Suzhen’s eyes widened, and the words “what are you doing” almost escaped her lips. At this moment, she truly feared revealing her thoughts. Li Zhaoting’s gaze burned darkly as if it would burn a hole right through her body. His lips came down extremely quickly—should she push him away or yield? The former was dangerous, the latter was humiliating—but Suzhen’s mind went blank, her instincts unable to decide in that instant.

“Sleep. But on the sixteenth, it won’t just be like this.”

The low words brushed past her cheek, and then he lay down on the outer side. Suzhen was startled as he waved his hand to extinguish the candle. It took Suzhen a long time to calm her emotions. She lay quietly toward the inner side, though she wanted to wrap the blanket around herself, she ultimately let him have it, “showing kindness” to him.

“The night still has some chill.” His voice came faintly from beside her. Soon after, her neck tightened as he reached out to pull her over and covered her with the blanket.

That night, Suzhen’s body was rigid as stone in Li Zhaoting’s embrace, thinking about many things. Fortunately, Li Zhaoting seemed to fall asleep quickly without any other movements, but she didn’t succumb to exhaustion and fall into deep sleep until late at night.

In the darkness, Li Zhaoting slowly opened his eyes, half-propped himself up, and gazed at the person beneath his pillow. His hand slowly slid over her eyebrows, cheeks, and lips.

He irritably curved his mouth, and finally let out a soft sigh. His body was slightly feverish. Not daring to touch her further for fear his mind would wander, he gently kissed her lips, got out of bed to wash his face, then returned to embrace her again.

Near dawn, Suzhen was awakened by the rustling sound of dressing. Opening her eyes, she saw Li Zhaoting putting on clothes beside the bed without summoning servants to attend him. He was very alert and immediately heard the sound, turning to look at her.

Suzhen realized it was too late to close her eyes and pretend to sleep, so she got up and said, “Let me help you arrange your court robes.”

“No need,” Li Zhaoting stopped her, his eyes showing a trace of tenderness, “Continue sleeping.”

But Suzhen couldn’t immediately go back to sleep because he was still gazing at her quietly. Her heartbeat quickened as she secretly stayed on guard, not knowing what scheme he was plotting.

“That time, do you know that the masked person who saved you at the Feng residence… was me.” He looked at her and suddenly said softly.

Suzhen trembled slightly, then saw his eyes darken again, “There were too many assassins. Rather than both of us dying there, I might as well go get reinforcements. Later, when I returned to save you, I saw you with Lian Yu together… I was very angry. I wanted to kill you both.”

His tone was calm, but his gaze was intense, staring at her. Though Suzhen viewed him as an enemy in her heart, at this moment she didn’t dare meet his eyes and lowered her head slightly.

“I’m going to court. I’ll come again tonight for dinner and to stay overnight.” Finally, that compelling gaze slowly left with the sound of footsteps.

Suzhen could no longer sleep. Even now, it was hard for her heart to feel any gratitude, but beyond hatred, her disgust for him had lessened just a bit.

Taking advantage of this, it would be natural for her to be closer to him. After a night of thinking, she clearly knew she couldn’t retreat anymore, or she would never leave the palace.

Quan Feitong had also sat in the prime minister’s courtyard all night.

“Lian Yu and I are already married, regardless of status, in both body and soul.”

Chen Jiao’s words had been circling in his mind all night.

“Rumors don’t arise from nothing—there must be a cause. It’s true, it was all true.” He laughed loudly and drank another cup of wine.

“Prime Minister, it’s time for morning court. If you don’t leave soon, you’ll be late. If you’re drunk, shall this old servant go to the palace and request leave for you?” Beside him, the steward looked at the dozen or so empty wine jars on the table and asked carefully, not knowing what had troubled his master, but such drinking hadn’t been seen for many years.

Quan Feitong suddenly stood up and laughed, “Who said this minister wants to take leave? I’m not drunk. At least, my body is drunk, but my mind is very clear.”

“I’d rather be drunk.” He laughed heartily, swaying slightly. The steward quickly stepped forward to support him, but then heard him say coldly, “She wants me to give up, but I still won’t give up—so what?”

Six Doors headquarters.

That day when Wuqing went to court, he brought extra people with him.

As Xiao Zhou was about to board the carriage, she paused and spoke to Lian Xin standing at the gate, “Princess, this subordinate is the master’s servant for life. Protecting the master is my duty. I cannot let Qinglong and Baihu sacrifice their lives loyally while I accomplish nothing. I will protect Huaisu and the young master. As for other matters, I won’t think about them anymore. Some fates, if you’re willing, this subordinate would be happy to see them come to pass and offer blessings. This is farewell—take care.”

Lian Xin looked at the pair of eyes visible outside her veil—serene and composed. After being stunned for quite a while, she slowly shook her head, “Please protect Huaisu and the child well. And even though you are now… I know some things will never change.”

Seeing her seemingly resolute attitude, Xiao Zhou didn’t try to persuade her further. Turning back, she only saw Wuqing looking at her coldly, “When my official duties are lighter, I’ll send her back.”

Xiao Zhou avoided his gaze. Lian Xin gave a self-mocking smile and slowly went inside. Only Leng Xue kept staring intently at the direction the carriage had departed.

Suzhen resumed her “pastime” of writing and drawing. Before this, she had written a letter and had Steward Guo deliver it to Wuqing when court was dismissed. Little Lu and Chen Jiao didn’t know what she was busy with—the circles and crosses on the paper were incomprehensible to them. When little Lu occasionally asked curiously, Suzhen would reply “what do children understand” and continue working intently until near mealtime when a palace maid outside announced that the Six Doors Commander requested an audience.

Suzhen’s heart stirred—Wuqing had come! Li Zhaoting seemed to have once again allowed Wuqing to enter the inner palace to visit her.

Having not seen him for many days, there was one matter she had always wanted to ask him. But previously, when her life and death were uncertain, asking would have been useless. Now temporarily out of danger, upon hearing this, she directly put down her brush and went out.

“Brother, I was just having Steward Guo send you a letter. I have something to ask you. Do you know what happened to Lian Yu’s remains after they were displayed on the city tower for two days? Were they… ground to dust and scattered?”

She grabbed Wuqing’s arm and asked anxiously.

“They say it’s at the palace’s mass grave.”

Before Wuqing could answer, someone behind him slowly stepped forward and answered her first, his voice heavy with grief.

At first glance, Suzhen was startled. This person was dressed as a Six Doors constable—a woman, but not the usual unnamed female constable who typically followed Wuqing. But she recognized the voice, staring at this person fixedly for a long while before crying out, “Xiao Zhou! How did your appearance become like this…”

The woman stepped forward and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear, “This way I can follow you.”

Suzhen’s eyes welled up as she hugged back tightly, “Aren’t you foolish…”

She managed to say this much but couldn’t continue. Xiao Zhou’s face was crisscrossed with knife scars, red flesh turned inside out, hideously frightening. She was completely disfigured, no longer bearing any resemblance to her former delicate features. If Suzhen hadn’t recognized her voice, she wouldn’t have known who she was.

“This way, even if Wei Chenghui walks around in the palace, he won’t recognize me. They say reshaping one’s appearance—isn’t this also that? That day when I saw that mysterious girl in green, I finally had an inspiration and thought of this method! After morning court today, Wuqing took the opportunity to petition Li Zhaoting, saying that although you enjoy imperial favor, he still worries about your safety in the palace and hopes to leave a female constable with strong martial arts to watch over you. Li Zhaoting summoned me and agreed.”

“How about it, Huaisu? Am I clever? The master is gone, so you are my responsibility from now on. I could even give up my life—why would I be reluctant to sacrifice a face? I’m happy I can enter the palace. What’s there for you to be sad about?” Xiao Zhou smiled slightly, her tone carrying her usual playful manner.

Knowing things had come to this point and seeing her resolute will, Suzhen realized that if she continued like this, it would only cause the other person pain. So she gritted her teeth and nodded.

At this time, Wuqing said, “Leng Xue also wanted to imitate this method to get in. I didn’t agree. I told him that for a man to enter the palace and serve the imperial consorts, he’d probably need to undergo castration first. He went crazy but said castration would be fine too. I refused him on the grounds that a Six Doors constable willingly undergoing such cruel punishment to enter the palace might arouse Li Zhaoting’s suspicion.”

Suzhen was quite shaken in her heart. After a long while, she just nodded, “That’s for the best. I don’t want him in the palace, don’t want to see him. Brother, tell him to take care. In this lifetime, he and I will have no more interactions. I will never forget what happened to Lian Yu.”

The central palace was in complete disarray at this time. After a night had passed, Aluo still hadn’t recovered. She hadn’t slept all night, her eyes were bloodshot red, and the sinister look in them was quite frightening.

Li Zhaoting had spent the night at Feng Suzhen’s place. Today she questioned Liang Song, who confirmed that the Noble Consort had received favor and was indeed still a virgin.

She knew about Feng Suzhen’s situation. This meant virgin? Either Li Zhaoting had been fooled by her, or he hadn’t yet been intimate with her, yet he was favoring her!

Xiao Shanshan and Mei’er shared her prosperity and adversity. Naturally wanting to offer strategies, but Li Zhaoting’s current favor toward Feng Suzhen, though not ostentatious, was obvious yet could be felt everywhere. It wasn’t easy to do anything now. If they angered Li Zhaoting, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Just when they were at their wits’ end, a palace maid reported that Ji’er from the laundry bureau requested an audience with the Empress.

Mei’er said impatiently to the palace maid, “Tell that servant girl and Executive Qi to give Feng Suzhen some trouble in the laundry bureau, but it turned out like this and Feng Suzhen bit back. The Empress not blaming them is already great mercy—does she still want a reward? What timing! How annoying. Tell her to get lost.”

She was a senior maid. The palace maid was about to comply when Aluo said, “Wait, let her in. Let’s hear what she has to say. At this juncture, she wouldn’t dare come for rewards either.”

Soon, Ji’er was brought in. Upon seeing Aluo, she immediately knelt and bowed, “Your Majesty, this servant has something to report regarding that Feng Suzhen’s… chastity. One night this servant secretly followed her out and saw her in an abandoned palace having a tryst with a man. Although the distance was great and I couldn’t hear clearly what they said, I could see clearly that the man embraced her. In this servant’s opinion, she’s not a chaste person at all. Moreover, do you know who that man was?”