Noble Consort Ning's slightly changed expression attracted other people's attention. She politely half rose of out her chair and said, "Older sister, you might have forgotten. Younger sister entered the palace when I was fifteen years old. After twenty years, my memories of my hometown aren't as good as they used to be."

Empress Chen fake smiled. A cold layer of frost appeared in her eyes as she stared at Noble Consort Ning. Her gaze seemed like it could penetrate and see through Noble Consort Ning's inner thoughts. "Is that so? This empress didn't know that younger sister's memory was that poor."

Seeing Empress Chen and Noble Consort Ning going back and forth, the other three imperial concubines noticed that something seemed strange and consciously stepped to the side.

In the end, Empress Chen still had some degree of rationality. She didn't uncover Noble Consort Ning's true colors here. She lightly glanced at Noble Consort Ning and said, "This empress is leaving. Younger sisters, enjoy yourselves here."

"Respectfully sending off Her Majesty, the empress."

Noble Consort Ning watched Empress Chen's figure as she walked farther away. Although Noble Consort Ning's expression hadn't changed much, her nails were deeply sunk into her palms and her teeth were clenched together. She didn't return to her senses until someone called out to her.

With great difficulty, she was able to force herself to smile and say, "Oh, I'm not feeling well. I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy the flowers with younger sisters today. I'm going back to rest first. Younger sisters, sit here and enjoy the view.

The three imperial concubines politely exchanged a few more words with Noble Consort Ning before she left. They only thought she wanted to go back because she wasn't in a good mood after being stung by Empress Chen's words. Thus, they didn't think there was anything serious about this. After all, it wasn't unusual for Empress Chen and Noble Consort Ning to not get along.

Empress Chen and Wei Luo walked around the lakeside in the western part of the palace. By the time they had walked half of the circumference of the lake, it had gradually become windier, so they walked back to Qing Xi Palace. Although it was spring, there was still a spring chill in the air that couldn't be ignored, especially the cold snap during the past few days. If they weren't careful, they might catch a cold.

Zhao Liuli was currently sick for this exact reason. She had been exposed to chilly winds for too long on New Year's Eve. Then, later on, she had tired herself out too much. She had been bedridden for several days.

Empress Chen had the imperial physicians check Zhao Liuli over. They had all said that there wasn't anything seriously wrong with the princess's body. Logically, she should have already recovered from her sickness. She was just feeling depressed and anxious and this was why her sickness had lingered until now.

Empress Chen didn't have any other ideas. She could only have Wei Luo come to the palace to ease Liuli's anxiety. She didn't know what Liuli was secretly worrying about for her to become this distressed.

Wei Luo obeyed Empress Chen's order and came to Chen Hua Hall. She heard from the palace servants that the princess was in the heated room and started walking in that direction. When she came inside, she saw Zhao Liuli half-lying on the couch near the window with a blanket embroidered with purple birds covering her body. Half of her hair was scattered over her shoulders and her small face was very pale and listless. Since the time that Zhao Liuli's health had taken a turn for the better, she hadn't been sick for a long time. Seeing Liuli's desolate expression, Wei Luo felt her heart aching.

"Liuli, what are you look at?" Wei Luo sat down on a nearby rosewood stool.

Zhao Liuli was startled by the sudden sound. When she hurriedly raised her head, Wei Luo saw that her cheeks had become thinner, which made her limpid eyes seem even bigger.

Seeing that it was Wei Luo, she let out a sigh in relief and said, "Ah Luo, why is it you?"

Wei Luo smiled and asked, "Who else would it be? The empress is worried about your health, so she had me come here to see you." As she said this, she lowered her gaze and saw the rabbit carving in Liuli's hand. "Are you feeling better? What's that? Let me see."

Zhao Liuli didn't let go of the carving. The corners of her lips curved up and she said, "Older brother Yang Zhen carved this for me."

Wei Luo looked away. No wonder Liuli had looked so entranced when she was looking at the carving before. So, she was thinking about Yang Zhen again. Silly girl, she had such a one-track mind. Once she had her mind set on someone, she would never change her mind. Wei Luo couldn't resist sighing. "I asked Zhao Jie to make discreet inquiries about Yang Zhen's current situation. Do you want to hear about it?"

Zhao Liuli's eyes brightened and she impatiently nodded.

Wei Luo said, "He fought with the enemy head-on twice and was awarded for his meritorious service each time. Right now, he's already been promoted to wei can general. He'll probably be coming back to the capital soon."

(T/N: Wei can general is above lieutenant general and below a full general.)

Then, she took out a letter from her sleeve and handed it over to Zhao Liuli. She said, "This letter was written by Yang Zhen. His courage was certainly big. He actually asked older brother Prince Jing to help him deliver this letter since things can't be easily sent into the palace."

Zhao Liuli accepted the letter. She didn't have time to respond to Wei Luo's teasing. She hurriedly opened the letter and read it.

The letter wasn't long. There were only a few sentences. Yang Zhen didn't know how to write many words. When Zhao Liuli had come back from class as a child, she would call him into the room and secretly teach him how to write.

After reading the contents of the letter, Zhao Liuli blinked and teardrop after teardrop dripped down from her eyes. A moment later, her tears had dampened the letter.

Startled, Wei Luo asked, "What's wrong? What did he write in the letter?"

Zhao Liuli rubbed her eyes and spoke in a low, muffled voice, "Older brother Yang Zhen was injured."

Wei Luo asked, "Is it serious?"

Zhao Liuli shook her head. "He didn't say." There weren't many words in the letter. Yang Zhen had only written that he received a chest wound by the rebel army, but he didn't say how serious it was. But Zhao Liuli knew that he liked to hide information about himself and rarely let told her anything. The injury was probably very serious. Otherwise, he wouldn't have written that she should marry someone else if he didn't come back.

During this recent period, Empress Chan had become more pressuring towards finding her a husband and had rejected all the excuses she had thought of.

If Yang Zhen didn't come back, what would she do?

~

On the other side, Noble Consort Ning's expression was unpleasant as she sat in a rosewood chair inside her room.

Seeing her expression, Yang Mama, who was one of her personal servants, comfortingly said, "Your Highness, what's there to be angry about? Her Majesty said those words to upset you because she can't obtain His Majesty's favor. Doesn't that show how important you are to His Majesty? From this servant's perspective, you should cool your temper. Isn't His Majesty going to come here tonight? You should put these troublesome thoughts to the side. It's more important to serve His Majesty well." She smiled and added, "If you have his Majesty's favor, what's there to be afraid of?"

Noble Consort Ning squeezed the armrest. She wasn't that angry. She just felt anxious because Empress Chen had suddenly mentioned what had happened back then. She kept thinking that Empress Chen must know something.

She waved her hand and said, "Never mind. Bring me a cup of tea. I'm thirsty."

Yang Mama nodded and left the room.

Shortly after, she heard footsteps from behind and a cup of tea was placed on the eight-immortal style table. Noble Consort Ning thought Yang Mama had come back and didn't spare another thought. She picked up the light yellow cloisonné cup that had a pattern of orchids and took a sip. She furrowed her eyebrows and said, "Why is it cold?"

A voice that sounded old said, "Your Highness, please calm you anger. This servant will get Your Highness another cup of tea."

Noble Consort Ning noticed that something was wrong and turned her head to look behind her. "What happened to your voice? It doesn't sound the same as normal..."

Before her sentence was finished, she suddenly stopped.

This grey-haired, coarse-looking woman with a deeply wrinkled face wasn't Yang Mama.

Noble Consort Ning eyes widened her eyes and fearfully asked, "Who are you? Why are you here?" After saying these words, she wanted to call out for the other servants to come here.

But, the old woman was faster than her and had already reached her side with her face lifted up. "Your Highness, have you forgotten me? I'm Qing Fei. This servant served you fifteen years ago."

Qing Fei. Qing Fei was a servant girl that had entered the palace with her... Noble Consort Ning could no longer hide the surprise and horror in her eyes. She tightly clutched the armrest and asked, "Why are you here? Didn't you leave the palace?"

Back then, Qing Fei had known the truth. Noble Consort Ning had decided it would be dangerous for her to stay at her side, but she also couldn't bear to kill her, so she released her from the palace and married her to a faraway place.

She never expected that she would still come back!

Qing Fei lowered her head and said, "Your Highness, you don't know. Although this servant hasn't been in the palace during the past years, I still couldn't escape condemnation of my conscience. There wasn't a single day when I didn't feel guilty towards Her Majesty and Princess Tianji."

Noble Consort Ning furiously stood up from the chair and said while staring at her, "Why are you saying these words? Tell me. Who brought you into the palace?" She still couldn't grasp this point. She carefully thought and made the connection between Empress Chen's words today. She sternly asked, "Did the empress bribe you here to say these words to me?"

Qing Fei shook her head. "It's not related to Her Majesty. This servant just whole-heartedly wanted to see Your Highness.... This servant had harmed the young princess and now this servant's grandson is facing hardship. It must be that the Heavens are punishing this servant's mistake. This servant came here to plead with Your Highness. Please say a few good words in front of Buddha for this servant. Say that you were the one that pressured this servant. This servant was only following orders. Ask Buddha to spare this servant's grandson."

Noble Consort Ning was extremely angered and her mind was also slightly muddled. "What nonsense are you saying? Get out of the palace. Otherwise, don't blame me for not caring about sentiments from past days."

Qing Fei's entire family's lives were in Zhao Jie's hands. She wasn't afraid of Noble Consort Ning's threat. If she died, the rest of her family would be safe from death. She added, "Your Highness, you have children too. You must understand the feelings of a mother when her children are faced with hardship. Has your heart not felt the slightest bit of guilt during the past years?"

Noble Consort Ning kicked her and angrily said, "Guards! Bring this madwoman away."

Qing Fei clutched Noble Consort Ning's skirt with a death grip. With a face full of tears, she said, "Your Highness, please help this servant. This servant is out of options... This servant lives in regret every day. Your Highness, why did you harm that one-year-old princess? Aren't you afraid that Buddha will punish you?"

There wasn't any sound from outside and no one came inside to bring Qing Fei away. It was as if Noble Consort Ning and Qing Fei were the only two people in the entire room.

However, Noble Consort Ning was currently in a fit of anger and didn't notice the strangeness. Provoked by Qing Fei's words, she grabbed her chin and said, "Why should I be afraid? Let me tell you, I've never believed in Buddha. So what if I poisoned her? That Zhao Liuli is just lucky she's still alive. If Buddha wants to punish me, I would have been punished a long time ago. Why delay things until now?"

Qing Fei was half-kneeling on the ground. She didn't say another word.

For a long time, the room was utterly quiet. If a pin were to be dropped, it would be heard. It was only now that Noble Consort NIng realized that something was off. They had been so loud. Palace servants and guards should have come inside to check. She had already called out a few times, but no one had come. Moreover, Yang Mama had gone to get tea. Why hadn't she come back yet after such a long time?

Noble Consort Ning's heart dropped like a stone. She had a very bad premonition.

"Since Buddha can't punish you, then this emperor will punish you." A cold, angry voice came from outside the room's entrance.

Noble Consort Ning turned her head to look and saw Emperor Chong Zhen wearing a dark green robe embroidered with a pair of dragons surrounding a pearl. He was standing in the doorway and fiercely staring at her.