It's Hard Being the Empress Dowager

She was the legitimate daughter of a general’s household, but in the bloom of her youth, she was forced to enter the palace as an empress brought in to bring good fortune to a dying emperor.

During the Zhiyuan era, Emperor Tianyuan fell gravely ill. Because the Imperial Astronomical Bureau predicted that her fate would complement the emperor’s, an imperial decree made her empress and brought her into the palace. After the emperor died, she became the youngest empress dowager in Tianyuan’s history, free from the palace’s schemes and rivalries.

So why did the new emperor keep looking at her so strangely and coming to pay his respects?

And what was going on with that imperial uncle? Why was he always staring at her?

“Mother, you look unhappy,” the new emperor, Yan, said worriedly to Shen Yanchu.

“Royal Brother, you talk too much,” the carefree prince said impatiently.

“You people of Tianyuan sure are long-winded,” the enemy general said with disdain.

“Everyone, shut up!” Shen Yanchu snapped angrily. Why were these people always crowding around her and chattering? She just wanted some peace and quiet.

“Did you hear that? My Yanyan told you all to shut up,” a certain imperial uncle said smugly.

Shen Yanchu was utterly exasperated. How had she gotten mixed up with these people? Somebody save her!