The moment these words left his mouth, the two maids trembled even more violently.

Strangely, the two of them remained kneeling exactly where they were, not moving an inch.

The Emperor had already sensed something was wrong, and his gaze turned cold. He strode forward, kicking one of the maids hard to the ground, and walked up to the door.

Through the thick wooden door, a woman’s moans could be faintly heard.

The Emperor’s face turned ashen at once.

Such sounds were, of course, nothing unfamiliar to him. The consorts beneath him, whether out of genuine feeling or feigned pleasure, would always make such sounds of delight.

This was Empress Xu’s voice!

Of the commotion outside the door, Empress Xu remained utterly unaware—proof enough that, at this moment, she had completely lost herself in pleasure…

No man could bear the fury of being cuckolded—let alone an emperor who ruled over all the realm.

Eunuch Ding, ever the sharp-eyed one, though standing several paces away and unable to hear what was happening inside, sensed at once that something was very wrong. The Emperor’s face had gone dark with fury—it was utterly terrifying!

With just a moment’s thought, Eunuch Ding guessed exactly what was happening, and broke out at once into a cold sweat.

Among the many consorts in the palace, unflattering rumors had circulated privately before—but no one had ever dared breathe a word of it in front of the Emperor. Empress Xu truly had nerve beyond measure, daring to cuckold the Emperor himself!

Worse still, she had been caught red-handed by the Emperor!

In the Emperor’s towering rage, there was no telling how many people would meet with misfortune…

“All of you, come here and kick this door open.” Just as Eunuch Ding’s mind was racing with wild thoughts, the Emperor’s voice rang out, low and menacing.

Eunuch Ding inwardly groaned in distress.

Of all the rotten luck, how had he happened to stumble right into the middle of such a sordid affair.

What fate awaited Empress Xu was easy enough to imagine. With the Emperor having lost face, he was bound to fly into a towering rage—and of those who knew of this, who had witnessed it with their own eyes, how many could possibly hope to survive?

But with the Emperor’s order given, he had no nerve at all to disobey, and answered with trembling fear, then murmured an instruction to the few eunuchs behind him: “Go over there now and break down the door. Be quick about it. And remember—whatever you shouldn’t see, don’t go looking at it.”

The eunuchs were no fools either, and by now they too had sensed that something was terribly wrong. Regrettably, it was too late to back away now, and they had no choice but to steel themselves and step forward. Together, they forced the door open.

A thunderous boom rang out!

The door burst open!

Empress Xu, immersed in passion and pleasure, was jolted suddenly awake, reflexively shoving the man off of her as an uncontrollable wave of terror and panic surged through her.

Who would dare break open the door to her bedchamber at a time like this?

Who else but the master of this entire palace?!

Empress Xu’s panicked gaze collided directly with the Emperor’s dark, icy stare!

Her mind went utterly blank, and in her panic all she could think to do was yank the bedding over to cover her bare body. As for Yu Chun beside her, equally bare and disheveled, he had already gone pale with fright, tumbling to the floor with a thud, every bit of his dignity stripped away.

“Well!” The Emperor’s face twisted into a fearsome, savage expression. “What a fine Empress, mother to the realm! I must have been utterly blind!”

Murderous intent blazed in his eyes!

However shrewd and formidable Empress Xu usually was, her mind had turned to mush in this moment, and in her panic she scarcely knew what she was saying: “Your Majesty, please calm your fury, hear this concubine out first…”

The Emperor ground out his words through clenched teeth: “I have not yet grown so old and senile, and these two eyes of mine are not yet blind!”

The matter lay plain before his eyes—what was there left to argue?!

Did she truly take him for a fool?!

Whatever respect and tenderness the Emperor had once held for Empress Xu, his fury now burned with equal intensity. He did not even have the heart to spare her another glance, and barked an order: “Eunuch Ding, have Jiaofang Palace sealed off at once. No one is to enter or leave.”

Then, fixing Eunuch Ding with an icy stare, he added, “If so much as a single fly escapes from here, I will hold you responsible!”

A chill ran through Eunuch Ding’s heart, and he agreed at once.

The Emperor had flown into a towering rage—this meant a bloodbath was coming!

Ling Jingshu had not been sleeping deeply, and the strange commotion outside quickly woke her.

She sat bolt upright on her bed.

Fortunately, a candle had been left burning in the corner of the room, its faint, yellowish glow lighting the chamber in the dark of night, helping her startled, unsettled heart calm down a little.

Bai Yu and Qiao Yun had each been startled awake as well. The two of them had been sleeping in the adjoining room, and had thrown on their clothes haphazardly before rushing over.

Bai Yu asked with an uneasy face, “Miss, what’s happening outside? This servant was sound asleep, and suddenly heard a lot of footsteps.”

This was the harem, after all—Jiaofang Palace itself. How could such strange commotion arise in the dead of night?

Qiao Yun, slightly more composed than Bai Yu, said in a steady voice, “This servant has sharp hearing, and caught it more clearly than Bai Yu did. There wasn’t just the sound of footsteps—there was also the sound of weapons, of men carrying blades and spears. Something must have happened in Jiaofang Palace.”

Ling Jingshu’s eyes lit up.

Instinct told her that something must have happened to Empress Xu!

And all of this must surely be connected to Wei Yan!

Seeing the flicker in Ling Jingshu’s eyes, Qiao Yun ventured cautiously, “Miss, have you guessed something?”

Ling Jingshu replied lightly, “I’ve been sitting here in this room the whole time—how would I know what’s happening outside? But judging by the scale of it, something major must have happened in Jiaofang Palace. Someone may well be coming this way before long…”

Before she had even finished speaking, a knock sounded urgently at the door.

“Who is it?” Bai Yu walked over to the door but did not open it, her voice through the wooden panel sounding rather sharp with nerves.

A familiar voice came from outside the door: “It’s me, Rui Lian.”

Bai Yu hurried to open the door.

Rui Lian hurried inside, her usually calm and composed face now clouded with agitation and unease. “A’Shu, you’re already awake—that saves me the trouble of waking you!”

Ling Jingshu suppressed the joy welling up inside her and put on a face of equal alarm and confusion. “Sister Rui Lian, it’s so late—what’s happened?”

A trace of unease flickered through Rui Lian’s eyes. “What’s actually happened, I don’t know myself just yet. But someone knocked on my door just now, telling me to wake everyone up as quickly as possible and get to the main hall at once. I’ve already woken Qiu Shuang and Luoyan to help. Come out quickly too, and help me wake the others.”

Given the noise and the scale of it, one didn’t need to think hard to know nothing good had come of this. And recalling how Empress Xu had been indulging in nightly revelry of late, summoning Yu Chun to attend her every evening, Rui Lian’s heart was left churning with unease.

Rui Lian’s mind was heavy with worry, her brow furrowed. But this was hardly the moment for conversation.

Rui Lian let out a heavy breath and steadied herself. “Right, let’s move quickly. We absolutely cannot delay.”

Ling Jingshu led Bai Yu and Qiao Yun off to wake the others, each going their own way. The maids and eunuchs who had been deep in sleep were soon all roused. Amid the chaos, they hastily dressed and put on their shoes, then rushed off toward the main hall.