The Lu residence had several hundred people, yet from parents above to concubine-born siblings below, few had any affection for her. She had been plump and round since childhood. When she was young it was still acceptable, but when she grew to seven or eight years old, her mother would daily scold her for eating ravenously, completely lacking the bearing of an official’s daughter.

Yet she didn’t know why—from childhood she had always felt hunger in her belly. Even shortly after eating, she would feel an uncomfortable emptiness in her stomach.

When she was young, everyone praised her as auspicious and lovable, but when she grew older, no one ever said such things again.

Her mother despised how much she ate all day, how her body grew increasingly stout and clumsy, so she had the household servants cut off her snacks and meals between main courses, and reduced her daily meals. She was already quick to hunger—how could she endure such torment? In just over ten days she was starving until dizzy and faint, her vision turning white.

When she turned ten, her mother took her to visit another residence. Though she had long forgotten that family’s surname and name, she still remembered how the mistress of that household spoke gently and placed various small pastries before her.

“Yun’er, try this golden thread cake.”

That lady touched her head, her hand carrying a faint floral fragrance.

Several dishes of pastries were placed before her. She hadn’t eaten her fill in so long—naturally she couldn’t resist grabbing the golden thread cake and stuffing it into her mouth.

She didn’t know how much she ate, until her mother knocked over the bowls and dishes before her, and only then did she stop.

She was too hungry.

Lu Youjun thought that among all the young ladies of great families in the capital, aside from herself, there was probably not another who had suffered such hardship.

What happened that day, she couldn’t remember. She only remembered her mother knocking the pastries to the floor, and as she crouched down to pick them up, her mother forcibly dragged her back to the residence.

From that day on, no one in the residence ever spoke a pleasant word to her again.

Even her legitimate younger sister would rather spend all day playing with the concubine-born children, joining them in insulting and tormenting her.

During that period, the hungrier she was, the more her mother refused to let the residence give her food. Occasionally when Lu Si, Lu Qi, and several other young ladies gathered together, they would devise ways to bully her with food.

They would put mole crickets or other insects into the food, then smilingly hand it to her.

Thinking of this, Lu Youjun felt deeply wronged.

Clearly, she had never done anything wrong.

“Elder Sister, come eat.”

Her legitimate younger sister had once stood before her, smiling radiantly as she stuffed a mole cricket into an oil cake.

“Does Elder Sister want to eat?”

She did want it.

Lu Youjun couldn’t help feeling wronged, yet still took the oil cake from Lu Si’s hands.

That oil cake had been bought from outside the residence by their brothers from the outer courtyard. Greasy and piping hot, crispy outside and glutinous inside, with bean paste filling—it smelled wonderful.

Except her sister had stuffed an insect inside, making it seem quite ruined.

“She’s really eating it!”

Lu Qi stood with hands on hips, pointing at her, laughing with crescent eyes. Lu Si looked at her with utter contempt, her eyes full of disgust.

“Stupid as a pig, eating so ravenously—it’s simply shameful.”

The servants standing around also covered their mouths and snickered. Their pointing and gossiping was something she couldn’t forget even now.

But she had no other choice—she was so hungry all day she couldn’t sleep. During the day she had to be scolded and beaten by the governess practicing proper ladylike posture. She was truly starving.

Before entering the Eastern Palace, the best things she had ever eaten were that golden thread cake and oil cake.

Only after entering the Eastern Palace could she finally eat her fill every day.

Thinking of when the Crown Prince sent Dong Chang people to the Lu residence to ask if she wanted to enter the palace, the astonished, shocked, and incredulous expressions on Lu Si and Lu Qi’s faces—Lu Youjun felt she would laugh in her dreams.

After entering the Eastern Palace, she finally learned that people could live such heavenly days.

Every day no one supervised her, and the small kitchen could freely make food for her. Not only did she not have to go hungry, if she wanted to eat something fresh, she could also visit the others.

Knowing she loved to eat, they would always save various things for her.

Occasionally when the Shang family sent precious things from outside the palace, Good Companion Shang would leave her the largest portion, only then dividing what remained among the other sisters in the Eastern Palace.

Thinking of the people in the Eastern Palace, Lu Youjun’s heart ached terribly.

Just now that dog Emperor had viciously kicked Sister Wan several times—she didn’t know how she was now.

Lu Youjun wanted to open her eyes to look, but discovered her vision was filled with red mist.

Never mind. She closed her eyes and thought of Shang Rong again.

Good Companion Shang treated her better than her own mother. She wondered if she would be sad when they could no longer see each other. Her health was poor—it wouldn’t do if she became sad over her.

Good Companion Wu had a gentle temperament, but she was Censor Wu’s only daughter. After entering the Eastern Palace, she worried daily about not being able to see her father. If the Crown Prince returned from the frontier, perhaps he could show mercy and let father and daughter meet once.

Qing Ling’s face had been badly injured by that Nanqing demon woman—she didn’t know if it would ever heal. If it couldn’t heal, she feared Qing Ling would remain despondent forever.

Baozhen was about her age, and both of them were unvalued by their families. In the future, she feared she could no longer accompany Baozhen to pick flowers and dye cloth, to make rouge.

Sister Nanzhang had said she would teach her archery and riding. Now it seemed she would no longer have that chance.

Lu Youjun only felt her body growing increasingly soft. She clenched her teeth and clamped down on Emperor Wenhui with all her remaining strength, allowing her consciousness to scatter bit by bit, disappearing in this place that had given her the happiest days of her life.

“Heh… heh…”

Lu Youjun was heavy, and now her entire person was clinging to Emperor Wenhui with deadly force. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t break free.

The stooped old man struck palm after palm at Youjun’s neck, yet couldn’t make her loosen her grip even slightly.

Emperor Wenhui clutched his chest desperately, feeling his blood vessels surging and roaring throughout his body. His chest felt swollen, tight, and painful, making his eyelids twitch violently. He couldn’t make a single sound.

Seeing this situation, the Imperial Guards released the others and moved forward to help Emperor Wenhui.

Song Wan had been kicked away by the old man earlier and had been lying on the ground for a long time, unable to rise.

“Heh…”

Everything was now in chaos, yet no one dared make a sound, because Emperor Wenhui’s face was blue-purple and contorted, gasping loudly for breath, appearing to be in unbearable agony.

The stooped old man took out a porcelain bottle from his bosom and was about to pour out the red pill inside to feed to Emperor Wenhui when Ming Xiang and Song Fu, supporting the Grand Princess and followed by a magnificent procession of civil and military officials, arrived together.

The Grand Princess stood at the front. Her gaze swept over Emperor Wenhui’s purple-swollen face. Before anyone could react, she called out loudly, “Your Majesty is confused—how can you disregard Su River and the Crown Prince?”

“We hope Your Majesty will sympathize with the people’s feelings and dispatch troops to reinforce Su River as soon as possible.”

“We hope Your Majesty will dispatch troops as soon as possible to reinforce Su River.”

The civil and military officials behind the Grand Princess all knelt in unison, loudly repeating, “We hope Your Majesty will dispatch troops as soon as possible to reinforce Su River…”

Emperor Wenhui looked at the officials kneeling before him in a dense black mass covering the ground. He clutched his chest desperately, throwing back his body and gasping for breath.

The stooped old man hurriedly poured out a red pill from the porcelain bottle, wanting to stuff it into Emperor Wenhui’s mouth.

But he did not succeed, because Emperor Wenhui’s body suddenly stiffened and fell straight backward.

The crimson pill rolled from his lips, rolling along the ground with a clatter.

With a thud, everyone saw Emperor Wenhui fall rigid and heavily to the ground.