With the early frost descending, an invisible thread of chill quietly seeped into every corner of Princess Zhenguo's Estate. In the courtyard, phoenix tree leaves drifted down like countless golden butterflies, piling into a thick, golden carpet over the bluestone slabs. Dressed in a plain robe, Shen Mingyue leaned against the vermilion railing of the covered walkway, watching the withered lotus blossoms in the pond shivering and swaying in the cold wind. Their dry stalks drooped limply, as if silently recounting the fading of life. The tea in her cup had long since gone cold, its rising steam vanished, leaving only a faint ring of tea stain around the rim. Days of reviewing memorial after memorial had made her wrist ache dully, while her right temple throbbed as though repeatedly pricked by silver needles, every pulse accompanied by unbearable pain. She gently massaged the space between her eyebrows, her mind involuntarily recalling the hypocritical faces of the ministers in the imperial court and the unseen, smoke-free power struggles. Those scenes of scheming and deceit flashed constantly across her mind like a series of repulsive scrolls, leaving her heart filled with an unspeakable weariness.
For power and gain, those ministers stopped at nothing. Some twisted black and white and distorted facts in their memorials; some used honeyed words and flattery in the court; and others secretly colluded and formed cliques for personal gain. Every court assembly was a torment to h…
Chapter 106