In Concubine Chu's palace.
"Your Majesty, I heard from my informant that the Emperor is planning to leave the palace soon, and he'll take Dongfang Yi with him. There are too many people in the palace, and it's not convenient for us to take action. But, Your Highness, once they're out of the palace, whether they live or die will be up to Your Highness's word."
A sly glint flashed in Concubine Lian's eyes, and even her tone of voice changed.
"Hahaha, you're right. Dongfang Yi dares to fight against me. I'll surely make her die a miserable death." Concubine Chu laughed wildly, and a strange atmosphere permeated the entire palace.
Dongfang Yi didn't leave Concubine Luo's palace until it was getting dark. She left reluctantly, taking Xiaoxin with her.
She never expected to meet a woman like Concubine Luo. Unlike other women in the palace who only knew how to fight for the Emperor's favor or had other ill intentions, she was smart, lively, and not restricted by the feudal system.
It was a pity that she was born in the wrong era.
"Alas—" Dongfang Yi sighed, and the sound was especially clear in the silent and empty palace.
"Why is the Empress sighing?" A male voice came from behind.
Dongfang Yi turned around abruptly and saw Helian Qi standing in the night, holding a palace lantern. He was dressed in a black robe embroidered with golden dragons and auspicious clouds in gilded thread. How noble he looked!
"Your servant pays respects to the Emperor." Dongfang Yi bowed slightly.
Then she said, "Your servant sighed because of the scenery. Spring is almost over, and the flowers in the garden will wither soon. In this huge palace, apart from this yard full of flowers, there's nothing else worth seeing..."
As she was speaking, she suddenly felt that what she said might be a bit inappropriate. How could she say something bad about the Emperor in front of him...
So she stammered to patch things up, "Of course, your servant doesn't find it boring at all, because the Emperor is the most handsome in the palace. The Emperor's appearance is much more beautiful than all the spring flowers in the garden!"
After saying that, she looked up at Helian Qi timidly, as if testing, "Hehe... the Emperor is the most handsome..."
"Oh? Am I really the most handsome?" Helian Qi took two quick steps with the lantern in his hand and came in front of Dongfang Yi. Then he lifted her chin with one hand and asked.
Dongfang Yi averted her eyes and thought to herself: This Emperor really likes to lift people's chins.
Seeing that Dongfang Yi seemed to be in a daze, Helian Qi increased the strength of his hand. The action of pinching her chin even made Dongfang Yi feel a bit of pain.
She quickly pushed away his hand that was holding her firmly and jumped to the side, rubbing her chin and saying, "Of course, of course. You're the most handsome in the whole palace, Your Majesty!"
Hearing Dongfang Yi's response, Helian Qi straightened his body proudly.
"I'll escort you back to your palace," Helian Qi said, and then continued walking forward with the lantern.
What? Escorting me back to my palace? Dongfang Yi quickly followed behind Helian Qi. Xiaoxin also quickened her steps to follow the two masters in front.
Xiaoxin was terrified looking at the two masters. One was the Emperor, who was said to be extremely majestic and lofty, and the other was the Empress, who had whipped someone without hesitation this morning. Just thinking about it made her sweat turn cold.
"Your Majesty, don't you have any official documents to read today?" Dongfang Yi asked.
"No," Helian Qi replied coldly.
"Your Majesty, don't you want to visit any other concubines today?" Dongfang Yi asked again.
"No," Helian Qi still replied coldly.
"Your Majesty! ... Your servant is not feeling well today!" Dongfang Yi stammered.
"I think you look lively enough," Helian Qi didn't even look at her.
"But Your Majesty..." Dongfang Yi wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Helian Qi, "What else does the Empress want to say?"
Dongfang Yi, who was walking with her head down, bumped into his back.
"Ouch... ouch... it hurts," she bared her teeth and cried out in pain.
Helian Qi turned around and squinted at Dongfang Yi, who was holding her head. Then he asked, "Where is the Empress's mind wandering? Hmm?"
This question was so cold that Dongfang Yi's action of rubbing her head froze. She cursed herself in her heart. How stupid she was! She was the Empress, so she must have already had that kind of relationship with Helian Qi. Refusing him with random excuses now was just angering him.
"Um... I..." Dongfang Yi stammered, trying to say something.
"I?" Helian Qi raised his voice and questioned.
"No, it's just that your servant wasn't thinking about anything," Dongfang Yi said.
Dongfang Yi's teeth were chattering. She didn't know why, but whenever she faced Helian Qi, her intelligence and fierceness seemed to disappear. All that was left was shyness and uneasiness.
Finally, they arrived in front of the Empress's palace. But Helian Qi didn't stop. He was clearly heading towards the Qianqing Palace.
Didn't he say he didn't have any official documents to approve? Dongfang Yi thought, but still bowed slightly towards his figure and said, "I respectfully see off the Emperor."
It was obvious that the figure in the distance paused for a moment, and then strode away.
About three or four days had passed since then, and Helian Qi hadn't come to the Empress's palace. She didn't know if he was busy or just sulking for some strange reason.
There were actually quite a few people in the Empress's palace. But most of them were sent by Concubine Chu or Concubine Lian.
Some of them were just unknown people in the palace who she had never even seen before. Since Xiaoxin had followed Dongfang Yi, she had been in charge of both washing and meals.
When Dongfang Yi was sitting idle, seeing Xiaoxin bustling around and sweating all over, she felt quite ashamed. In this huge Empress's palace, all the work had fallen on Xiaoxin.
Xiaoxin was sweeping the floor when Dongfang Yi suddenly asked her, "Xiaoxin, are you tired?"
Unexpectedly, Xiaoxin suddenly knelt on the ground and nervously began to say, "Your Highness, did Xiaoxin do something to displease you?"
Dongfang Yi didn't expect her to kneel down. She quickly got up and helped her up, comforting her, "No, no, no. You've done a great job. I just saw that you were quite tired and wanted to ask."
"The servant is not tired. The servant is fine..." Xiaoxin tightened her grip on the broom uncontrollably. She lowered her head very low, looking submissive.
Dongfang Yi suddenly felt a bit sad. Xiaoxin looked only about fourteen or fifteen years old. In modern times, she would just be a lively girl in middle school. But in this deep and bottomless harem, she was forced to mature prematurely, and the brightness in her eyes had faded.
"Xiaoxin, why are you in the palace?" Dongfang Yi asked.
"The servant's ancestors made a living by fishing. But one year, there was a great flood in northern Jiangsu, and my father was washed away by the flood. After my father passed away, my mother had no money to bury him, so she sold me to a local county magistrate's mansion as a servant. Three years ago, when there was a selection of concubines for the palace, the magistrate's daughter was sent to the palace as a noble lady, and I was sent along to serve her. But last year, the lady jumped into a well and died, leaving me alone. In this palace with no one to look after me, I can only be at the mercy of others."
Xiaoxin told her story word by word, with red eyes and glistening tears.