"How's the Empress right now? Did you ration his food?" Huang Shu asked the head eunuch that he ordered to ration Bai Yunyu's food. The head eunuch nodded obediently and replied,

"Yes, Your Majesty. His Highness, Empress Xiuying, only eat rice bowl and tofu, also boiled fish for dinner, nothing more than that," the head eunuch said.

Huang Shu nodded and ordered the head eunuch to leave. He continued eating his breakfast in his room. He saw the amount of breakfast in front of him. Meat, fish, herbal tea, even cakes from other nations. Usually, he would eat this every morning with his beloved wife Bai Yunyu before his wife got banished to the Cold Palace.

Of course, the urge of Huang Shu giving all this food to Bai Yunyu. Because he knew that Bai Yunyu hadn't eaten anything for breakfast. He always lost his appetite whenever he remembered about Bai Yunyu. Because he was afraid that something might happen to Bai Yunyu during his banishment in Cold Palace.

But Bai Yunyu was too stubborn, even though it was obvious that he was the wrong one here.

His wife was enduring punishment right now. Huang Shu was a disciplined man who held honour and justice for his nation piously. Even though it was difficult for him to punish his wife, he had to do it because his wife had committed a serious crime.

"And he dares to call my… our family as lesser than rats…" Huang Shu pondered. He was both furious and disappointed at Bai Yunyu. Because he always believed that Bai Yunyu was a kindhearted, intelligent, and perfect Ger man.

But Yunyu betrayed him by scheming to kill his own child, the Crown Prince.

Huang Shu stared at the food in front of him. Even though he always rejected breakfast after Bai Yunyu got banished to the Cold Palace, his mother, Empress Dowager Aixi, always insisted on eating healthy to forget the sorrow and even proposed Imperial Noble Concubine Xi to replace his wife for breakfast.

But nobody could replace Bai Yunyu at this table, just like nobody would ever replace Bai Yunyu in his heart.

…

"How does everything turn into this?" Huang Shu pondered. "I thought we can lead the empire together as a harmonious husband and wife. I've even planned on taking concubines as few as possible, just to please Bai Yunyu, but…"

Huang Shu sighed and ate a piece of sliced beef, then stopped eating his breakfast. He truly had no appetite whenever he imagined his wife's suffering.

"It's okay. I think he can survive for two weeks. Just one more week, and I believe Bai Yunyu will finally admit his mistake, and everything will return back to normal…"

***

Late at night, Yunyu saw the snowflakes started falling tonight. He couldn't sleep because his stomach grumbled too much. It had been a week since he ate almost nothing but yesterday's rice and tofu, also a fish every day, no more than that.

But Yunyu already got used to the hunger. So just to wait for his slow death, why didn't he just spend his time enjoying some small stuff?

"Urgh…" Bai Yunyu wore his patched coat and staggered as he used an old cane that Meilan took after an old eunuch died a month ago. Bai Yunyu was only thirty years old right now, but his body was so brittle and weak that he had to use a cane to support himself.

He opened the door and sat on a chair while enjoying the view of the snowflake falling and piling up the unkempt courtyard.

'Ah, Meilan tried her best to take care of the flowers, but it's too hard to do it alone. It's a bit unfortunate, though…' Bai Yunyu thought as he continued gazing silently at the courtyard.

Until he heard the sound of something moving in his direction. Bai Yunyu squinted, trying to find the source of the voice to no avail.

[P—Pupa, is there a ghost in this world? No, right? I—I mean, I'm not scared or anything, I'm just making sure!]

[Pupa: The only thing that will become a ghost in this world is you, who will haunt this cold, shabby palace for a while.]

Yunyu continued searching for the source of the voice until a tall man who covered wearing all black, with his face covered, showing only his eyes, appeared in front of Yunyu.

Yunyu was shocked, but before he could even scream, the man covered his mouth with his palm, "Ssshh, if you dare to scream, I will not hesitate to kill you!" the man threatened. The man who seemed to be in a rush finally took few moments to stare at the banished Empress in front of him,

And…

There was a spark between their eyes, like a firework. Both of them knew they had met each other once.

Probably not long ago, but not in this world.

The man's grip on Bai Yunyu loosened, but he kept staring at Bai Yunyu as their spark continued giving them such unknown nostalgia for each other.

The man slowly kneeled in front of Bai Yunyu and then asked, "Have we met somewhere?"

"W—Who are you?" Yunyu asked with his weak voice. The man was surprised by how weak and coarse Yunyu sounded.

The man took a second observation at Bai Yunyu and realized that this man was as thin as a stick, with his cheekbone protruding, but he still had the trace of beauty in him. Even without the visible cinnabar mole, the man knew that Bai Yunyu was a ger man.

But how could a ger man end up in this shabby place?

The man felt they were very familiar with each other, especially when their eyes met, but he didn't know when they met. He was never close to any ger man since he always preferred women instead. But this one…

"Have we met before?" the man asked twice. He didn't realize that he was an intruder here and made the brittle man scared.

"P—Please release me. I have nothing…" Bai Yunyu pleaded.

The man finally realized their position, but before he could say more, they heard the sound of boots and yelling coming from the gate. They were guards who patrolled around and chased the intruder who got caught sneaking into the palace.

"Maybe that intruder is here!" the commander said as they were ready to break the Cold Palace.

The man got nervous immediately. He accidentally fell few minutes before and hurt his ankle. If he got caught here, it'd be even harder to escape.

He stared at Bai Yunyu and said, "Listen, I mean no harm to you, but I will need to hide here. Please help me here, and I will help you with something else later, okay?"

...

There was no answer from Bai Yunyu, which made the man got worried, "I will not hurt you, trust me."

Bai Yunyu and the man stared again, the sparks continued giving them warmth, and Bai Yunyu replied, "You can hide behind the wardrobe. There is space enough to fit one person. It should be safe enough. I will stop the guards."

"Thank you, I am forever indebted to you."