“Magistrate Li.”

The other person greeted her upon seeing her—apparently he had come looking for her. They all habitually called her Magistrate Li. Behind him was another person.

“Is that you?”

Suzhen was somewhat surprised but not particularly shocked—it was the tall, thin attendant she hadn’t seen for a while. She had asked Ming Yanchu about his injuries before, and Ming Yanchu said that though they were severe, he had pulled through. Clearly, though this person wasn’t as close as Lian Yu’s Four Attendants, he was a confidant Ming Yanchu had cultivated who also moved about before the emperor.

Several steps away was that dark-skinned guard.

“How are your injuries?” she asked with some concern.

The tall, thin attendant bowed his head: “No longer serious. Thank you for Magistrate Li’s concern.”

“I should be thanking you.” This made Suzhen feel guilty.

“Magistrate Li is too kind. That was this subordinate’s duty. I came over because…” He shook his head and suddenly lowered his voice, whispering several sentences in her ear.

Hearing this, Suzhen’s expression changed, and she quickly followed him and the dark guard away.

Returning to the room, she had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard many footsteps approaching from outside, followed by a eunuch’s urgent voice.

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager arrives! Her Majesty Noble Consort Que arrives!”

Suzhen’s heart tightened as she looked toward the tall, thin attendant beside her.

But she discovered the tall, thin attendant’s gaze was also fixed on her, deep and complex.

The side palace was also the Son of Heaven’s quarters. However, Xiao’an and Murong Que didn’t wait for announcement and charged straight inside with menacing momentum.

In the room, indeed a man and woman stood together with their backs to everyone, heading toward the rear palace.

“I guessed His Majesty would hide someone in the side palace, but seeing it with my own eyes still chills my heart—” Xiao’an stopped and spoke coldly.

The pair slowly turned around. The man was indeed Lian Yu, but the woman wasn’t Feng Suzhen—it was Lian Yu’s close attendant, Baihu.

Lian Yu asked with a faint smile: “I don’t quite understand Mother’s words. Hiding someone in the side palace—what person, what meaning?”

Xiao’an’s expression changed slightly. Beside her, Murong Que couldn’t help speaking shrilly: “Your Majesty, why pretend ignorance? Someone sent a letter to my personal maid’s room, stating clearly that Feng Suzhen isn’t dead. I have no choice but to believe it. Where is Feng Suzhen?!”

Lian Yu’s gaze darkened as he looked at her without speaking. Murong Que felt somewhat afraid under his slightly cold gaze, hearing him slowly say: “Sister Que, I’ve always respected you, but that’s not reason for you to shout at me freely, or do you think in Sister Que’s eyes, I don’t count as this Great Zhou Son of Heaven?”

Murong Que was startled: “This subject wouldn’t dare.”

“Baihu, escort Noble Consort Que outside first.” He looked toward Baihu and gave the order.

“Noble Consort Que.” Baihu walked over and made a “please” gesture.

Murong Que looked at Xiao’an with bitten lips. Xiao’an waved her hand: “Go out.”

She bowed slightly to Lian Yu and finally left.

Lian Yu helped Xiao’an sit down, poured her tea, and didn’t speak first. Xiao’an observed coldly, picked up the tea, then set it down heavily with a cold laugh: “His Majesty is increasingly able to keep his composure, with impressive methods, hiding people securely. Or does His Majesty want to tell me this is all fabricated? But Your Majesty, you might fool Que’er, but can you deceive me? Your security here has been too tight recently—what are you guarding?”

“Don’t forget—you were taught by my own hand.”

“Today you must give me an explanation. This time, if you want to protect Feng Suzhen, unless I… die!”

Her eyes gleamed with predatory sharpness, appearing heart-chilling.

But Lian Yu only met her gaze without retreating. Finally, he suddenly stood up with his back to her. Xiao’an didn’t know what medicine he was selling in his gourd, looking at his thin, tall back with a profound feeling.

Her eyes grew colder as her hands clenched tightly on the table.

“Mother once spared Feng Suzhen’s life because of me. Now, day by day, and incited by others, she can no longer bear it. Today I won’t discuss who was right or wrong in past events, whether Uncle deserved to die, nor will I lie to Mother to save her from investigating throughout the palace.”

“If Mother wants to kill her, you can—she’s in my sleeping quarters next door.”

That he would answer thus shocked Xiao’an, leaving her momentarily speechless. She stood up grinding her teeth: “Your Majesty needn’t use provocation—do you think I don’t dare? I’ll risk tearing apart this facade between us—”

“Oh, does Mother think this would only cause mother and son to turn against each other?” Lian Yu quickly interrupted her, his voice carrying some amusement. “What we mother and son would sacrifice is this Great Zhou realm. If Feng Suzhen dies, your son won’t live alone either. Mother, this territory—relying on you, Murong Ding, even if your brother were still alive, none could defend it!”

“You can’t defeat Quan Feitong, let alone the hidden Prince Jin faction.”

“Lian Yu, you dare defy me? I hate her to the bone—just watch whether I dare or not!” Xiao’an flew into a rage. He slowly turned around, their gazes meeting as his eyes held smiles, proudly staring back.

“Mother,” he stared at her, his gaze sharp as a hunting eagle, “I naturally believe in your courage, as long as you can bear the shame of losing to Noble Consort Ai, the shame of losing the realm from your hands.”

“Noble Consort Ai seizes power, but unfortunately only she wants Seventh Brother as emperor. The realm of the Lian and Murong families will ultimately fall to enemies or Quan Feitong.”

“I think if Seventh Brother becomes king, at most you would die in hatred. If the Lian dynasty falls to others, for the Murong family who have supported the Lian since the founding—”

Speaking to this point, he slowly stopped, only staring at her. Xiao’an trembled all over with towering rage, but she couldn’t find words to refute him. Every word stabbed into her heart, wounding her bloodily!

She and the late emperor could turn against each other in the end, she could lose her love, but she couldn’t lose the Murong family’s dignity! This was her pride as a child of the Murong family. She knew he was right—in his several contests with Quan Feitong, she knew that neither Huo Chang’an, nor Marquis Murong Jing, nor Lian Jie could hold this realm. Only he could!

“Mother, you want to defend the Murong family’s dignity, and I cannot let the nation fall into the hands of someone who puts power above all else and would sacrifice the people for himself when necessary. In your son’s heart, you’re always my mother, and I hope Mother always remembers this point—never let outsiders drive a wedge between us at this critical moment.” He looked at her: “Mother, the grievances between you, me, and Feng Suzhen—how can three words explain it clearly? Your brother appears to have died by my and her hands, my mother died at your brother’s hands, yet her parents died at yours. If we truly calculate, you owe her far more than she owes you! Your son has shared pillow and bed with her, heard her midnight ravings hating you extremely, yet during the day she never mentions it. With your son’s feelings for her, she could easily use me to secretly meet with you and kill you when the chance arose, but at such a time, how can personal grudges match the weight of this realm?”

“Your son has said all there is to say. I hope Mother will think thrice. If anything happens to her in this harem, your son will use this Great Zhou realm to accompany her in death.” Having said this, he smiled and walked past her.

Xiao’an collapsed into the chair, her back soaked with sweat, unable to rise for a long time.

“Magistrate Li must be dissatisfied with the Empress Dowager. Why must Her Majesty the Empress Dowager press so hard?”

In the sleeping quarters, Suzhen paced back and forth as the tall, thin attendant suddenly spoke, defending her against injustice.

Suzhen laughed quietly: “Dissatisfied? My feelings toward her go far beyond dissatisfaction.”

Speaking to this point, she didn’t continue. The tall, thin attendant’s lips were moving when Lian Yu strode in quickly with Ming Yanchu. His mission complete, the attendant quickly bowed farewell and left with the dark guard waiting outside.

“Lian Yu, why did your mother suddenly come? How was it? Did you two quarrel?” Suzhen approached him, her eyes showing some worry. Lian Yu patted her hand, his gaze slightly cold: “I guessed that since I didn’t take A Luo back, that mysterious person’s hand would reach Mother sooner or later. These past days, I’ve not only strengthened security here but also sent people to secretly observe Mother’s every move. I’m used to handling official business in the imperial study at noon, so her coming now was most impossible to guard against. Since I wasn’t by your side, placing you in the sleeping quarters risked her barging in, while the side palace is more concealed, so she guessed you were hidden there.”

“She didn’t expect you were waiting for her there.”

Suzhen smiled, but her heart was tightly wound, not knowing whether she worried more about this woman who had truly killed her parents or about the two of them turning against each other at any moment. At this time, Ming Yanchu read the situation and quickly said: “Magistrate Li, rest assured. His Majesty persuaded the Empress Dowager. From now on, she probably won’t dare act against you lightly, and might even have to protect your safety. Otherwise, if anything happens to you and His Majesty blames her, how would that be?”

Suzhen nodded without comment. Lian Yu signaled Ming Yanchu to withdraw, stretched out his arms to embrace her, and the two leaned together in silence.

Elsewhere in the palace, at nightfall, Lian Xin received a letter Wu Qing had asked the city guards to deliver.

—Today’s incident was my drunken rashness. Tomorrow I’ll host a banquet at Wansheng Tower to apologize to you. I hope you can come. Wu Qing.

Lian Xin was both surprised and delighted, but panic and unease also rose from deep in her heart. She remembered Xiao Zhou’s pale features when she left, and recalled what Lian Yu and Suzhen had told her.