"N-No! Of course not..." I flushed.

"You don't know how to play the instrument, I don't believe you. Your lady-in-waiting must've got the instrument herself," The Emperor chuckled. "I will forgive you once, but Ying Yue, I don't forgive a second time."

I nodded. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your pardon."

"Ah, this is the guqin," the Emperor approached the instrument and sat down. There a smile on his lips. Still, it always felt alien to me.

"My lady-in-waiting really likes to play."

"Come, let me teach you the basics... If you don't know already." He gestured me to come towards him.

After an hour-long session of instrument playing with the Emperor, I soon began to feel tired. The melody of the instrument didn't help me stay awake as well. The guqin played beautifully. The way the Emperor played this ancient instrument was sorrowful. There was a touch of sadness, a tone of deep, hidden melancholy when he played. How I wish I could ask him how he felt. Being the Emperor isn't too easy, was it? I rested my head on the Emperor's shoulder. As he stroked my hair, I couldn't help but feel a hint of calmness. The silence between us, the sound of us softly breathing, and his presence... It was too much for me. I was soon going to return home, leaving him behind. I forbid myself from falling in love with him.

Besides, he'll leave me for his concubines. I would never fall in love with someone with multiple women.

"I'm tired, Your Majesty." I breathed and slowly raised my head from his shoulder.

"Why don't we go take a walk?" he suggested, just a little bit too close to me.

We faced each other as we stood up. His hands were on my waist as he leaned his head closer to me, craning his neck. I flushed instantly. I just couldn't stop myself. The Emperor kept his eyes directly on mine, while I tried to avoid his stare. We were inches away from each other, his hands were still placed on my waist. I scanned his face. How could anyone be this beautiful? The paintings and pictures of the emperors I have seen were all hideous. How could this be possible? I wanted to kiss him. His soft pink lips were practically in front of me. I could lay with him and be crowned Empress for all I care.

I'm being a little bit risky. My hormones were out of control.

I can't be risky.

"That would be pleasant," I whispered.

We walked aimlessly, the night sky dark this time. The moon was no longer full. However, the familiar sounds of nighttime filled my eyes, and I can still breathe the fresh air around me. We walked side by side. The back of our hands softly brushing past each other when our arms swayed to walk. It was a light stroll. I was tired, but I assumed the Emperor wasn't. I didn't know why I agreed to this but I did. To gain the Emperor's favour, I had to do whatever it takes.

The Emperor broke the silence of our walk. "Tell me about your family."

"Not much to say," I responded fast. "They're not here... anymore. Hua Er's mother took me in when I was small. I don't know what happened to my parents. I don't know their names, where they live, and their faces are too foggy in my memories. They don't love me nor want me anymore. Why should I dwell on that? Am I right, Your Majesty?"

"Indeed."

As I pondered about my actual family, I was devastated to be away from them. I was frustrated about the idea that I had to stay here and make an effort to get out. I was lazy. I don't think I want to put so much effort into something that wasn't even my fault in the first place. I wanted to die. Now that the darkness was ready to consume me, I think I'd rather just lay down and let it. I pleaded to go home to whoever was listening. I want to go home. In the Imperial harem, I'm especially not planning to serve the Emperor. I'd rather die in this sexist Hell-ish place. But my mind found its way back into my body and not deep below the ground. The Emperor and I were walking side-by-side in the darkness. Although I felt alone with this conflict, I didn't feel too alone tonight.

"Your lady-in-waiting's mother is very important to you, I suppose."

"Yes, Your Majesty, which is why I want her with me as a maid. She doesn't have to be my maid, I understand that might cross a few lines. But, she's not as old as you think she is! She's capable!" I began, putting my imaginary thinking cap on as I improvised my made-up story. "After she took me in as an orphan, Hua Er and I were practically sisters. As you can see, Your Majesty, we are very close. I am forever grateful for those two. I owe a lot to Lei Shu. That's why... That's why there are times I cannot sleep because I think about how terrible Lei Shu must feel right now. Isolated, lonely—her only family has left."

He didn't speak a word for a while. He probably was conflicted about how he was going to behave next. I thought if I could guilt-trip him into bringing Lei Shu in, Hua Er would forever be thankful. Then again, this might affect how the Emperor sees me. Being infatuated with a low noblewoman was unfashionable, obviously, for stuck-up royal people at least. I was no longer a low noblewoman though. I was a Noble Consort.

He slyly slipped his hand into mine, squeezing it softly. "I'm truly sorry to hear that. It must've been hard. You do not have to worry about Lei Shu tonight, or any other night. I promise."

"Forgive me for ruining the moment, Your Majesty." I looked up to give him a small smile.

"No worries," he said as he loosened his shoulders. "No problem at all."

As we walked back to the palace, I was about to pass out. My eyelids drooped as if a one-kilogram weight was tied around my eyelash. My breathing was slow. The energy I had hours earlier was drained from my body. I predicted that it was almost midnight because of the indigo sky and pure silence. I could just simply fall asleep standing up, like a horse, but my tiredness drifted away after my body was amped up from the cat-like footsteps from metres away. We were almost near the palace that my chamber was in. There was absolutely no way anyone was awake at this hour. As I slowly tilted my head to the right, my left ear caught the soft footsteps approaching us. It led to my abnormal, heavy breathing. For no apparent reason, my body was in flight or flight mode. I cleared my throat to keep myself from acting suspiciously. The Emperor continued walking casually, and I tried my best to keep up. His legs were longer than mine. However, I felt something.

The environment no longer was peaceful as I could figure that someone was watching us, I could feel it.

I began to quicken my walking pace. If I get to my room quickly, people can hear me if I scream my lungs out. The Emperor had guards, always, but he must've dismissed them for the night. My heart started to race after I slowly turned my head to the side, spotting a silhouette of a man on the stone pavement. My eyes caught a brisk movement. My instincts didn't disappoint me as I struck fast. As the man's sword was inches away from my neck, my hand gripped his wrist tightly. "Your Majesty, we are being attacked!"

"Ying Yue!" he yelled, snapping his head in my direction.

I was a few metres away from him, trying to hold off the assassin. In the corner of my eyes, I saw him sharply pull a sword from his sash. I was shocked at the sudden ambush. The Forbidden City was... forbidden. High gates, high security—how could these assassins come in here? I unarmed the assassin then quickly grabbed the handle of the sword. As I held on to it, I felt invincible.

My adrenaline was rushing, causing energy I never knew existed in my body to burst inside my veins. I began to gain consciousness and strength. I was no longer wanting to drift into deep sleep. I noticed the assassin wasn't trained properly because his punches and dodges were sloppy. And also because I had the weapon. My swift motions induced shock that was presented on the man's face. He's never seen a female fight before, I'm sure of it. With him being distracted by my abilities, I brought my foot up to connect it with his chin. I watched his head jerk up, followed by his body dropping to the ground.

I debated whether to kill him or not. He deserved to be tortured while questioned. I wanted to know who was behind this, and why. My bet was on the Empress, she has always wanted me dead. But as I faced the Emperor's direction, three men were trying to harm him. He was very keen on fighting and had incredible swordsmanship. The Emperor was definitely trained as a young child because his techniques were extremely impressive. As I watched his performance, it just didn't make sense to me. The Empress wouldn't have wanted him dead as well.

I snapped out of my thoughts. The palace would have heard the commotion by now. Imperial guards should soon be running out of the palace to help save the Emperor and me, but we could both finish them off together.

I ran over to the weakest one, giving him a hard blow to his head. As he turned around to defend himself, his eyes widened. I beheaded him with the sword. There were two left and the Emperor's movement began to become sluggish. He had great strength and agility, but because of my ignorance, I always thought emperors were always old and defenceless. Who knows how old the Emperor was. He looked young; he was maybe in his early twenties, but looks can be deceiving. Anyways, two opponents left. No distractions. The taller, chubby one noticed the death of his buddy, stopping mid-fight to look around.

We made eye contact.

"You must be a man in disguise, but I guess I'll have to see for myself," he licked his lips, walking towards me. "I never laid with one of the Emperor's whores before."

"You wish, you fool!" I scoffed as I dropped my sword.

I charged at full speed, receiving a nasty blow to my face. I was shocked for a few seconds. As I became aware of what was happening, I was too distracted. His punches began to exhaust me. As I ducked at the last punch, I forcefully pulled his arm towards me.

His body leaned closer—his body odour was terrible—and I crashed my head against his. Grabbing the back of his neck, I kneed him in the face repeatedly, then threw one more punch at him. His body, as well as the last opponent the Emperor was accompanied by, collapsed on the ground.

The Emperor and I started to breathe heavily which disrupted the silent environment. We both tried to catch our breath. As I stood scanning over at the bodies, I looked up to catch the eyes of the Emperor. He looked at me like I was an alien he wasn't afraid of, but freaked out of. Behind the Emperor, I realised the guards were just in time.

I felt out of place. They stared at me with widened eyes and opened mouths.

Jaxon.

Jaxon was here. He looked quite amused. He had a big smirk on his face. He raised his eyebrows at me. I winked.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" I asked as I approached him, my heart was about to come out of my chest, and I wasn't exaggerating.

"Ying Yue," his dumbfounded expression was humorous, but since I was coming close to a nervous breakdown, I forgot to laugh. "H-How? I-I'm..."

"Save your words, Your Majesty," I said. "I believe we should part our ways now to get a good sleep. I left one of the men alive as I was thinking that Your Majesty could question him about the attempted assassination. Goodnight, Your Majesty."

I walked past the guards as they bowed to me. I felt a strong victory in my heart.