The fall of the Cao Family was too fast and too sudden, catching everyone by surprise.
The entire Cao Family was executed, their properties confiscated, and their servants seized for other transactions.
Cao Guiren shivered in fear; her maternal grandmother's family and the Shu Imperial Concubine were distant relatives. She thought she would also be implicated, but upon investigation, it turned out that the so-called distant kinship was merely a nominal relationship recognized by her grandmother, with no blood relation. Since her family was completely unaware, they were spared. However, she was terribly frightened and hid in the palace for many days, not daring to go out.
Meanwhile, Shu Imperial Concubine had not yet been stripped of her title and was still being served with good food and drink in the Cold Palace. Yet the attendants serving her never spoke a word to her, no matter what she asked.
