The harem has been fairly peaceful. Chang Ying and I managed the harem together we make a great team. We always did. She sat across from me with a smug look on her face as she held the teacup in her hand.

"The 'Empress' seat is still vacant," Chang Ying remarked. "The Empress and her mother are in the Cold Palace. His Majesty still doesn't know what to do with them. I say both of them get executed, regardless if Her Majesty is carrying his child."

I wasn't very ambitious in terms of being the step-empress. I couldn't care less. If anything, I'd like to see Chang Ying as the next empress. She'd make a good one as well. The Emperor loved her, and she loved the Emperor. They loved each other. She wasn't the favoured consort for no reason.

Besides, Chang Ying was my friend and I could never compete with her.

"His Majesty will definitely choose you," I reassured her.

Chang Ying laughed. "I told you I never want to be the next empress... Perhaps it'd be nice but we might not even have a step-empress."

I didn't know how to respond. I was still starstruck over myself. I paid every servant that helped me with the operation well, but I couldn't face the fact that the Empress will no longer have her title.

Wow. I am such a queen.

This was still surreal to me. Now the entire harem acknowledged me, they looked at me with more respect now that they know the Empress is gone. They knew it was because of me. I don't know why they are paying respect to me now, knowing that they probably won't get the title.

"I also need you to deal with something," Chang Ying got up from her chair as if she was about to go. "I have duties, but apparently Noble Consort Qi has been speaking ill of the Emperor—she claims that the Emperor has been drooling recently."

Niu Lin and her big mouth. This time, I was thankful she had a big mouth.

I chuckled. "Is that true?"

"I have no idea," Chang Ying shrugged. "When I was with him, he'd never drool. I guess the entire situation has him stressed and he's been taking medicine for a good rest. If you'd confront her for me, I'd appreciate it!"

"Of course." I smiled before Chang Ying left.

The Emperor's saliva is one of the ingredients to get me back home. I couldn't help but have the biggest smile on my face. My cheeks were starting to hurt. I had to tell Jaxon. Hua Er stood behind me, waiting for me to stand up but I didn't.

Hua Er didn't question me. I poured myself another cup of tea and took a sip, letting the warm liquid flow down my throat. The warmth was what I needed. My thoughts were still focused on the ingredients I was supposed to gather. Time was on my side, it always was. I started to realise that. I embraced this journey.

When I poured myself a second cup of tea, I sat in silence. Hua Er chose to sit down next to me. She eyed my hand that was holding the handle of the teapot. "When are you going to confront Lady Niu Lin?"

"Not anytime soon, Chang Ying can wait," I replied, then looking at Hua Er as I pressed the cup to my lips. Hua Er smirked at my informal speaking of Chang Ying. "I need to speak to Lan Yun first."

It didn't take long for Jaxon to appear in my bedroom. He towered over me as I giggle under his stare. I don't know what he did to have the Emperor dote on him because Jaxon was no longer a guard. He was now an advisor. The two men that I kissed were probably having casual political conversations with each other.

Jaxon was listening to the Emperor and his main advisor talk in which Jaxon chose to chime in. The Emperor and his advisor looked in awe. Well, that's what Jaxon told me at least. The Emperor probably casually looked at him and told him he'd be an advisor instead.

Who knows.

The Emperor deserved better. If he found out Jaxon and I were secretly meeting up with each other, I would be screwed. We both would be screwed. We've been careful and discreet, but I was still paranoid.

I had a strong feeling that everything was in my favour. No matter what happened to me, it happened for a reason.

It was time to be strong, stronger than ever.

"Look at you," Jaxon looked at me thoughtfully, staring at me with deep admiration. "Beautiful. Like you haven't created two master plans and succeeded."

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide the biggest smile on my face. "I have something you'd love to hear. It's good news."

"" Jaxon sat next to me on my bed.

"The Emperor drools," I began. "I'll sleep with him tonight and collect his saliva. I am still perplexed by the absurdity of the recipe, and we aren't quite sure if it works. But we'll be one ingredient closer to freedom."

I felt his strong arms around my waist. He embraced me, but when he pulled back, I noticed a frown on his face. For once, I looked more enthusiastic than him. He darted his eyes away from me and I felt the uncomfortable silence between us.

"By sleeping, you don't mean..." Jaxon said softly, his voice trailed off as he waited for me to respond.

"Definitely not," I remained neutral. ""

Jaxon looked off. He bored his eyes into mine and didn't blink. I couldn't read whatever the hell he was trying to express to me. The sexual tension was incredible in this room. He grabbed my hand and placed it on his thigh, and overlapped it with his larger hands.

We stayed silent for a while until I broke it. "The Empress title is vacant... Should I? I mean, I don't know. I feel like I'm betraying the Emperor. I-It's hard. I can't think straight. Being here drives me insane, but it's not like I'm rushing to get home."

"Wait... One of the ingredients is the strand of hair of an empress," Jaxon straightened his back, firmly pressing his hand on the back of mine. "If you become empress, you can—"

I shot up. I looked down at Jaxon. Out of shock, my jaw was wide opened and I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. How was I so stupid? I should be racing to be the next empress by now.

Laughter escaped from my lips, confusing Jaxon completely. He raised an eyebrow calmly at my behaviour. I grabbed his shoulder as I leaned down, continuing to let out joy from my lips. How lucky was I? The Empress was out of the picture, I can easily pluck her hair out before. Wow. Even if I was such a mastermind, such a genius, how stupid was I to not realise I could've just yanked the Empress's hair in front of me when I had the chance?

I could've been pardoned too! I was literally pretending to be insane!

Whatever. I was going to seduce the Emperor, manipulate him, and get him to promote me as empress. The guilt that was biting my ass better stop biting because I'm still going through with it. I needed to.

After I wash the guilt away, I'll apply ointment on my butt. I also need to take a bath. I also need to stop thinking of terrible metaphors. Jaxon watched me stare off into space laughing to myself about the butt ointment joke.

Wow, I am such a joke.

"Did the soup you drink start to get into your system now? Or..." Jaxon teased, running his hand along my thigh.

I swatted his hand away and scoffed. "You put me in a good mood, so I'm making jokes with myself."

"Why aren't you joking with me?" Jaxon pouted.

"No, it is a secret joke between me and whoever is reading my mind," I crossed my arm with pride. I dropped the amusement from my face and looked at him soberly. "I have to be the next empress. I feel a burning desire. I want the Empress to hear those bells indicate my coronation. I can hear it already."

At first, I didn't care about the 'Empress' title, but now, I was ready for it. Besides, Chang Ying encouraged me the first time we met. She wasn't up for the title. I was the only option.

I sat beside the Emperor, we waited for Prince Jing to kneel before us. The Emperor trusted me next to him during a few morning assemblies. I'd usually not attend that often because the Empress Dowager would observe the court. Did the other officials like me here? No. Did I care? Definitely not. However, Dong Mei's father was out of the picture and I know everyone knew it was because of me. They'll reconsider if they want to cross me or not.

Before attending, I knew what I was here for. I bathed in fresh rose and jasmine flowers, relaxing to the beautiful notes of the guqin Blue played. Yes, she played in the bathhouse. Yes, I made her.

My nakedness is something I chose to embrace. I was also starting to embrace my maids standing a few feet away with me, watching me bathe. Besides, I preferred music while I bathed. I couldn't pull out my phone and play songs that they wouldn't understand.

I applied the same fresh scent of jasmine to my skin every time. This scent will be my signature scent the Emperor will recognize me with. I went my way to even forbid the rest of the women from using it. Whenever the Emperor smelled jasmine, he would only think of me.

The voice coming out of my throat has changed. I tried a sultry tone when I spoke to the Emperor, sometimes I forgot to turn it off when I talked to Hua Er and my maids. It did give them quite a reaction. The Emperor and I have established a great relationship—we always have but we bond more now.

"I know you chose to assassinate the late empress. Why?" the Emperor demanded. His eyes weren't pained anymore. He stared blankly as Prince Jing looked up at him with dull eyes.

I noticed Prince Jing has been tortured already. He already exposed the assassin groups' intentions, their motives, everything about them. The Emperor had already sent guards off to find them.

One answer they never got, was why and who ordered the hit to the Empress. I was sure it was either him or someone else. It was illogical for Prince Jing to want to kill the Empress. Didn't he love her?

"Your Majesty, I don't even love her!" Prince Jing pleaded.

Nevermind.

"You ordered the hit?" I was quiet the entire time, but I was so in shock, that the words flew out of my lips before I could clamp them shut.

The officials stopped to look at me. They refused to speak up against me, but I can tell there was a sprinkle of judgement in the room. Like I cared. I leaned my body to the side and rested my elbow on the armrest. Prince Jing's eyes were piercing, but I remained calm.

Prince Jing was dropped. The guards left Prince Jing along, but they still stood behind him. The Emperor was already mad and if Prince Jing refuses to answer, I was afraid that Prince Jing would go back to getting tortured. It was unethical, I know, but that was the way it was. His left eye was swollen and there was blood trickling down his body parts. One of his fingers bled.

"I hired a different group to get rid of the Empress. No one would recognize that they were different assassins," Prince Jing explained, staring at the ground. "I gave Her Majesty the love and support you never gave her. It was easy to make her fall for me."

The Emperor leaned his body forwards. He studied him with narrowed eyes.

"If anything happened, the Empress would be the first to blame because I was unknown to the assassins. You couldn't have suspected me, Your Majesty," Prince Jing scoffed. "After she did all my dirty work, I would have the last few pre-written letters sent. It would be suspicious for the assassins to only go for you and Mother too. It was efficient. It saved time."

Wow. What a jerk. I hated the Empress but Prince Jing stooped low.

Prince Jing grimaced. "So yes, I did manipulate the Empress. I could've gotten away with it if it wasn't for your meddling consort!"

That line sounded oddly familiar.

"Abominable!" the Emperor slammed his palm down and stood up.

"Your Majesty, please appease your anger." a few officials called out.

He pointed a finger at Prince Jing in fury and sentenced him to death.

"Your Majesty, you said that you'd spare me from execution if I confessed!" Prince Jing yelled as he struggled against the two guards' hold.

The Emperor was hot-headed. To see him act like this in court, was a little bit hot. The officials didn't speak against the Emperor's wishes, nor look at Prince Jing. It was amazing to see how easy it was to sentence someone as an emperor.

"You confessed with resistance," the Emperor gave a curt nod to the guards. "Execute him!"

It was around nine when I was getting my hair fixed. Dazzled with rich jewellery and the beautiful headpiece I wore, I was ready to go. The Emperor takes walks frequently at night to get his mind off of things. He never expects visits nor requests another concubine to accompany him during this time.

The summer night was bright. Crickets chirped but there were still lively birds flying past me. Dark royal blue surrounded me and the subtle breeze against my skin made me relive last summer nights, before all of this took place.

My birthday was in July. It was already the sixth month here, and I played on the summer memories I had last year. Good summer memories. A year before, I wouldn't even think I'd end up in ancient China as a high-ranking consort. If this was a dream, this was way too vivid.

I walked slowly, breathing in the fresh air around me. The air here has never been tainted by the industrial smoke. It was the freshest air you could ever breathe in. If I could bottle it up and sell it back home to polluted areas, I could make a fortune.

The flowers danced when I walked past them. Colours were strategically placed and organized to match the aesthetics. I wonder if it was the Empress's doing.

"You're not allowed to be here alone after—" the voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Warm blessings to Your Majesty," I spoke softly while I tried to bow. The Emperor hastily held my wrist and stopped me. He looked at me confusedly but spoke nothing about my strange behaviour towards him.

The Emperor and I stood close to each other. It was dark but bright enough for me to see his face and his smooth complexion of the skin.

He cleared his throat. "Do get up."

"I have a lot on my mind, Your Majesty," I peered up at him under my lashes. "I feel lost. This week has been too much for me, I hope you'll excuse my reckless behaviour."

"That makes the two of us," the Emperor responded solemnly. He held my hand, and we continued walking. "Prince Jing was executed three hours ago. His head is hung outside the main hall."

I nodded. "Good."

The Emperor kept his distance from me. Instead of holding my hand entirely and keeping me close, he dropped my hand and kept a distance. I adjusted my headpiece awkwardly. I usually enjoyed silence when I was taking strolls out, but the silence right now was not the calm silence you'd expect.

"Your Majesty, is anyone accompanying you tonight?" I asked, smouldering my eyes at him. He cleared his throat suddenly. As he turned to look down at me, I innocently tilted my head to the right.

"You're very bold, Ying Yue," he turns away from me, quickly to gaze over the flowers we were walking by. "No. I am alone."

"Ah... Will I be able to accompany you tonight? I... I don't think I'm ready but," I sighed heavily. "I just need someone to be with tonight. Just sleeping, Your Majesty... I'm sorry, I'm asking for too much. It's quite selfish of me..."

He looked uneasy. He shifted his eyes away from me. I turned away from him and braced myself for the harsh rejection I was going to face. The tension between us was thickening. I didn't want it to be. I practically needed the Emperor, as much as I wanted to deny it, I do.

The Emperor grabbed my wrist and yanked me lightly towards his body. He leaned forwards towards my face. His eyes darkened. "I don't want to sleep alone tonight."

My mind was racing with possibilities. Both positive and negative. It was a big risk that I had to take. I was concerned about the Emperor's sleep cycle and how he was drooling gallons. I wonder if Niu Lin was grossed out by it. No, Niu Lin probably licked it off of his bottom lip.

I watched my movement in the mirror as I lifted the upper part of my sleepwear to cover more of my cleavage. My skin smelled fresh after coming out of the bathwater infused with roses and jasmine yesterday. The last thing I wanted to smell like was stale roses.

My maids unwrapped my headpiece and styled my hair down. They had the idea that I was going to have sex with him.

I wasn't.

I put the small bottle with a cork in between my breasts, hidden from view. A few drops of his drool will do the trick. I can't believe I'm here collecting someone's saliva. Life is weird.

Lian Ying stood at the entrance of my estate.

As I climbed in the sedan chair, I had a sharp feeling that I will be the empress.