The queen is crazy and spoiled, and the tyrant bows to her

Jiang Wantang smiled, her tone sly: "Miss Lin, do you know me?"

Lin Ruoyun nodded, surprised but then understanding: "Of course, who in the capital doesn't know that the second young lady Jiang, who just returned from the Prime Minister's Mansion, is a stunning beauty!"

"Before, I thought those people were exaggerating. But now that I see you today, I know the rumors are true."

Lin Ruoyun changed her reserved and polite appearance and became much more enthusiastic. She pulled Jiang Wantang aside and started asking him questions.

The latter responded with a faint smile on his face.

After dinner, it was already late at night and lights were on everywhere in the palace.

Jiang Wantang was worried that Xiuzhu and Yunshang would not be used to the palace for the first time, so she took a palace lantern and went to visit the palace maids where they lived.

Lin Ruoyun was extremely bored staying in the room alone, and she didn't want to chat with other girls about music, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing and dancing.

Finally, at bedtime, Jiang Wantang came back.

She was full of curiosity about the palace, and insisted on dragging Jiang Wantang out secretly to accompany her to visit the Imperial Garden.

Coincidentally, they were not the only two who sneaked out.

Some were curious, while others had bought information from palace servants in advance, hoping to secretly wait for the emperor along his route and create a romantic encounter with him...

Everyone looked at each other, smiled awkwardly, and tacitly agreed not to disturb each other.

After a while, the voices of several palace maids talking were heard in the silent air.

The few people hiding in the flowers of the Imperial Garden looked at each other and put their fingers on their lips to make a gesture of silence.

"It's terrible. All five people who went to the bedroom to serve me last night are dead."

"I heard that a new concubine was sent in today..."

The people in the flowers were startled and looked in the direction of the sound. They saw two or three little palace maids walking towards the imperial garden, and the sound was getting closer and closer.

"Oh, that's right! It's such a pity for these beautiful young ladies. After entering the palace, they finally got the chance to sleep with the emperor, but after being tormented by the emperor all night, they died..."

"Shh, you don't want to live anymore," another palace maid reminded in a low voice.

"Everyone knows that our current emperor is tyrannical. These concubines are only glorious on the surface, but their lives are as fragile as paper!"

"..."

After they walked away, the people hiding in the flowers were still in a daze.

Those who originally had aspirations and little thoughts in their hearts, now had their hearts hanging in the air, finally died.

They were either afraid or distraught and walked back to Chuxiu Palace.

Lin Ruoyun looked at Jiang Wantang, who remained calm and expressionless, and asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid?"

After all, in her opinion, Jiang Wantang had a greater chance of sleeping with the emperor in the palace after entering it.

Jiang Wantang curved her lips and smiled: "Afraid?"

"What's the use of being afraid?"

"We are here, more or less, involuntarily."

“Instead of blindly worrying about what the future holds, it’s better to accept what’s already here.”

Lin Ruoyun nodded thoughtfully.

She was the eldest daughter of General Lin. She had been spoiled since childhood and was used to being arrogant and domineering. But even so, at the emperor's order, her father, who loved her dearly, had to reluctantly give her up and send her to the harem.

And she had no choice but to control her temper and behave herself.

In my father’s words: The king is the king, the minister is the minister, if the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die.

……

The early spring night was a little chilly, and the silvery moonlight spread all the way.

Huai'an supported the stumbling and drunk Xiao Jingheng as he walked out of the restaurant.

“Hahaha… I, Xiao Jingheng, have been wise all my life, but I’ve also been confused all my life, hahaha…”

"I'm the one who's been kept in the dark all this time. I'm the most ridiculous person in the world!"

"I deserve it. It's all my fault!"

"..."

Xiao Jingheng talked to himself all the way, crying and laughing, looking like a madman.

At that time, the candles in Pingyang Hou's house were bright, red silk was hung high, and the big red "囍" character on the lantern flickered.

The mansion was quiet; the bustle of the day was drowned out by the dead silence of the night.

In the main hall, Marquis Pingyang and his wife and Old Madam Xiao sat quietly on wooden chairs, their brows furrowed and faces full of worry.

It was supposed to be a grand event that brought joy to the whole family, but for some reason it suddenly turned out like this.

On the wedding day, after sending the bride to the bridal chamber, the groom hurriedly left the house and disappeared.

When they saw Xiao Jingheng, drunk and distraught, being helped back by Huai'an, the anger they had suppressed for a day and the reproaches on their lips turned into worry in an instant.

It was because they had never seen Jamel Xiao behave so mischievously.

A healthy person seemed to have lost his vitality after going out, with a gloomy and depressed look.

So they said nothing, but just had him helped back to the yard and ordered the servants to cook some sobering soup.

"Help me go to the study." Xiao Jingheng closed his eyes and raised his hand to pinch his eyebrows.

Huai'an had no choice but to do as he was told.

In the study, he sat at the desk, staring at the portrait in his hand with affectionate and sad eyes.

The portrait shows a girl in a plain white dress and a garland on her head, standing under a peach tree in spring, with a charming smile on her face.

That was in his previous life, the first time he saw the grown-up Jiang Wantang in the Prime Minister's Mansion.

After returning home, he couldn't help but draw such a portrait and kept it as a treasure.

Now that I think about it, it was that first sight that made me fall in love with you.

Xiao Jingheng half-closed his eyes, his gaze through the candlelight, vaguely seeing Jiang Wantang with a smile on his face, walking towards him step by step...

It was Jiang Wantang from the wedding in the previous life.

She was wearing a bright red wedding gown, a phoenix coronet, and a bridal robe. A hint of shyness lingered between her eyebrows, her cheeks flushed, her pair of affectionate peach blossom eyes sparkled, and the teardrop mole at the corner of her eye was enchanting and charming...

One glance makes your heart tremble.

She was getting closer and closer, as if I could touch her with my hand.

Xiao Jingheng's dead heart seemed to come alive again in an instant.

His blood began to burn, and the surging agitation made his hands tremble slightly.

This was too beautiful and too tempting for him...

So he stretched out his hand with all his strength, trying to grab the girl's slender and tender white hand and hold her in his arms.

"Tang'er..." He called her name affectionately.

But the night that he could not grasp slowly dispersed in his palm.

How could he forget it?

He watched with his own eyes as his Tang'er entered the palace and no longer belonged to him...

He wasn't actually drunk.

I just couldn't accept it, so I wanted to numb myself by getting drunk.

But even though he drank a lot of alcohol, his mind was still clear.

At this moment, a loud noise came from outside the study...

"Go away!"

"Jiang..., Madam..., the master has ordered that no one is allowed to enter and disturb us." Huai'an said loudly.

"If you stop me again, I'll kill you!"

Jiang Wanfu was furious and had no good intentions.