Ruyi quickly departed. Yang Guang’s mind was entirely focused on Yunyi and he did not notice her leaving. Once out of Chengxiang Hall, she ran at the fastest speed to where Xiao Shi resided, bursting in without waiting for announcement.

Xiao Shi was speaking with Wang Shi when she saw Ruyi rushing in frantically. She first frowned, then asked: “Has something happened?” Ruyi and Jixiang were personally selected by her for Yunyi. Since following Yunyi, they had always been very steady in their work. For her to burst in now without announcement, with such a panicked expression, something must have happened.

Having run too urgently, Ruyi could not speak for a moment and could only nod desperately. Wang Shi said: “Don’t be anxious, catch your breath before speaking.”

Ruyi made an effort to take several breaths, and once she could speak, immediately said: “Your Majesty, please hurry to Chengxiang Hall – the princess… something terrible has happened to her!”

Hearing this, Xiao Shi did not bother to ask details and quickly rose. After walking several steps, she turned back to Wang Shi: “Shunyi, you should return first. That matter we’ll discuss another day.”

Wang Shi quickly agreed: “This consort understands. Your Majesty, please hurry.”

Though she had already heard the course of events from Ruyi along the way, when Xiao Shi pushed open the doors of Chengxiang Hall, she still could not believe the scene before her eyes.

The brocade robes on Yunyi’s body had been almost entirely torn off, leaving only her undergarments barely hanging on her body. Yang Guang, disregarding her struggles, forcibly pressed her down on the couch. Jixiang desperately tried to intervene from the side, but she alone could not pull away the intoxicated Yang Guang. Instead, she was knocked to the ground by his punch. Besides this, she had several other wounds on her body, clearly having suffered much in protecting Yunyi during this time.

Seeing Yunyi being violated, how could Xiao Shi bear it? She strode forward and fiercely slapped Yang Guang across the face: “Have you gone mad? She is your daughter!”

Xiao Shi’s action caused Yang Guang to loosen his grip. Yunyi quickly seized this opportunity to escape his restraint, stumbling away in panic. Ruyi hurried forward to support the still-shaken Yunyi, comforting: “It’s alright, Princess, it’s alright now!” Yunyi did not speak, only gripping Ruyi’s hand tightly, her eyes filled with indescribable terror.

Yang Guang shook his head, somewhat dizzy from Xiao Shi’s slap, and said hazily: “You… who are you to dare strike me? Do you believe I’ll have someone… drag you out and behead you!” As he spoke, he actually pointed at Xiao Shi and shouted: “Someone come! Drag her away and execute her!”

Hearing this, Zheng Ying quickly said: “Your Majesty, you cannot! This is Her Majesty the Empress!”

“Empress…” Yang Guang opened his drunken eyes and looked carefully at Xiao Shi, then shook his head: “She is not my empress. My empress is… is there!” As he spoke, he actually walked toward Yunyi. Ruyi and Jixiang quickly protected Yunyi as they retreated.

“Someone, restrain him for me.” Xiao Shi commanded the palace servants who had come with her to block Yang Guang, then said to Hongli: “Immediately fetch a basin of water.” As soon as she had approached Yang Guang earlier, Xiao Shi had smelled the heavy scent of alcohol, but she had not expected Yang Guang to be so drunk he could not even recognize her.

Hongli quickly brought a basin of water as instructed. Without saying anything, Xiao Shi took the copper basin and splashed it directly over Yang Guang’s head, leaving him completely soaked like a drowned chicken.

It was still early spring, when the weather was warm by day but still cold. Yang Guang, suddenly doused with cold water, shivered all over. The alcohol’s effects quickly receded and he became fully alert, raging: “Who dares to be so bold as to splash me?!”

“Finally awake?” Xiao Shi handed the copper basin to Hongli and said coldly: “I was planning to splash several more basins!”

Hearing Xiao Shi’s voice, Yang Guang’s anger immediately subsided by more than half. He wiped the water from his face: “Why has the Empress come?”

“If I hadn’t come, Yunyi would have been… harmed to death by you!” Thinking of what had just happened, Xiao Shi still felt lingering fear. If she had arrived a moment later, or if Jixiang hadn’t desperately blocked him, Yunyi might have already lost her chastity!

With her words, and seeing Yunyi’s disheveled state, Yang Guang also remembered what he had done earlier. At the beginning, he had not been too drunk and vaguely knew what he was doing, but later was gradually controlled by the alcohol.

Yang Guang said dismissively: “So what?”

Xiao Shi could hardly believe her ears. Having nearly defiled his own daughter, he said “So what?” This… were these words a person should say? If this had been said while drunk, it would be one thing, but Yang Guang was now sober!

“She is your daughter, you…” Before Xiao Shi could finish, Yang Guang had already interrupted sternly: “She is not my daughter – never has been!” As he spoke, he flicked his dripping sleeves and said with a sinister expression: “Enough! I’ve endured enough, and I’ve had enough of this bastard calling me father emperor day after day, especially when she often presumptuously lectures me, saying I’m unfit to be a ruler, saying I’ve ruined the Great Sui realm. She doesn’t think about it – without me, what right would she have to stand here, what right to become a princess of the dynasty? Eating from within while helping outsiders – an ungrateful bastard who repays kindness with enmity!”

Xiao Shi stared at Yang Guang in shock, never having expected he would say such words in front of Yunyi. Initially, he had clearly volunteered that he would not tell Yunyi about this matter!

Ruyi knew about this matter, but having come in such haste earlier, she had no time to explain in detail and had only told Xiao Shi about Yang Guang’s attempt to molest Yunyi.

In the next moment, Xiao Shi again raised her hand to slap Yang Guang fiercely, but before it could land, Yang Guang caught her wrist and said coldly: “It seems I’ve truly treated you too well, making you mother and daughter increasingly presumptuous!”

“Let go!” Xiao Shi forcefully broke free from his grip and tried to calm the shock and panic in her heart. She did not want Yunyi to continue staying here listening to her conversation with Yang Guang, so she turned to Ruyi: “You two quickly help the princess back to Feixiang Hall, and remember to brew a calming tea for the princess to drink!”

The two quickly nodded and helped the still-trembling Yunyi leave Chengxiang Hall. After they left, Xiao Shi said hatefully: “Yang Guang, what madness has possessed you?”

“I am not mad!” Yang Guang said sternly: “On the contrary, I am more lucid now than at any other time. I’ve had enough of that bastard! That day, considering your feelings, I permitted her to leave the palace for recreation. What did she say when she returned? She said I caused the people of Jianghuai to be without clothes to cover their bodies or food to fill their bellies, caused them to boil tree leaves to eat. She also said I was unfit to be the Great Sui’s ruler and even forced me to open the granaries to distribute grain!”

“So you told Yunyi everything, and even wanted to defile her?” Faced with Xiao Shi’s questioning, Yang Guang’s expression faltered, then he snorted lightly: “I was very angry at the time, and with having drunk alcohol, I couldn’t control myself for a moment. But even if I had really done that, so what? Don’t forget – I have no blood relation to her whatsoever.”

“But she has called you father emperor for nineteen years, has been your daughter for nineteen years, you…”