This was already the fifth time he had knocked on the door, and the Yongle Palace guard's face was full of false apology. He leaned against the door and laughed: "I am truly sorry Consort Fu, your body isn't well, and it is inconvenient for you to see a guest. The Empress gives the gift to this servant, and this servant will bring it in for you."

, who had been waiting for a long time, could not help but spew out anger, "Your Empress and my Empress are both consorts, there is no difference in status between high and low. The Yongle Palace is so far away from the Cheng Huan Hall, can your Empress close the door and sweep the guests just by saying that you are not feeling well?"

"My lady cannot breathe," The guard rolled his eyes in his heart, "But when Consort Hua is in a bad condition, I don't even see the emperor who came over from the Imperial Study. The Consort Fu isn't necessarily any nobler than the emperor, right?"

"You .." Shouxiang opened her eyes wide, clenched her teeth and said, "Don't think that I don't know .."

"Shouxiang, hand the gift over to him," the silent Li Xiuse said. "Since Consort Hua is not feeling well, then I will come again another day."

"Empress" Shouxiang saw Li Xiuse turning around to leave, and had no choice but to pass the gift to the guard. She hurried to keep up with her footsteps, "Empress, wait for me."

"Sigh." Li Xiuse quickly walked to a spot around a dozen steps away from the Yongle Palace and lightly sighed, "You're right.

Shouxiang curled her lips, "Empress, Consort Hua punished the palace maids yesterday and caused such a commotion. Today, her body is not feeling well, and it is obvious that she is trying to fool Empress."

"What can I do about it?" Li Xiuse said tiredly as she held her forehead. "We can't go against the dragon embryo."

Shouxiang muttered in dissatisfaction, and laughed weakly. She only felt empty in her heart, like a cold wind that had been poured into the beginning of autumn.

"Empress, what do you see?" Shouxiang suddenly stopped and pointed.

Li Xiuse looked over in a daze and saw that there was a pool of blood at the mouth of the alley in front of her. She covered her mouth in panic, preventing herself from screaming out.

"What .." Why would there be such a thing in the palace, and it's even a place near the Yongle Palace. "

"Could it be that the Consort Hua left something behind when she dealt with the palace maids yesterday?" Shouxiang curiously went over to take a look.

Li Xiuse was startled, after hesitating for a moment, she followed her, only to see a palace maid covered in blood lying behind the pool of blood.

"Hurry up and see how the girl is doing."

Shouxiang carefully walked into the alley. There were wounds on the face of the palace maid, some of them already scarred and still dripping with blood. Her lips were covered with blood, her eyes were tightly shut.

"Empress," Shouxiang shook away the messy hair on the palace maid's face, "This servant knows this person, it's Yongle Palace's palace maid, Ru Yan."

"So it's someone from Consort Hua's side," Li Xiuse said before turning around, "Then I'll go look for someone from the Yongle Palace."

Ru Yan woke up from her nightmare and raised her head from Shouxiang's hands, struggling to crawl towards him.

Shouxiang was shocked, and immediately pulled at the corner of her clothes. However, her clothes were tattered to begin with, and with a ripping sound, she ripped off a large part of it.

Ru Yan's body, which was covered with green and purple wounds, was exposed in front of him. Li Xiuse opened her eyes wide in shock, "You are that palace maid that was punished by the Consort Hua, what kind of mistake have you made to beat her up like this?"

"Empress, it seems like someone cut Ru Yan's tongue," Shouxiang pinched open her mouth, and said in a pitch black voice.

"Can she write?" A trace of sympathy flashed across Li Xiuse's eyes, "Why would the Great Qin have a tongue cutting punishment?"

Ru Yan fiercely nodded her head, shakily dipped her finger in blood and wrote two words "Save me".

Li Xiuse revealed an awkward expression, "You are from the Yongle Palace, so it is not convenient for me to interfere. How about I bring you to the Royal Hospital first, and then, the Consort Hua .."

Ru Yan shook her head in fear, she looked at her with pleading eyes and wrote another few words, "You can't go back to Consort Hua".

Shouxiang frowned, "Ru Yan's tongue has been cut off and placed in this black alley. Consort Hua just wants her to die slowly here, and indeed, she can't return to Consort Hua's side anymore."

"Then what should we do," Li Xiuse said worriedly. "If Consort Hua is determined to kill Ru Yan, what if we find out that she's still alive .."

Ru Yan prostrated on the ground and kowtowed a few times, writing "Consort Hua killed me".

"Yes, Consort Hua definitely wants to kill her," Shouxiang thoughtfully nodded his head, "But what kind of mistake did you make in the end?

Ru Yan's body froze, her fingers stopped in mid air, but she could not write a single word.

Shouxiang asked curiously: Could it be that you have something that's difficult to explain?

Li Xiuse saw that she did not react for a long time, and said: "You wanted me to save you, but didn't tell you the reason.

Ru Yan's head slowly fell down, and smeared a few words on the ground, "The Emperor wants me".

"Oh," Shouxiang suddenly realized, "So Consort Hua wanted to kill you because the Emperor wanted you to, but this Consort Hua was pregnant and still had to stare at the people by her side."

Li Xiuse frowned, "The women in the palace serve the emperor alone, even if the emperor wanted you to, the Consort Hua should not treat you like this."

Ru Yan's bloodshot eyes gushed with hot tears. She dragged her crippled body to kneel beside Li Xiuse's feet, her entire body trembling uncontrollably from the pain.

Shouxiang said softly: "Empress, this servant thinks that Ru Yan is very pitiful. How about we help him?"

Seeing Ru Yan being tormented, Li Xiuse also couldn't bear it anymore, "I want to save her too, but if Consort Hua finds out, then I'll be troubling you."

Shouxiang gave Ru Yan a comforting smile, and lightly pushed her to the side. "Empress, let me speak with you."

Li Xiuse walked out of the alley with suspicion, "What do you want to say?"

"Empress, do not find this troublesome, we should have saved Ru Yan."

Li Xiuse was puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

"Ru Yan had entered the Consort Hua's palace and was following her, so she should be very clear about the situation in the Consort Hua," Shouxiang covered her mouth and laughed, "Empress, it is difficult to say that the Consort Hua won't make a move on the Empress after giving birth to the child. We kept someone who knows her well to stay by our side to prepare for the future."

Li Xiuse was at a loss for a moment, "You want to use Ru Yan to deal with Consort Hua?"

Shouxiang craftily blinked her eyes, "If the Empress saved Ru Yan, she would definitely repay the Empress."

Li Xiuse looked at the dying Ru Yan and thought of the cold wind that blew at the Yongle Palace entrance. Her fingers could not help but tighten her sleeves and she replied, "Alright, go to the Cheng Huan Hall and call a few guards over.

Ru Yan opened her eyes amidst the sweet fragrance of the flowers. She was lying on a small bed, with a yellow muslin curtain wrapped around her outside. She sat up in panic, but frowned at the wound.

"You're awake," Shouxiang smiled as she brought in a bowl of medicine. "Your wound has already been bandaged, the royal doctor said that the wounds on your four limbs cannot be healed, and your face can still be cured."

Ru Yan's eyes reddened, and she struggled down from the bed. Raising her veil, she walked towards Shouxiang and knelt in front of him, worshipping her with her teary eyes.

Shouxiang smiled and helped her up, "Regarding the matter of saving you, even if you kneeling down in front of me is useless."

Ru Yan bit her lips and nodded seriously.

"This is the place where the servants of the Acacia Hall live. Once your wounds have recovered, I will take you to see the Empress."

Hot tears gushed out of Ru Yan's eyes, but right when she was about to kneel down, Shouxiang blocked her with one hand and helplessly helped her to get onto the bed.

"Stop kneeling. When you see the Empress in the future, just kneel as long as you want."

Ru Yan rolled up her sleeves and wiped her tears, revealing a sad smile.

"Actually," Shouxiang suddenly sighed, "Consort Fu didn't want to save you."

Ru Yan was startled, and opened her eyes wide, at a loss.

"Because you are related to the people at the side of the Consort Hua. The Consort Hua is especially cold and disdainful towards the Empress, and the Empress is afraid that her servants would be like this as well."

Ru Yan shook her head in panic, meaning that she was not that kind of person.

Shouxiang comforted her, "I naturally know that you are a kind-hearted girl, which was why I persuaded the Empress to save you."

Ru Yan looked at her gratefully.

"However, you still have to return to the Yongle Palace, and staying here isn't a solution. Don't worry, Consort Fu will speak to the Consort Hua and tell her not to kill you."

Ru Yan pulled her hand in panic and shook her head vigorously.

The corner of Shouxiang's mouth curled as he smiled: "If you don't return to the Yongle Palace, could it be that you're going to be a palace maid at Cheng Huan Hall?"

Ru Yan nodded in joy.

Shouxiang was troubled: "But the Consort Hua and the Consort Fu are not on friendly terms, you can't be a palace maid in Cheng Huan Hall, you can't protect the fact that you know people in Cao Yang's Han Dynasty."

Ru Yan pulled her hand with tears streaming down her face and pressed it against her chest to ensure her loyalty to Consort Fu.

"Then, if you choose to be a palace maid at Cheng Huan Hall, you have to listen to the orders of the Consort Fu," Shouxiang probed. "Will you do this, will you never betray her, will you forever be loyal to her?"

Ru Yan clenched her teeth and nodded strongly, her eyes flashing with the light of loyalty and gratitude.

"That's good," Shouxiang smiled with satisfaction. "I'll go back to the Empress and let you stay in Cheng Huan Hall. From now on, you are Consort Fu's slave."

Shouxiang wiped her tears affectionately and felt very proud of himself.

Zhu Tong stayed in the Prime Minister's Mansion for a few days, but Miss and Little Zhui were neither by her side, feeling really bored, so after thinking about it, she decided to enter the palace to take a trip to Xinyang Hall. In order to avoid detection, she would always take the small path to enter the palace. This place was far away from the main path of the imperial palace, so very few people would walk past here.

"Zhu Tong!" Someone behind him suddenly shouted.

Zhu Tong, who had been walking for half a day, heard the shout and could not help but freeze on the spot. Her mind was a blank. This was the voice of Big Sister Xianghe, who came to the Great Qin Nation to visit her after parting from her for so many years. Surprised, she turned her head to see a cold, glaring sword thrust straight into her left chest.

Xianghe was still as beautiful and gentle as she was many years ago, but her eyes were void of any light. The way she wielded her sword was like a puppet being controlled.

"Xianghe..." Zhu Tong opened her eyes wide in disbelief. She had imagined countless of times how she would meet her sisters in her dreams, but the older sisters in her dreams all had happy expressions on their faces. They were not like Xianghe who used a sword to end her life.

Zhu Tong touched her left chest in a daze, seeing the bloody palm, she felt like someone had grabbed her throat, she could not say a word, and her body lost its balance and fell backwards.

Xianghe turned her back, his face that was drenched in blood did not have a single ripple, but a cold smile appeared on his face.

"Flavor has organized Zhu Tong to betray the sect and kill him without mercy."