Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

Inside the palace

The Empress Dowager summoned Wen Yanxi to her palace.

"Aunt, may I ask why you summoned Xi'er?" Wen Yanxi asked cautiously, her attitude very respectful.

"Xi'er, you have been in this palace for some time now, and the Emperor has visited you many times, but why are you still not pregnant?" The Empress Dowager stared intently at Wen Yanxi with sharp eyes and questioned her sternly.

Wen Yanxi's heart tightened. She was also afraid that her secret would be discovered. The Emperor had not favored her at all when he visited her; instead, he always found different ways to torment her.

Wen Yanxi answered cautiously, "Perhaps it's because Yanxi's belly isn't cooperating enough..."

The Empress Dowager waved her hand, signaling the surrounding palace maids and eunuchs to leave. At this moment, only the Empress Dowager and Wen Yanxi remained in the palace.

"Tell your aunt the truth: did the Emperor really favor you?" The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes slightly, staring intently at Wen Yanxi, as if trying to see through her eyes to her heart.

"Xi'er... Xi'er..." Wen Yanxi stammered, unable to speak, her body trembling uncontrollably.

The Empress Dowager also noticed Wen Yanxi's unusual behavior. She looked Wen Yanxi up and down and suddenly noticed the red mark on her arm hidden under her sleeve.

The Empress Dowager suddenly grabbed Wen Yanxi's arm and immediately rolled up her sleeve, revealing numerous scars on Wen Yanxi's hand.

Wen Yanxi was startled by the Empress Dowager's sudden action and hurriedly withdrew her hand.

"Did he hit you?" The Empress Dowager asked Wen Yanxi coldly.

Wen Yanxi knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Aunt, please don't let the Emperor know. If the Emperor finds out that you know about this, I will definitely be punished again!"

"Only useless men take their anger out on women!" the Empress Dowager said coldly.

"You are a member of the Wen family, how dare he treat you like this? Haven't you ever thought of resisting?" the Empress Dowager said angrily.

"I will absolutely not let him off easily!" the Empress Dowager said through gritted teeth.

Wen Yanxi quickly kowtowed to express her gratitude, "Thank you, Aunt. I know you care about me. But if this matter really gets out, I will definitely not escape punishment, and the Emperor will certainly not let me off easily."

The Empress Dowager sighed helplessly, "Get up and speak."

After Wen Yanxi stood up, the Empress Dowager took her hand and said earnestly, "Xi'er, you are a daughter of the Wen family. We, the Wen family, must not allow anyone to bully us. My original intention was to have you give birth to a son as soon as possible to solidify your position in the harem. Now, the relationship between the Emperor and our Wen family is already in a precarious state."

"It's just a matter of when we'll tear off the mask. Our Wen family has no way out. Do you know that the rest of our Wen clan members have already been killed by the Emperor and the Prime Minister?"

"What?" Wen Yanxi looked at the Empress Dowager in surprise.

"The emperor must know something, so now our Wen family only has two paths left: either the next emperor is born in your womb, or the imperial surname is changed back to Wen. Only then will our Wen family have a chance to survive."

"But even if Xi'er gives birth to a prince, why would the Emperor pass the throne to him?" Wen Yanxi asked in confusion.

"What if he only had one son? Even if the emperor didn't favor you, he would favor someone else, right? Why is it that in all this time, only Consort Jiang has ever been pregnant? Actually, it's not even certain whether Consort Jiang was really pregnant; she just had a miscarriage, and we can't find out anything about it now," the Empress Dowager said sarcastically.

"Aunt, what do you mean?" Wen Yanxi asked incredulously.

“That’s right, there’s something wrong with the incense in the Imperial Study. It can make the emperor infertile. The current emperor isn’t that bad yet, which is why I’m making you get pregnant as soon as possible to avoid arousing the emperor’s suspicion. It might not work if we wait too long.” The Empress Dowager’s eyes were full of smugness.

"The tonics I send you each time are meant to help you conceive, which is why I'm suspicious since your belly hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy," the Empress Dowager continued, her voice tinged with dissatisfaction and doubt.

"The Emperor visits Consort De's palace most frequently, while Consort Jiang only visits occasionally. Consort De couldn't even conceive, let alone Consort Jiang, so Consort Jiang's child is most likely fake. But since she's targeting Consort De, why should we expose her?" the Empress Dowager said calmly.

Wen Yanxi heard too much news at once and was stunned, unable to process it all.

"Since the Emperor doesn't want you to have children, then you shouldn't let him have them either, right? Ha!" The Empress Dowager sneered, her tone revealing her disdain for the Emperor.

...................

Prime Minister's Mansion

Not long after Zheng Luoqi returned to Beijing, someone couldn't wait to come to her door.

Zheng Luoqi held the invitation in her hand, looked at it, and murmured, "Ye Churan?"

Ye Churan suddenly invited Zheng Luoqi to a spring banquet.

Most of the Spring Festival banquets were held in the gardens of famous families, nobles, and poets, where literati loved to enjoy the spring scenery, drink wine, and compose poems.

Zheng Luoqi said he didn't really want to go. He didn't think this kind of banquet was suitable for him. Who knew what Ye Churan would do?

But... since Ye Churan entered the court, thanks to Xue Huaiyu's high regard for him, he must have made friends with many officials and thus gained a lot of support for the emperor.

But whether these forces can be used by him is another matter. There are so many cunning old foxes in the officialdom who are good at changing their tune depending on the wind. Unless Xue Huaiyu can win over the masses and make them feel that they can follow him, no matter how much Ye Churan tries to win them over, it will be useless.

So Xue Huaiyu will probably attend this banquet, and then use his approachable image to win over the favor of the sons of powerful and wealthy families. After all, most of these people will become officials in the future. Is he planning to cultivate his own power from the source? It's not impossible, Zheng Luoqi thought to herself.

So here's the question: what's the point of inviting me over? Xue Huaiyu has started to act more approachable, so am I just there to highlight him? Zheng Luoqi felt there was more to it than met the eye.

Zheng Luoqi asked Boyu to investigate thoroughly who exactly attended the banquet.

Soon, the list of invitees to the banquet appeared in Zheng Luoqi's hands.

Zheng Luoqi looked at some of the names on the list and then remembered that this was also a plot point!

If Zheng Luoqi hadn't seen these people's names, she would have almost forgotten that there was such a plot in the book.

Although most of the plot has been modified, it still appears at important plot points.

In this part of the original work, the female lead shines again—yes, it's the female lead again.

Ye Churan not only invited male guests, but also anyone who wanted to make friends through literature, regardless of gender, was welcome to attend.

The male and female protagonists traveled in a very "low-key" manner, making friends through literature. After getting to know each other, they revealed their identities, which surprised everyone.

"I never expected it to be His Majesty the Emperor and Consort De! My apologies for my disrespect!"

To everyone's surprise, the person she had just been exchanging literary pleasantries with was none other than the current Emperor and Consort De...