Another rainy June—

The night in the Palace fell silently, and the red-walled city became hazy and misty under the moon with less majesty and solemnity during the day.

In the imperial study room, Emperor Jingxiao was busy before a desk. He was still in the imperial robe, projecting withered shadows under the candlelight.

How many lives were decided by remarks written in red by this man in the royal prerogative with his royal brush?

The candle flickered in the glaze lamp and shone through the gaps in the side window, casting a vague shadow of the exquisite carvings on the misty marble steps.

After reading the report, Emperor Jingxiao closed his eyes, rested his slightly arched back on the dragon chair, and rubbed at between his eyebrows with two fingers.

He had not slept well recently. When the morning assembly was over, he went to the Elixir Chamber of High Priest Yu Xuanji for medication, which did not work.

Lord Hu called in a young eunuch, who put down a food box filled with refreshments on the desk.

"Your Majesty, this is the red cubilose made for you by the Imperial Noble Concubine. Her Grace hopes you will take care of yourself."

Emperor Jingxiao put down the brush and glanced at the semi-transparent jade bowl.

Since the Western Depot was in trouble, Emperor Jingxiao had been distant to the Yongning Palace.

When he planned to set up the Western Depot, it was Wan Yuyao who had vouched for Ming Lan as the Master.

Now, the incompetent eunuch had become the laughingstock of the whole court.

The emperor didn’t bother to discharge Ming Lan from the position of the Western Depot's Master for two reasons. First, he did not want to disgrace the Wan clan. Also, the damsels from the Youzhu Garden had been satisfactory since the West Depot's takeover.

During the last year, Wan Yuyao had become more ladylike and learned to be a good spouse. She cooked exquisite dim sums by herself now and then, had stews sent to him, or reported the latest situation of the two little princesses to him. It seemed she was afraid that he would forget the existence of Wan Yuyao in the imperial harem.

Emperor Jingxiao ordered to remove the red cubilose, and then turned his gloomy eyes to the jade seal that had been set there for a long time.

On the top of the jade seal sat the statue of a rising dragon with a bead in its mouth. It was reflected in the emperor’s cold eyes as the candle sparked. And his haggard face showed more decisiveness.

Turning to Lord Hu, he said.

"Grind the ink. I want to make an order..."

Suddenly, someone outside was screaming.

"Help! Ghosts. I see ghosts—"

The sharp voice of the servant pierced the night sky with its tremor, terrifying to hear.

"What happened?"

Furious, Emperor Jingxiao slapped his palm on the table and spoke to Lord Hu.

"Go see what happened!"

Lord Hu exited the imperial study in panic and soon returned with a long face covered with sweat.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."

Lord Hu collapsed on his feet as soon as he saw the emperor, stammering but unable to say a word.

Emperor Jingxiao was astonished to see him like this. He angrily got up, flung his robe back, and strode out of the study.

The hallway in the Palace looked extremely wide in the night. The Honour Guards and servants rushed to escort the emperor to the site of the unexpected scream.

They saw a person standing upright in the clear moonlight before the tall wall.

The man wore a bright yellow robe embroidered with a gorgeous long dragon, the head of which was set in the center.

The splendid dragon was baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. Every scale of it was embroidered with gold thread.

The man was wearing a gilt crown beset with nine pearls and a jade belt around his waist. His eyes were piercing and his beard swayed in the breeze.

In an instant, Emperor Jingxiao seemed frozen by a spell and stood still on the spot, too shocked to breathe. Blue veins protruded on his forehead covered with cold sweat.

His pupils shrank into two black points and were fixed on that person's face.

That face belonged to—

Emperor Jingxiao clenched his fists. His heart seemed to have stopped beating as an aura of gloomy death squeezed around him, tighter and tighter...

An elder servant in the crowd suddenly knelt on the ground and banged his head on the ground as he shouted hysterically.

"It's the previous Emperor! His Majesty resurrected! Long live His Majesty—"

The exclamation exploded like thunder in the crowd, causing a great stir. Confused and lost, people stared at Emperor Jingxiao, whose face was twisted in shock.

In the turmoil, the man in the dragon robe remained motionless in the distance.

Only then did they realize it was actually a dummy.

Emperor Jingxiao burnt with anger. He roared with a pale face.

"Outrageous! Guards, take the mad man out of the Meridian Gate and smash his head—"

Meanwhile, the puzzle struck him.

Who was bold enough to engage in such pranks on him in the Palace at midnight?

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Honour Guards did not dare to delay. Two of them walked forward and dragged the kneeling servant outside, turning a deaf ear to his harsh begging for mercy.

"Now, take this dummy down and burn it!"

Emperor Jingxiao was still angry. Yet barely a second after his shouting, he was interrupted mercilessly by the sound of a flute through the air.

That flute was...

The crowd fell into a panic again.

Horrified, people's horrified eyes paced among the walls and towers, searching for the source of the weird flute sound.

At this moment, all eyes were locked on the moon in the sky, which had turned bloody before they could notice.

A flock of crows flew past aimlessly as if they had been frightened.

With the black feathers falling from the sky, Emperor Jingxiao's body went limp and he fell on the ground.

"Your Majesty!"

Lord Hu and two other servants hurriedly stepped forward to help the trembling Emperor up.

The flute... The melodious flute—

Not only Emperor Jingxiao, but most of the people present knew that when the previous Emperor Huanan Hongyi was alive, he was fond of music, especially the flute.

It was said that every time he played the flute in the Imperial Garden, he would attract cranes in the pond.

Emperor Jingxiao fell into Lord Hu's arms after he got up.

How could he not know the sound of the flute spread in the air? He had listened to his Father playing it throughout his childhood.

Emperor Jingxiao raised his hand and shakingly pointed to the garden's gate. His voice quivered, full of timidness and panic.

"Quickly, sum... Summon the Eastern Depot Master into the Palace—"

Leng Qingtang was ordered to investigate the dummy case but had found no clue in half a month.

Obviously, the midnight flute and the resurrection of the previous Emperor were intentional actions.

Carrying the shocking secret, Leng Qingtang knew better than anyone the real cause of the death of the previous Emperor of Da Yi.

As to the other people who knew the secret, they either had given themselves to the current Emperor or had been slaughtered, just like the Zheng Ran family—

Now with the dummy case, Leng Qingtang started to believe that there were other people in this world who knew the truth back then.

But what was the purpose of this ingenious move?

Was it an act of pure revenge on Emperor Jingxiao for the secret of the previous Emperor's death?

In any case, he could not conclude whether the person behind it was an enemy or a friend before an in-depth investigation.

That night, the Master's Mansion received the summoning for Leng Qingtang to enter the Palace.

When he saw the dummy whose appearance vividly resembled the former Emperor, a multitude of feelings surged up as if he had unlocked the chest of emotions.

In these days of investigation, Leng Qingtang always thought of people and events in the past.

The previous Emperor, Noble Concubine Lan, Lord Protector Zheng, and the old Master Bian. The long-lost faces flew around Leng Qingtang like a carousel.

Furthermore, he also thought of Gu Yunxi, who had been missing for a year.

The search had seen no result yet, so the Eastern Depot and its local divisions had never stopped for a day in seeking Gu Yunxi.

They had conducted carpet search in every corner of Da Yi, but the girl in the portrait seemed to have evaporated from the world without any trace.

There had been gossips in the Eastern Depot that the woman looked for by the Master was long gone.

The words came into Leng Qingtang's ears, and he executed the gossipers immediately. After that, no one dared to spread rumors about Gu Yunxi's death.

Leng Qingtang never believed that Yunxi was no longer alive. Despite many dreams, he would brainwash himself again and again after he woke up.

She was still alive. She must be. His men just had yet found her...

That night, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

Leng Qingtang dreamed of the ancient laurel tree in the mansion.

Its branches were dotted with yellow blossoms, the fragrance of which was bright into his nose with breezes.

A fair and comely woman stood above the fallen yellow flowers, her blue chiffon flowing in the wind.

Seeing him coming, she smiled warmly under the falling flowers and called to him eagerly.

"Master!"

Yunxi—

When he came to with a start as many times before, Leng Qingtang looked at the empty room in disillusionment and stroked the empty and cold bed with his big hands.

Yunxi was not here for him anymore. The girl with limpid eyes and clever hands was gone.

After a moment, Leng Qingtang got up with hollow eyes and put on a casual robe.

Once he opened the door, he saw the heavy rain in the courtyard.

He heard from Xiaoshen that the night Yunxi had gone to Ming Lan was raining heavily, too.

Staring at the cascading rain, Leng Qingtang imagined it be the same as that night.

With his hair down and his robe unbelted, he suddenly ran to the stable like one possessed. Pulling over the rein, he mounted the horse and rode out of the Master's mansion.

The horses' hooves took flight as if they had grown wings. Going through the mountains and forests like the wind, he rode to the highest peak of the Yufeng Mountain.

His gloomy eyes were filled with sorrow and despair, facing the pouring rain in a reverie.

Behind it lay a chain of mountains that was blurred by the rain.

Looking, the man felt a lump in his throat. It was the rain that was on his face, but it was strangely warm and tasted a little salty.

"Yunxi—"

Leng Qingtang suddenly let out a thundering cry to the mountains.

The empty mountains split his shriek into many echoes and spread them to the distant sky.

But the only response to his confession was the sound of torrential rain.

Facing the dark sky, the drenched man suddenly lost his way.

He spent eleven years scheming and fighting, openly or secretly, at all costs and with all means. Was it all for revenge?

Or had he been too close to the supreme power and lost himself? After all, he had walked long on the thorny road of revenge after the entrustment of the previous Emperor.

No matter what, he had won half of the bet now.

After the bloody suppression, the Western Depot was not as powerful as before.

And Emperor Jingxiao's health deteriorated after the dummy incident. Today's court was in the hands of the Eastern Depot.

But, was he happy?

Just as Ming Lan had asked back then, what did Leng Qingtang lose after the fights?

What was gone?

Yes, he had paid a price direr than death.

Only now did he understand that to rule over the world was nothing compared with her red bindi.