With her slender, jade-like fingers, she gently lifted a beaded curtain and a light gauze canopy. Mu Beichen's beautiful eyes flickered slightly, revealing a myriad of emotions he had experienced throughout his life. He looked not at anything else, but only at her.

"Yu Qianqian, I told you to prepare your appearance in advance to welcome the Emperor, but why are you still in such a terrible state now?"

Is it bad?

Now, all she has is this ugly face and this crippled body; thinking about it carefully, it's quite terrible.

She disfigured herself to save his life.

She was brutally disemboweled in the dark prison, losing her child, because he was far away when the truth came out.

Mu Beichen, do you have the right to look down on me?

Yu Qianqian was completely devastated by those words, her heart trembling. Her deeply pained expression was extremely chilling to Mu Beichen's eyes.

With a furrowed brow, she suddenly raised her voice and coldly uttered, "Your Majesty met Yu Qianqian of the Zhenbei General's Mansion when you were young, so you should know me very well. Yet today, Your Majesty complains that I am not well-groomed. Humph! It really is true that cause and effect are cyclical and retribution is inevitable. Today, Your Majesty only has eyes for the ugly Yu Qianqian, which is my retribution."

Finally, she couldn't hold back the soreness in her nose, and her clear eyes glistened slightly.

"Little Qian'er, what's wrong with you?" Mu Beichen saw tears welling up in her eyes and her face suddenly turn pale. He grabbed Yu Qianqian's shoulders in surprise and panic, and whispered to comfort her, "Can't you tell I'm joking?"

"Get out!" Yu Qianqian didn't even glance at him, and turned around angrily, the beaded curtain swirling messily behind her, the tinkling sound of jade falling onto a silver plate lingering in the air along with the echo of her startled shout.

"..."

Mu Beichen stared at her in disbelief, wondering where exactly she had gone wrong.

"I feel very unwell and I'm afraid I won't be able to serve Your Majesty tonight. If Your Majesty can't stand the loneliness, you can appoint a few more concubines. If you're so pleased, you can even depose me from my position as Empress."

She looked at him, deliberately speaking slowly and deliberately, her indifferent expression mixed with a hint of annoyance.

Yu Qianqian's unpredictable behavior was clearly seen, and Mu Beichen's expression changed drastically. He seemed to understand something indescribable. He tried his best to suppress the urge to burst out laughing. His cold face was expressionless, but his eyes were full of strange light.

The young girl who used to be good at wielding swords and sticks has now fully matured and knows how to compete for love. However, her self-inflicted injury strategy, which hurts the enemy a thousand while harming herself eight hundred, is rather clumsy.

"Hmm... My little Qian'er is becoming more and more like a queen mother, both generous and virtuous. So, I can't let this kindness go to waste. I'll make sure that all the flowers in the palace bloom in full glory." Mu Beichen said without changing his expression, leading her step by step into his trap.

Seeing her complexion worsen, filled with incurable jealousy and hatred, Mu Beichen reached out and embraced her slender waist, his hands tracing her long, soft hands and beautiful curves with extreme tenderness and utterly domineering ruthlessness.

Feeling a warm current coursing through her body, Yu Qianqian couldn't help but tremble. It was as if the entire fragrant and warm room in her field of vision also trembled, and her vision seemed to be filled with overlapping images and endless dreams.

At that moment, a few slender, jade-like fingers gently lifted her face, and half of the mask fell silently to the ground, finally revealing her entire face to Mu Beichen.

For three whole years, ever since her face was disfigured, she never took off her mask in front of others, and she dared not look at herself in the mirror. Her face was so hideous and terrifying, like a vengeful ghost, that even she could not bear to look at it, let alone others.