Madam General, please run slower.

Li said he wanted to enter the palace and he really walked into the palace openly. The guards at the door did not dare to stop him at all, and could only rush to pass the message up.

The servants on duty in the palace were so frightened when they recognized Qu Tangli that their eyes widened. When the old eunuch Ji Hong saw Li, his usually fluent speech began to stumble.

"Little...little princess?!"

It was no wonder that Ji Hong lost his composure. Whether it was the national mourning when Emperor Qu passed away or the hasty coronation ceremony of the crown prince, he did not see the little princess.

The reason given by the General's Mansion was that the little princess was in poor health and was recuperating in another place and could not make it in time. In addition, the news from the Imperial Hospital that the little princess was dying soon made everyone assume that this was an excuse for the General's Mansion to conceal Qu Tangli's death. After all, if the news that this lady had passed away less than a year after marrying was spread, Yu Xun might be labeled as a wife-killer.

But now, this person who has been dead in people's hearts for several years is suddenly standing in front of them. Anyone who sees him would be scared.

"Chief Steward Ji, long time no see." Li Ziru greeted without any sense of scaring anyone. "I want to see my thirteenth brother... oh no, I should address him as Your Majesty now. Please, Chief Steward Ji, go and tell him to come."

"We'll go right away." Ji Hong waved his hand to refuse the silver handed over by Li, and turned to walk towards the imperial study. He loved money, but he was not brave enough to take money from someone who might have died.

In the imperial study, after hearing the news that Qu Tangli was coming, Qu Shi, who was only fourteen years old, looked carefully at the empress dowager beside him.

"Mother...I...do I want to see her?" Qu Shi wished his mother could just kick the person out. His ninth sister was much scarier than his mother.

Qu Su, who rose from the position of empress to the powerful empress dowager, had many ways to deprive Yu Xun of his military power by using Qu Tangli in her mind when she heard the name Qu Tangli.

"Your Majesty, please meet me."

After hearing the Queen Mother's words, Ji Hong did not wait for Qu Shi's order, but turned around to invite Qu Tangli into the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother."

Li saluted in a casual manner, wearing a large black robe. His rude appearance made the Queen Mother frown, "Is Little Thirteen feeling better?"

"Thanks to the Queen Mother, I am much better now."

"That's good, that's good. If the late emperor knew about this, he would be very happy." The Queen Mother pretended to touch her eyes with a handkerchief. "Xiao Jiu, you don't know that when your father was seriously ill, he wanted to see you the most. It's a pity that he didn't get to see you before he passed away."

"I feel very ashamed for not being able to escort my father on this journey." Li said this very sincerely. She had really thought about whether she should personally send Emperor Qu to report to the underworld, but she didn't do it because she thought it would be too troublesome to do so.

"It's enough that Xiaojiu has this heart." The Queen Mother waved to Li, motioning her to come closer, "Good child, let me take a good look at you."

Li glanced at Qu Shi who had been ignored, and put his hand on the Queen Mother's hand with a smile, "Xiao Jiu heard that the Queen Mother couldn't sleep all night because she missed the late emperor, so I specially asked for calming incense from the temple, hoping that the Queen Mother could sleep well."

"Xiaojiu is thoughtful." The Queen Mother patted Li's hand comfortingly, her heart full of contempt, but the next second she closed her eyes and collapsed on the couch.

Qu Shi jumped up from the dragon throne in fear and shouted outside in terror, "Someone come quickly, she wants to murder the Queen Mother!"

"Your Majesty, don't waste your energy. No one will come even if you shout at the top of your lungs." Li took the handkerchief and carefully wiped the hand that the Queen Mother had held, his tone full of ruffianry.

Looking at Li's pupils without a trace of white, Qu Shi was startled and wanted to run out, but he was frozen in place after only two steps.

"Royal sister, royal sister, I was wrong, I was wrong, please let me go." The surging flow of spiritual power made Qu Shi decisively admit defeat.

Li raised his hand, but before it fell, Qu Shi instinctively covered his arm with fear in his eyes.

Li was stunned by his reaction. If someone didn't know, they would think she was abusing the child.

Li controlled his spiritual power and lifted Qu Shi's hand. As the golden yellow robe slid down, the dense red and black spots on his arm appeared before his eyes.

Li couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as he looked at his horrible-looking arm. He immediately recognized that it was the mark of an embroidery needle, and it was poisoned.

The Queen Mother is also a ruthless person. She can be so cruel to her own son. Look at what this arrogant kid has become now. This is the furnace tripod she personally selected. It is very useful and cannot be damaged like this.

As the dark spiritual power passed by, the scars on Qu Shi's arms immediately faded a lot.

Feeling the pain in his hands dissipate, Qu Shi, who had calmed down, looked at the woman in front of him who was much taller than him with some surprise.

"It's really frustrating for you to be His Majesty." Li released his control over him and rubbed his head through his black robe.

I don’t know what nerve this action of Qu Shi stimulated, but the latter threw himself directly into her arms, calling her "royal sister" with a choked voice.

Li gritted his teeth and pulled the man away by his collar. "I'll count to three, and shut your mouth. Three! Two!"

Before Li could even utter the word "one", Qu Shi covered his mouth in fear.

Li nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, close your eyes and relax. I'll take you to another place to talk."

Qu Shi did not dare to resist and obeyed. When he heard Li's command to open his eyes, Qu Shi slowly opened his eyes. Everything in front of him was no longer the appearance of the imperial study.

Surrounded by clouds and mist, the light was soft and warm, as if it was a faint light projected from the distant sky. There were several strange and colorful streams of light floating in the sky, like the aurora, embellishing the vast sky with different colors and adding a bit of mystery.

However, in this dreamlike corner, a mirror suddenly appeared. In front of the mirror, there was a small black ball sleeping soundly. If you listen carefully, you can clearly hear its snoring.

This was the first time Qu Shi had seen such a scene. He should have been alert and careful in this unfamiliar place, but he inexplicably felt relaxed in his heart, as if this was a safe place he had visited countless times.

As Li waved his hand, a set of exquisite and translucent tables and chairs appeared in front of Qu Shi.

"Sit down." Li pointed at the chair and said, "Tell me, why did you become like this?"

Perhaps it was the environment here that made Qu Shi feel relaxed. Without Li saying much, he told everything honestly.

"My mother didn't treat me like this before. Ever since my father became seriously ill and couldn't attend court, my mother started to pay attention to me. I knew my brother's plan, so I stayed in the study room to study and didn't disturb my mother and the others.

But…after my brother got into trouble that day, my mother was like a completely different person, and she personally supervised my homework. I recited my lessons until midnight every day, and had to get up at 3 pm to read early, with a rest time of more than an hour every day.

If I recited the wrong thing or said something wrong in court, my mother would punish me severely. At first, she didn’t allow me to eat. After I fainted from hunger several times, my mother changed the punishment to confinement and copying books.

Speaking of this, Qu Shi tightly clenched his arms as if in response to stress, his body shaking uncontrollably, "After my brother passed away, my mother often became less clear-headed, not only would she beat and scold me for no reason, but she would also sometimes mistake me for my brother."