Chapter 90: Let the Music Play, Let the Dance Continue!

“As you command,” Liang Wu replied respectfully, her footsteps light as she followed behind the Empress Dowager.

Within the side hall of the sleeping quarters, an atmosphere of forced merriment prevailed. Dancers moved with flowing sleeves, their forms drifting like petals as melodic songs filled the air.

The lead dancer possessed willow-thin eyebrows, her every gesture designed to captivate the soul and leave the observer yearning for more. Yet, upon closer inspection, one could see the profound exhaustion and numbness buried deep within the eyes of these beautiful women.

These were the former concubines of the Late Emperor. After Luo Fengting was imprisoned, Feng Qingcheng had not simply purged them all. Those who were beautiful, those who had lingering attachments she could exploit, and those who caught her eye were all kept here.

She had guards watch them constantly. Whenever the hour struck, they were required to sing and dance in the side hall without a moment’s rest, doing everything in their power to please “His Majesty.”

If any showed signs of indolence, their families would pay the price, their lives used to fill the void of their mistakes.

For as long as the Late Emperor had been imprisoned, they had danced. Those who collapsed from mental and physical exhaustion were simply dragged out to the potter’s field outside the city to be devoured by wild dogs.

Threatened with the lives of their kin and terrified by the prospect of such a gruesome fate after death, these women had long since regretted their past actions. They cursed the day they tried to climb into the bed of the world’s most noble man, only to offend this madwoman in the process.

But regret came far too late. Even the man who once held supreme power could no longer control his own fate; what hope did they have?

Luo Fengting, the prisoner of this gilded cage, watched the scene before him with hollow eyes. He had been trapped here for years, and the majesty he once possessed as an emperor had long since withered away.

As Feng Qingcheng stepped into the hall, the dancers pushed themselves even harder. Given the choice, who would choose death over life? Even if they knew their ultimate end would be tragic, living for even one more moment was a mercy. Those who craved glory and wealth were, by nature, those who feared death the most.

Sensing the shift in the room’s atmosphere, Luo Fengting slowly raised his head. He looked at the still-young and elegant Feng Qingcheng, his eyes swirling with a complex storm of emotions. There was resentment and indignation, but they were largely eclipsed by a vast, empty numbness.

Yet, there was not a trace of regret.

“Is Your Majesty well today?” Feng Qingcheng asked, her voice dripping with mockery.

Luo Fengting forced a bitter smile. “Feng Qingcheng, you hate me. Then kill me. Why bother with such humiliation?”

“Humiliation?” Feng Qingcheng sneered. She reached out and stroked his cheek with her palm before suddenly delivering a sharp, stinging slap that echoed through the hall.

“When you treated me as you did all those years ago, was that not humiliation? I am merely letting you have a taste of your own medicine.”

Luo Fengting closed his eyes after the blow, lapsing into silence. In his youth, he had been captivated by her beauty. In a moment of passion, he had promised that of all the three thousand waters in the world, he would drink from her cup alone.

But I was the Emperor, he thought bitterly. How could the Imperial Harem have only an Empress? It would be indecent! The world would have whispered rumors that the Empress was a jealous shrew. I only accepted those women to protect that wench’s reputation!

Not only was she ungrateful, but she had also dared to conspire with that rebellious daughter of theirs to imprison him here. It was an affront to the heavens! Just wait… when I get out of this hellhole, I will—

Before his venomous thoughts could take further shape, a demonic whisper hissed above him.

“Why is Your Majesty not reacting? Is your body failing you, or are these women simply not trying hard enough?”

At Feng Qingcheng’s words, the dancing women trembled and dropped to their knees in terror. The hall fell into a stifling silence, leaving Luo Fengting alone in his agonizing embarrassment.

His limbs had been broken long ago. Not only did he have to endure the constant ache of his shattered bones every day, but he was also forced to “appreciate” these dances. Even if his body reacted, he was powerless to do anything. Over time, that physiological drive had naturally…

What made it even more humiliating was the arrival of a servant bearing a large bowl of deer blood.

If one had a way to vent the heat, such a tonic would be a grand supplement, a source of pleasure. But here, it was merely the cruel tool the “poisonous woman” used to torture him.

As the deer blood began to take effect, Feng Qingcheng spared him a single glance before turning her attention to the kneeling dancers. Her crimson lips parted as she spoke with pure malice.

“Let the music play, let the dance continue. We must ensure His Majesty is thoroughly entertained.”

As the song and dance resumed, Feng Qingcheng stayed. She watched with detached interest as the man on the couch flushed a deep red. She stood to the side, appreciating the fluttering movements of the dancers, occasionally offering a clicking sound of mock approval.

“Lady Li’s dance is exquisite; truly a masterpiece of the palace.”

“Noble Lady Liu’s steps are as light as a startled swan and as graceful as a swimming dragon. Very good, very good.”

“Consort Yun’s dance is marvelous, like flowers blooming with every step. Even I am becoming entranced.”

“Lady Xu’s voice…”

With every casual compliment Feng Qingcheng gave, the named women bowed their heads in frantic gratitude. In this side hall, any dancer praised by the Empress Dowager was granted a half-day’s rest. To them, not having to dance for a few hours was the greatest mercy imaginable.

Feng Qingcheng stood there for a moment longer, watching Luo Fengting writhe feebly on the couch, low growls vibrating in his throat. Suddenly, she found it all quite dull. She turned and walked away.

Following behind her, Liang Wu watched her mistress’s lonely silhouette. A hidden pang of sympathy flickered in the maid’s eyes.

Their mistress had been the pampered little princess of the Kingdom of Liang’s imperial family since childhood. She should never have had to endure such grievances. She had only become this way because of the heartless man in that side hall. If not for him, their mistress would have…

While Liang Wu was lost in thought, a faint voice drifted from ahead.

“Liang Wu.”

Realizing her mistress was calling, Liang Wu snapped back to attention. “This servant is here.”

After a long silence, Feng Qingcheng asked with a sense of trance-like abstraction, “Do you think… I was truly wrong?”

She had kept Luo Fengting imprisoned for several years now, yet she wasn’t particularly happy. She had gone to watch the “show” as she did every day, but upon leaving, she only felt an inexplicable exhaustion.

Luo Fengting’s accusations from the early days of his imprisonment suddenly flashed through her mind:

“In all the world, which man stays with only one woman?”

“Even a commoner, once he has some silver, will immediately take two concubines!”

“You are simply too jealous! You poisonous woman!”

“I am the Sovereign! The Supreme Sovereign!”

She hadn’t heard those words in a long time, yet for some reason, they echoed today. If I had been like the thousands of other women in this world, if I hadn’t cared… would things have ended differently?

But the thought was fleeting. Feng Qingcheng shook it off. She was not wrong. The world was what was wrong!

The world was unfair, placing all the burdens and moral constraints upon women. She did not believe any woman truly wanted to share her husband; they simply went with the flow, muddling through their lives because they had no choice.

But she was born an Imperial Princess, and later became the Empress of a nation. Her status was noble; she would not allow anyone to trample upon her heart. Not even Luo Fengting!

Since he had betrayed her sincerity, it was only right that he pay the price. Did he not love beauty and lust? Then he would drown in it until the very end of his life.

Receiving no answer from Liang Wu, Feng Qingcheng was not angry. She merely sighed softly.

She suddenly realized that she didn’t seem to love Luo Fengting that much anymore. Even the towering hatred she once held had mostly withered away.

When all the entanglements reached their end, she wondered what—if anything—would be left of that old love and hate.