Quick Wear: Beautiful, Strong, Miserable, Whitening Guide

Chu Ziyu was completely unaware of this, he just lowered his head and quickened his pace.

The Empress Dowager's Changle Palace was filled with warmth and incense, completely different from the coldness of the Imperial Study.

Empress Dowager Liu leaned against the couch, her makeup delicate, but there was a subtle hint of anxiety and dissatisfaction between her brows.

She didn't exchange many pleasantries and stated her intention directly: she simply wanted to get some respectable and lucrative jobs for her useless nephews and nieces.

"Emperor, although you are now assisted by the Regent, you are still the emperor after all, so you must give him some respect.

The Liu family is also your in-laws, so we all prosper together..."

The Queen Mother's voice carried her usual pressure, but upon closer listening, one could discern a hint of weakness beneath the surface. She was clearly aware that the tide of change in the palace was now turning.

Lin Ci'an's fingertips tapped silently on the rosewood beams. It was his first time to be a gentleman on the beam, and it felt quite novel. But when his eyes fell on the young emperor standing below with his head bowed, the novelty quietly faded away.

In his eyes, Chu Ziyu looked like an exquisite puppet whose soul had been taken away.

(A dull, unfamiliar feeling of stagnation came from my heart. It wasn't sharp, but it made me feel inexplicably irritated.)

(… Such useless weakness.)

The Queen Mother's words, wrapped in the family's selfish desires, echoed in the warm palace, while his beloved Majesty just stood there stiffly.

He saw Chu Ziyu's lips opening and closing, uttering those insincere and numb promises:

"Your son... understands."

(What did he know? He only knew that he couldn't resist.)

"I will discuss this with the Regent..."

(Discuss? How pathetically naive.)

(I am waiting for you to come to me and beg with the Queen Mother's greed and your helplessness.)

(You will come, you can only come to me.)

"Don't worry, mother."

(If you can’t even protect yourself, how can you reassure others?)

With every sentence, the barely perceptible cold arc at the corner of Lin Ci'an's lips deepened a little.

It's the satisfaction that comes from complete control.

He liked to watch the little emperor lose himself step by step under his invisible control, become obedient, and act only according to his will.

He was like a spectator, enjoying a drama that he had choreographed himself.

And he was very satisfied with the work in front of him.

Empress Dowager Liu seemed completely oblivious to Chu Ziyu's shaky embarrassment, and her fingers, painted with bright red nail polish, tapped the table impatiently.

His voice rose a few notches, carrying an undeniable urgency: "This matter cannot be delayed any longer. It's just a matter of a word from you. The Regent values ​​you so highly, what can't you do?"

She paused, leaned forward slightly, and lowered her voice, but her words were like a poisoned needle, accurately piercing Chu Ziyu's most painful wound.

"Besides, who could you really hide those... unclear and dirty things between you and the Regent from?

Who in this palace hasn't seen how he taught you government affairs "personally"?

Oh, if that’s the case, why do you still have to pretend to be innocent in front of me?

Go and whisper some words in his ear, that should be of some use to him, right?"

"Mother--!"

Chu Ziyu suddenly looked up and shouted.

That call was filled with incredible horror and the extreme pain of having one's dignity crushed by the hands of one's loved ones.

His face was not pale, but turned gray in an instant, as if all the blood in his body had frozen and solidified at that moment.

His lips trembled violently, but he could no longer utter a word.

His eyes quickly turned red, and moisture accumulated uncontrollably, but was locked in his eyes by a strong sense of shame, making him shaky.

He looked at his mother in front of him with exquisite makeup, and felt extremely strange, as if there was an ice-cold dagger, held in her own hand, scratching his heart repeatedly.

At this moment, the last bit of his tiny fantasy about family affection that he relied on was torn to pieces by the Queen Mother's casual yet cruel words.

He staggered and took a very slight half step back, as if trying to avoid the most hurtful blade in the world.

In the shadow on the beam, Lin Ci'an's fingertips that were tapping on the beam suddenly stopped.

Every word that Empress Dowager Liu uttered reached his ears precisely, especially the words "dirty things" and "whispering in the pillow", which were filled with disgusting intimacy and calculation.

(……Oh.)

A cold sneer silently spread in his heart.

This stupid woman only knows how to use such shameful means to force him.

Trampling Xiaoyu's last bit of dignity into the mud, just for the sake of her mother's family's petty profits. It's really... extremely ugly.

However, when Chu Ziyu blurted out the broken and trembling "Mother--".

Lin Ci'an felt as if his heart was suddenly and fiercely squeezed by something. The feeling was strange and sharp, and even made his breathing slightly choke.

(…Does it hurt?)

Lin Ci'an looked at the intense pain coldly, trying to draw from it the pleasure of controlling everything.

That's exactly what he wanted, wasn't it? To isolate him completely, to leave him alone, with no one to rely on.

But the expected sense of pure satisfaction did not arrive as expected.

Instead, an almost violent anger and heartache surged in his chest.