I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 213 What’s Scary?
[If the answer is no, I will have to find a way to fool the tyrant myself. The method I can think of now is about the same risk as the immortal's dream. The tyrant will be suspicious anyway, so I might as well take advantage of the old man's help and save trouble.]

Although Chu Liuzheng was afraid of death, she would not shrink from the things she had decided. She nodded to Chen Xing without hesitation: "Yes, I had a dream."

"Really, what did the immortal tell you?" Chen Xing moved closer curiously, his face so enthusiastic that it almost touched Chu Liuzheng's face.

Chu Liuzheng leaned back very skillfully, wondering if this girl was also so enthusiastic and so close when looking at a corpse?

"It's hard to say." She pushed Chen Xing's head back, frowning slightly and looking a little distressed.

Chen Xing wanted to ask more, but Mitsuki picked up a piece of stewed radish and stuffed it into her mouth, "Eat well."

Chen Xing grunted twice with dissatisfaction while holding the radish in her mouth. Seeing that Si Yue ignored her, she had no choice but to concentrate on eating and did not chase Chu Liu to ask questions.

She didn't ask, and the others didn't want to embarrass Chu Liuzheng, so they didn't ask.

Chu Liuzheng breathed a sigh of relief and drank his soup while thinking about his thoughts.

The target of her deception was a tyrant full of cunning thoughts, so she had to think carefully.

*
When I woke up from a nap, the rain was still falling. It seemed to be lighter, but it was still cold.

Chu Liuzheng sat by the window to enjoy the fresh air, hoping to clear his confused mind and simulate the process of deceiving the tyrant in his mind.

Moxiang was fiddling with silk flowers. Seeing that she had been standing at the window in a daze, she gently reminded her, "The cold wind will give you a headache if you are exposed to it too much. Don't catch a cold again."

"Got it." Chu Liuzheng agreed, returned to sit beside the brazier, and watched Moxiang make silk flowers.

Seeing her fingers moving flexibly and the silk flowers being made in an ingenious way, he couldn't help but praise her, "Sister, you have really deft hands."

"My mother taught me all this." Moxiang chuckled, and it seemed as if she could still see her mother's voice and smile in front of her. "My mother is the most skillful embroiderer in town. Not only is she good at embroidery, she is also very good at making these little things. When I was a child, I couldn't sit still because I loved playing. My mother used these little things to coax me and asked me to learn from her. I actually learned a lot of them."

This was the first time Chu Liuzheng heard her mention her family, and he asked curiously, "Aunt is an embroiderer, so why did your sister enter the palace? I heard that your sister was only ten years old when she entered the palace."

The smile on Moxiang's face froze, and a hint of tears suddenly appeared in her eyes.

【It's over! I've brought up a sad topic.】

Chu Liuzheng secretly hated his own broken mouth and was about to say something to comfort her, but Moxiang's expression had returned to normal. Seeing her apologetic expression, he couldn't help but smile and said, "It's all in the past. I'll tell you what you want to hear. I haven't told anyone else yet."

Chu Liuzheng didn't really want to listen to other people's sad stories, as she felt it was like exposing someone's scars, but she could see that Moxiang really wanted to talk about it at the moment.

"I want to listen." She nodded, choosing to be a quiet listener.

"It happened so many years ago. Where should I start?" Moxiang stared at the silk flower in her hand and curved her eyes when she thought of the gentle woman who gave her life.

“In fact, I am a posthumous child. Not long after my mother became pregnant with me, my father was conscripted by the government to repair the river embankment. He was washed away by a flood and no one ever saw him alive or dead.

The flood destroyed the house, and my mother fled with the villagers while pregnant with me. Thanks to the help of the villagers, my mother was able to survive.

"We all fled to Shijing Town and settled down in a nearby village. Not long after that, I was born. My mother had a difficult labor and it took her a whole day to give birth to me. My mother always said that my father was blessing us in heaven, and I think so too."

There was something crystal clear in Moxiang's eyes, but it quickly disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"At that time, we had nothing at home. My mother lost a lot of energy after giving birth to me. We were poor and couldn't afford good food, so we never recovered and that's why I got sick."

"She was weak and couldn't work in the fields. In order to support us, we had to go to town to find work. She was good at embroidery before she married my father. The shopkeeper of the cloth shop took a fancy to A Niang's skills and hired her as an embroiderer to embroider some clothes for the shop." "A Niang was diligent, and the patterns she embroidered were beautiful. The clothes sold well, and the shopkeeper was happy and often gave A Niang money. We saved some money and spent it, and our lives got better day by day."

Moxiang paused and said in a lower voice: "But rumors started to spread in the village, saying that the money A Niang earned was not clean, and they wanted to drive A Niang out of the village."

She said it tactfully, but how could Chu Liuzheng not hear it?

[Damn it! It is natural for a man to be able to make money, but it is natural for a woman to be kept and have dirty rumors spread about her. Double standards have really existed since ancient times.]

She secretly rolled her eyes and reached out to pat Moxiang's shoulder to comfort her.

Moxiang turned the silk flower in her hand and continued to recall: "After being driven out of the village, my mother took me to rent a house in the town. My mother had skills and was a widow, so many matchmakers came to propose marriage and persuaded my mother to remarry, but my mother didn't agree because she missed my father."

"But widows are always surrounded by trouble. My mother lived alone with her children, and there were always hooligans hanging around nearby. They would knock on my door in the middle of the night and even climb over the wall. I was scared to tears. Gradually, rumors spread, and even the owner of the house wanted my mother to move out."

Moxiang smiled bitterly and said, "Why is it so difficult for a woman to live alone in this world? Is it a sin not to marry? My mother just wants to stay with my father and me, why is everyone forcing her?"

This problem has existed since ancient times, and in this world, Chu Liuzheng cannot think of a suitable solution.

She could only reach out and hug Moxiang, patting her back comfortingly.

"My mother is dead. She was forced to death by them." Moxiang rested her chin on her shoulder, tears falling from her eyes, her voice tinged with sobs. "My mother was weak, but she was strong-willed. She kept everything to herself and didn't say anything. She fell ill not long after and passed away in just two months. I watched her breathe her last with my own eyes."

How old was Moxiang at that time?
Chu Liuzheng felt sad when he heard this and hugged Moxiang even tighter.

"I will enter the palace after I bury my mother." Moxiang hugged Chu Liuzheng back, "I don't want to be forced to death by them like my mother. At least in this palace, I can stay single."

Chu Liuzheng was stunned, then realized something and asked, "You don't want to leave the palace after you turn 25?"

"No." Moxiang withdrew from her arms, wiped the tears from her face with a handkerchief, and said firmly, "I will not leave the palace."

When Chu Liuzheng heard these words, it was as if a firework exploded in her brain, leaving countless fragments and making her entire mind a mess.

She always felt that the palace was an oppressive cage. Once a living being entered here, it would either wither or die, without exception.

But Moxiang's words made her realize that even a terrible place like the palace could be called a safe haven.

At least, it is a safe haven for Moxiang.

She was speechless for a moment, staring blankly at Moxiang's red eyes, and asked, "Aren't you afraid?"

Moxiang asked back, "What are you afraid of?"

Afraid of the evil hearts of people, afraid of conspiracies and intrigues, afraid of... too many terrible things. Chu Liuzheng opened his mouth, looked into Moxiang's eyes, and couldn't say a word.

Moxiang looked at her and said, "Whatever I want is in the palace, so what is there to be afraid of?"

Until the way to the Yangxin Palace, Moxiang's words were echoing in Chu Liuzheng's mind.

She didn't know why she was thinking about it, but she couldn't stop.

It was not until she stood at the entrance of the Yangxin Palace and Xiao Anzi came up to greet her that she suddenly came back to her senses and smiled: "I have something important to report to His Majesty. I'd like to trouble you to pass it on."

(End of this chapter)