Time flies, and two years have slipped through our fingers.

The boy has grown quite a bit taller and has become a handsome young man.

That night, Ning Qing heard a woman's voice coming from outside.

Ning Qing frowned. In the past two years, because Qu Shaoyu often pretended to be sick, in order to calm down and recuperate, she dismissed all the palace maids and eunuchs and forbade them from stepping into the palace.

Now, a woman's voice can be heard coming from outside!

Ning Qing listened intently to the sounds outside.

Outside, Qu Shaoyu, looking frail and sickly, sat on the dragon bed.

Standing next to him was a palace maid dressed in pink, who was probably two or three years older than Qu Shaoyu.

"Your Majesty, let me help you undress."

As she spoke, she reached out to try and pull off Qu Shaoyu's clothes.

Qu Shaoyu frowned slightly, but because he had been feigning illness for two years, he dared not make any big movements to avoid it. He could only turn slightly to the side and use his shoulder and back to block those hands.

He rebuked in a cold voice.

"Stop, cough cough cough..."

Before she could finish her sentence, her pale face turned red from coughing.

The palace maid standing beside him, seeing his behavior, flashed a hint of disdain in her eyes.

But he still pretended to speak.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

Qu Shaoyu waved his hand.

"No...it's nothing...cough cough cough cough cough."

Seeing that Qu Shaoyu was coughing incessantly, the palace maid in pink brought him a cup of water.

After taking a sip, Qu Shaoyu's coughing gradually subsided.

Seeing this, the palace maid in pink launched another attack.

"Your Majesty, now that you are alright, let's continue."

"Let me help you undress first."

As she spoke, she stretched out her hands again.

Qu Shaoyu's face darkened completely.

He stood up angrily and rebuked them.

"Step down."

The palace maid in pink was not afraid of Qu Shaoyu's angry rebuke at all.

Instead, he gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Your Majesty, I was sent by the Empress Dowager to serve you."

"You'd better cooperate a bit so we can finish this quickly and go back to report to the Empress Dowager."

When Qu Shaoyu heard her bold statement, he was both surprised and angry, and his face instantly turned into a palette of colors.

He gritted his teeth and pointed at her.

"You... are shameless."

The pink-clad palace maid had completely lost her patience and began to undress herself.

Qu Shaoyu gave a signal with a glance.

A man dressed in black appeared silently behind the pink-clad palace maid, raised his hand, and struck her on the back of the neck.

The palace maid in pink fell to the ground upon hearing the sound.

The man in black standing behind him caught her just in time; she was limp and unconscious.

Qu Shaoyu spoke with a look of disgust.

"Here you go, take him away."

The man in black...

He answered "Yes," picked up the pink-clad palace maid, and disappeared into the night.

Ning Qing, who was inside the painting, heard this.

He whispered, "The Empress Dowager?"

Ning Qing: Little Cat, is this Empress Dowager Xiaoyu's biological mother?

System: Host, no.

The mother of the person he was protecting developed an illness after giving birth to him and died within two years.

Ning Qing: Hmm.

When Ning Qing stepped out of the painting, he found himself on the dragon bed, behind his wife.

Looking back, lo and behold, my wife had actually placed her painting under her pillow.

No wonder I ended up on the dragon bed as soon as I stepped out.

At this moment, Qu Shaoyu sat on the dragon bed with a gloomy face.

Ning Qing spoke slowly from behind him.

"Xiaoyu, what are you doing?"

Qu Shaoyu turned around in surprise upon hearing Ning Qing's voice.