Who knows if Empress Dowager Mo's words had an effect; Emperor Yan started spending more time in the Kunning Palace. To the other concubines, this was truly a source of both envy and hatred. The younger ones secretly criticized Empress Song as shameless, clinging onto the Emperor despite her age. The older ones just scoffed, thinking that regardless of favor, she was still an old hen that couldn't lay eggs.
Empress Song herself, however, paid no mind to them. She only quietly watched the movements in the Cining Palace. These days, with Emperor Yan sleeping beside her, she would always wake up from nightmares and stare awake until morning.
In her dreams, she became miserably destitute and had nothing at all, which made her feel unsettled.
