“Bang!”

The kitchen door was smashed open.

The guards rushed in shouting “Your Majesty!” in unison.

Then they all stopped in their tracks in unison.

Before the inner kitchen door stood a small figure, fidgeting nervously. His bun-like cheeks were pink and tender, with a red cloud floating precisely on his face, turning the bun into a longevity peach.

The longevity peach held a finger to his lips and mysteriously “shushed” the guards.

The guard captain stopped in puzzlement, about to inquire, when the longevity peach bashfully said: “Don’t make noise, don’t make noise, His Majesty is currently favoring someone…”

The guard captain’s head exploded with shock, thinking this was bad, but the longevity peach had already jumped aside, revealing a small gap to the inner storehouse.

What a romantic scene…

Behind the rice sacks, on red felt, in the dim light from the doorway, His Majesty the wise and mighty Emperor lay naked atop a female form, appearing deeply intoxicated. White silk nightclothes were scattered carelessly on the ground, covering their upper bodies and faintly revealing the pink and snow-white skin of the woman. Against the dark gray-black background, it seemed to emit a moonlight-like glow, sensually captivating.

The rice sacks concealed their lower bodies, and the Emperor’s head blocked the woman’s face turned to one side, but there was no mistaking His Majesty the Emperor’s face.

The guard captain, remembering that earlier scream, still doubted it sounded like a cry of distress rather than pleasure and wanted to investigate further, but the longevity peach had already jumped back to block the spring scene. From that direction came a muffled “Mm?” filled with heavy anger, then they vaguely saw His Majesty’s naked arm move, and a cup was viciously hurled out.

It smashed on the ground, scattering countless fragments with a clear ringing sound.

The guard captain immediately jumped away as if burned, silently cursing his luck. Had he known His Majesty would be favoring a palace maid here, why had he assumed there were assassins and made such a commotion breaking down the door? He’d ruined His Majesty’s rare good mood for nothing—truly thankless work despite all the effort.

But… he’d heard His Majesty hadn’t favored any palace maids for several years, so why would he break precedent in this place today? Thinking of the palace maid he’d seen earlier, her bearing was exceptionally fine. Even Consort Rou, reportedly the most beautiful in the palace whom he’d glimpsed from afar, seemed inferior to her. His Majesty was young after all—being moved by beauty was only natural, wasn’t it?

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. He blamed himself for forgetting to think clearly in his shock and anger. Qing Shadai was always hidden by His Majesty’s side, wasn’t he? Since he hadn’t appeared, what could be wrong with His Majesty? How had he lost his composure just from hearing a sound?

He was a guard brought by Xiao Chen when he came today. Seeing Xiao Jue injured, Xiao Chen feared for security and specially brought a group of elite guards to change shifts, first sending the severely wounded Qing Shadai away for treatment. Thus the guard captain didn’t know about Qing Shadai’s injury—this fortuitous coincidence gave Qin Chang Ge her opportunity.

Bowing formally and repeatedly apologizing, the guard captain led his men in backing out, not forgetting to close the door properly as they left.

Hearing the guards’ footsteps depart and disperse in the distance, Qin Chang Ge sighed mournfully: “I’m being crushed to death…”

She struggled to push Xiao Jue off and pulled down her sleeves—earlier she’d rolled them up, exposing that bit of arm skin which from a distance appeared as if she wore nothing, achieving good effect.

That “mm” sound was her pinching her nose in disguise. Her hand hidden behind the rice sacks had grabbed Xiao Jue’s hand and immediately after the sound, hurled the cup already placed in his palm. The two sounds issued almost simultaneously could confuse people’s hearing, while the thrown cup sent the guard captain’s soul flying—how could he spare attention to distinguish whether that “mm” truly came from His Majesty’s own mouth?

Xiao Rong was still rubbing his hands nearby, elated: “Emperor oh, Emperor oh, I knocked down an Emperor oh…”

Qin Chang Ge rolled her eyes at her son, somewhat worried about when this child’s reckless boldness would end.

Next…

“Rong Rong, go find the Princess—the aunt you saw standing beside the Emperor today. She lives in…” Qin Chang Ge carefully instructed her son.

Xiao Baozi accepted the mission and left, his eyes flashing with the smug light of successful deception.

“Wait,” Qin Chang Ge called to her son who was about to swagger out, “you’re just going to run out like that? What will you say if the guards question you?”

Xiao Baozi blinked innocently, pouted, and made as if to cry.

“His Majesty threw me out…”

“Why did he throw you out?”

Blinking again, his grape-like dark eyes very pure and innocent: “Why do you think?”

Good… very good… answering all questions with counter-questions—this little one was teachable.

“Since His Majesty doesn’t like you being there, how did you get in earlier?”

“I, I, I… I was hungry and climbed into the kitchen in the middle of the night looking for food… His Majesty was angry at first but seeing I was pitiful didn’t kill me, then you all came…” He pulled out pastry crumbs from his pocket as evidence. “Do you want some? They’re delicious, eat some… eat some…”

Qin Chang Ge glanced at the dirty, shapeless and colorless lump of pastry crumbs in her son’s hand, certain that even if Rong Rong said nothing, those crumbs alone would scare people away.

Good, her son’s deceptive skills were naturally gifted—he passed.

Indeed, Xiao Baozi left unobstructed, going all the way to find the Princess. The Princess came with her trusted nanny and brought Yu Hai, the head eunuch of Xiao Jue’s Dragon Seal Palace. Together they respectfully requested outside the kitchen that His Majesty return to his sleeping quarters to avoid contaminating his precious dragon body. Yu Hai was elderly and often dozed off—tonight he’d accidentally fallen asleep briefly and His Majesty had disappeared, leaving him fearful of punishment and frantically worried. But the Princess had come to find him voluntarily without assigning blame, so in his joy he naturally knew not to ask what shouldn’t be asked or manage what shouldn’t be managed. Following the Princess’s instructions, he made his respectful request then pushed open the kitchen door.

In the darkness he saw a woman standing gracefully, in plain silk garments, her figure elegant and slender. Shrouded in that layer of distant, ethereal lamplight, she was like a woman depicted in light brushstrokes in an ancient painting—her pure and refined beauty could not be diminished by wind or rain. She merely looked over gently, and Yu Hai felt his breath catch.

The woman beckoned, and he couldn’t help moving forward, completely forgetting she was merely an ordinary palace maid while he was a sixth-rank assistant chief eunuch. He trotted over eagerly as she said softly: “His Majesty is tired and has fallen asleep… Please trouble yourself, Eunuch, to carry him back.” Speaking thus, her dimples flushed with rosy clouds, her eyes flowing with emotion, overcome with charming shyness—he was stunned again.

He asked habitually: “May I know the young lady’s name? By regulation it must be recorded…”

The woman seemed to grow melancholy, her expression quietly elegant as orchids, saying softly: “His Majesty said… not to record it…”

He made an “oh” sound, feeling inexplicably regretful, and glanced over again. The woman gently turned her face aside, her profile outlined in that thread of dim light, her posture graceful and pliant, yet stirring his heart with moisture and melancholy like scattered apricot blossom rain, chaotic red petals in decline.

He dared not ask further and, feeling somewhat dizzy, went to lift the seemingly sleeping His Majesty onto his back, carrying him back to the bedchamber.

By lamplight he examined His Majesty’s face and was surprised to find his brows tightly furrowed in pain—hardly the appearance of peaceful sleep.

Remembering the Grand Princess’s expression and that mysterious palace maid, his heart tightened. He quickly reached out to check the Emperor’s pulse, and upon feeling it, his brow relaxed instead.

He had rudimentary medical knowledge, and though the pulse under his fingers was slightly floating and tight with some signs of minor wind-cold invasion, there was no serious problem.

He frowned, looking at the Emperor’s thin nightclothes. How could His Majesty end up in such a state, running to the kitchen storehouse to dally with a palace maid? Suddenly remembering what the night-duty junior eunuchs of Dragon Seal Palace had mentioned—that sometimes they slept particularly deeply at night—could it be…

He trembled, quickly and quietly extinguished the lamp, and tiptoed out.

Imperial palaces throughout history had been demon caves where killing was as silent as cutting grass. For someone as lowly as himself, the most important rule for survival was to be blind and deaf to whatever strange occurrences he encountered.

He had always done this very well.