After being reborn, I hugged the villainous boss tightly.

Having been back for several days, Ye Zhuxi still couldn't find her mother, and she couldn't help but feel sad.

I'm afraid my mother died in the last accident.

Five years ago, the Ye family was destroyed, which also implicated the third uncle's family. Fortunately, Ye Xiaoran pleaded for them, and they were only driven to the countryside without anyone getting hurt.

"Not even a single word?"

“Madam, we have investigated the entire capital... but we still haven’t found any news about the old lady. However, I feel that someone is deliberately suppressing the old lady’s situation,” Fu Chen replied carefully.

Ye Zhuxi frowned. When something happens to the Ye family, everyone else is trying to avoid it, so who would step in to suppress the news?

Thinking of this, Ye Zhuxi suddenly remembered someone.

"Fu Chen, you are skilled in martial arts, could you please go and take a look at the palace?"

Fu Chen was Miao Xingren's most trusted subordinate. He knew that his master cared about his wife, so he dared not neglect her.

He nodded respectfully: "Yes, I will go right away!"

Watching Fu Chen leave, Ye Zhuxi felt a pang of sadness. She had already decided to have nothing to do with those two anymore, but now she had no choice but to need Miao Xingren's help.

Fu Chen is Miao Xingren's confidant. He must know everything Fu Chen has done. This kind of invisible control is the most deadly!

……

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Imperial Palace of Daqi.

"Your Majesty, Consort Yu has arrived!"

"Let her in," Ye Xiaoran said without even looking up.

Yu Niang walked in carrying desserts and saw Ye Xiaoran concentrating on correcting memorials. A pang of sadness flashed through her heart.

She used to think that as long as she could become his legitimate woman, nothing else mattered. But seeing him grow increasingly indifferent to her, she still felt very sad.

"Your Majesty, I've made your favorite chestnut pastries. Please try some and take a rest!" Composing herself, she stepped forward with a smile.

"Put it there, I'll eat it in a bit!" Ye Xiaoran looked up and glanced at her indifferently.

Yu Niang's smile froze. She put down what she was holding and stared at him without blinking.

After a long pause, he finally mustered the courage to speak.

"Your Majesty, if it were... Ye Zhuxi today, would you still be the same as you are now?"

The name Ye Zhuxi made Ye Xiaoran pause in his actions. His face immediately darkened, and his sharp eyes turned completely black.

Seeing his reaction, Yu Niang became even more certain of her thoughts. Ye Xiaoran had indeed never forgotten Ye Zhuxi. She knew that he liked Ye Zhuxi when he pleaded with the late emperor on behalf of the Ye family.

Ye Xiaoran raised his eyes and looked at the resentment and anger in Yu Niang's eyes.

"I gave you many choices back then, but you insisted on staying here. I didn't force you!"

Seeing him look at her with such cold eyes, Yu Niang felt a sharp pain in her heart. Disregarding her status, she shouted out.

"Because I thought I could move you, I thought my overflowing love would make you see me, but what about you?"

Ye Xiaoran frowned and looked at her coldly: "Then what do you want?"

Yu Niang looked at him with red eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "So many years have passed, and you have hardly ever come to Xiufeng Palace. Even having a child with you is a luxury for me!"

Since Ye Xiaoran ascended the throne many years ago, he has not had any concubines in the harem, nor even a single child. This has caused several ministers to become increasingly anxious, with their hair turning white day by day.

"..."

Ye Xiaoran fell silent. His deep eyes were completely still, so calm it was suffocating.

Yu Niang knew she shouldn't covet his love, but after being with him for so many years, she couldn't accept that she had lost to a woman who had never helped him.

"I will obtain the throne, and you will obtain the wealth and glory you desire. I can only give you what you have now; I am powerless to grant you anything else."

See? He can't even be bothered to deceive himself. Yu Fei smiled weakly.

She swallowed her anger hard, and put on an elegant and dignified expression again, as if she wasn't the one who had lost control.

"Your Majesty, I have misspoke!"

"You must be tired, go down now!"

Ye Xiaoran lowered his eyes and stopped looking at her.

Li Si, who was guarding the door, watched as Consort Yu walked out looking dejected, and he sighed.

The emperor is also troubled because he doesn't favor his concubines.

In particular, other vassal kings were eyeing this position covetously, and he was terrified that the emperor might be persecuted and killed if he wasn't careful.

During the years that Ye Xiaoran has been emperor, he has devoted himself to the people, reviewing memorials until late at night every day, personally guiding them in everything, and treating his subordinates exceptionally well.

If such a good master is gone, who will he cry to?

After Yu Niang left, on the roof of the Taihe Hall, Fu Chen, who had been eavesdropping, looked up and met the eyes of the man who was also eavesdropping beside him.

Ying looked at the man in black in front of him. He would recognize him even if he were reduced to ashes. He was one of Miao Xingren's men.

The two stared at each other for a long time, neither willing to give in, their eyes filled with disdain for the other.

Suddenly, Ying got up and flew to the roof of another palace. Fu Chen knew that he had come to investigate the Gu family's whereabouts just like him, and followed him unconvinced.

It had been a long time since anyone had mentioned Ye Zhuxi to him. After Yu Niang left, Ye Xiaoran was in a daze for a long time. After a while, he got up and walked out of the Taihe Hall and came to a secluded palace.

Gu was originally doomed to die, but was saved by Ye Xiaoran just before she was about to be beheaded. In order to avoid the late emperor's spies, she hid in the Xiao Prince's mansion until Ye Xiaoran ascended the throne, after which she moved into the palace.

Ye Xiaoran walked in and saw her brewing tea. Ye Zhuxi looked somewhat similar to her, and seeing her reminded him of her.

When Gu looked up, she saw Ye Xiaoran standing blankly at the door. Over the years, she had seen how good he had been to her and knew why he did what he did.

But the thought that her daughter wouldn't have that blessing made her heart ache. After searching for so many years without success, she gradually gave up hope.

"What are you still standing there for? Come and have some tea. I just learned this from an ancient book!"

Over the years, the two have lived like mother and son.

Ye Xiaoran smiled relaxedly, walked over and sat down, picking up his tea and slowly savoring it.

"You've been searching for so many years and still can't find her, so just stop looking. If Ruoruo is still alive, she will definitely come back to me. You've worked hard all these years!"

Looking at him, Gu Shi's face no longer held the same determination to find her daughter.

She knew Ye Xiaoran was having a hard time. Not only did he have to be a good emperor, but he also had to guard against those covetous vassal kings. She really had no reason to trouble him anymore.

"It's alright, I'll keep searching, not just for your mother..." He paused, then continued after a long while, "I also want to see her!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Gu sighed softly and said nothing more.

Ying and Fu Chen, who had overheard the entire conversation between the two on the rooftop, gave Ye Xiaoran a disdainful look.

The intentions behind Ye Xiaoran's actions are obvious to everyone.

Ying muttered a curse under her breath: "Shameless!"

Fu Chen sneered from the side: "Your master is even more shameless, he can't even recognize his own wife!"

Ying Hui: "That's still better than your master, who is treacherous and takes advantage of people's misfortunes!"

"..."

For a moment, the rooftop was filled with the smell of gunpowder.