Over the dark imperial city at night, a flash of lightning flashed across.

The thunder exploded and the rain poured.

"I'll ask you again, Huanan He. Do you want to marry me?"

Commandery Princess Jingle shouted in a mournful voice. Her little face covered with tears and rain was pale, sad, and terrifying under the flash of the changing lightning.

"No matter how many times you ask, my answer is the same."

Huanan He frowned, looking around the girl's tearful face with a heavy apology.

Another cold wind chased after the silence. The silk was torn apart, and the burning pain on his right arm spread immediately.

Huanan He turned around sharply, lowered his head, and looked at the viscous warmth oozing from the wound, with a shocked expression on his face.

He raised his eyes in astonishment and slowly looked at Jingle.

"What did you do...? What did you do to me?"

Huanan He was frightened and confused at the moment.

Under the protection of the heart-by-heart blood bond for the past two years, any pain in his body should have been passed on to Gu Yunxi.

He avoided Jingle's attack just now because he was afraid that his limbs would be injured by sharp objects, causing Gu Yunxi, who lived in the Jingyang Palace, to suffer bloodshed and pain again.

But why did this happen?

Today, at this moment, he actually saw long-lost blood on his body.

The wounds were bleeding, and the pain that was pushed deep into the skin reminded the man of the authenticity of everything in front of him.

With tears hanging from her cheeks, Jingle stared blankly at the man's bleeding arm and the bright red that spilled out from between each of his fingers. She threw the scissors with a scream of "ah".

"Ninth Uncle, how about you?"

She suddenly realized something. The muscles on her face twitched as if she had felt the pain that the man was savoring, and she burst into tears.

"Ninth Uncle, aren't you never hurt or sick?"

Huanan He's face returned to a light expression, and a wry smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Don't cry. I owe you this. I was worried about how to compensate you in the future, but I don't worry about it now."

"The injury caused by the scissors can make me feel not guilty. Ying'er, from now on, you and I don't owe each other."

"Ninth Uncle, no... Don't go!"

The girl was trembling all over. She stumbled and rushed into the boundless rain. She stretched her arms from behind the man and hugged his thigh tightly, crying loudly.

"Don't abandon me, Ninth Uncle! The world is so big. The only person I love is you, Ninth Uncle!"

"..."

The man suddenly wanted to cry, and his eyelashes were soaked in the rain. He blinked desperately.

He didn't say a word, bent down numbly, and separated the shackles with a slight force with both hands.

The girl watched him resolutely leave. Her tears stopped in an instant, and she slumped in the rain and laughed loudly.

"Huanan He, you chose this path yourself. You really want to go to the Jingyang Palace, don't you? Okay, go take a look. His Majesty is there with her!"

"What did you say? Is His Majesty there?"

Huanan He was a little flustered and stopped.

An unpleasant feeling, like vine grass, rammed into his heart.

Jingle sneered faintly, with a ferocious light in her eyes.

"Yes, His Majesty is here. He won't leave when he enters the Jingyang Palace in such bad weather. After tonight, Concubine Yun will be His Majesty's woman."

Cold anger flashed across his eyes, and the man ran away.

"Huanan He, I hate you. I'm going to curse you and that woman for not being able to live well forever!"

The girl's heart-wrenching cry, with infinite sadness and hatred, was ruthlessly suppressed by the heavy rain.

―

At this moment, the gate of the Main Hall of the Jingyang Palace was closed. The palace maids folded their hands in their sleeves, bowed their heads, and stood in a regular line under the corridor.

The screams and reprimands of the woman, the indistinct words of the man, and the sound of shredding clothes were chaotically and continuously pouring out from the Main Hall.

Half a moment ago, Emperor Huanan Xin drank half jug of wine and soon felt a burst of heat in his body. An unbearable feeling like insects and ants crawling and wandering around aroused a certain longing deep in his body. The feeling was so fleeting that it was uncontrollable.

Immediately, his face was crimson, and his eyes were blurred. He staggered up and fell on the side of Gu Yunxi's chair, reaching out his hands that were burning like flames to touch her.

Gu Yunxi shuddered, hurriedly dodging and resisting.

The Eunuch Superintendent Liang Zhen stayed in the Palace for years and knew a lot.

He watched the man and woman entwining in an indecent manner and rolling straight from the table to the ground, and he immediately understood what was going on.

He waved his hands to signal for the maids to leave, and his anxious and feminine voice became sharper.

"Hurry up. Hurry up. Go outside. Hurry up... Close the door."

In front of the window, Zhiqi was shocked by the desperate cries of her master.

With her fingers clenched tightly, she approached Liang Zhen and asked timidly,

"What's the matter? His Majesty and Her Grace were having dinner, so why...?"

Liang Zhen pursed his lips and smiled, and he scoffed at the chief maid.

"You don't understand this. His Majesty was happy today and drank a few more wines. It is her blessing that His Majesty will sleep with her. Tomorrow, you will enjoy happiness because of this."

Feeling shy, Zhiqi hurriedly lowered her head.

She knew that her master didn't want to serve the Emperor at all, and she didn't want to be his woman.

She was inside at this time, entangled by Huanan Xin. How panicked and helpless should she be?

Looking up at the sky, Liang Zhen raised the corner of his mouth and smiled.

"It's raining too, and God is helping!"

Straightening his head, he looked at Zhiqi and Lei.

"Well, it's supposed to be the time when officials of the cabinet are waiting outside the Qinming Hall to discuss the arrival of the envoy of Ying State with His Majesty. It seems that His Majesty can't leave the Jingyang Palace tonight. I'm going to inform the cabinet officials and arrange the honor guards to pick up His Majesty to hold the morning ritual in the morning tomorrow."

"You guys should be on duty here. Before you followed the rule-teaching nanny for a day. You should know the rules of serving Her Grace after it's over, right?"

Zhiqi nodded to please. Her face was cautious and submissive, and she wished to drive the man out of the Jingyang Palace immediately.

"Lord Liang, don't worry. Lei and I will handle everything."

"Okay."

Liang Zhen nodded with a smile. His eyes narrowed into crescents, and he led the Emperor's honor guards away.

In the Main Hall, Gu Yunxi's crying resistance weakened.

Xiuyu and the other maids were anxious outside.

Zhiqi gritted her teeth. Without saying a word, she quickly took off her outer dress, hairpins, and jewelry, and then she let out her hair.

"Madam, what are you doing?"

Xiuyu was so young. She stared blankly at the chief maid wearing pajamas, not knowing what she was going to do.

Zhiqi's expression was cold, and she grabbed Lei and Xiuyu with both hands. Her attitude was decisive.

"I'll replace Her Grace. You two help me!"

Lei was shocked and hesitated.

"But… But you..."

Zhiqi raised her eyebrows anxiously.

"It's too late. It's important to save Her Grace. She usually treats us well. Now that the Ninth Prince is not here, we have to protect her for him! His Majesty is drunk, and he can't tell the difference for a while."

Lei was in a turmoil, he slammed his fist down and made up his mind.

"After a while, I rushed into the hall and extinguished the candles. Zhiqi went to attract His Majesty's attention. Xiuyu and I came out with Her Grace. We must move quickly, and no one is allowed to make a sound."

...

Huanan He ran desperately in the wind and rain and only wanted to rush to the Jingyang Palace as soon as possible.

Leshuang took an umbrella and walked in front of him to stop him. His voice was trembling as if he had done something wrong.

"Your Highness, think twice."

"Go away. Yunxi needs me!"

Huanan He angrily pushed him away with his palm and yelled at him.

"You also know that His Majesty is in the Jingyang Palace, right? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Leshuang nodded. His cheeks flushed, but at this moment he found a bleeding wound on Huanan He's right upper arm.

"Are you injured?"

Leshuang's expression twitched.

He knew very well that the man in front of him had been protected by some kind of witchcraft, so he shouldn't be hurt.

Without thinking, Leshuang raised his two fingers and pressed on the acupoints on the man's shoulder and forearm to stop the bleeding.

Huanan He's tone was still anxious.

"I don't know what happened, so I want to see Yunxi!"

"You must not be impulsive!"

Leshuang didn't care and crossed his arms to stop him.

Huanan He suddenly turned angry. He slapped half of Leshuang's cheek with a backhand and said sharply.

"I warn you to get out of the way. The last thing I want to do is to fight with you!"

The oil paper umbrella fell to the ground, was soaked in the rain, and rolled away.

Leshuang's eyes darkened and he whispered.

"This incident happened suddenly, and even God can't stop it. Now the plans are progressing in an orderly manner. Your Highness, I advise you to focus on the overall situation and not to make extra troubles."

Huanan He couldn't understand why Leshuang was so cold-blooded. He waved his arms angrily and roared.

"The overall situation! The overall situation! You all said that I have to consider the overall situation. Why should I sacrifice Yunxi?"

His eyes were moist, and there were tears.

"A few years ago, I was so selfish that I only took my overall situation into account that I almost lost Yunxi, who is the most precious thing in the world for me."

"This time, I won't hesitate. If Huanan Xin dares to touch my woman, I will kill him on the spot!"