Wang Chengbi felt a bit more at ease.
Even if Ling Shan, that lowly maid, was selected by the Empress Dowager because of her beauty and was easy to manipulate, she was just a useless chess piece that could be discarded at any time.
Wang Chengbi knew the purpose of the Empress Dowager's kind words was to make her behave herself recently.
However, for some unknown reason, there was a faint voice in Wang Chengbi's heart telling her that if this lowly maid named Ling Shan was not eliminated soon, she would surely become a great threat to her.
After all, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager and others, Wang Chengbi might be so stupid as to be annoying.
But if one were to say who in the entire harem knew Jun Wuyuan best, it would still be Wang Chengbi.
Jun Wuyuan was cold - tempered and so inhumane that hardly anyone could stir the waves in his heart.
In the imperial palace, there was no shortage of beautiful women, and those beautiful women also had the most tragic fates.
Moreover, Jun Wuyuan himself was extremely handsome.
It was said that his biological mother, Empress Dowager Yang of Jingyi, was also an extremely beautiful woman. But didn't she wither away in the previous emperor's harem?
The imperial palace of the Great Yan had seen several emperors, and the concubines in the harem had come and gone in batches.
If Wang Chengbi hadn't been too young before, she might not have entered the palace at this time.
Fortunately, she was too young then, otherwise she would really have missed Jun Wuyuan.
The moment Wang Chengbi saw Jun Wuyuan, she fell deeply in love with him.
Previously, the Wang family had only sent concubines of lower birth into the palace, but for Emperor Jun Wuyuan, it was Wang Chengbi herself who actively wanted to enter the palace.
She never thought that Jun Wuyuan would not like her.
As the legitimate daughter of the Wang family of Langya, an outstanding noblewoman from a prominent family, Wang Chengbi had enough confidence to be arrogant and look down on anyone.
But things didn't go as she wished, and she was completely defeated.
Jun Wuyuan didn't even notice her existence.
No, he didn't notice anyone.
Wang Chengbi had thought that with the power and status of the Wang family and her passionate love, Jun Wuyuan would surely notice her one day.
However, now there was someone else in Jun Wuyuan's eyes.
Wang Chengbi had never seen Jun Wuyuan look at someone like that.
It was as if a cold, ice - covered lake had been broken open, revealing a deep pool with ripples.
After just one glance, Wang Chengbi could tell that Jun Wuyuan treated that little maid differently.
"Aunt," Wang Chengbi concealed the darkness in her eyes and asked, hitting the nail on the head, "Niece understands everything you've said. I shouldn't argue with a low - status chess piece. But aunt, people's hearts change easily. If we let her get close to His Majesty now and she gives birth to an imperial heir in the future, it will take at least a year. Aunt, can you guarantee 100% that this low - status maid won't have second thoughts and turn against us?"
Half a warning and half a bit of temptation, her voice fell into the Empress Dowager's ears.
Wang Chengbi watched as the Empress Dowager's face gradually darkened. Obviously, she was thinking about what Wang Chengbi had said.
She suppressed the joy welling up in a corner of her heart and quietly waited for the Empress Dowager's reply.
Wang Chengbi didn't believe that someone like the Empress Dowager would be so lenient and trusting towards an outsider.
She probably didn't even have such trust from the Empress Dowager.
The Wang family needed an imperial heir, a future crown prince. She would never allow another woman to achieve this.
Jun Wuyuan could only belong to her, Wang Chengbi.
If Jun Wuyuan didn't plan to have children with her, then he might as well be childless for the rest of his life.
"Bi'er, you're still too young," Wang Chengbi had just had those dark and crazy thoughts when she heard a voice. Looking up, she found that the solemnity on the Empress Dowager's face had long since disappeared.
In its place was a calm expression of being in control, as if full of confidence.
"Today, I'll teach you a truth. Only what you hold in your own hands is truly yours. If I can rest assured and let her be a chess piece, how could I not have the ability to control the chess piece?"
Wang Chengbi's heart sank heavily. It seemed that her aunt was determined to let that maid seduce Jun Wuyuan.
"If you want to achieve your goal, Bi'er, you should learn well."
——
Oh no! Oh no!
Ling Shan had just dried her hair and was feeling drowsy when suddenly she sat up like a carp doing a backflip, scaring Ban Chun and the others. After they left, Ling Shan finally remembered what she had forgotten.
Jun Wuyuan had gone to take a bath for a long time and still hadn't come back.
Moreover, she was actually going to share a bed with the emperor tonight.
Oh my goodness, this was really like a miracle!
Judging from Jun Wuyuan's arrogant and pretentious nature, nothing would surely happen tonight.
Then she had to think about how to make this first night with Jun Wuyuan memorable.
A hundred or a thousand evil thoughts flashed through Ling Shan's mind. It was as if the little black figure in her heart had a yellow - glowing halo on its head.
Ling Shan, sitting upright, excitedly thought for a while and then got into the bed by herself.
The wounds on her body had been treated with good medicine, but they still ached faintly. The whole bed was filled with Jun Wuyuan's overbearing and cold aura.
Ling Shan's mind was full of inappropriate thoughts. Smelling this aura, she couldn't help but feel a bit distracted.
Not to mention, the first time they met, she had even taken off his pants.
The shock of that fleeting glimpse still lingered in her memory.
When serving him up close, she could also tell that Jun Wuyuan's figure...
One word, amazing.
Two words, really amazing.
Three words, extremely amazing.
Thinking of this, Ling Shan felt like she wanted to drool.
She wondered if that dog - tyrant Jun Wuyuan had gone to take a bath just to scrub off the dirt. Otherwise, why hadn't he come back yet?
Could it be that the water in the bathing pool smelled better than the water in her wooden tub?
However, the temptation of a wet body was indeed more alluring.
Ling Shan's mind automatically conjured up the figure of Jun Wuyuan bathing in the pool that day.
As she thought, Ling Shan began to despise herself. After all, she had seen a bit of the world. Why was she acting like this...
Shaking her head, Ling Shan forced her mind back to the important matters.
The assassination at the Luo River today, the strangeness of the assassins before and after, the attitudes of the Empress Dowager and the Wang family, the changes in Jun Wuyuan, and that antidote with big problems...
By now, the war between the Empress Dowager, the Wang family, and Jun Wuyuan was almost out in the open.
In the future, there would only be more swords and daggers, more intrigues. No one in this chess game could escape.
Moreover, she still had that damned strange poison on her body, and the Empress Dowager could currently control her tightly.
Before the complete break - up, she had to find a way to completely eliminate this hidden danger.
And then there was Jun Wuyuan's psychological warfare...
Ling Shan suddenly felt that the temptation of a wet body wasn't that alluring anymore.
There were so many things to do, and the dangers she faced were...
[Is that stupid goose already undressed and waiting for me?]
Ling Shan: "..."
Well, she took back what she had just said. The temptation of a wet body was still very alluring!