After her return, Ding Yun smoothly submitted the trial report and mission. She then selected another random golden finger and mission.
And quickly entered the mission plane.
...
[Client: Princess Anping, Zhao Ping'an.
Mission Objective: Revenge. I want revenge. I hate Zhao Jun, I hate all the civil and military officials. I want the Zhao family to be destroyed!
Mission Reward: One hundred points of luck.]
As soon as she finished reading the mission objective, Ding Yun immediately felt a strong lingering sadness and resentment in the original host's body. This sadness and resentment even subtly affected her soul.
It took her quite some time.
Only then did she manage to suppress these emotions.
She then checked the original host's body and found no external injuries or serious illnesses. Only the heart and brain nerves seemed to have been severely stimulated.
It was likely that she had died from extreme grief and anger, her heart and liver torn apart, leading to a mental breakdown.
Relieved, she began to quickly sort through the original host's memories.
Since there were no external injuries or illnesses, it clearly proved that the original host was not in immediate external danger, and her life was at least secure. Therefore, there was no need to forcefully open her eyes to survey her surroundings. She decided to directly sort through her memories.
Then, Ding Yun was also infuriated.
She wished she could personally kill the people mentioned by the original host.
The story began with the original host's mother, née Qi, the eldest legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo. At sixteen, she was betrothed to Crown Prince Zhao Jun. At eighteen, they were married, and she officially became the Crown Princess, a member of the imperial family.
Besides that, under the instruction of his father, the late Emperor, Zhao Jun also took the eldest granddaughter of the Left Prime Minister as a secondary consort, and the youngest daughter of the Duke of Anguo as another secondary consort.
As well as several daughters of ministers and nobles as concubines.
The late Emperor's intention was clear: he wanted his son to gain the support of these officials and dukes who held military power, ensuring a smooth succession and a stable court. He wished to avoid the rise of powerful ministers and the erosion of imperial authority.
In reality, if the late Emperor had lived longer, he would not have taken such a superficial but ultimately detrimental action. However, he had been severely injured during a campaign and the imperial physicians had given him little time left. His son was also too young.
He was far from capable of controlling the court.
Therefore, he could only resort to this tactic, trying to bind the daughters and granddaughters of influential ministers and those holding military power to his son's harem, thereby stabilizing the court.
The original host's mother was able to become Empress.
The Duke of Zhenguo's ducal title was secondary. More importantly, the Duke of Zhenguo commanded thirty thousand border troops, and the Duke's eldest son was in charge of the capital's defenses.
Such a powerful military presence was naturally more important to the late Emperor than the Left and Right Prime Ministers. Thus, his beloved daughter becoming Crown Princess was only natural.
Less than two years after their marriage, the late Emperor passed away.
Zhao Jun ascended the throne smoothly, changing the reign title to Zhaosheng.
The original host's mother naturally became Empress.
Following this, the original host was born. During her birth, the original host's mother was ambushed and suffered heavy bleeding, nearly dying. Although she was saved, her body had suffered significant damage and required long-term recuperation.
It was unknown who had carried out the ambush.
In the end, only the midwife and the eunuchs were punished.
This was information the original host had gathered, not her personal experience. Her own memories began from when she was four or five years old.
At the age of ten, her maternal grandfather died on the battlefield.
Upon receiving the news, Zhao Jun offered symbolic comfort to the original host's mother and herself. He granted her maternal grandfather a burial in the late Emperor's mausoleum. Afterward, the original host could clearly feel that the number of servants attending her had decreased, and they were no longer as respectful as before.
Within half a year, Zhao Jun, under the pretext of her mother's poor health, stripped her of her phoenix seal and entrusted it to four consorts.
Later, the original host discovered that in that year, Zhao Jun, using the mourning period as an excuse, had successfully regained control of the capital's defense forces.
Four years later, although the three-year mourning period had long passed, Zhao Jun did not reinstate the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. It wasn't until the border fell again, with seven cities lost, several generals killed, and over a hundred thousand soldiers lost, that he reluctantly and insincerely reinstated a new Duke of Zhenguo.
This was the original host's maternal uncle.
To ensure the new Duke of Zhenguo's loyalty in fighting for him, he even slept in the Empress's palace for half a month continuously.
He acted like he was selling himself.
The war stalemated for over a year. The new Duke of Zhenguo finally managed to drive out the invading Wei forces. Before they could pursue, the Golden Tent Khanate also launched an offensive from the south.
The soldiers, already exhausted from over a year of fighting, were preparing to return after a brief pursuit, but they were ordered to confront the Golden Tent Khanate. Meanwhile, it was the time of the lean season.
Logistics also couldn't keep up. Whether it was intentional or not, the result was a defeat. The original host's maternal uncle was killed, his body dismembered. His troops were either killed, fled, or scattered.
Upon receiving this news, Zhao Jun immediately turned against them.
First, he issued an edict denouncing the Duke of Zhenguo as useless. Then, disregarding the facts and deliberately concealing his order for a swift offensive, he instead accused the Duke of Zhenguo of disobeying his orders and attacking rashly, causing the deaths of countless soldiers.
In essence, the message was that the defeat and death of the Duke of Zhenguo were entirely his fault, and neither he, the Emperor, nor the court officials were to blame. The deaths of so many soldiers were also the Duke's fault, and he, the Emperor, was deeply grieved.
He then declared that although the Duke of Zhenguo was dead, his family would not be spared.
Following this, there was confiscation of property, exile, and the deposition of the Empress.
This was him deliberately playing the benevolent one, stating that the late Duke of Zhenguo had also contributed to the country and his lineage should not be cut off, hence the exile. Otherwise, the Left Prime Minister had proposed complete extermination.
Then, the original host's mother was deposed.
Although the original host was not deposed, she was expelled from the imperial palace and confined to the former Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Zhao Jun, meanwhile, had gained complete control of the three border armies.
The Left Prime Minister's granddaughter was promoted to Empress.
However, this was not the end. Zhao Jun, now in full command of the border armies, believed repelling the Golden Tent Khanate would be easy. In reality, the generals he dispatched dared not confront the cavalry head-on.
Concurrently, the Wei forces, previously repelled, took advantage of the situation and invaded again.
This made Zhao Jun's situation even more dire.
Finally, under duress, he agreed to the Left Prime Minister's suggestion to seek peace with Wei, hoping to temporarily suspend hostilities.
This would allow him to focus on repelling the Golden Tent Khanate.
The Wei forces had also suffered heavy losses earlier and were now just looking to gain whatever they could. Thus, they did not make exorbitant demands, ultimately only asking for the cession of three cities.
And for a Zhao princess to enter the Wei imperial palace as a concubine.
The first demand was for territory, the second was clearly an insult, a way to vent their anger over previous defeats.
After a debate in the Zhao court, they agreed to the terms. The princess for the marriage alliance was naturally the daughter of the deposed Empress, the original host, Zhao Ping'an. When Wei learned that Zhao Ping'an was the niece of the Duke of Zhenguo who had caused their previous failure, they did not mind that the original host had no prior title.
They even stated that she was the only one they wanted.
The reason for their actions was obvious to anyone with a brain: unable to retaliate against the Duke of Zhenguo, they wanted to vent their frustration on someone.
The original host, being both related to the Duke of Zhenguo and a member of the Zhao imperial family, was the most suitable candidate.
Once the original host married into Wei, she was likely to suffer a fate worse than death, a painful demise. Zhao Jun and the entire court were aware of this, yet no one intervened.
The original host was also well aware of this.
Her mother, even more so.
Out of concern that her refusal or suicide would endanger her mother, the original host, despite her immense fear, could only agree and dared not seek death.
Her mother, however, could only think of one way to save her daughter: if she died, her daughter would have to observe mourning and might have a chance to avoid the marriage alliance.
Thus, the outcome was that the original host dared not die for her mother.
Her mother, for her daughter, committed suicide overnight.
However, Zhao Jun suppressed the relevant news. He intended to announce the death of the deposed Empress only after his daughter, now named Princess Anping, had completed the marriage alliance.
Her mother's desperate gamble, sacrificing her life.
Ultimately, it was in vain.
However, her mother had been Empress for over ten years. Even after being deposed, she still had some connections. Thus, before her death, she specifically entrusted someone to deliver a message to her daughter, informing her of her death and urging her to mourn her peacefully.
The original host dared not commit suicide for only one reason:
Zhao Jun had used her mother to threaten her.
Now that her mother was dead, and had even died for her, how could she not be grief-stricken and resentful?
Her grief and resentment were so intense that she died with a broken heart and liver.
Even in death, she cursed Zhao Jun fiercely!!!