TV Series: When the Villain Chooses to Stand by

Guards were posted outside the Yanx Palace to prevent Ruyi from going out at will. Every day, someone was sent to pull Rong Pei out and slap her in the face.

Ruyi had been under house arrest before, but this was the first time she was so strictly under house arrest. In her anger, she finally turned her attention to her daughter.

During the Double Ninth Festival family dinner, Hongli did not think of releasing Ruyi, but instead sent imperial physicians to check the health of the two children regularly.

While setting off the fireworks, Jin Yuyan wanted to ask Yihuan again how she felt about seeing the fireworks.

At this moment, the sky where fireworks were still blooming was suddenly covered with light screens. The light screens that had only shown game screens these days suddenly appeared.

The same beautiful scene was displayed inside. The faces of the people under the fireworks could not be seen clearly, and their identities could only be identified from their clothes. Before they could carefully identify them, the camera suddenly changed.

The scene shifts to the cold palace, where such hustle and bustle is even more attractive to the people there.

Under the temptation of "Ruyi", everyone gathered together to look at the beautiful scenery in the sky.

In an unattended corner, she dragged a corpse out of a pile of dry grass with great effort. The candle fell over, and the grease on the ground ignited a large flame.

The flames gradually grew higher and spread out, devouring everything in the house: clothes, bed curtains, doors, windows, beams...

Soon the thick smoke rose into the sky, but the people in the cold palace were not panicked or afraid, nor did they shout.

They pointed at the thick smoke and fireworks in the sky and laughed crazily.

There were a lot of weeds in the cold palace, and the fire spread quickly.

It didn't take long for it to attract the attention of others. After receiving the news, the emperor quickly brought people over, and the concubines followed behind.

While they were in chaos, "Ruyi" quickly ran into a small room. She turned around and took a last look at the palace where flames were rising into the sky.

She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she actually felt that the palace servants standing on the high platform watching the fireworks were looking at her.

It is the safest place in the cold palace at the moment, and these mentally abnormal palace servants will not die because of him.

This was the best solution she could think of.

She bowed from a distance, then turned around and went in without hesitation.

In the dilapidated old house, "Ruyi" walked quickly to the desk. There were several lotus candlesticks inlaid on the wall.

She opened the gourd she carried with her and slowly poured the water inside into the lotus pod. After the liquid overflowed, the lotus began to turn.

A hole large enough for one person appeared under the desk. "Ruyi" leaned over and crawled in. The hole gradually closed as if nothing had happened.

The flames and shouts outside gradually spread over, and Qingying ran quickly in the winding dark passage.

At this time, her clothes were tattered, her face was painted black, and her hair was as messy as dead grass.

He looks like a beggar wandering the streets.

Only she herself knew how many banknotes were hidden inside her clothes. Since she was in the cold palace, she had searched almost every corner of it.

No one could have imagined that the secret passage out of the palace was hidden in the most inconspicuous servant's room.

If it weren't for the desk, Qingying would have ignored this place.

The flames quickly engulfed the dilapidated house. Qingying's breathing became heavy, but she didn't dare to stop and continued trying to move her legs.

Jin Yuyan and others outside the screen didn't dare to breathe, looking at the sky with serious expressions, fearing that the cave entrance would be discovered the next moment.

Hongli looked around in confusion, and felt that the concubines were strangely calm today.

We were just watching fireworks, why were they all so serious? Could it be that the palace maid who just performed the flying dance was seen winking at him?

That shouldn't be the case. They have always spoken their mind. When did they become so tolerant?

And even if they are jealous, they will never show it. What happened today?

Over the years, Hongli has become accustomed to the way his concubines speak without thinking. Even talented people like Gao Xiyue and Chen Wanyin would not put on airs in front of him.

At first he thought this was very rude, but as he spent more time as emperor, he began to enjoy this straightforwardness.

Of course, this was all he thought.

Gao Xiyue and the others were just too lazy to flatter him. They already had a child anyway, and the queen would not suppress them.

As long as you don't make any mistakes, there is no need to be cautious.

Yihuan tilted his head slightly and glanced at Jin Yuyan quickly. Seeing that she had no intention of bringing up the past, his heart finally settled down.

If she were asked again in public whether she felt uncomfortable, she would die of shame.

Qingying's speed on the light screen gradually slowed down. At a closed cave entrance, she reached out and pressed the switch on the side.

Unable to wait to get out of the cave, she skillfully climbed out of the dry well.

The crescent moon hung high in the sky, and the bright moonlight gently caressed every inch of Qingying's skin.

She squinted her eyes and looked up at the sky. The huge dark blue sapphire was mysterious and quiet. Occasionally, a few white clouds floated by, blocking most of the moon.

This time, when she looked up, what she saw was no longer the high palace walls. The splendor of the glazed tiles was her lingering nightmare.

At the same time, everyone outside the light screen breathed a sigh of relief.

This strange phenomenon not only attracted Hongli's attention again, but also made them discover each other's abnormality.

There was no way out. Qingying's behavior on the screen was too bold, and the incident happened suddenly. They could only get nervous together and had no time to hide their emotions.

Neither of them said anything, but they looked around tacitly, each of them having their own calculations in mind.

Gao Xiyue gently tugged at Hongli's sleeve and said coquettishly, "Your Majesty, the fireworks are finally over. I wonder if Yongheng will be frightened by such a big commotion."

Hongli thought they were all worried about his young son in the palace, so he didn't think much about it.

"Our Third Prince is so courageous that even thunder in front of him might not scare him."

"It's strange to say how a person with your temperament could have given birth to such a pair of children."

Because it was a family dinner and there was no one else present, Gao Xiyue argued a few words on behalf of her own children in an unconvinced manner.

"Your Majesty is a man of great skill, both in civil and military affairs. This is not your fault."

The argument between the two also attracted other people to join in, with each of them saying something.

Hongli's attention was successfully diverted.

After the family dinner, everyone hurried back to their own bedrooms.

The image on the light screen continued, but was split into two.

The left side shows the scene inside the palace, and the right side outside the palace where Qingying ran out is a desolate cemetery.

Qingying carefully groped her way out in the moonlight. She had to leave the capital as soon as possible.

[Sister is so amazing, she is my role model. Tonight’s fireworks are just for you!!!]

Bai Ruiji kept praising her daughter one after another, and she excitedly paced back and forth in the palace holding her daughter.

Regardless of whether she can see it or not, she just wants her daughter to be influenced by the hero.

Walking in such a cemetery in the middle of the night is a test of one's courage. Qingying found a corpse of similar size to herself in this mass grave.

She thought about just leaving, but the subsequent risks were too great.

It’s different with a substitute. There is almost no risk of being discovered. The only person who knows her best is the emperor, and he will never verify it personally.

Who would care about a useless person in the cold palace?

Except for Langya, they had never seen such a scene before, with more and more corpses piling up in the wilderness.

Their hearts also fluctuated. They were happy that Qingying had walked out of the cage before, but now they were only filled with awe.

[Sister, please go to the left. There are fewer bones there.]

Qingying's voice was hoarse but filled with unconcealed excitement. "The lack of bones means the body was recently thrown in. There's a lot of rotting flesh there, so there might be animals. It's not safe."

【Oh, I learned it. 】

[So this is what's happening outside the capital. Isn't this the Emperor's feet? Why are there so many corpses here?]

Gao Xiyue, who lives a life of luxury, has vomited several times. Tonight, the emperor went to see Concubine Shu.

She slept in Changchun Palace. It was not the first time she had done this.

Not only her, but everyone else would feel uncomfortable seeing such a scene. They could smell the stench coming from their noses without even thinking about it.

But Qingying didn't react at all.

[This place leads to a canyon in the suburbs of Beijing, rarely visited. If it were a barren mountain, people would come and dig a pit, but here? They just throw it down.]

If it weren't for Qingying's life in the cold palace these days, she might not have been able to walk so far with her physical strength.

[As for their families, the dead are the most important, so why don't they give them a proper burial?]

Even Chen Wanyin had never come into contact with these things. None of the poems and books she had read mentioned how difficult the lives of the poor were.

The Celestial Empire is so vast, and their family background may not be outstanding in the imperial palace, but it is something that ordinary people can hardly imagine.

Many people have never left the village in their entire lives, and the officials in the county government are already very important figures.

Only Bai Ruiji understood a little. She had not had an easy life in Yuefu during those years, but at least she was still alive, had food and clothing, and could even read and write because of her good looks.

[If you want to bury your body, you can't just find a deserted mountain and throw it there. To ensure that future generations can visit the grave, you need to spend money to buy a burial plot. This amount of money is not something that everyone can afford.]

[If you were a refugee or alone, who would pay for this money? Throwing it here is already a good choice.]

After a long silence, Langya broke the silence with her words.

[Qingying, go east. There's a road leading out there. It's safer than the direction you're heading now. Follow the water south. There are people there.]

Thank you very much. I will never forget your kindness.

Qingying immediately guessed that this was the person who reminded her to find the secret passage, and immediately decided to believe her.

She was already prepared to suffer here. When she first came out, she was frightened by the corpses outside, but she still calmed down and carefully observed the surrounding environment.

The presence of a dry well indicates that people lived here in the past. Perhaps it was natural disasters or wars that caused it to become what it is today.

But this also gave Qingying the courage to escape. As long as she prepared some dry food, she would not starve to death anyway because this season was the time when wild fruits were ripe.

Even if she was unlucky and encountered a wild beast, that was her fate.

Qingying would rather be buried in the mountains than live in the cold palace.

No one slept that night. They watched Qingying walk towards freedom step by step in this exquisite cage.

Watching the master of the Forbidden City get furious.

"Everyone in the cold palace was safe and sound, except for Ruyi, who was burned to a charred corpse. You tell me this was an accident?"

In the picture, Hongli's eyes are red, and he looks at the concubines around him with a sinister look. Each of them wishes Ruyi death, and they could all be the murderer.

The people below replied tremblingly, "Your Majesty, the others came out to watch the fun together, and that's how they escaped the disaster, and..."

"And perhaps the Ulanara family disliked noise, which is why they suffered misfortune."

Hongli slammed the teacup beside him to the ground. "Go and investigate again. Don't let go of any clues."

The queen sitting next to him watched all this with an expressionless face. Since she didn't do anything, she was naturally not worried.

Although the others were surprised, they did not have any other emotions. Even without Ulanara, the fighting in the harem would not stop. No one would care about a loser.

The atmosphere in the hall was extremely tense, without any trace of the festive atmosphere at the family dinner.

After a long time, someone came to report again, and this time brought with him the few sober people in the cold palace.

"Your Majesty, the fire has been brought under control. I have just conducted a thorough investigation and found that the fire was not caused by fireworks but started from inside the house. There are also large amounts of oil stains on the ground."

After a moment's hesitation, he continued, "Combined with the testimonies of everyone in the cold palace, Ulanara must have... committed suicide."

"Nonsense, how could she bear to leave me? We clearly agreed on this."

Hongli flew into a rage, pointing at Concubine Ji beside him and shouting, "Tell me everything that happened to her in the cold palace."

"When has she ever felt disgusted with the world?"

Concubine Ji had witnessed the power of the late emperor before, and she replied calmly, "The cold palace is extremely cold and bitter. Ulanara has suffered a lot and has said many times that there is no hope for such a life."

"Impossible, she's such a strong woman!"

"Your Majesty, no matter how strong you are, you are still a woman. Since ancient times, those who entered the cold palace have no hope. It is normal to feel hopeless."

"It was because of her strong recommendation that everyone gathered together to watch the fireworks today. I guess they didn't want to implicate innocent people."

The others nodded in unison.

People like them have no chance of turning things around, so there's no need to lie.

Hongli's back suddenly arched, and he murmured, "She is still so kind, but how can she be so cruel that she even cares about strangers."

"I am the only one left behind."

……

[Why is he acting like this? Doesn't he just not trust others?]

[Who could possibly guess what the emperor was thinking? Perhaps he felt that he had done well enough to protect Qingying's life.]

Gao Xiyue was thankful more than once that she had come to her senses when she first entered the palace, and did not attach all her affection to the emperor.

Look, how hurtful the word love is.

[It's even worse here. No matter how outrageous Concubine Xian's actions are, the Emperor still has some affection for her.]

Su Lujun looked at Hongli's anxious expression and couldn't help but feel sad. Why bother? If she had trusted Qingying at the beginning, she wouldn't have been so heartbroken.

Jin Yuyan immediately retorted that she was the most sober person here except Langya, and she had never longed for the emperor's love from the beginning to the end.

Let’s not talk about the fact that she fell in love with the wrong person. After all, she realized it early.

[No... I can't think like this just because Concubine Xian is annoying.]

[In their eyes, women are just vassals. Although Concubine Xian is annoying, she also truly loves the Emperor. But what about the other party?]

[Not only did he send her to the cold palace, he also pulled out her nails. Is this something a lover would do? He is the emperor, is it difficult for him to protect Concubine Xian?]

It is not difficult. As long as an emperor is willing, he can protect his lover.

It's just that in the eyes of the emperor, it's not worth doing so.