The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 220: Chapter 219: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager 36

The Emperor who finally realized whom he truly loved no longer cared about the He Family, hurriedly left Duke You’s Mansion, called for the guards who protected him, rented a carriage, and directly headed to the separate courtyard where Anning resided.

He wanted to try and win back his lover.

He wanted to confess to Anning, to tell her that he was wrong, terribly wrong.

However, just as the Emperor arrived outside the gates of the separate courtyard, he saw Anning and Xiao Yuan walking hand in hand from afar.

The two of them together truly made a handsome couple and looked very well-matched.

Moreover, the way Xiao Yuan looked at Anning, with such indulgence in his eyes, was something no one could ignore.

But that wasn’t all.

What was crucial was Anning’s expression when she looked at Xiao Yuan—her face full of laughter, her eyes genuinely relaxed and happy.

This was a heavy blow to the Emperor.

He suffered the most fatal blow of his life.

Watching Anning and Xiao Yuan chatting and laughing as they entered the courtyard, with Xiao Yuan carefully tying Anning’s cloak at the doorway, the Emperor couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

He knew he could no longer win back his lover.

Anning had fallen in love with someone else and would never look back at him again.

It was at this moment that the Emperor finally understood why Anning wanted to divorce him.

Because Anning had fallen for Xiao Yuan, it seemed the two had long harbored feelings for each other.

Indeed...

He wanted to hate Xiao Yuan.

But then he thought about all that he had done over the years.

Hadn’t he carried on a secret affair with the He family while the late Emperor was still alive, and didn’t he busy himself comforting the He family when the late Emperor passed away, even having had a child with her?

Xiao Yuan was merely following his example.

But Xiao Yuan was different from him.

Xiao Yuan loved Anning, who unlike the hypocritical He family, did not lead Xiao Yuan on but seriously divorced him, the Emperor, and then remarried to Xiao Yuan.

But what about the He family?

She was merely stringing him along with her words—in fact, she had never intended to marry him back then, and would certainly not, as she claimed, run away with him once Duke You had solidified his position on the throne.

The He family... was merely using him as a stepping stone, seeking her own lifetime of glory and wealth.

The more the Emperor thought about it, the more he hated the He family and himself, and at the same time, he harbored some resentment towards Xiao Yuan.

He could do nothing to Xiao Yuan and could only go back and torment the He family.

The He family’s days became even more miserable.

It was one thing for Yun Que to beat and scold her—after all, she was still Yun Que’s mother-in-law, and Yun Que dared not go too far.

But the Emperor even started to torment her.

He was the Emperor, the current Emperor’s biological father—despised or not by the Emperor, who would dare to stop him? No one dared to make his life difficult.

Day by day, the He family endured the Emperor’s abuse.

Eventually, she could no longer bear it and began to curse daily, her words extremely foul, revealing details of how the Emperor had once begged her and how much he had liked her.

Duke You’s Mansion staged dramas every day, which soon started to become too much for He Zhenyu to bear.

He felt it was too disgraceful, although initially, he found it amusing to let the Emperor and the He family torment each other, but as days turned into months, he grew tired of it.

He wanted to directly deal with the He family and even take out Duke You along with her.

But then, Liu Fu knelt before him crying, begging to exchange his own life for Duke You to be spared.

Liu Fu was Mr. Liu, who had served Duke You for over a decade.

He was Xiao Yuan’s man, consistently helping Anning fight against Duke You behind the scenes, and He Zhenyu had thought he was indifferent to Duke You; unexpectedly, Liu Fu was also loyal and righteous.

At that moment, Liu Fu knelt before He Zhenyu, crying bitterly: ”Your Majesty, this servant is willing to trade this dog’s life for the Marquis to be spared. His body is already failing, and he will have no children in this lifetime, posing no threat to Your Majesty. Your Majesty, this servant, this servant begs you, although a servant of you and Mr. Xiao, I have served the Marquis for over a decade, since he was just a boy. I cannot bear it...”

Liu Fu indeed made a merit.

He Zhenyu couldn’t bear to treat him this way.

Furthermore, since the Duke You posed no threat to him, he was willing to show mercy.

After a long time, He Zhenyu finally sighed deeply, ”Alright, for your sake, I’ll spare him.”

Only then did Liu Fu, wiping his tears, stand up.

Speaking of which, Liu Fu was quite capable. When he followed Duke You, he handled many matters in the palace. Even when Duke You was young and suffered due to the He Family’s disadvantage, it was Liu Fu who went through various channels to make his life a bit better.

He Zhenyu was willing to employ Liu Fu, who was both compassionate and capable.

After he ascended the throne, he still appointed Liu Fu as the Chief Eunuch, who managed all the major and minor affairs in the palace.

Liu Fu was very responsible and capable, and most importantly, he was very loyal. Before He Zhenyu had an empress, Liu Fu managed all the palace affairs in an orderly manner.

Once in power, Liu Fu did not bully others; he also promoted many young eunuchs with good temperaments and secretly looked after Duke You’s Mansion.

After the He family passed away, the former Emperor also left Duke You’s Mansion. He did not return to the palace or seek Anning, but instead chose a place with beautiful mountains and waters to live in seclusion.

Though he was living in seclusion, his life was not good at all.

He lived every day in guilt and pain, and passed away after just a couple of years.

By this time, Helan Zhi had already married.

She got her wish and married Luo Zhichen.

Luo Zhichen’s family was not very wealthy, but his character was truly good. He was not someone who cared about self-benefit; he loved reading, writing poetry, and painting the most. If not for his family pressuring him, he would not have participated in the imperial examination.

After he ranked third place, he stayed in Hanlin Academy, spending his spare time reading and painting. He got along very well with Helan Zhi, who also had a relaxed nature and did not seek personal gain, and their relationship was particularly good. Luo Zhichen’s parents were also honest and straightforward, treating their daughter-in-law, the elder princess, very well.

He Zhenyu then married Wang Qingyu.

Speaking of Wang Qingyu’s marriage, it was also quite a saga.

The Wang family’s elders intended to marry into the Li family, and verbally arranged a marriage between the two children when they were young, just waiting to exchange tokens when they grew up to formally set the marriage agreement. Then, the He family wanted Wang Qingyu to enter the palace and become the Empress, but somehow the Li family found out about it.

The Li family did not know that Prime Minister Wang had rejected the He family’s proposal, and just thought Wang Qingyu was a fickle woman who did not maintain proper boundaries. Additionally, the Li family’s son had taken a liking to another woman, so the Li family approached the Wang family to call off the engagement.

At that time, the Li family harshly humiliated Wang Qingyu, saying she was not worthy of the Li family and even if she entered the palace, her life would not be good.

In reality, the Li family knew that the young Emperor, Duke You, had someone else in mind and knew that Yun Que was especially favored while Duke You would not treat any noble lady entering the palace well, so they were arrogant and unafraid.

However, they never expected that soon the Yong Dynasty would be overthrown, and He Zhenyu would be supported as the Emperor.

After He Zhenyu secured the throne, the first thing he did was to appoint Wang Qingyu as the Empress.

Wang Qingyu thus entered the palace, carried through the main gate of the Imperial Palace to become the mother of the nation.

After Wang Qingyu married He Zhenyu, their marital relationship was always very good. She was appointed Empress in the second year and soon gave birth to the Crown Prince, followed by three sons and a daughter.

He Zhenyu was unlike other emperors; he devoted himself to national affairs and the people’s livelihood, promoted good breeds of crops, universal education, raised the status of merchants, encouraged trade, and paid more attention to industrial development. It could be said that during his reign, the country was peaceful and the people prosperous, getting better day by day.

He was strong and capable, did not need to rely on any nepotistic relationships to stabilize the court, and deeply loved Wang Qingyu, unwilling to let her be disappointed and heartbroken.

In his life, he didn’t have any other concubines; the Emperor and Empress supported each other for a lifetime.

And the Li family, who originally said that Wang Qingyu would not have a good life, had long since fallen into ruin.

The better Wang Qingyu’s life became, the more revered she was, the more uncomfortable that Li family’s son, who was once engaged to her, felt inside.

Anning and Xiao Yuan’s marriage also went very well thereafter.

They shared common interests and Xiao Yuan particularly cherished her, doing everything together with her, a true case of a harmonious couple.

She saw her children living happily and, considering the Emperor and He family didn’t end well, and though Duke You was alive, he was merely clinging on desperately, she felt happy.

After living this life, Anning returned to the Nihility Space.

She met An Xin again.

An Xin’s face was full of worry.

”Ningning, indeed, the Main God is looking for us. I almost got caught by it, but I managed to throw a few lower-level systems disguised as me into the temporal-spatial chaos. It’s probably hard for it to find us for a while.”

Anning nodded, then cultivated for a while, gave some merits to An Xin to repair the System Space, and then met a soul that had intruded into the Nihility Space.