It was in the Palace of Da Yi.

The sky turned dark as the night fell.

All the lights shone brightly as if the room had been filled with shining gold. They reflected through red windows with rhombic floriated grids, lighting up the zigzag corridor, carved beams, and painted rafters as if it had been the daytime.

"Ridiculous!"

An angry roar came out of the windows of Qinming Hall as the shrilling tone was even more distinct in the quiet cold evening.

In the center of the hall, Imperial Mother Xiao widened her eyes as she overbearingly yelled at the young eunuch prostrating on the ground. Her luxurious and exquisite royal outfit was shining bright in the lights.

Her eyes were blurred by anger and hatred as she glared at the dragon robe the eunuch wore, and then her eyes quietly shifted to the fake face for disguise lying on the embroidered carpet.

The woman clenched her fists tightly with her trembling body, so the gold tassel of the pure-gold phoenix-shaped hairpin with pearls and kingfisher's feathers also ceaselessly shook, which made clear ringing sounds.

Noble Concubine Hui Shi Yuanqing now stood by Imperial Mother Xiao. She dabbed the corner of her eye with the purple handkerchief circling her finger from time to time as her red nose quirked. It seemed like she had got loads of sorrow and grievance.

At the time, Imperial Mother Xiao narrowed her red glaring eyes as she slightly bent down and questioned the eunuch loudly, "I'm the biological mother of His Majesty. Now that he's not at the palace, I've got to ask you where he had been. Well, why should I spare you since you don't know it at all? Guards, just take them away and kill them all!"

Exasperated and frantic, the woman waved one of her loose sleeves, and a squad of Honour Guards instantly rushed into the hall.

For nearly a month, the Emperor, Huanan Xin, had been busy with all the political affairs as he had spent all the days and nights in the Qinming Hall. So, Jingshi Office didn't pick up any emperor's women to serve him at night, that is, the emperor hadn't been to the imperial harem for a while.

Noble Concubine Hui used to be exclusively loved by the emperor. She didn't feel anything wrong in the first place when she suddenly lost the exclusive love of the emperor.

All she thought was that the emperor was diligent in politics and loved the people of his country so much that he had forgotten to sleep or eat anything.

Hence, she often cooked delicious soup and porridge by hand and delivered them to the emperor on her own.

After she flatteringly cared for him, she could feel that the emperor always kept her at arm's length, and even his behaviors got kind of strange.

Time flew as it was almost at the end of the year.

Emperor hadn't stepped into the imperial harem for a whole month.

Noble Concubine Hui couldn't help being anxious as he worried about the emperor's health, so she told Imperial Mother Xiao about it when she greeted Imperial Mother Xiao at the Cining Palace.

Imperial Mother Xiao knew her son so well that she suddenly thought of something and dashed into Qinming Hall with her daughter-in-law.

Now that they finally realized that the "emperor" who got in and out of the court, as well as dealt with the memorials and royal work was a eunuch's disguise.

The real Huanan Xin had secretly left the Palace a month ago.

"Your Grace, please forgive me! Please forgive me!"

Seeing over ten Honour Guards in black suits and armors come towards them, the eunuch in the dragon robe and the other seven or eight eunuchs and maids instantly cried out loud as they hastily kowtowed and begged.

"Well, just tell me, where was the emperor anyway?"

Noble Concubine Hui shook her tear-stained handkerchief as she anxiously asked the eunuch.

The eunuch's face closely pressed the embroidered carpet as his hot sweat and tears damped a crochet pattern of the carpet.

He shivered and answered, "Yes...yes, Your Grace. His Majesty...His Majesty and Lord Yue of the Eastern Depot secretly went out of the Capital City in civilian clothes.

"Ah—"

Imperial Mother Xiao got panic as she covered her chest with her hands.

"Tell me! What did he plan to do out of the Capital City?"

Imperial Mother Xiao didn't care about her royal manners as she hastily crouched to grab the eunuch by his collar to loudly ask her question. A trace of fear and worry flashed in her two bloodshot eyes.

Actually, the eunuch didn't have to answer her as she had already got the answer on her mind.

The eunuch lowered his neck into the dragon robe and sobbed, "Yes, yes, Your Grace. His Majesty was escorted to the western tribes by Lord Yue. They said...said that they went to take Lady Yun back to the palace."

"What?"

Not wanting Imperial Mother Xiao to say anything first, Noble Concubine Hui obviously got on edge and restless.

Hiding her lips behind the handkerchief, she locked her eyes on the eunuch's grimace as her face turned frozen and extremely shocked.

Imperial Mother Xiao gradually loosened her hands as she slowly rose to her feet, shuddering and panting, with hollow eyes.

After a moment, she waved her hand as she ordered the several Honour Guards, "Go! Just drag the servants in the corner away and beat them to death with rods! I want a batch of new servants."

"Your Grace, please forgive us!"

" Your Grace, please..."

Honour Guards all got ruthless and stone-cold faces as they rushed toward to drag the weak servants out of the hall.

Imperial Mother Xiao turned around as her scarlet-red lips curved up into a snaky smile.

Her voice was as gentle as wind as its pitch got slowly high. "Now that it's just you alone here. Do you know what you should do?"

The eunuch shivered as his arms tightly pressed his body and trembled at both sides of his body. "Yes. Your Grace...I, I know..."

"Okay."

Imperial Mother Xiao idly hummed before her brows and eyes got back to normal. She calmly looked at the eunuch and said gently, "Okay, nice performance. You'll be rewarded a lot after His Majesty got back. If anyone got this secret, I'll kill your whole family."

The eunuch shocked and trembled as he bent down and stuttered, "I… I appreciate Your Grace very much!"

...

Shi Yuanqing got out of Qinming Hall with Imperial Mother Xiao and her honor guards.

She secretly thought to herself.

Was Lady Yun the woman called "Yunxi"?

Was she the woman that the emperor couldn't forget?

She thought the emperor had so many beauties in his imperial harem that he had seen and loved all kinds of pretty and gorgeous ladies.

She never thought he could go to other places for her.

Although Shi Yuanqing hadn't been in the palace for too long, rumor had it that all the ladies who were chosen by the emperor in the selection or had other connections with the emperor all related to a woman...

Without the eunuch's words, Shi Yuanqing was afraid that she still didn't know anything about it now.

It felt like her calm heart got stirred up as torrents and waves all hit it. All her pride and arrogance instantly fell apart. She felt she was dumped into a cold and bottomless abyss to get suffered which she could never get rid of.

She was merely a feeble young lady who was educated by "Women's Commandment" and "Women's Sermon". She always obeyed all the rules, not daring to violate any of them.

After getting into the palace, she got stricter and cautious about her words and behaviors. She tried hard to please Imperial Mother and serve the emperor.

She had already fallen in love with Huanan Xin as she had deemed him as the husband of her whole life, the heaven that she could rely on.

Moreover, because of the emperor's royal love, she once truly believed that it was her own cultivation and charm that tightly caught the emperor's heart and successfully made him never leave her.

Until that day when all her fantasies, whether colorful or happy, got smashed by the woman called "Yunxi".

At that moment, Shi Yuanqing felt that her previous colorful world suddenly fell into darkness with chaos.

No matter how she fumbled and tried, she could never see the light or a way out.

The cold wind was right in her face, bringing her piercing pain.

Recalling the past affection, the young woman couldn't help getting sad as she lowered her head and sobbed.

Walking ahead, Imperial Mother Xiao had already been upset. When she heard the sob behind, her features instantly darkened.

She swivelled and stood in front of Shi Yuanqing, yelling, "Cry. Cry. All you know is to cry!

Shi Yuanqing's shoulders drastically shook before she stopped her sad sob. She tightly pressed her dry lips as she tried hard to stop her next sorrowful cry.

Imperial Mother Xiao's eyes went cold and scornful as she scolded ruthlessly, "You.. You were born as the noble daughter of Counselor-in-chief with a pretty face. Tell me. How could you be so stupid that you can't even grab your man's heart?"

"Mother, I'm so sorry..."

She didn't check the Almanacs today before going out, so she didn't realize that today would be her unlucky day.

That was why the emasculated eunuch told the emperor's secret of leaving the Capital City in the presence of Imperial Mother Xiao and other servants, and she was reprimanded by the emperor's mother in the presence of the servants.

With cold sweats on the back of Shi Yuanqing, Shi Yuanqing got desperately sad as she got nowhere to vent her grievances.

Feeling soft-limbed, she weakly fell on her knees as she didn't dare to cry out loud, so she sobbed and lowered her neck, saying, "Mother, it's all my bad. I'm too stupid. Hope you can forgive me..."

Imperial Mother Xiao's eyes went dark as she got exasperated. After throwing her head back and sighing, she lifted one of her golden-peony-embroidered phoenix shoes with Dong Zhu, and then she stomped hard on the cold hard stone bricks.

"Get up! Well, your father is such a decisive and competent man. How could he have a useless daughter like you? Hum! I'm so disappointed with you. You've fallen short of my cultivation of you."

Shi Yuanqing's face got bashfully red as she felt awkward. She could do nothing but hide her face to weep.

Imperial Mother Xiao gently sighed as she raised her head to look at the ghostly-white moon, gently saying to herself, "A faded beauty could easily grab away the emperor's heart. It seemed like your position as a Noble Concubine reigning the imperial harem will be hard to keep..."

Shocked to death, Shi Yuanqing grasped Imperial Mother's dress hem as her delicate make-up had been ruined by her tears.

"Mother, please set your affection on me. I beg you to give me a way out. I can't live without His Majesty. I can't live without his love!"

Imperial Mother Xiao's lips quirked up as she sneered, squinting his eyes and sighing, "What kind of ideas do I have? Anyways, the emperor is your husband. If you really care about him and his love for you, you'll know what to do."

Decisively shaking her sleeves, she led her honor guards to leave.

Shi Yuanqing sat under the lonely moon, rooted to the spot.