The night was dark. At Counselor-in-chief Shi’s Mansion, after hearing the report from Miaoyin Hall, Shi Ling fell silent, and he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back in the brightly lit study, "Go back and tell Her Grace to hide the Commandery Princess. No news about her should be disclosed to the outside world. As for Imperial Doctor Qi, make sure to take good care of him."

The eunuch, who was passing on the message, became more and more confused and asked, "Counselor-in-chief, this matter is of great importance. Her Grace sent me here to get it straight with you. Right now, do you really need to keep the dirty things that person has done from His Majesty? Her Grace is afraid that a delay might cause trouble..."

Shi Ling stopped abruptly. He looked at the candlestick with his slightly cloudy old eyes and then narrowed his eyes at the jumping candlelight, "The Commandery Princess is a strong witness of several cases, so we must protect her. That person has many eyes and ears inside and outside the Palace, and we must not reveal the news that the Commandery Princess is alive. Given the current situation, His Majesty is obsessed with Jingyang Palace, and the murder cases of the envoys of Ying State involved the Ninth Prince. Wait and see. There are even bigger things to come. By then, as long as we bring out the Commandery Princess, it will be more effective with less effort, and we can successfully bring that person down."

The eunuch stood respectfully. He blinked and his thoughts gradually became clear, "I understand. I will immediately return to the Palace to report to Her Grace."

"Go."

Shi Ling waved his hand and watched that eunuch bow and leave.

Stroking his gray beard, Shi Ling faced the window lattice, watching a night bird in the courtyard flapping its wings on the branches of a pear tree, which made the branches shake.

Narrowing his eyes, Shi Ling sneered to himself, "Humph, Yue Xilou, you are just a eunuch. How dare you compete with the cabinet for years? Well, now, your good days are coming to an end..."

―

It was in Jingyang Palace.

"Why? Why? Why did you betray me?"

The Emperor's furious roar sounded like rumbling thunder, shaking the entire luxuriously decorated palace.

Gu Yunxi became shorter and shorter of breath under the grip of his cold big hands, and her face gradually turned purple. She involuntarily grabbed his wrists, kicked her feet, and struggled a few times, but unfortunately, she was no match for him.

She rolled her eyes, and her consciousness drifted away like a cloud.

She fell as she was thrown to the ground by Huanan Xin as if he had been throwing away a useless piece of paper.

"Oh…"

Gu Yunxi rested one of her trembling hands on the ground, touched her numb and insensitive neck with the other, and breathed heavily. She had almost died, which made her feel miserable. Tears welled out of her eyes uncontrollably.

With a little relief, she slowly turned her head and looked at the furious Emperor with red eyes sadly, "Your Majesty, you should go to investigate the perpetrator of the whole thing instead of questioning me here. You are so wise and mighty. Have you ever wondered why Sakata Aki knew The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies in my hands? Who exactly told the news to the envoys of Ying State?"

Huanan Xin's body froze, and his eyes narrowed as if he had been thinking.

Gu Yunxi took a few breaths and struck while the iron was hot, "You have doubts and I don’t blame you. I lost my manners as an imperial concubine, and meeting the envoy in private was indeed a violation of the palace rules. So I’m willing to accept the punishment. But when Sakata Aki questioned me about my mother's book that day, I realized that there must be someone in the Palace who was making trouble. So I deliberately disclosed the news to the envoy of Ying State, and it caused him to become greedy. I promised Sakata Aki to meet him and hand over the book at the Book Hall because I just wanted to find out whoever revealed the news!"

She raised her head with difficulty and looked at the Emperor's face with teary eyes while crying.

Even if she had done it, she would never admit it.

She racked her brains to quibble, but in the Emperor's eyes, it was no different from prolonging her last gasp.

Huanan Xin's raised eyebrows revealed a hint of playfulness, which was not obvious. He slowly got closer and smiled coldly, "So, you risked your own life to find out the truth, so you’re not guilty but meritorious?"

Gu Yunxi was disturbed by his sharp eyes and nodded timidly, "I dare not have delusions in my heart."

After a moment of silence, the Emperor stretched out his arms to hold her and looked as close to her as before, but his fingertips were cold. He caressed her face with tears and moved down slowly.

"I have always rewarded and punished people wisely. If there is a sin, one will be punished. If one has merits, naturally, he will be rewarded..."

Her shoulders suddenly felt cold when the silk on her upper body was violently torn apart by his hands.

"Your Majesty!"

Gu Yunxi was stunned, and she folded her arms to protect her chest, but she was bullied by him before she stepped back when he forcefully pulled away the obstacles in front of his vision.

"Sleeping with me tonight is my reward for you!"

Huanan Xin smirked and pressed against her. The swaying light of the candlelight was reflected in his eyes, which were red with passion, reflecting the bright cold light of the stars.

After a moment of blankness, Gu Yunxi began to fight vigorously.

Huanan Xin obviously refused to trust her words. Faced with such an insulting test, she would rather die than submit.

His lips were bitten by her teeth fiercely, and the tearing pain forced him to stop in a hurry.

He raised his upper body and stared indifferently at her lips with his blood.

He was suddenly burning with anger, and slapped her in the face several times, "You served me in bed. How dare you resist my favor? Why? Why?"

He had never roared or beaten her so violently as he did today. He grabbed her chin and pulled her closer, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"Why did you refuse to make out with me? What do you want to guard, huh? You slept with my uncle, right? Are you saving yourself for him?"

With a push, she fell heavily to the ground.

Seeing that the charming and beautiful girl in the past was twitching and crawling on the brick floor with the pattern of gold lotus like a pathetic worm with her swollen cheeks, Huanan Xin was no longer in the mood to sleep with her.

Pointing at the weak girl, he smirked and bowed, "Why are you so disobedient? I said that you may not love me, but you can't touch my bottom line, and you must not betray me!"

His trembling fingertips were instantly pointed at his heart, and the Emperor's eyes were covered with tears, "Gu Yunxi, do you know that when I saw Concubine Liang's betrayal, my heart was not as painful as it is now! I gave you the greatest grace, and I thought it was enough as long as I loved you! Why? My feelings are also feelings. Why don’t you cherish them?"

Gu Yunxi hung her head in pain, and there was a buzzing sound in her head.

When he was exhausted by his roar, she forced a beautiful but cold sneer with a trace of blood on the corner of her lips, "Your Majesty, do you really love me?"

She raised her thin eyebrows. She endured the pain all over her body and climbed up, leaning on a pillar and casting a firm and decisive look at him, "Whether it's 'Zheng Wanruo' or 'Gu Yunxi', do you love me for who I am, or just for indulging in the experience of you and me relying on each other? Can you tell?"

The man who had gone crazy just now suddenly fell speechless.

Gu Yunxi looked at the silent man with a sad smile. Her cold eyes instantly penetrated his skin like icy edges, sending a biting chill into his heart, "You already have the throne and the power. You are the most distinguished man and all people obey your orders. These things that didn't belong to you make you unhappy. But with your unhappiness, you weave a big net with greed and selfishness, which not only binds you but also traps me. If you know how to love me, you should stop your selfish love and let go of me and my husband instead of tearing us apart!"

"Yunxi, you finally told the truth." The Emperor raised his face and laughed. His loud voice was full of sadness and self-deprecation.

"Okay. Okay!"

Tears fell silently when he clapped his hands, "In order to save your life, I spent half the financial resources of the exchequer. With the Northern Jiang rebellion, I became notorious. Now you’re calling me greedy and selfish?"

Gu Yunxi closed her eyes in relief and sighed, "My life was given by you, and you can take it anytime if you want."

Now she had no way out.

Sooner or later, there would be the sweet release of death. What was the difference?

Her only concern was him...

The Emperor kept blinking to hold back his tears, "Yes, I once said that if one day you betrayed me, I would make your life a living hell. I wasn’t joking..."

Gu Yunxi stared blankly at the cold light that burst out from his deep black eyes. She stepped back in horror, shook her head, and shouted, "No, I won't be insulted by you again. Kill me. Kill me now!"

The Emperor smiled coldly, pulled her into his arms, and whispered softly in her ear, "Death? I’m telling you death is the most pleasant relief while the most difficult thing is a living death..."

He took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket and played with it, "I have long since learned about my uncle's injury from Ying'er. Your heart-by-heart blood bond with him has been resolved, and I have no more worries."

Gu Yunxi's face turned pale in an instant, shaking her head with difficulty under his grip, "No, you can't! You have already been reviled for killing hundreds of people in the Eastern Depot overnight. If you kill your uncle again, you will be stinking forever!"

The Emperor smiled slyly and shoved her to the ground, "I'm still reluctant to kill him right away. If he's dead, who will play the cat-and-mouse game with me? You don't know it yet, do you? I have already told him to enter the Palace, and I’m wondering if he will obey me and feed you this bottle of Qianji poison with his own hands!"