Jaxon watched me intently as I told him about everything that happened. I also talked about my plan. He sat on a chair with his legs spread out in a casual manner, nodding his head while I spoke.

I was overly dramatic.

My hands were waving everywhere. I gestured everything and even my heart rate was increasing. The passion I had for this was unreal. It was burning and my body was responding. His eyes followed my waving gestures and then at me while I paced back and forth as I spoke.

By the time I finished, Jaxon had his mouth slightly opened, gaping at me in astonishment.

"I can't believe you planned that without me," he mockingly sighed. "What a shame. I thought we were close."

I let out a small chuckle. "Well, where were you? You never paid me a visit."

"Do you know how difficult it is to sneak in? I may or may not have almost broken my legs," Jaxon crossed his arms and pouted.

He continued to hold his pout while I attempted to hold back my smile. It was hard not to adore him. I gave in and tilted my head at him, then laughing softly. I dropped my head down to hide my full smile but ended up making it too obvious. Jaxon looked at me with fake disapproval.

Standing a little above six feet tall, Jaxon towered over me and gently rested his palm on my shoulder. "So what can I do to help?"

"You know that assassin that I left alive?" I placed my hand on his forearm as I raised my eyebrows in a devilish manner.

"Obviously." Jaxon's lips curled slightly to match my energy. The smugness played on his face as he anticipated whatever was next.

There were still two people left to interrogate. I had a feeling the assassin I left alive was not someone that would be the difficult one. He was an easy one to question. Besides, I'll make a deal with him, something that he can't refuse. The Emperor will exile him under my influence. If he refuses, then he chooses death.

However, I'll need to gain the confidence to pull this off. If I show any weaknesses or a lack of confidence in my persuasion, everything will fall out of place. I've never done this before. Fortunately for me, that shows my morality.

Unfortunately for me, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm relying on fate and what I know. The more I step forward into this plan, the more I am afraid and uncertain.

I gave Jaxon a cunning smile. "Take me to prison."

Again, the flashbacks come. Not the flashbacks with me in the cell, but the flashbacks with Chen Xi in the cell. I already started to recall the memories of her begging me for forgiveness. She wept so hard that I felt the pain in her voice. I know I should be upset and hurt over her betrayal—which I am—but Chen Xi would have never obliged if it wasn't for the pressure.

She had to do what she had to do. I don't know if I'd do it, but family relations were extremely valued during this time. It was her own father for goodness sake. I shouldn't blame her. Then again, I felt like I was deceiving myself because I don't blame her.

The agonizing days in the Cold Palace still made me cringe. Living in such a condition was torturous for me.

Jaxon led me to him straight away. The assassin didn't have the cloth around his face. He was revealed as a man who may be approximately in his thirties. The strain on his face was present but he didn't look at me with a temper.

He looked at me in defeat.

I eyed him for a while before he greeted me unenthusiastically. I wonder if he knew what I wanted to say.

"I am not speaking to you, or anybody else." the assassin said abruptly.

"You either be executed or exiled. Which one do you want?" I crossed my arms.

The assassin turned away and scowled. "The Emperor does not have mercy... Especially in these circumstances."

"I'll convince him," I replied with confidence. I shrugged. "Wouldn't you rather take the chances?"

He hesitantly looked at Jaxon, and then at me. The sweat beads rolling down his temple and the small bob of his adam apple was enough to let me know that I convinced him. The assassin nodded slightly at me.

In silence, I handed him the letters I received from Li Feng. The papers were still in good condition. I was afraid that the Empress would notice that it was gone, but due to the condition it was in, I assumed she never touched them. She probably didn't want to look at it at all. The pain and guilt would emerge from the waters after looking at the letters.

I assumed the letter she wanted to send would not be sent until a week after. This was a big risk and I was taking it.

The assassin cautiously took a look over the letters. While he scanned his eyes over each letter, I observed his face.

"Your... group was sending and receiving letters from the Empress," I remarked. "The objective was to assassinate the Emperor... It also involved me."

He looked at me and back down at the letters. With an annoyed look on his face, he avoided eye contact with me while passing back the papers. "Yes, Your Grace. I can confirm that these letters were sent to the Empress."

"Why me?" I asked.

"That was not our objective," the assassin bent his head to stare at the ground. "Her Majesty is the one that wanted it. She was willing to pay us a good amount of money for the exchange of... your—"

"Alright, I get it," I interrupted sharply. "Why would the Empress want that?"

I watched his eyes carefully. He seemed like someone who would be a good liar. I've watched countless psychological videos to know if someone was lying to me or not. The assassin, in this case, was telling the truth.

Yes, I think I have a psychology degree because I watch a lot of psychological videos. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

His eyebrows knitted when I asked the question, and he immediately looked up at me. The assassin shook his head. "Your Grace, that I do not know of. Her Majesty is not acting alone. Between us and her, there is a third-party involvement that was kept anonymous. We were to send the letters to the Empress and she would send them to another individual."

"Letters are very hard to send to the Palace," the assassin continued. "The Empress would have a eunuch to secretly receive it. His Majesty... doesn't know about this."

Well, obviously. How dense does he think I am?

"If you look at this one," I showed him the letter the Empress was supposed to send to the assassins. "It was to be sent to your group. Are you saying that Her Majesty is sending out orders on behalf of somebody else?"

The assassin nodded. "Yes, Your Grace, but I truly have no information about the other individual."

"That's fine," I neatly organized the papers and nodded curtly. "Thank you, and I'll try to convince His Majesty to consider your punishment."

"Thank you, Your Grace," the assassin kowtowed. "I will never forget your benevolence."

Surprisingly, that went well. I think it was good to keep that guy in solitary confinement for a while. His demeanour changed. He probably did a lot of self-reflecting in there.

I wasn't Sherlock Holmes. It wasn't my responsibility to solve cases and serve justice. Frankly, I wasn't concerned with the third-party individual involved. The Empress was the person I was more concerned about.

I hoped that the Empress would reveal who it was when the time comes. I was slightly curious about the other person. I was also disappointed to note that she didn't act alone, which means she could easily use another person as a scapegoat.

"What's next?" Jaxon questioned as he stayed still. He stood as a guard outside the prison to make things less suspicious.

There was still one person left to speak to and I knew it was going to be worth it. My hands were starting to clam up. This would be the difficult part. It was riskier than I thought, knowing that the man we had just interrogated refused at first. Although this was dangerous, I was willing to take a risk.

I believe that I'm able to pull this off. Jaxon might look at me as if I was courageous and bold, but I was truly shaking at the thought of this entire scheme. Every day it gets riskier. Every day my heartbeat races even more. I arise in the morning and I get this charge of adrenaline, sparking my veins and kindling my being.

To answer Jaxon's question, I looked up at him and forced a casual expression on my face. "Hua Er and I are going to pay one of the Empress's maids a visit."

Chang Ying was the person who had strange connections with different maids of the Palace. For obvious reasons, Chang Ying was more experienced than I was. She's been here for more than six years, and not likely to leave. I never questioned how she got the maid to sit right in front of me.

The woman in front of me was one of the Empress's maids. She looked at us like two interrogating police officers, I guess I was the bad cop and Chang Ying was the good cop.

"What's your name?" I asked, gently pouring her a cup of tea. When I passed the tea to her, she meekly looked up and took it.

"Xiao Li," she responded cagily. She eyed the tea carefully for a few seconds before taking a small sip.

It was smart to choose an insignificant maid. This one attended to her, but I doubt she was loyal. Other than the maid I met back in the kitchen, this one would be harder to crack. The maid had much more experience with the Empress; she could put this entire scheme in jeopardy and get me executed.

What I've learned from the Empress's scheming, is that you have to blackmail or hold something above their heads to take advantage of the situation. Xiao Li needs a motive, and I'll give her a motive.

From the conversation with the maid with Uncle Bin, I've learned that the girl in front of me has three siblings. Two of them are suffering from hookworms and need medication. The Empress was kind enough to provide medication, but it isn't enough. The two brothers have been having serious symptoms and Xiao Li had begged the Empress to provide them with enough taels for treatment.

In regards to if the Empress did provide more support, I didn't know.

"Your brothers are sick?" I asked, giving her a gentle reassuring look that softened the scowl on her face.

She nodded. "Yes, Your Grace."

This was going to be a pain.

Xiao Li fidgetted with the sleeves of her hanfu, not making eye contact with me. I knew she felt uncomfortable in a room with three people, all staring at her like she was a criminal or something. Hua Er and Chang Ying stood next to each other. They remained distant from us.

I cleared my throat. "Does Her Majesty treat you alright?"

"Look," the maid looked up at me, finally meeting my eyes. She exhaled. "Your Grace, I don't know what you want from me, and I—not to be rude—don't care what it is. Her Majesty will know that I'm gone."

She bit her lip as she got up from her chair. "I-I just don't want to get myself into trouble. I can't afford to."

"Sit," I ordered, leaning in forwards as I watched Xiao Li look fairly awkward when she set herself back on the chair. I knew she'd be difficult from the start but I knew I could appease her. At this point, she needed to stay alive to support her family, especially her two brothers.

"Your Grace, I don't know what you—"

"You have two brothers that are in need of medical treatment."

"Yes."

"Has the Empress provided you with support for your family?"

"No."

"Would you like support for your family?"

"...Maybe."

These one-worded answers were getting on my nerves. I felt like she was a suspect of a crime and we were in an actual interrogation room. It really felt like it. She did not look me in the eyes.

I know she felt pressured to do this, but I was so driven to bring the Empress down, that I pushed my sympathetic self aside.

"Your Grace, I'm not going to do your dirty work to get back at Her Majesty," Xiao Li squinted at me. "You'll dispose of me after it's done. I'm not going to be apart of this scheme you're planning."

"Xiao Li, I'll help your two brothers out. Whatever amount of taels it'll take," I kindly spoke to her. "The difference between the Empress and me is that I'll make sure everyone involved in my plan is safe."

Xiao Li fumed. "That's a lie! Do you think I'm that naive to fall for that? ... All concubines and consorts are so entitled! They think they can get away with things like this. They think they can manipulate servants and treat us like dolls!"

Was she wrong, though? She wasn't. She could deny doing it in front of me and I'd understand. But I didn't want to let her go. It had to happen.

"I'll swear to the gods in front of you, Xiao Li," I stood up. My palms pressed onto the table. "I promise to keep you safe... The Empress won't support you. I will. Your brothers' lives depend on it, don't they?"

She was smart. As the Empress's maid, I'd assume you'd be, knowing that a vile woman like that can manipulate anyone. But I was telling the truth. Nobody can hurt Xiao Li because the Empress will be gone by the time everything is settled.

My biggest concern is if she leaves this room with haste to tell the Empress. At the same time, it might actually be a win-win for me...

Besides, that was all part of the plan.

"I'd rather die and than be your puppet—I can figure things out myself," Xiao Li scoffed. "Your Grace, don't think you can control me so easily."

"I have one simple instruction you have to do," my irritation was noticeable. "It doesn't involve harming the Empress... not at all."

Xiao Li furrowed her eyes. "What are you implying, Your Grace?"

"It involves you betraying me." I solemnly said.