Her chin was pinched by two cold fingers. Gu Yunxi endured the discomfort, frowned, and showed obvious panic and disgust on her face.

He stared at her eyes and brows with cold eyes enigmatically,

"I didn't expect that Master Leng kept you with him again."

Gu Yunxi was shocked, but she didn't know why Ming Lan said the word "again".

Her eyelashes trembled slightly. She showed a solemn face and said in a deep voice,

"Master Ming, I don't know what you are talking about. In broad daylight, could you please let go of me?"

They looked into each other's eyes.

Ming Lan withdrew his hand slowly. His piercing eyes turned deep suddenly as if he was pleased by something. Compared with his willfulness just now, he looked totally different at this time.

Soon, he lowered his eyes slightly and concealed the shrewdness in his eyes, saying in a sharp and lazy tone,

"You have been kicked out of the Palace already. Why do you come back now?"

Gu Yunxi said to herself secretly, "D**n it".

Ming Lan was not as smart as Master Leng, but he was so suspicious. So she had to be so careful when talking with him, lest she should give the show away.

Gu Yunxi lowered her eyes slowly and said,

"I was ordered by my Master here to send official documents to the Imperial Ceremony Office. Now they have been delivered, and I must come back to the Eastern Depot."

"Oh?"

His radiant purple eyeshadow lifted with his eyes. Ming Lan narrowed his eyes lightly, stared at Gu Yunxi, stepped to her side abruptly, and approached her again.

Gu Yunxi's heart trembled. She was forced to step back in the silence and finally stuck a hard red wall.

"Master Ming!"

Gu Yunxi let out a cold shout and flames of fury were brimming out in her eyes.

But they were in the Palace. He was the second-ranked Commander-in-chief, so she couldn't act at will or fight with him in public. So she could only grit her teeth to forbear it.

His mutilated left hand stroked the girl's delicate facial lines forcefully and the leather on the outside of it was just like coarse gravel, which made her cheeks so uncomfortable.

"Master, please behave yourself!"

Gu Yunxi stared at his eyes and gripped Ming Lan's wrist fiercely with her fingers as a hook. Her eyes were as bright as lightning.

Ming Lan still stared at the girl who was like a vicious beast in front of him, and then he suddenly eased his emotions. His cold and playful eyes suddenly became somewhat soft.

Stopping being frivolous, Ming Lan asked indifferently, which was emotionless,

"Tu Muxue, I have something to ask you. You are following Leng Qingtang now. If one day Gu Yunxi returned to the Eastern Depot, what would you do then?"

Her beating heart suddenly froze.

Gu Yunxi? Why did Ming Lan mention "Gu Yunxi" to her at this moment?

Even though her heart was messy and frantic, she still looked so calm and answered in a clear and submissive voice,

"Master Ming, what are you talking about? I don't know who you are talking about."

Ming Lan smiled lightly,

"You were the secret guard of the Eastern Depot before, weren’t you? How could you not know the name of the female disciple of your Master?"

Gu Yunxi suddenly realized the mistake. Her eyelashes trembled immediately, her heartbeat got louder, but then she made irresponsible remarks,

"At that time, I was mostly performing tasks outside, so I knew little about the people and things around the Master!"

"Hoho…"

Ming Lan snorted and slowly pulled the deerskin glove on his left hand with his right hand,

"Since you don’t know it, I will tell you. Gu Yunxi is a female apprentice of the Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot. She is a pawn of him. She hates me deeply, but she is the woman who I will love for life."

Gu Yunxi's eyes opened wide in disbelief. Her lips trembled slightly and she was speechless for a while.

Did Ming Lan say this for no reason?

Or did he find something?

She had disguised herself and entered the Palace for some time. The masked man was missing and his gang had no contact with the Western Depot before they were annihilated. As usual, it was impossible for Ming Lan to discover the secret of Tu Muxue's identity!

While thinking silently, she saw a broken palm suddenly, which made Gu Yunxi shocked.

It looked pale. The ring finger and little finger were missing. Because it had been wrapped in gloves for years, there was an obvious skin-color line between the palm and wrist. The palm even shone in the sun and the dense meridians and blood vessels under the epidermis were clearly visible, which looked like a broken porcelain with no temperature.

The cold wind blew and the coldness ran into her clothes. The girl's dazed body shivered.

Great panic and doubts in her heart instantly hit her chest. She took a deep breath, her heart fluctuating violently.

Was he crazy?

There was a sullen smile on the enchanting face of Ming Lan with thick make-up on it, which was reflected in the girl's stunned eyes.

Bowing his head, he said beside the girl's left cheek in a cold voice with hot air assaulting her face,

"Look, this is the price I paid for her. In this way, it is best that Gu Yunxi has been dead. If I knew that she is still alive in the world, I would never let her go again... "

Gu Yunxi's heart jumped instantly. She pushed Ming Lan away with great strength, standing far away from him. Her face turned red and then white, showing panic and anger.

"Master Ming, if you had nothing serious, I should leave now."

Without waiting for his permission any longer, Gu Yunxi fled towards the palace road at a stride.

Behind her was Ming Lan's lazy and crazy laugh.

Two female slaves in front of the railings of Peony Garden stopped and one of them said to the other.

"Listen, Her Grace loves the peonies in this garden the most. If you were to be sent to pick peonies in the future, you should remember to pick them here."

That female slave nodded and said cautiously.

"Sister, thank you for your reminding. I'll remember it."

Inadvertently, she saw something with the corner of her eye. The humble female slave turned her head and then saw a purple and exquisite figure passing by on the road.

The female slave smiled calmly,

Gu Yunxi, this time our meeting would be much more exciting than before ...

...

It was almost March. The light breeze was getting warmer in the capital and everything was about to wake up.

Occasionally there was a noise by the Jinli Lake in the Imperial Garden, which was the sound of ice breaking on the river.

In the morning, Concubine Xu went to Jingyang Palace to visit Concubine Yu, Gu Yunyao. It was just a balmy morning, so Concubine Xu proposed to go to the garden with Concubine Yu.

It was at the turn of winter and spring. The chief maid Song Qin was worried that her master would get cold, so before setting out, she added a sleeved over-dress for Gu Yunyao and wrapped her with a mink fur cloak. After putting a pumpkin-shaped small hand stove in her hand, she then could rest assured to accompany her master to go out.

It was the first time that Gu Yunyao walked out to the Imperial Garden since she was pregnant. During this period, she and Concubine Xu talked and laughed, walking and resting, not feeling tired.

Concubine Xu always said to Gu Yunyao that it was getting warmer, and thus since she was not obviously pregnant, she should get out of the Palace to walk around more. Because when she was obviously pregnant, she wouldn't be able to come out again.

Although everything in the Imperial Garden was dying, it didn't look bleak as in the winter. The dazzling sun illuminated the earth obliquely, bringing more hope for spring.

They walked forward along the winding path slowly. Concubine Xu was in front and Gu Yunyao was behind supported by Song Qin, holding the cool hand stove tightly. She took a deep breath in the clear and dry air, feeling refreshed.

Concubine Xu counted her steps and it was time for them to stop and rest again. Looking around, she said,

"After passing the landscaping stone we'll arrive at the waterside pavilion. Let's have a rest there."

Gu Yunyao said gladly,

"It's all up to you, sister."

They stepped forward, turned to the right from the landscaping stone in the rockery after fifty steps, and then they saw a white jade pavilion on the edge of Jinli Lake, hidden among the rustling bare branches.

Three sides of the pavilion were covered by screens, which were used to block the freezing air from the frozen lake.

The screens were covered by jade and the frame were carved with gold. It was not difficult to guess that the person sitting in the pavilion must be the Imperial Noble Concubine Wan Yuyao.

Concubine Xu had no choice but to sigh,

"Hey, since someone is there, let's find another place."

"It's okay. Let's go forward."

Gu Yunyao smiled generously. Even though her waist was a little sore, she could still stand it.

They were seen by the eunuch guarding outside the pavilion and he hurriedly entered the pavilion to report it to Wan Yuyao.

Wan Yuyao narrowed her eyes immediately, but then there was disdainful ridicule in her eyes. She turned her eyes to her side.

A female slave saw it and then showed a gruesome smile silently. She held the tray and bowed her body, bringing the fragrant tea in the tray in front of Her Grace.

The chief maid Lihu rushed to the female slave in two steps and overturned the cup with one slap.

The cup shattered with a clear voice, which quickly expanded around the empty lake and attracted the attention of Concubine Xu and Concubine Yu. The two were more than ten meters away, but they stopped in surprise.

In the next moment, she was slapped and scolded.

"Bastard! The tea has already been cold. How can you give it to Her Grace!"

The girl's sorrowful cry made people touched,

"Your Grace, please forgive me! I came to the Palace not long ago and didn't know the rules. Your Grace, please forgive me..."

Gu Yunyao and Concubine Xu raised their eyebrows in shock in unison.

Why was the maid's voice so familiar?

That couldn't be wrong. It was Tu Muxue's voice who went to the Eastern Depot after leaving the Palace!

The two concubines turned their heads and looked at each other,

"What happened? The voice of that punished maid is like Muxue so much."

"Sister, let's go to have a look."

The two concubines hurriedly walked towards the pavilion. When they raised their eyes, they could see what was happening in the pavilion clearly.

The Imperial Noble Concubine Wan Yuyao was sitting on the main seat with cold eyes and face, wearing a big red embroidered dress and a sleeved over-dress of the same color on the outside. The high collar of her dress looked so luxurious and the scarlet fox fur on her waist and sleeves was floating like a fiery flame.

At the feet of Wan Yuyao was a young female slave who was in a short cotton winter jacket and a yellow skirt.

The female slave was being pressed to the ground by two eunuchs who forcibly rolled up her sleeves for some unknown mistake she made. Lihu was holding a silver hairpin on the side. The dazzling sharp edge of the hairpin stung people's eyes.

Just as the two concubines arrived in front of the pavilion, Lihu had already stabbed the sharp hairpin head against the female slave's forearm, which was as thin and white as the lotus root.

The girl struggled in horror, moving her hands and feet, whose cry could rend the air.

At this moment, Gu Yunyao saw clearly the facial features of the punished female slave.

Suddenly, her chest shook. Mixed emotions of sadness and joy overwhelmed her. Her mouth was open, her breath blocked in her heart. She was prostrated with great pain.

It was right! It was right!

The female slave really had a face exactly like Gu Yunxi's! No, she was Yunxi! She was exactly Yunxi!