She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Inside the Taiji Hall, the candlelight was dim.

Emperor Jing'an lay on his bed in a deep sleep, his brow furrowed as he mumbled incoherently, seemingly lost in a dream.

"don't want--"

Emperor Jing'an awoke abruptly, staring at the embroidered dragon, phoenix, and cloud-patterned curtains, feeling somewhat disoriented and unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. He recalled the scene from his dream—the Prince Yu's resolute suicide, unwilling to surrender—and still felt a lingering fear.

"Cao Chunxiang, pour me a glass of water."

Emperor Jing'an threw off the covers and sat up, preparing to drink some water to calm his nerves.

No one responded.

In the past, Cao Chunxiang stayed by his side every step of the way. Whenever he made a sound, Cao Chunxiang would come over and take meticulous care of him.

Even when Cao Chunxiang was feeling unwell, he would stay by his side.

At such times, he would let Cao Chunxiang go back to rest and have the palace servants serve him.

At this point, Cao Chunxiang would smile amiably and say, "I have served you for decades and know your preferences best. I'm just afraid that the palace servants below are clumsy and won't serve you properly."

"Your Majesty, you are diligent in serving the people and attending to state affairs every day, with a multitude of matters waiting for your attention. These tedious political affairs are already enough to give you a headache. Other matters need to be handled in a way that makes you feel more at ease."

From then on, he slept in bed while Cao Chunxiang dozed off sitting on the footrest.

When he was handling political affairs, Cao Chunxiang would stand by his side to grind ink and pour tea for him.

Cao Chunxiang was like his shadow; wherever he went, Cao Chunxiang followed.

I have never encountered a situation where I am not getting a response before.

Emperor Jing'an called out again: "Cao Chunxiang".

A heavy sense of unease swept over him. Emperor Jing'an got out of bed and anxiously searched for Cao Chunxiang's figure everywhere. Before he knew it, he had wandered to the outer hall.

"Your Majesty, you're awake." A young eunuch saw Emperor Jing'an and quickly stepped forward with a cup of warm water, his voice hoarse from crying, "This servant will serve you water."

Emperor Jing'an stared at the water cup in the eunuch's hand and reached out to take it: "Where is Cao Chunxiang?"

The young eunuch was taken aback, his eyes instantly reddening: "Eunuch Cao passed away last night."

Emperor Jing'an's hand trembled violently, and with a "crack," the cup fell to the ground: "What did you say?"

The young eunuch knelt down with a thud and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, last night Prince Yu raised an army in rebellion, and Eunuch Cao... Eunuch Cao was killed by the rebels."

These words struck Emperor Jing'an like a heavy blow to the head. His previously muddled mind instantly cleared, and those blurry images, which he had deliberately avoided recalling, surfaced in his mind with unparalleled clarity, frame by frame.

Emperor Jing'an murmured, "It's not a dream... none of this is a dream..."

At this moment, the wound on his shoulder began to ache faintly, as if reminding him that everything that happened last night was real.

Cao Chunxiang is dead, the third brother is dead, and the eldest brother is dead too.

Emperor Jing'an stood there blankly, everything around him becoming blurry, distorted, illusory, and empty.

He wandered around the palace walls like a lost soul, sometimes wanting to visit Yanxiang Palace, sometimes wanting to visit the Third Prince's palace, and finally arrived at the Golden Palace.

Inside the grand gate, a straight red carpet stretched out, leading all the way to the high jade steps. Above the jade steps stood the throne that all the people of the world longed for.

For this throne, fathers and sons killed each other, and brothers turned against each other.

Bathed in the soft, bright sunlight, Emperor Jing'an walked step by step up the jade steps. With each step, a figure flashed before his eyes: Yi Zhen, Empress Yuan Rong, Consort Ling, Consort Xian, Prince Rui, the Third Prince, and Prince Yu.

Until he stepped up the steps one by one and stood before the throne that symbolized power, all the illusory images before him vanished, leaving only him sitting alone on the dragon throne, looking down upon all living beings.

The sunlight that had once enveloped him now slanted down to his feet. No matter how the light and shadow shifted, it could no longer shine upon him.

-

Inside the hall, Princess Guangning, dressed in her inner robe, sat gracefully in front of a mirror. She dipped her finger in lip rouge and carefully applied it to her lips, making them appear bright and festive.

She put down the lip rouge in her hand, took a handkerchief and carefully wiped her fingertips. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a corner in the bronze mirror and stared blankly at the wedding dress reflected in it.

At this moment, Yun Shu hurried in and immediately saw Princess Guangning sitting in front of the dressing table. She subconsciously softened her steps and walked to Princess Guangning's side. In a fleeting glance, she caught a glimpse of Princess Guangning's reflection in the mirror and was suddenly startled.

Princess Guangning's face was covered in heavy makeup, which appeared eerily pale in the blinding sunlight, while her lips were a deep, blood-red. The stark contrast between these two striking colors made her look particularly strange.

Yun Shu's heart pounded as she stared intently at Princess Guangning in the mirror, noticing that the princess was staring at a certain corner. Following the princess's gaze, she saw that the princess was staring at the wedding dress embroidered with mandarin ducks on the clothes rack.

Unexpectedly, Princess Guangning's tears fell, one by one, until they finally joined together, washing away the indigo paint on her eyes. Her entire face, black and white, was a muddy mess, just like Princess Guangning's life, which was indistinct in black and white.

Yun Shu felt a sudden pang of sorrow. For Princess Guangning, life in the Northern Qi palace was like an abyss of darkness, threatening to engulf her at any moment. Now, after being married off to the Great Zhou, she had finally seen the light, but Prince Yu's coup had once again shattered her life.

She knew very well that Princess Guangning's only obsession was to live a good life.

In order to survive, Princess Guangning did not hesitate to pretend to be the man she loved, using this pretext to legitimately please him, all in order to gain a chance to survive with him.

It wasn't until they got separated from Princess Guangning and Prince Yu that subtle differences began to emerge between Prince Yu and Princess Guangning.

This slight difference became apparent to Princess Guangning yesterday evening when she heard that Prince Yu had sent medicine to Consort Ling.

Princess Guangning heard that Prince Yu had sent medicine to Consort Ling, and that the Emperor was unwilling to see anyone from Prince Yu's residence. So she summoned the envoys who had accompanied her on her wedding journey and hurriedly went to the palace.

Unfortunately, Princess Guangning was still a step too late.

Prince Yu has just stormed into the Forbidden City.

Princess Guangning has always been timid. She never wants to meddle in other people's business, for fear that she might accidentally get herself into trouble and bring herself fatal danger.

Given yesterday's scene, Yun Shu thought that Princess Guangning would definitely avoid it at all costs.

Unexpectedly, Princess Guangning went to the Duke's mansion and begged the Duke to take her to the palace.

Inside the palace walls, the air was thick with the pungent stench of blood; corpses lay strewn everywhere, and blood flowed like rivers.

Under normal circumstances, such a horrific scene would have terrified Princess Guangning into keeping her eyes closed. Yet, Princess Guangning actually walked through the pile of corpses, stepping over the blood-soaked ground, and rushed to Prince Yu's side.

Yun Shu thought that Princess Guangning had really fallen in love with Prince Yu because of Princess Guangning's various behaviors. However, he saw Princess Guangning come out of the palace, wash up as usual, and then lie down on the bed calmly.

Yun Shu was still worried, so he lay on the footboard of the bed, trying to comfort Princess Guangning.

Princess Guangning seemed to sense her thoughts and murmured softly, "Prince Yu is my savior, and I should go and save him too."