Snap.

A candle in the hall suddenly spluttered, and the flame atop the crane-shaped candlestick went out.

The hall instantly dimmed. The surroundings became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. At some point, palace servants outside had closed the hall doors and windows.

The silhouettes that had been visible outside the windows disappeared.

The nearest candlestick was behind the low couch, and the lamplight cast Xiaoyan’s elongated shadow forward, covering the light in front of Gu Yi.

Gu Yi awkwardly stood up from the low couch. “This concubine will… will trim the wick.”

As she rose, Xiaoyan also stood up.

“No need for the Concubine to trouble herself.”

A breeze seemed to pass before Gu Yi, and in an instant, Xiaoyan had picked her up in his arms.

Her cheek pressed tightly against the crook of his neck—warm, carrying a slight dampness from his recent bath.

Gu Yi shifted uncomfortably, touching the smooth silk at his crossed collar.

When Gu Yi’s back touched the bed, her heartbeat quickened even more, her throat tightened, and she couldn’t help but swallow.

“Your… Your Majesty…”

This… wasn’t the progress a bit fast…?

Xiaoyan, seeing her pink lips slightly parted, his eyes darkening, reached out to untie the silk ribbon loosely fastened in the middle of her front-buttoning long shirt.

Gu Yi trembled like a sieve and couldn’t help closing her eyes.

Xiaoyan stopped his movements.

She was afraid.

Bang, bang, bang.

The hall door was suddenly knocked.

“Please, Your Majesty, come see the Concubine. The Concubine… something’s wrong… wuwu…” The voice gradually faded.

Gu Yi abruptly opened her eyes, but Xiaoyan had already left the bed and walked to the door, pulling it open.

Huai Hua, a palace maid from the main hall of Xiu Yidian, struggled free from the restraint of the palace attendants behind her and knocked her head on the ground with a loud thud.

“Please, Your Majesty, come see Concubine Wang. The Concubine suddenly felt chest pains in the night. Please have mercy on her…”

Xiaoyan inwardly sneered, but said, “Then I shall go see Concubine Wang.”

Quick-witted palace attendants, seeing his light attire, handed him the prepared regular clothes, and several palace maids helped him dress.

Gu Yi straightened her somewhat wrinkled sleeves but hadn’t yet reached the hall door before Xiaoyan had already stridden toward Concubine Wang’s main hall.

Tao Jia wore an expression that looked ready to cry. “Concubine, will His Majesty not return?”

Gu Yi asked instead, “What time is it now?”

Tao Jia replied, “Past the Hour of the Pig. The second watch drum has already sounded.”

Less than an hour, and she would have safely passed through the three days.

Gu Yi paced back and forth at the hall entrance.

Tao Jia asked again, “Concubine, what should we do now? Should we go to the main hall to invite His Majesty back?”

She shook her head. “Since Concubine Wang could summon His Majesty over, she surely has means to keep him there. There’s a hierarchy of respect, and I shouldn’t rashly go to the main hall.”

Moreover, her mind was completely elsewhere!

Less than half an hour to go.

Gu Yi suddenly felt wide awake. “Close the hall door, light the candles in the hall. I’ll sit on the low couch for a while.”

Time always passes slowly during waiting. Gu Yi couldn’t sit still or stand still, so she had Tao Jia bring a small table and casually picked up a calligraphy copybook to practice.

After writing a few characters, her heart gradually calmed down.

Dong, dong, dong.

The third watch drum sounded.

Gu Yi’s hand trembled, the wolf-hair brush tilted, leaving a long downward stroke.

Was she safe now? Joy came so suddenly.

Had she truly survived the plot?

She put down the brush, stood up from the low couch, and looked at herself—completely intact.

She really was safe!

She smiled and said, “Tao Jia, bring me a cup of wine!” To celebrate!

Tao Jia advised, “Concubine, the night is so deep. It’s better to retire early.”

Gu Yi urged, “Quick, go, go. I’ll sleep even better after having some wine.”

Tao Jia still poured her half a cup of flower wine, thinking to herself that the Concubine was probably feeling melancholy because His Majesty had left.

Gu Yi drank it in one gulp, took off her elaborate clothes, and fell straight to sleep.

At a quarter past the Hour of the Rabbit, Concubine Wang in the main hall of Xiu Yidian still couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning.

She lifted the light gauze. “Huang Li, is His Majesty still here at this hour?”

Huang Li promptly answered, “In reply to the Concubine, His Majesty went to the front hall at the Hour of the Rabbit.”

Concubine Wang frowned. “Is His Majesty displeased with me?”

Huang Li comforted her, “His Majesty left Concubine Gu to see you. How could he be displeased with you?”

“Then why did he only look at me once before going to read some memorial?”

Huang Li said, “The Concubine had chest pains, and His Majesty, showing mercy, allowed the Concubine to rest peacefully.”

Concubine Wang angrily dropped the light gauze bed curtain. “That little hussy Madam Gong always loved using this trick before, but this trick harms oneself by eight hundred while harming others by a thousand. What’s the use of it!”

Huang Li said, “His Majesty came to see you, so naturally, he has placed the Concubine in his heart. Isn’t that what the Concubine wanted—to be valued?”

Concubine Wang turned her head and said gloomily, “Gu is beautiful and lives in my hall. If I don’t suppress her now, won’t she be impossible to control later?”

“The Concubine speaks truly!”

Daylight filtered through the latticed window, and Concubine Wang simply got up. “Shouldn’t we visit Consort Shu today?”

With no Empress in the palace, the four consorts managed the imperial harem, and Consort Shu’s father was the superior of her own father.

Huang Li counted the days. “The Concubine hasn’t been to Cai Wei Hall for some time.”

The day had fully brightened.

Tao Jia, seeing that Gu Yi still showed no intention of getting up, had no choice but to walk to her couch and softly say, “Concubine, it’s nearly the Hour of the Snake. If we wait any longer, we’ll miss breakfast.”

Gu Yi opened her eyes. “What day is it today?”

Tao Jia was stunned for a moment. “Concubine, today is the eighteenth of the sixth month.”

Safe at last!

Gu Yi stretched out a long, lazy stretch and sat up energetically.

From today on, she was Concubine Gu who had escaped the plot, brand-new.

In the imperial harem of the Great Mu Dynasty, she just needed to be an obscure, low-profile concubine.

When she waited until the male lead emptied the six palaces for the female lead, wanting to be devoted to one person for life, Gu Yi could leave the palace.

After leaving the palace, she could buy a small courtyard, find a few loyal servants, and be a happy wealthy woman.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful!

Tao Jia, seeing Gu Yi sit up and then fall into a daze, thought she was still dwelling on last night’s events. “In a few days, His Majesty might select the Concubine’s tablet again.”

Last night was still vivid in her mind.

No, Xiaoyan probably wouldn’t select her tablet again.

He was, after all, a proud, aloof, and heartless emperor.

Her various behaviors last night had all been disrespectful, and furthermore, the Gu family wasn’t a great clan that could balance power at court.

Xiaoyan wouldn’t select her tablet again.

Gu Yi couldn’t explain this clearly to Tao Jia, so she just made a sound of acknowledgment and said, “Go fetch breakfast quickly.”

Tao Jia went to follow the order. On her way back, she saw that the main hall’s entrance was deserted, with only two palace maids sparsely stationed guarding the hall doors.

Upon asking, she learned that Concubine Wang had gone to Cai Wei Hall.

In Cai Wei Hall at this moment, Consort Shu wore a blue top and cyan skirt, with gold thread lining the cuffs. Her hair was adorned with ten hairpins. She had a face like a lotus flower in full bloom, with phoenix eyes marked by a beauty spot that resembled a teardrop.

After taking a sip of tea, she continued painting at the table.

In a gentle tone, she asked, “Is Concubine Wang still waiting in the flower hall?”

Yu Hu, standing beside her, answered, “The Concubine is still there. She’s had a pot of tea and has been sitting for an hour.”

Consort Shu smiled. “Let her sit for another hour, then send her away.”

Yu Hu acknowledged.

Yu Hu had been with Consort Shu since childhood and had deeper feelings than other palace maids. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, “Didn’t Your Grace say earlier that with the official selection approaching, you wanted to invite Concubine Wang? Why is it that when Concubine Wang comes today, Your Grace doesn’t see her?”

Consort Shu smiled and asked, “Why don’t I see her?” She placed her wolf-hair brush in the bamboo-root carved brush washer. “Because she’s a fool… Isn’t the court’s intention to promote officials already clear? These newly appointed concubines, apart from Qi Yun whose surname is Qi, are all from local official backgrounds, from humble origins. His Majesty doesn’t want to use the great families—this is a stance. Last night, instructing Concubine Gu was setting up a target. Although Gu Changtong is only a fifth-rank prefect, he has connections with Qingzhou. In the end, it’s still about the false dynasty, establishing authority, and using new people. Those who truly abandon falsehood for righteousness should be rewarded; those who fish in troubled waters should be killed. As for Concubine Wang, she’s thinking about the usual ways to compete for favor. What use is there in the Palace speaking further with her?”

Yu Hu tilted her head and thought, “Concubine Wang summoned His Majesty away from Concubine Gu in the middle of the night. The whole palace knows that Concubine Gu’s days ahead will surely be difficult…”

Consort Shu laughed lightly. “Whose days in this palace are ever easy…?”

Concubine Wang sat in the flower hall until midday before being advised to leave by the palace maids of Cai Wei Hall.

“Her Grace is copying scriptures today and has no time to see the Concubine. Perhaps the Concubine should return another day.”

Concubine Wang, filled with suppressed anger, returned to Xiu Yidian.

She couldn’t help complaining to Huang Li, “What’s so special about Consort Shu? Whenever we meet, she always puts on that pure and lofty air, giving me the cold shoulder. Today, she didn’t even see me! Just because her surname is Qi! No matter how formidable she is, she’s not favored, is she? Why doesn’t His Majesty summon her?”

Huang Li stood beside her like a wooden post, only nodding without speaking. Concubine Wang had a quick temper and was at the height of her anger. She would calm down after venting. If it were any ordinary palace consort, it wouldn’t matter, but she was specifically criticizing Consort Shu—at this moment, one absolutely shouldn’t add fuel to the fire!

After Concubine Wang had spoken her fill, she gradually found it boring. She drank a cup of cold tea and idly played with the makeup box on the table.

She stared at an apricot-red hairpin and angrily said, “Where is Huai Hua? This hairpin—didn’t I tell her to take it to the Department of Imperial Treasures for remaking? Why is it still lying here, neither new nor old?”

Huang Li went outside the hall to ask around before learning that Huai Hua had left Xiu Yidian early in the morning, saying she wanted to catch up with some sisters who had entered the palace with her. She had promised to return to Xiu Yidian before Concubine Wang returned.

But until now, there was no sign of her.

Huang Li had no choice but to send another palace maid to take the hairpin to the Department of Imperial Treasures.