In the imperial palace, the Palace of Concubine Chu.
Since that day at Dongfang Yi's place, Helian Qi hadn't visited her palace for a long time. She had gone to the Chenqian Palace to request an audience, but never caught a glimpse of him. Suspicion welled up in her heart. Had he discovered something?
Anxious, she summoned the maid beside her and said, "Go to the Queen's Palace and see if there's any activity."
The maid received the order and returned within the time it took to burn an incense stick. "For some reason, no one is allowed to enter or leave the Queen's Palace. I couldn't get in," she said, then looked up at the woman in front of her fearfully. She knew Concubine Chu had been in a bad temper recently and would often beat and scold the maids, so she was extremely nervous.
But Concubine Chu just waved her hand, signaling the maid to leave, and then fell into deep thought alone.
This didn't make sense. There had been no news of any incident in the palace recently. Why was the Queen's Palace suddenly off - limits? Unless something had happened and she just didn't know about it.
At this thought, she let out a sly laugh and made up her mind to find out for herself.
At night, Concubine Chu changed into a pure - black night suit. She secretly climbed over the wall and sneaked into the Queen's Palace. It didn't take long for her to reach the inner chamber.
The chamber was empty. Not a single candle was lit, and the quilt on the bed was neatly folded.
Was Dongfang Yi out at this time? Concubine Chu thought for a while but then immediately dismissed the idea. Even if she was out, there wouldn't be no lights in the palace. Unless... Dongfang Yi wasn't in the palace at all! Concubine Chu was startled by her own thought.
Could it be that Dongfang Yi had escaped from the palace?!
When she fully realized that her speculation must be true, a complex emotion welled up in her heart.
If Dongfang Yi went to a place where she couldn't be seen, there would be no one in the harem to compete with her. But Dongfang Yi had gained her freedom...
With this complex emotion, Concubine Chu sneaked back to her own palace.
It was already late at night. Concubine Chu thought that since the grand imperial palace was now without a queen, who else was more suitable to be the queen than herself?
But now Helian Qi had blocked all news of Dongfang Yi's disappearance. Who would think that the queen was missing? And who would think about replacing the queen?
At this thought, an idea popped into Concubine Chu's mind.
Early the next morning, rumors began to spread like wildfire in the palace that the queen had gone missing. No one knew if she had been kidnapped or had run away on her own.
When Helian Qi heard the rumors in the palace, before he could order someone to find out who was spreading them, a messenger from the Empress Dowager outside the palace reported, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager requests your presence."
He replied with a dark look on his face. After finishing the official documents at hand, he headed for the Cining Palace.
As soon as he entered the Cining Palace, he saw the Empress Dowager sitting on the grand chair, with Concubine Chu sitting beside her.
"My humble self pays respects to Your Majesty," Concubine Chu said, standing up and bowing slightly.
Helian Qi glanced at her coldly without paying any attention. He just said to the Empress Dowager on the chair, "May I ask what Mother summoned me for?"
"Your Majesty!" The Empress Dowager slapped the chair arm and shouted angrily. Then she said, "Look at the rumors in the palace. How long are you going to hide it from me?!"
The old Empress Dowager's eyes flashed with anger. She had never liked Dongfang Yi. Thinking of how she had defied her not long ago, she was even more dissatisfied. Whether the queen had been kidnapped or had run away on her own, either situation would damage the royal family's dignity if it got out.
"Mother, it's just a rumor," Helian Qi replied coldly, as if he didn't feel her anger at all.
"Then where is Dongfang Yi?!" the Empress Dowager asked again.
"The queen committed an act of great disrespect. I've sent her out of the palace to a temple last night. She can return when she shows sincere repentance," Helian Qi continued.
"But Your Majesty..." Concubine Chu naturally didn't believe this explanation and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Helian Qi.
"My love has been too idle recently. Do you blame me for not spending more time with you?" he said with cold eyes.
"No... no... I don't..." Concubine Chu replied awkwardly.
The Empress Dowager beside her also said, "Concubine Chu, the emperor is the emperor of the country. He has a lot of affairs to attend to both inside and outside the court. Don't think too much and believe these rumors."
Concubine Chu just forced a couple of dry smiles and agreed, but she was already seething with hatred in her heart. What was Helian Qi doing!
After Helian Qi finished speaking, he left the Cining Palace. On the way, Ruyi said to him, "Your Majesty, I've already found out that the rumors originated from Concubine Chu's palace."
The expected answer made Helian Qi's eyes flash with killing intent. As soon as the rumors spread, he knew it was that woman's doing. After all, he had planted informants in the Queen's Palace, and they would never betray him. Apart from them, the only people who could know about this were malicious people who had investigated on purpose, and Concubine Chu was one of them.
"Go to Concubine Chu's palace," Helian Qi said after a pause.
...
On the other side, in the south of Wuhu and north of the Yangtze River.
Dongfang Yi and Situ Qing were drinking in a tavern. After a few cups of wine, Dongfang Yi was already tipsy. Her face turned rosy, and even her eyes began to glisten with moisture.
Situ Qing looked at the drunken appearance of the woman opposite him and recalled the first time he had seen her. It was in a tavern in Dongguan. Drunk Dongfang Yi had just barged into his room. He had been on his way to kill her, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he had taken her back to his territory.
Until now, somehow, he could no longer ignore her. He even had deeper feelings for her.
"Drink, Qingqing. Are you just playing with the wine?" Dongfang Yi reached out and patted him, saying something inexplicable.
Playing with the wine? Although Situ Qing didn't understand what she was talking about, he still thought she was extremely cute. So he raised his glass and drained the wine in one gulp.
As the night deepened, all the customers in the tavern had left, and the street gradually quieted down.
Dongfang Yi was completely drunk and collapsed on the table. Situ Qing stared at her intently, a meaningful smile on his lips.
Actually, this was quite nice, wasn't it? In this bustling and warm - hearted small town, being with this cute and gentle girl in front of him, his remaining life would surely be happy.
But unexpectedly, the little woman murmured in her drunken dream, "Helian Qi..."
"Ah..."
Situ Qing sneered at himself. After all, it was just a fantasy of his own. He wondered how long it would take for this woman to completely forget that man.