After dinner, Gu Yunxi put away the dishes, and Leng Qingtang lay on the folded quilts, playing Weiqi with himself. He had the black pieces by the left hand, and the white pieces right hand, immersing in the game.

Chiliarch Cheng Wanli came to pay his respects, and Gu Yunxi left the room tactfully.

Before she went out of the door, Leng Qigntang gave her an affectionate smile and reminded her,

"You must come back when we are finished!"

There were him and Chiliarch Cheng in the room.

As the Master had ordered, Cheng Wanli pulled a chair to sit beside the bed. He asked about Leng Qingtang's health and then took over the black pieces and began to play the Weiqi with Leng Qingtang.

He said as he played, "The situation in the Palace is the same as before. The young Prince is born weak. Her Grace in Chuxiu Palace fetches imperial doctors almost every day. Recently, I heard that the Imperial Ceremony Office got into trouble again. Many records in the Shelves Library were stolen. It is said that Empress Qian was outraged. She flogged the Seal Keeper Feng fifty times. He hasn't been in this position for long and prisoned all the managers of the Shelves Library in the Court of Justice."

"When did it happen?"

"The night we got the dancers roster on the Spring Banquet."

Cheng Wanli put down a black piece and answered after he combed the thoughts in his mind.

Leng Qingtang curled his lips and said nothing.

“You sent that maid back to Kunning Palace. What if Empress Qian feels unhappy about it?"

Cheng Wanli suddenly asked. He looked gloomy.

His Master used to act carefully. Now he was in the teeth of the storm, why he just walked through those problems?

Leng Qingtang smiled like a fox. He picked up a white piece but didn't put it on the board at once. He looked down at the board with his thick eyelashes perfectly kept the thoughts in his eyes from spies.

"In your opinion, because she is sent by Empress Qian, I should keep this pawn to please Empress Qian and show deep gratitude although there's no shortage of servants in this mansion?"

Leng Qingtang asked back. On his handsome face appeared a complex smile.

Cheng Wanli said immediately,

"I didn't mean that. I'm just worried that this problem hasn't come to its end..."

"Wanli, I bet Yanwan will be back in five days."

"You mean, Empress Qian will send her back again?"

Cheng Wanli's complexion changed. He was more surprised.

He unconsciously widened his eyes as he met Leng Qingtang's eyes, and the white of his eyes was clearly defined against his dark skin,

"Even Empress Qian bears you a grudge and wants to put a pawn here again, why must Yanwan? You have sent Yanwan back, so she will know that you aren't satisfied with Yanwan."

Leng Qingtang smiled and knocked the white piece on the board. He decisively patted the piece on the board in a clear clap.

"Empress Qian is not a tough person, but the one manipulates Yanwan is."

He removed three black pieces on the board and opened his sharp eyes wide,

"I'm afraid that someone will be more eager than Empress Qian to push Yanwan back to me!"

"Master, you mean, Yanwan is..."

Cheng Wanli focused his eyes, shocked. He was going to speak when Leng Qingtang shook his head slightly to motion him to hold his tongue.

After two steps on the board, Leng Qingtang said with a firm complexion,

"As things should be, Kunning Palace offered me timely help when I have difficulties, so I should ride on the Empress's hemline. However, I want to break the routine to let Empress Qian know, what I need the most is not a woman."

"What you need is the Eastern Depot!"

Cheng Wanli took a tumble and nodded.

Leng Qingtang astringed his sharpness and sneered,

"As Empress Qian and the one behind Yanwan see her as a spy, they will try every means to send her back to my Master's Mansion. So, as long as she comes back, the difficulties of the Eastern Depot are solved."

Cheng Wanli felt a sense of relief. He thought for a while and tensed up again,

"But if she comes back, Yunxi will..."

He stopped halfway and cast a glance at Leng Qingtang.

Leng Qingtang looked pent-up. He kneaded between his eyebrows with three white fingers and closed his eyes,

"Lack of forbearance in small matters upsets great plans. Now... we have to make her go through all these matters."

A trace of surprise flashed on Cheng Wanli's face. He sighed and lowered his head,

"His Majesty dismissed you from the Seal Keeper of the Imperial Ceremony Office and gave the Garden to the Western Depot. The situation is against us... bad situation..."

"Make minor sacrifices to safeguard major interests. To be put in the danger of death and fight for life, we can have a try..."

Leng Qingtang gazed at the black and white pieces fighting on the board sharply,

"As long as the Eastern Depot is in my hand... I can turn this situation around!"

It was time to go to bed. The servant asked Gu Yunxi to help Leng Qingtang with washing up.

When she entered the room, Leng Qingtang had already lain down with eunuch Kang Hai's help.

He lay on the side, supporting his head with an arm on the soft pillow, and the rest of his body was covered by the quilt.

His dark hair flew over the pillow and formed many curves like a spider lily blooming in the deep night. The spider lily, of course, stood for the dangerous temptation that could summon one's spirit.

The bed curtain was half down. Jade tassels swayed slightly and made weak and clear sounds that touched her heart.

Standing by the bed, Gu Yunxi couldn't move her eyes away from him. Her heart itched. She pouted and complained,

"Why, why do you fool me over here?"

Leng Qingtang smiled gently and pulled her onto the bed.

As soon as she came near, the light ripples in his deep eyes turned into quenchless surges, and with an uncontrollable impulse, he lay her down on the bed.

They had shared one bed many times, and each other's breath and smell had become too familiar. Tonight, they gathered together again, with the anticipation and excitement of the newlywed.

A man almost thirty acted as eager as a lad. She couldn't stop the hands wandering on her body but let him caress and kiss her.

In the deep night, everything calmed down.

Gu Yunxi lay soft in Leng Qingtang's arms and leaned her cheek against his warm and broad chest.

The "dagger" he used for self-defense still poked on her skin, but this time it made her feel safe and peaceful. She buried her sweaty and smooth body into his arms.

He combed her sweaty hair and tucked a lock of hair behind her ears.

He gazed at her pink face with dark eyes and suddenly said,

"Girl, I love you."

Her pink face blushed at once. A trace of surprise flashed, and her big eyes lit up, charming.

Their eyes locked with each other. Waves of affection wrapped them tenderly.

"Me too! I love Master the best!"

With her eyelashes trembled, she poured out her love from her red lips, touched and shy.

Leng Qingtang smiled with satisfaction. He pulled her hand over and kissed on the back of her hand.

"Yunxi, remember what I said tonight at any time. As long as we go through this, as long as we go through the hardest time, everything will go well then."

Gu Yunxi gazed at his handsome face with her clear eyes. She always hurt as she saw his calm complexion, which was firm and resolute outside but sad inside.

With a thousand kinds of feelings surging in her heart, she grasped his hand and said firmly,

"Don't worry, Master! I have saved what you said in my heart. I trust you! I trust you at any time!"

The night was cold, and the wind whistled.

Gu Yunxi had fallen asleep. Leng Qingtang gently moved her head onto the pillow and tucked the corners of the quilt for her.

He took a long breath which ended up with a sigh. He frowned, resting his eyes on the candle on the table outside the curtain. He narrowed his eyes. Candlelight lit up the coldness in his eyes.

The rainstorm was coming. Something is happening.

Beside the Jinli Lake in the Palace.

Dressed as a common eunuch, Ming Lan came to the lake with a lantern to meet Yanwan.

"Master Ming..."

Yanwan saluted as he came.

Ming Lan put the lantern aside. His gloomy face soaked in the darkness except for a pair of gleaming eyes. It made him look like a monster in the dark world that could devour all creatures, making people panic.

"Speak. Why did Lord Leng send you back?"

Ming Lan didn't look at Yanwan. He looked at the silver lake surface which reflected the cold moonlight.

Yanwan spoke in a shaking voice with the grievance,

"Maybe... he doesn't like me..."

"Nonsense!"

Ming Lan shouted in a shrill voice sounded like a scissor tearing the silk.

Yanwan shook violently. She felt the cold wind blowing at her and running up her spine to her neck. It made her cold and numbed all her limbs.

Ming Lan turned his head and squinted at Yanwan with a pair of bloodshot eyes like jackal's eyes, sharp and freezing cold.

"It's your fault! You think you are clever and almost exposed yourself! I have to set a trap at the Imperial Ceremony Office to cope with the aftermath! Do you think the tens of thousands of guards of the Western Depot are fools? We don't know what Yun Guaner was looking for unless you provide us information?"

Yanwan was speechless. Her shoulders kept shaking because of sniffing. Ming Lan astringed his anger and snorted with a flick of his sleeve,

"It's beyond me that Lord Rui, a man as sharp as a tack, has such a stupid sister as you! Like an old dog that can't learn new tricks!"

Yanwan fell on her knees, speaking sadly,

"I know it's me to blame. Master, please tell me how to realize my wish and avenge my brother!"

"Are you sure you don't give up? You want to go on?"

Ming Lan coldly squinted at the girl in awe on the ground with his hands behind him. He used a rising tone towards the end, as though testing her determination for revenge.

Yanwan felt his cold and harsh eyes immersed her in the cold river in winter, or drove her to the cliff of the unfathomable abyss. She could neither escape nor retreat. Her teeth trembled at what she felt.

Yanwan gasped and pulled herself together. She clenched her fists in the sleeves, and her eyes lit up with growing hatred.

"I'll never forgive them for killing my brother. I will avenge my brother!"

"Fine..."

Ming Lan nodded with satisfaction. He looked far into the dark night as deep as his eyes.

"Your family is pathetic. Your father sent his eldest son into the Palace as a eunuch to raise his younger son and daughter. Last autumn, your brother led a wrong way for Yun Guaner, and Lord Leng abused his power to sentence his death penalty. Your brother was cut in two at the waist. He didn't even leave a whole body..."

Behind him, the girl kneeling on the ground sobbed. She quickened her sob and said disjointedly,

"Had you not sent back my brother's body, I wouldn't have known that he had died in the Palace. Thanks to your enlightenment that I got the chance to enter the Palace. Master, I won't let you down!"

"That's good! Remember, make a disturbance as big as you can after you return to Kunning Palace. You shall say that you were insulted in Leng's Mansion and beg for Empress Qian's mercy. Let her know you have had a crush on Leng Qingtang and can be her best pawn. Others won't be more proper than you. Finally, Empress Qian will set up a defense against Leng Qingtang and send you back to Leng's Mansion."

Ming Lan said a lot and suddenly turned around to look at Yanwan on the ground, waiting for her to figure it out.

Yanwan blinked, and the wrinkles in her brows deepened. This dignified and meek beauty now looked obnoxious. She kowtowed to Ming Lan,

"Thank you for your instruction, Master. I know how to do it! Besides..." She hesitated, "I found a handwritten book in Leng's Mansion. It is probably written by an old friend of Lord Leng..."

"Oh?" Ming Lan was interested, "Who? Have you seen the sign?"

Yanwan narrowed her cold eyes and answered with a triumphant smile, "Pei Rushi!"

...

In Kunning Palace, Empress Qian was having medicine with the help of Sulian. A maid suddenly ran into the chamber and cried in panic,

"Your Grace! Your Grace, Yanwan hung herself."

Empress Qian was shocked. Her jade hands shook and tilted the bowl, spilling the medicine on the front piece of the dress.

"Wicked girl, what are you speaking."

Sulian scolded the maid, who knelt on the ground under her blame and huddled.

Having no time to punish her, Sulian hurried to clean up the dress for Empress Qian.

Empress Qian's mind was focused on Yanwan. In a terribly upset state, she pushed Sulian away and asked the maid,

"For what? Make it clear to me, now!"

Maybe the maid ran across that horrifying scene. After being questioned, the memory came up to her and scared her again. She curled up on the ground and stammered,

"Yan, Yanwan... hung, hung herself..."

"Oh! Her Grace asked you to tell her the details!"

Sulian urged anxiously.

The maid answered,

"Yesterday, she shut herself in the side room after she was sent back. We thought now that Your Grace had given her a vacation, it was normal for her to stay in the room. So we didn't take it seriously."

However, she neither cleaned herself nor ate anything but lay in bed throughout the day. Later, someone opened the door to see her hanging on the beam!"

Empress Qian coughed fiercely. She felt it was burning in her chest, so she pounded in her chest.

Sulian patted her back and asked the maid,

"Tell Her Grace, how is Yanwan doing now."

"Lord Taichang united her from the beam. She's lying now. Her hands and feet are cold."

Empress Qian looked painful. After she came over the pain, she pushed Sulian and said,

"Go, go to the side room! Ask her why! Now."

"Yes, yes! Don't get anxious, Your Grace! Take care of your health! I'm going now."

Sulian rushed to the maid and lifted her from the ground. The two trotted to the side room.