Zhao Junyao nearly forgot how he got out of the cell.

His heart ached to an unbearable degree.

It was a regret from the depths of his soul, a loss he could never make up for in his lifetime.

He was already over thirty, having lived more than half his life.

He never expected that the facts he had understood for half his life would be overturned so abruptly.

The pain he had endured for a lifetime was not as he had thought.

He was very annoyed.

Why didn’t he investigate when he first noticed something was wrong?

He was very hateful.

He had actually mistaken his mother’s killer for his own mother, and served her for so long.

He felt humiliated.

He didn’t expect that his father could tolerate such a woman; if it were him... she probably wouldn’t have lived to see the child born.

Zhao Junyao looked up at the sky.

The early summer sun was not too fierce yet, the sky still very blue, dotted with drifting white clouds.

The scene was beautiful, appearing... like his mother’s smiling face.

Lady Tian, what kind of woman would she have been? Would she have been as warm as the early summer scenery?

If she hadn’t died back then.

Would she have protected him like Empress Dowager Zhen, like a mother hen protecting her chick?

If she hadn’t died back then.

Would he have been much happier than he was now?

Probably yes!

Zhao Junyao’s face was covered in tears.

For the first time, he lost control of his emotions regardless of the occasion.

And when was the last time? He couldn’t remember.

...

After Zhao Junyao left.

The three women in the cell began to quarrel again.

As for the reason, who knows?

Three women make a drama, each has her own reason, none willing to yield.

Luo Manman glared at the Empress Dowager with bloodshot eyes.

"You old hag, I was fine in the embroidery room, why did you bring me into the palace?"

"Now all is lost, are you satisfied?"

The Empress Dowager glared back, retorting.

"Didn’t you have ambition? Why didn’t you act earlier?"

"If you didn’t want to come, why didn’t you refuse?"

"When you were the Noble Consort enjoying splendor, why didn’t you say anything?"

Shih Wanxin also complained to the Empress Dowager.

"For so many years, have you ever treated me like a niece?"

"No wonder when I came with my cousin, Zhao Junqi, we could always eat delicious foods at your place!"

"But when I went alone, nothing was there!"

"Turns out, you only cared about Zhao Junqi!"

"Turns out, your heart was never with me!"

The Empress Dowager also retaliated.

"You ungrateful, self-seeking woman!" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"I didn’t treat you as a niece, do you think you could have competed with the Empress? Who do you think you are?"

Shih Wanxin sneered again.

"You weren’t helping me, you were helping yourself!"

The Empress Dowager was so angry she coughed up blood.

"You..."

In the end, the two started fighting across the iron bars.

Luo Manman watched them brawling like fighting cocks from another cell, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

"Hmph!"

"Retribution!"

Shih Wanxin and the Empress Dowager had no time for her, getting more and more frenzied.

In the end, it was a complete chaos.

Shih Wanxin suddenly raised her right hand.

"Old witch, if you dare hit me again, I’ll destroy all these pills!"

The Empress Dowager shivered at the sight of the pills.

"You dare!"

Those were the pills she relied on for survival.

In fact, her body was already beyond saving.

Logically, she shouldn’t have been in this world anymore.

But Shih Wanxin had somehow gotten hold of miraculous medicine, which could save her life when taken.

Though addictive, though she’d be under the control of the one administering it, she still agreed.

Originally, she thought she’d die after Zhao Junyao, but it backfired.

She truly regretted it!

Shih Wanxin held up the pills with a proud face.

"Do you think I won’t dare?"

"Without this, you won’t survive a day, what right do you have to quarrel with me?"

The Empress Dowager looked at Shih Wanxin, swaying on her feet.

"Wanxin, you have changed!"

She had become so vicious, even threatening her life to gain leverage.

Shih Wanxin laughed heartily.

"Of course I’ve changed!"

"I’ve been under your control my whole life, should I not be allowed to retaliate now?"

The Empress Dowager gripped the iron bars, fainting for a moment before regaining consciousness.

She gritted her teeth and said coldly.

"Fine!"

"Destroy them, it doesn’t matter, I... don’t want to live anymore!"

Right after she spoke, her face showed a warm smile.

She gazed dreamily at a spot not too far away, with a happy smile on her face.

"Zongcheng, Zongcheng, have you come to fetch me?"

"It’s so cold here, hurry and take me away!"

With that, she reached out her hand, then collapsed to the ground moments later.

"Empress Dowager!"

"Old hag!"

Shih Wanxin and Luo Manman exclaimed in unison.

But it was too late.

The Empress Dowager had fallen, dead.

Her pale face grew even paler, her obese body resembling a swollen balloon.

In truth, it wasn’t obesity, it was edema.

In truth, the Empress Dowager had long been delusional and started hallucinating.

In truth, though she appeared fine, her body was in intense pain.

How well can one fare, snatching life from the hands of Yama, the King of Hell?

The jailer heard the noise, approached expressionlessly.

They dragged the Empress Dowager’s dead body out of the cell, wrapped it in a tattered mat, and discarded it casually somewhere.

This was the rule of the dungeon and the Emperor’s order.

They were all condemned prisoners, destined to die.

Sooner or later, how or when didn’t matter, death was inevitable.

Ultimately, the Mass Burial Mound would be Empress Dowager Shih’s final resting place.

After the Empress Dowager’s death,

Luo Manman and Shih Wanxin were also quickly executed.

On the execution ground, as their heads were severed, their eyes remained wide open, unable to rest in peace.

Their discontent, resentment, and anger vanished in that instant.

With death, the lights go out, ceasing to exist.

Were they wronged? They had no one to blame.

Was Zhao Junyao ruthless? Indeed, he was as cruel as ever.

Deserving of sympathy? They were not.

...

After the death of the three women,

a farce that had persisted for decades and deadlocked for over a year finally came to a grand conclusion.

It took Zhao Junyao a month to calm down from the affair.

During that month, he made a solitary trip to Jiangnan, visited the old place of Lady Tian, his mother.

He inquired about those who handled Lady Tian’s corpse back then, and found the Mass Burial Mound, gathering a handful of soil to make a burial mound for her.

He did not bury her in the Imperial Mausoleum, nor inscribed a name.

He merely chose a piece of prime land near the Capital City, placing the nameless grave there.

Kneeling before the nameless tombstone, he solemnly kowtowed three times.

The first, to recognize his mother and return to her embrace.

The second, to thank her for her grace.

The third, to relieve her of her grievances.

After kowtowing, Zhao Junyao stood up, satisfied as he looked around, and said with a smile.

"Mother!"

"It’s very peaceful here, quite like the beauty of Jiangnan! I hope you’ll be happy living here!"

"Mother, I regret not letting you rest in the Imperial Mausoleum,"

"But I wish for you never to enter the Imperial Palace in your next life. Just be an ordinary person, marry someone who loves you, have a few lovely children, and live a simple and happy life!"