Yun Qing arrived at a very strange place.

She remembered that just a moment ago she was sitting in a car with her parents on a trip to the suburbs, and the next moment she was in this desolate palace.

Her first thought was that she had arrived at the filming location, but as she walked forward, she realized that she was floating, and things began to get complicated.

Yun Qing thought for a long time before finding a suitable adjective: she seemed to have become a bound spirit.

Why do I say that? Because she can't leave this palace, just like the legendary earthbound spirit.

"What the hell is this..."

At that time, Yun Qing was only eleven years old and was well protected by her parents. She did not have much experience in dealing with such matters. Since she could not do anything, she could only wander around the palace. Over time, she remembered clearly even the cracks in the bricks by the wall and the new grass that had grown.

Of course, she also worried about whether she would be able to go back.

However, due to the limitations, she tried every method she could think of, but none of them worked, so she had to give up for the time being.

She was quite distressed: "Am I going to be trapped here forever?"

Although the soul doesn't feel cold or hungry, maintaining this state for a long time, besides the initial discomfort, will eventually lead to feelings of loneliness.

However, things soon took a turn for the better.

Yun Qing initially thought this would be just another ordinary day, like countless others, but when she heard the silence being broken, she realized that things might be different.

She saw a young, gentle woman being pushed into the dilapidated palace, along with her maids and old servants. They cried and shouted, but to no avail. In the end, the guards outside ruthlessly locked the doors.

Upon reaching the front, it became clear that the woman's abdomen was swollen, suggesting she was several months pregnant. Even so, she still couldn't escape being locked up.

The old servant beside her asked with a sorrowful expression, "Your Majesty, do we still have a chance to get out?"

The woman had tear tracks on her face. She gritted her teeth and said, "Yes! I don't believe he's really that heartless, not even willing to come and see his own child?"

As Yun Qing watched from the side, a thought seemed to arise in her mind subconsciously—that she might really be that ruthless.

When the idea popped into her head, she was startled by her own thoughts.

Yun Qing murmured, "How could I have such thoughts? Could it be that I've become so vicious because I've been here for too long?"

She rubbed her arms and shook her head, trying to banish these strange thoughts from her mind.

Yun Qing later learned that the woman's name was Xiao Yuan, the mother of the historically famous Emperor Xie Rang.

She didn't come to any filming location; instead, for some unknown reason, she came to a world a thousand years ago, before all the stories had even begun.

Xie Rang is not yet here; he is still obediently staying in his mother's womb, and his mother is a woman trapped in the deep palace.

Xiao Yuan was always melancholy and silent, occasionally gazing in a certain direction. Although her eyebrows and eyes were extremely beautiful, because she was always frowning, she gave people a very depressed feeling.

The Cold Palace was short of food and clothing, and they could only bring in very little. The old servant and maid were loyal to their mistress, and they exchanged all their valuables to barely ensure Xiao Yuan's food and clothing, so that she and her unborn child wouldn't suffer too much, but it was still difficult in every way.

Winter was especially hard to endure. Without charcoal, the only thing to do was pile clothes together and have three people huddle together for warmth.

Yun Qing watched anxiously from the sidelines, but her soul couldn't help at all. She could only talk to the child in Xiao Yuan's belly from time to time: "You have to be good. Your mother is working so hard. Sigh, why did we have to be in ancient times..."

It's unclear whether the child can hear, but throughout Xiao Yuan's pregnancy, he was indeed very well-behaved and caused his mother almost no discomfort.

At this moment, regardless of history or anyone else, Yun Qing, a good student who grew up in modern society, truly felt sorry for Xiao Yuan and the unborn child, even though he was the Tyrant Emperor and even though his reputation in history was not good.

Evil cannot pervade every stage of life; until the future, nothing can judge him.

And so we kept enduring, until finally spring arrived.

Xie Rang was born one night. Yun Qing was a little scared and didn't dare to look, so she went outside.

The old servants and maids around Xiao Yuan used the dead wood in the courtyard to heat water. The red-stained water was brought out one basin after another. They had no sense of time and did not know how much time had passed before the sounds around them gradually faded away, and it seemed that dawn was breaking on the horizon.

The old servant's voice held a hint of surprise: "It's a little prince!"

Can a child born in the cold palace be called a prince?

Although the Cold Palace was remote, it was always guarded. When the news of Xiao Yuan's childbirth spread, the emperor finally sent someone, but it was just a eunuch with a shrill voice: "His Majesty said that this child came at an inopportune time. Out of consideration for our past relationship, he named him Rang. Consort Xiao, I advise you to give up on that idea. His Majesty... will not come."

Judging from the situation in the palace, although Xiao Yuan has not been stripped of her title, living in the Cold Palace is practically the same as being rendered useless. Moreover, it is obvious that this child is not favored by the Emperor, and with those wolves and tigers in the harem around, it is impossible to know how long she can survive.

After the person left, Xiao Yuan's face grew even paler: "He knew...he clearly knew it wasn't me..."

Xiao Yuan knew before she entered the palace that the harem was rife with corruption.

She was once the most favored concubine, but her fall from grace was nothing more than a single night. The emperor's heart is unpredictable; when it comes to matters of interest, she too can become a pitiful victim.

Whether she did it or not is not important. As long as the emperor wants it, then for the sake of balancing interests, those things must be done by her. What can she do if she is unwilling? In any case, she cannot challenge the emperor's authority.

The baby in the swaddling clothes started to cry. The maid couldn't bear it and brought the baby to her, saying, "Your Highness, please take a look at him."

Xiao Yuan closed her eyes and turned her head away: "Take him away, I don't want to see him."

She thought that giving birth to this child would at least make the emperor change his mind a little, but now it seems that it was just a joke she had imagined.

The maid had no choice but to take him away, unable to persuade him otherwise.

Yun Qing glanced at Xiao Yuan, then at the maid, and finally decided to go forward to see the child.

Her heart felt heavy, perhaps influenced by the atmosphere at the moment. She opened her lips and felt a lump in her throat.

She had learned from history that Emperor Li's name, Xie Rang, was not a good name, and its implied meaning represented that he was always excluded from the throne.

Yet this prince, who emerged from the cold palace, eventually took over the emperor's responsibilities amidst turmoil, using extremely ruthless and decisive methods to eliminate dissidents and slowly piece the broken situation back together.

He established harsh laws and created many horrific punishments, and his historical reputation has never been good.

He was a ruler who lost his country, and later generations gave him the title of Emperor Li.

But at this moment, he was just a pitiful, hungry child.