Having many handsome men means no worries; pampering them all keeps me in good spirits.

Mo Ting said nothing and turned to leave Chaoyang Palace. But in that instant when he turned back, Jiang Qingyan caught a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes, and a pang of heartache rose in her heart...

Jiang Qingyan was now certain that Mo Ting had truly fallen for her... and she had indeed fallen for Mo Ting as well...

"Your Majesty, let me help you change your clothes." Ning Ruyu's soft voice rang in Jiang Qingyan's ears, pulling her back to reality.

Jiang Qingyan snapped out of her reverie, reached out and smoothed the stray hairs at Ning Ruyu's temples, and said softly, "Yu'er, be good, go to sleep by yourself, okay? I still have some official business to attend to, so I'll head back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation first."

Ning Ruyu's hand, which was draped over the dragon robe, paused slightly, and her mood plummeted... The Emperor had just summoned her here, and now he was leaving her alone again...

Ning Ruyu composed herself, forced a smile, and said sensibly, "Alright, Your Majesty, please rest early after you've finished your work."

Jiang Qingyan smiled with satisfaction, reached out and cupped Ning Ruyu's small face, gently kissed her forehead, and then strode away.

Upon arriving at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Jiang Qingyan took off her clothes one by one, picked up a bronze mirror, looked at her back, and laboriously turned her head away.

Looking at the two bloody, mangled wounds on her back, covered by a dense array of scars of varying sizes, Jiang Qingyan frowned. She hadn't expected the Empress Dowager to be so ruthless! And that palace maid, Yinxing, was just as cruel!

Jiang Qingyan picked up the wound medicine again and carefully applied it, even applying it to her old wounds. Regardless of whether it would heal or not, she would apply it first and see if it would make her mind clear.

Meanwhile, in Yongshou Palace, Empress Dowager Rui was leaning against her couch, listening to Yinxing's report, "Your Majesty, the Regent has been dismissed by the Emperor, and tonight's consort will be Consort Ning."

The Empress Dowager smiled with satisfaction. Sure enough, a son is born from a beating! Then she raised an eyebrow and whispered, "Yinxing, go and summon that person to the palace. Tell him I have something important to discuss with you."

Yinxing nodded, bowed respectfully, and quietly left the palace.

Shortly after, a man in black entered Yongshou Palace with Yinxing. He bowed to the Empress Dowager and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects. May I ask what important matter Your Majesty has summoned me to the palace so late at night?"

Upon seeing this, Yinxing immediately retreated, closed the door, and stood guard vigilantly.

The Empress Dowager quickly stood up and helped the man in black up, her face beaming with smiles. "Did I disturb your rest by calling you into the palace so late?"

The man in black shook his head. "I did not disturb you. In my heart, the Empress Dowager's affairs are of utmost importance."

The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction, then took his hand and led him to sit down by the bed, pouring him a cup of tea.

"I summoned you here today to discuss the matter of the Regent." The Empress Dowager took a sip of tea, then looked up at the man in black and asked, "Have you heard about the Regent's affair with the Emperor?"

The man in black paused, his hand holding the teacup still. "Your Majesty... has heard..."

"This regent can no longer be allowed to live. You should gather your confidants and quickly devise a plan to remove him from his position." The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes. "Once he is no longer the regent, he is at my disposal."

The man in black put down his teacup, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to the Empress Dowager, and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I obey your command."

Having said that, the Empress Dowager lifted her leg and straddled the man in black…

Jiang Qingyan, Mo Ting, and Ning Ruyu, however, all spent a sleepless night...

The next morning at court, Mo Ting was positioned much further away from Jiang Qingyan, so far that Jiang Qingyan could no longer see him out of the corner of her eye…

Until the end of the court session, the two did not exchange a single word, nor even make eye contact...

A pang of heartache inexplicably flashed through Jiang Qingyan's heart. She didn't want things to be like this, but she didn't want Mo Ting to know about the injury on her back. In short... she would coax him after the injury healed!

On the city wall, Jiang Qingyan lowered her head and watched the wedding procession go by. She sighed inwardly: You know what, you really have to admit, if I didn't know that the person was Yi Luo, he would look exactly like Lu Nian! Whether it's the voice, the figure, or the facial features, they are exactly the same!

When Lu Nian comes back, I'll make them stand together and see if there's any difference!

Three days later, Jiang Qingyan's back wound had completely healed, and there was no scar left. She took out a bronze mirror and looked at herself. The imperial physician's medicine was quite effective! The old scars had all disappeared, and her skin had become smoother.

Fortunately, Chen Su had already gotten dressed and was about to go find Mo Ting when the sound outside the door caught her attention.

At this moment, a heavily wounded Imperial Guard knelt outside Chaoyang Palace, requesting an audience. Jiang Qingyan quickly let him in, looked him up and down, and asked:

"Are you a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who went to the Southern Frontier with Lu Nian?"

The Imperial Guard bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it is indeed you."

Jiang Qingyan glanced at the wound on his face and the bloodstains on his clothes, frowned, and a vague unease rose in her heart. Her tone also carried a hint of worry:

"Why are you the only one returning to the city? Where is Lu Nian?"

"General Lu, he..." The Imperial Guard stammered...

"Stop dawdling! Tell me right now, what happened to Lu Nian?" Realizing things might be going badly, Jiang Qingyan slammed her hand on the table, somewhat angry.

"General Lu is dead... all the other Imperial Guards are dead too, only I am left..." The Imperial Guard's voice was choked with sobs, "It was General Lu who risked his life to save me, ordering me to return alive and tell the Emperor... the Southern Frontier has been captured..."

Jiang Qingyan was somewhat incredulous. Lu Nian was so strong, how could he have died like this? Besides, he had top-quality wound medicine… No, he couldn't be dead…

"Did you see Lu Nian's body with your own eyes?" Jiang Qingyan's voice trembled slightly.

The Imperial Guard wiped away his tears, pondered for a moment, and said, "No, not at all... At the time, we forced the King of Southern Xinjiang to write a letter of surrender and announced it to the people of Southern Xinjiang. On the way back to Da'an with the King of Southern Xinjiang, who would have thought that we would encounter an ambush by the Xia Kingdom, and the King of Southern Xinjiang was killed in the chaos of war..."

"What happened next? Tell me quickly!" Jiang Qingyan asked anxiously.

"General Lu rescued me and hid me behind a tree. After giving me his instructions, he faced the enemy alone. I saw with my own eyes that General Lu was hit by an arrow and fell off a cliff..." After saying this, the Jinyiwei trembled as he took out a bloodstained letter of surrender from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands.

Jiang Qingyan took the letter of surrender and slowly opened it. As she read the words, her mind involuntarily drifted back to the moments she had shared with Lu Nian. Taking over Southern Xinjiang was clearly a good thing, and something she wanted, but…

In truth, Jiang Qingyan didn't have much of a chance of winning the matter in the Southern Frontier, nor did she believe that Lu Nian would risk his life to accomplish it. But now, she realized that she had underestimated Lu Nian...

If she hadn't sent Lu Nian to launch a sneak attack on the southern border, Lu Nian wouldn't have... Jiang Qingyan was immediately filled with grief, she wanted to see him alive or dead!

Jiang Qingyan, fighting back tears, looked at the Imperial Guards and choked out, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and take your men to search down the cliff!"

Furthermore, Jiang Qingyan decided to personally travel to the Southern Frontier to search for Lu Nian's whereabouts. She refused to believe that Lu Nian had died so easily; she had to find him, whether he was alive or dead… If Lu Nian was still alive, she would treat him with utmost sincerity from now on…