At dawn, the sun came out through the clouds, and the bright light pierced the billowing smoke and dust on the ground, dazzling people's eyes.

When Emperor Jingxiao and Empress Qian rushed to Chuxiu Palace, the fire had been extinguished for a long time.

The ruins and the broken walls all over were burnt to black and the magnificence and splendor of the Palace could no longer be found.

"How could this be... How could this be..."

With tears in her eyes, Empress Qian hugged her head in pain and shook her body.

"Your Grace, take care of yourself..."

Sulian raised her hands to support Empress Qian with a sad expression.

Her Grace just recovered from a headache. Hearing that there was no danger in Chuxiu Palace, she immediately followed Emperor to come here. What if she hurt her heart because of the grief caused by the death of Concubine Xu?

The palace maids, eunuchs, and people of the Eastern Depot all around knelt on the ground.

Emperor stood upright in a daze and closed his eyes in the face of the devastating situation. His eyebrows furrowed.

Death was like a lamp going out, so the past merits and demerits could no longer be investigated.

Right now, although Emperor still hated the "bad deeds" Xu Yuanjiao did during her lifetime, she was his concubine who gave birth to his babies.

Emperor couldn't help but show his sadness when he thought of Huanan Lin.

For a moment, Emperor Jingxiao slowly opened his eyes and looked around with empty eyes. Suddenly, he found Leng Qingtang in green robes in the dark.

The sadness and resentment that was suppressed in his heart burst out when he saw this handsome man and he found an outlet for venting.

Immediately, his brows and eyes were fierce and he roared,

"Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, before Spring Banquet, how can you be here! You should treat my verbal commands as nothing!"

Leng Qingtang nodded as he narrowed his eyes which were swollen by the fireworks. His face looked respectful and he replied,

"Your Majesty, I heard that the Palace was on fire last night. For fear of shocking Your Majesty and Your Grace, I specially brought people into the Palace to help put out the fire. I failed to ask Your Majesty in time and I hope that Your Majesty can forgive me."

Muscles on Emperor's face were tense and he seemed to be totally ungrateful. His eyes were as sharp as a knife and he stared at the calm man. He snorted coldly,

"You're always well-in-formed. I'm afraid that it isn’t I who make you eager to save, but the b*tch, Xu Yuanjiao!"

Leng Qingtang's expression condensed and his heart burst into flames. However, he still held a state of calmness, bowing his head,

"What I said is sincere and I never dare to deceive Your Majesty. Please understand me."

Rong Ji, the manager of Court of Judicial Review walked out of the ruined palace. He was so dirty that he didn’t dare to get too close to Emperor. He kneeled to the ground with his servants only at a distance,

"We pay respect to Your Majesty and Your Grace."

Emperor Jingxiao turned to him solemnly and asked in a deep voice,

"Do you find out something?"

“Your Majesty, I have personally checked the scene. The fire started in the inner courtyard and two charred bodies are found on the bed of the side palace hall that was burned down. It should be Xu and her maidservant.”

“The corpses are lying flat and straight with no signs of struggling and deforming. Our preliminary judgment is self-immolation.”

Emperor was stunned with his mouth slightly open. He whispered slowly and dumbly for a while,

"It turns out... it is committing suicide in fear of sin."

Gu Yunxi raised her face quietly as tears and dust mixed into mud on her small face, covering her pale complexion.

With her eyes shining and bearing hatred, the stubborn girl crawled towards Empress and Emperor. Due to grief and anger, she completely lost control,

"No, no! Her Grace is wronged and she won’t commit suicide. She has said that she will wait for the day when she is vindicated. She will never commit suicide!"

"Stop!"

Leng Qingtang was agile and stretched his arms to press her in his hug.

"It's presumptuous!"

Emperor Jingxiao was furious and waved his sleeves. A team of honor guards rushed to the west side of the palace road.

"Sister, why do you be like this..."

The person who came was the Imperial Noble Concubine, Wan Yuyao.

Everyone looked at her and she was dressed in a pure flying butterfly magnolia skirt, a satin coat, and a simple bun. She was sitting on the sedan chair, crying and beating her chest.

When the honor guards arrived, Wan Yuyao walked weakly to Emperor and Empress, sobbing,

"I pay respect to Your Majesty and Your Grace."

Empress Qian's eyes widened and anger was in the bottom of her eyes.

Crocodile tears! She was really an evil b*tch!

Emperor sighed, "Why do you come here?"

"Sister Xu and I entered the Palace in the same year. How can I not see her now when I know the accident? No matter how bad she is, she is also Lin'er's biological mother."

Hiding her face with a handkerchief, Wan Yuyao cried loudly,

"Sister, you're so cruel. How can you leave Lin'er and die! He is raised by me now, but you are his biological mother. You hate me and I don’t care because I'm older than you. I will regard Lin'er as my own son. But you… but you shouldn't… shouldn't have intention to commit suicide..."

"Alas..."

The cry of "biological mother" broke the heart of people and Emperor was about to cry and blinked bleakly.

A few meters away, when Gu Yunxi saw the enemy appear, her eyes were red as blood. Her palm-sized face was full of hideousness and hatred.

Gu Yunxi had never been so crazy like today that she wanted to kill the woman.

There was only one voice in her heart that repeatedly shouted.

kill her! Kill this hypocritical femme woman!

At this moment, Concubine Xu's soft and gentle words gurgled in the girl's ears like the wind,

"I saw light in your body, so dazzling, so bright. It can shine in every dark corner of the deep Palace."

Gu Yunxi hated herself for her cowardice and incompetence!

The real culprit who killed Concubine Xu was right in front of her, but she could only watch the culprit pretending to be in grief. She couldn't do anything.

"Girl, calm down. Listen to me..."

Leng Qingtang's heart was twisted like being cut by a knife. He tightly held the trembling body in his arms and whispered in her ears.

The girl stared at the enemy with scarlet eyes and her five fingers uncontrollably grabbed the Master's arm. Her fingertips were deeply embedded in the brocade and a vague scream rolled out of her throat.

Leng Qingtang silently endured the pain without saying a word and didn’t reduce the power of restraining the mad girl.

The girl finally collapsed for a moment. Her forehead touched on Master's chest with tears streaming wantonly.

A series of honor guards appeared at the other end of the palace road. Under the gaze of everyone, the vermilion lacquered wooden pole fell and Concubine Yu slowly moved down the sedan chair.

She was dressed in sparrow fur, and her head was tightly covered by a hood trimmed with white sable fur. Her expression could hardly be seen.

Ignoring Emperor and Empress, she was supported only by Song Qin all the way and staggered towards the burnt wreck. Her light figure was like a dry and fluttering dead leaf that would be blown away by the wind at any time, without a trace to find.

"Yao'er, you, you run wild. You shouldn't get out of bed at this time, let alone come!"

Emperor Jingxiao strode to Gu Yunyao's side and blamed her with his grievances, anxious and pitying.

The woman turned her hands and lowered her hood. Her sick face was stained with spots of tears.

Emperor was shocked.

He wasn't scared by the woman's pale facial features. Under her extremely cold and calm expression, he could vaguely feel some kind of tumbling power, as if it was a heart of fist and decisiveness. The power was strong enough to destroy the world.

Emperor opened his mouth and his teeth trembled. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Looking at the remains of the ruins and weeping for a moment, Gu Yunyao rolled her eyes and looked sideways at Emperor. She answered with a soft and long voice as if coming from the sky. The sound was rootless like smoke and dust and made people's hearts palpitate inexplicably.

"Your Majesty, Sister Xu is dead. We used to be good sisters and I have to send her off..."

"Well..."

Emperor Jingxiao's pupils suddenly shrank to two points and he watched Gu Yunyao's cold and weird profile. His throat tightened and cold sweat oozed from both sides of his temples.

"Since you have come here, go back soon. Take care of yourself."

Gu Yunyao suddenly pursed her lips and chuckled. Her voice was ghostly. Turning her eyes leisurely, she looked fixedly at Wan Yuyao, without moving any more.

Wan Yuyao was suddenly frightened and she could only feel a cold wind rushing up from the soles of her feet, causing her back to tighten and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled with fear.

"Your Grace, when will you send Xier to my Jingyang Palace?"

Gu Yunyao pressed her chin slightly and raised her eyes to look at Wan Yuyao. Her calm face had no warmth and she asked softly,

"I, I..."

Wan Yuyao stammered with her hands close to her sleeves.

Her chest rose and fell fiercely. She looked at Gu Yunyao in disbelief.

Wan Yuyao thought that this woman was deceived and killed her own baby by herself. She should be tired of earthly life and lie in bed, doing nothing.

Unexpectedly, she ran out personally after resting for only a few days and asked for Xier in public to the Imperial Noble Concubine who was superior to her.

Gu Yunyao was unwilling to wait any longer, so she turned around and took a step forward. She stared at the femme fatale face to face.

"How? That day, Your Grace invited me to your Palace for a chat. You said that Xier would be given to me as a maid, didn’t you? Does Your Grace want to break her promise?"

Gu Yunyao tilted her head and her lips pursed with a sneer.

Wan Yuyao swallowed slobber under the wicked stare of the woman and took a step back uncomfortably. Her eyes were resentful and gritted her teeth.

She knew that Gu Yunyao, who was previously passive, had already seized the initiative this time.

She chose to come here at this moment. Clearly, she must be hell-bent on winning Xier over.

If Wan Yuyao refuted her, she would definitely uncover all the previous secrets in front of Emperor, Empress, and everyone else.

After all, Wan Yuyao underestimated her power!

Emperor Jingxiao was confused at the side, approached, and asked,

"What are you talking about? Who's Xier?"

Wan Yuyao wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, squeezed a bit of flattery, and said,

"Your Majesty, you don't know that on the day when Sister Yu had an accident, she went to my Palace for a chat. During the period, she fancied a servant in my Palace who was named Xier.”

“I promise her to send the girl over in a few days. However, Sister Yu had an accident that night. Because of this, I feel uneasy, so I want to train the girl and she will understand the rules better when she is sent.”

“Now that Sister Yu asks, I will send Xier to Jingyang Palace as a maid tomorrow morning. "

"Great."

Gu Yunyao's red lips wickedly curled up and her eyebrows moved. Her smiley expression made people feel cold in the heart and shuddered.

Gu Yunxi regained her composure in the Master's arms. She looked up and silently glanced at him who was looking down.

If Xier could go to Jingyang Palace, the result would be good!

She was the real Tu Muxue. If she was controlled by the Eastern Depot, the masked person and a series of related troubles would be solved.