Of course, no one dared to speak of it. Prime Minister Liu Changning, however, was an exception. She was the favored minister of the current empress, revered without limit. The empress treated her like a sister. Even if the emperor consort had cruelly punished others for directly calling out his name in the past, he still had to bow his head and avert his gaze in front of the prime minister to avoid her sharp edge.

The white-robed woman paused for a moment, brushed the snow off her body, and turned to walk back to the carriage.

After taking a few steps forward, as if remembering something, she turned her head and swept a glance at the palace servants kneeling on the ground, shivering.

In a calm voice, she reprimanded, “The former imperial uncle Yan Shao was once revered, and now that he’s dead, it’s like a lamp extinguished. You must give him a proper burial and not neglect him.”

The two lowered their heads, under the pressure bearing down on them, and repeatedly agreed, no longer able to muster any flippancy.

Watching that slender figure walk away, until the carriage drove back into the white snow, the two palace servants finally looked at each other and let out a long sigh of relief.

As the carriage gradually disappeared into the distance and the sound of horse hooves vanished, the empty street returned to silence.

Yan Shao’s soul hovered in mid-air, his enchanting peach blossom eyes staring at the trail of carriage tracks for a long time.

When he came back to his senses, the corpse on the ground was already draped in a red robe, seamlessly concealing the mutilated sight.

This red brocade seemed to have become the last face of the former imperial uncle Yan Shao.

Yan Shao floated in mid-air, tugging at his mouth.

His life as a person in this world was indeed a great failure.

From the moment he was locked up in the water prison, no one in the court, the three palaces and six courtyards, had come to his rescue.

On the day of his death, the palace servants and officials who had previously flattered him all closed their doors and did not come out, not asking or caring, truly living up to the saying, “When the rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked; when the birds are gone, the bow is put away.”

When he was dragged out of the palace, he thought he would end up with his bones scattered and body lost, but unexpectedly, a woman he had never met before took pity on him and gave him the last dignity at the end of his life.

He had always been unable to remember the appearance of the female monarch, and had no goodwill towards women at all. He never thought that in his soul state today, he would remember that person’s moment of gentleness as she lowered her head in the wind and snow.

Such gentleness, he seemed to have never possessed in this life.

As the eldest legitimate imperial uncle, he received learning that was strict to the point of cruelty from a young age. The empress dowager told him that he was the legitimate older brother of the crown princess, a blade. He must be rigorous and strong.

People all praised that the imperial uncle Yan Shao was talented and virtuous, erudite and accomplished, not inferior to women in any way.

If he were a daughter, his future would be limitless.

Even his mother, the empress, would often sigh when she saw him, “If only you were a woman…”

Hearing such words often, he seemed to truly believe that he could be compared to a woman.

But he did not expect that later on, his cold and aloof personality became one that did not blend in with the world, and his lack of interest in women became shameless. His diligence and dedication in assisting his younger sister became the ironclad evidence of a man replacing a woman’s role.

On the day his mother, the empress, unexpectedly passed away, as the eldest imperial uncle, he was entrusted with the responsibility. At the age of fifteen, he ruled behind the curtain, assisting his younger sister in governing the court. He worked diligently for five years, but it was no match for his male body.

The ancestral tombstone was struck by lightning and split, with the words “Man Replaces Woman” written on the cross-section of the tombstone.

Rumors gradually spread outside: The imperial uncle Yan Shao, with power concentrated in one person, intended to ascend to the supreme position with his male body.

The civil and military officials condemned him, and the people throughout the world denounced him.

Yet he had no way to defend himself.

The censors submitted a memorial listing the eight major crimes of the imperial uncle, each word hitting the mark, each sentence difficult to refute.

In the tearful eyes of his younger sister, he saw a plea for weakness and helplessness. But faced with the coercion of the ministers, not a single person spoke of his past merits. There was only sin, the sin of bringing calamity to the country and people. In the end, he was personally escorted to the water prison by the Minister of Justice.