenge all the sweeter. That damned concubine was heartbroken and devastated, weeping day and night in the palace.

Li Xueyue began to think that this whole family had gone mad. At first, she thought the Empress was still somewhat normal, but it seemed that wasn't the case. When the Empress spoke of the Consort's death, a hint of joy flashed in her wide eyes, and a smug smile appeared on her face.

"And then, strangely enough, she passed away..." The Empress frowned and sighed, looking at her teacup. "How pitiful, don't you think?"

"Indeed." Li Xueyue didn't have much to say, and simply replied indifferently.

Now that things have come to this, how should she react? Should she rejoice for the Empress, whose only enemy in the palace has been eliminated? Or should she pity the concubine, whose painstaking efforts, which she had longed for but ultimately failed to achieve, have all come to naught?

"Crown Princess, do you understand what I mean?" the Empress asked.

Li Xueyue had a vague guess in her heart, but she wasn't quite sure. Nevertheless, she answered anyway.

"Your Majesty, do you mean that all my enemies should die under mysterious circumstances?"

The Empress burst into laughter upon hearing the Crown Princess's words, deciding to treat it as a joke for everyone's sake.

"More or less," the Queen said thoughtfully. She raised her teacup, took a sip, and a pleased smile appeared on her face.

Li Xueyue smiled, feigning a joke. She raised her teacup to her lips, took a sip, and a sinister smile crept across her face. If only the Empress knew… everyone who had offended her would pay with their lives.