She Holds the World After Being Reborn

"Sister, how do you have time to come to see me today?" Sun Lianyi, who had just become pregnant, carefully sat opposite Yan Wanqing. The nursemaids in the palace attentively prepared a cushion for her and covered her legs with a blanket.

Yan Wanqing's gaze fell on her abdomen, a flash of sorrow in her eyes.

She still remembered the time when her cousin had difficult labor. However, the Emperor was cold and heartless, an Imperial Edict was suddenly issued, and the birthing room turned into a tomb, with her poor cousin and her child resting there forever.

Seeing that Yan Wanqing refused to speak, Sun Lianyi waved her hand to dismiss all the nursemaids and maids.

When only the two of them were left in the room, she walked over and took Yan Wanqing's hand, sitting beside her.

"Has something happened? Tell your cousin."

It was the first time Sun Lianyi saw Yan Wanqing with such a grave expression, and her heart sank, knowing the situation was dire.

If her intelligent and almost cunning cousin could not handle it, it must be a matter of life and death for their whole clan.

"Do you trust me, cousin?" Yan Wanqing looked up at Sun Lianyi, saying only that.

"Of course, I trust you. What is it exactly? Don't scare me," Sun Lianyi, in her urgency, called out Yan Wanqing's formal name.

Yan Wanqing looked around at the richly furnished surroundings, feeling the terrifying heart of the emperor, always subtly numbing a person, and then, when they least expect it, striking at their vital point, never stopping until death!

She articulated, word for word, the reason for her visit to the palace.

"The men from the Yan and Sun families have been guarding Governor's Office Pass for more than half a year, meanwhile the carrier pigeons raised between the two areas have been continuously shot down. Did you know this, cousin?"

"I didn't know. Perhaps the family thought it would worry me and decided not to tell me," Sun Lianyi was no fool; she could already deduce some of it, but she did not dare think further.

"Governor's Office Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It has never been breached in a hundred years. Why then send all the men of the Yan and Sun families, even the Mighty General and the Lord Protector, for a minor disturbance? Don't you think it's an overreaction, cousin?"

The Mighty General was the head of the Sun Family, Sun Lianyi's father.

"Perhaps it's to have the elders watch over the younger generation..." Even as she said it, Sun Lianyi didn't believe her own words. She gripped Yan Wanqing's hand tightly, her knuckles turning white, "But, but I have already entered the palace, why still do this?"

As the legitimate eldest daughter of the Shen Family, her coming-of-age entrance into the palace was a way for both the Yan and Shen families to express their loyalty to the Emperor.

Otherwise, why would she suffer entering the palace to marry the Emperor?

Even though he ruled the nation, it couldn't hide the fact that he was already past his prime!

Since the marital alliance between the Sun and Yan families, with a Sun daughter marrying the Lord Protector, and as time passed, both sides had already guessed that the Emperor would harbor suspicions. To alleviate these, the Lord Protector gradually relinquished much of his military power and the Shen Family offered their eldest legitimate daughter into the palace as a consort.

Yan Wanqing clenched her teeth, eager more than anyone to know why the Emperor had done this!

Every inch of this vast landscape bore her father, the Lord Protector's, tears and blood. The Emperor sat high and secure in his temple—on what grounds could he not accommodate the people of the Yan family!

She had been serving the Imperial Family since she was ten, trekking the perilous Silk Road at fifteen despite injuring herself, connecting merchants from north to south, and propelling Dawei, a tiny place, to the foremost position among the Six Kingdoms, allowing the Emperor to receive tribute from six states each year, commanding respect on all sides... and yet, in the end, they were handed an Imperial Edict of total extermination!

How could the misleading words of Wang Shujian amount to anything significant? It was merely the Emperor using the opportunity to carry out a plan he had long since devised.

With overwhelming grief in her eyes and tears reddening the corners, Yan Wanqing cried out, "Because... when the sovereign commands his subjects to die, they can do nought but die!"

Hearing these words, Sun Lianyi's legs gave way, and if Yan Wanqing hadn't swiftly caught her, she might well have collapsed to the floor.

"Do you realize what you are saying? What you're saying has no basis!" Sun Lianyi pointed at Yan Wanqing, her eyes filled with terror, "If anyone hears this, it could mean death!"

"Cousin, haven't you guessed already?" Yan Wanqing fiercely knocked a box from the table to the ground. The box's lid was already ajar, and as it hit the floor, a variety of gold and silver jewels spilled out, instantly making the room gleam.

"If Cousin hasn't guessed, she wouldn't display these things so openly!" Given the Sun Family's teachings, Sun Lianyi couldn't possibly be mediocre.

Yan Wanqing simply did not believe Sun Lianyi lacked any insight.

The inner palace holds three thousand beauties, all doted upon by one!

It's favor, and it's also poison!

But she had no choice, the more low-key and restrained she was, the more it would arouse suspicion; yet flaunting it blatantly might make her safer.

Such was Sun Lianyi, guarding not against the women of the harem, but against the only man amidst those surrounding harem beauties!

It was the Emperor!

Suddenly, Yan Wanqing knelt before Sun Lianyi, placing her hands on her knees, "Cousin, Governor's Office Pass will become a tomb of heroes, but the hundreds of our Sun and Yan families still live in the Capital. If you and I plan for our survival, we shall live, if not..." She recalled that day, the sky filled with blood and the air with mournful wails, her voice choked with emotion, "we shall die!"

No matter what, she didn't want to relive her previous life, to see the Sun and Yan families wiped out in the streets, ending their lineage!

"If Cousin does not believe me, within a month, there will be an Imperial Edict ordering me to head south to the South of the River to manage the flood disaster."

"I have heard of the flood disaster in the South of the River. It is improper for a woman like you to handle this affair, how could such an Edict be issued?" Sun Lianyi didn't believe it. Yan Wanqing, honored as the Commandery Princess and dubbed "the female Zhuge Liang," had been back in the Capital for four years, confined to her boudoir; it was entirely improper, both emotionally and rationally.

Yan Wanqing shook her head. She knew it was inappropriate, but Xiao Hongshen, against all opposition, had pushed her to go to the South of the River. The Emperor remained silent for three days and then agreed to this absurd proposal.

By the time she would return from the South of the River to the Capital, only a month would remain before the calamity. She realized the situation was wrong, but it was already too late. To protect the lives of her family, she had to submit to Xiao Hongshen, thus pushing him into the Eastern Palace, and pushing the Yan Family towards doom.

Step by step, all were calculations!

"If Cousin conspires with me, open the brocade pouch after I leave." She pulled out a small blue-and-white brocade pouch from her sleeve and placed it in Sun Lianyi's cold hands, then tightly wrapped it, revealing a faint, solemn smile.

"If Cousin does not conspire with me, I too will ensure the safety of our families at all costs. For this, I am prepared to do anything, only hoping that you will not stop me when the time comes."

Sun Lianyi was pregnant with a sacred child; every step had to be carefully considered, so Yan Wanqing was well aware of her reservations.

Had the conclusion not already been determined, she would not have wished to enter the palace today at all.

The Red Building's high walls imprison a world within them.

Walking beneath these perilous walls, Yan Wanqing had to carefully strategize, calculating every move, fearing that the slightest mishap could spoil everything.

Cong Ge saw her come out, hurried over, and immediately exclaimed as she took her hand, "Miss!"

Yan Wanqing tightly clenched her hand and slightly shook her head.

At that moment, cold sweat dripped profusely from her body and her limbs felt chilly. Only within the confines of the palace did she realize the overwhelming net looming over her, nearly suffocating her.

But she could not fall.

She could not show any weakness to anyone. Once exploited, it would only hasten the destruction of both the Sun and Yan families.