Inside the Kunning Palace, Empress Lin's personal maid, Xiyu, was carefully combing Empress Lin's long hair.

In the bronze mirror, Empress Lin gently stroked her belly, her eyes filled with tenderness yet also a barely perceptible fervor. At that moment, Xi Yu's hand trembled slightly for some reason, and the comb accidentally snapped a strand of hair.

"Hiss..." Empress Lin frowned. "What's going on?"

Upon hearing Empress Lin's rebuke, Xi Yu was instantly terrified and immediately knelt down, crying out, "Your Majesty, please forgive me! Your Majesty, please forgive me! This servant deserves to die!"

Empress Lin, however, looked coldly at Xi Yu, who was kneeling on the ground trembling, through the bronze mirror. Lately, she had felt that something was wrong with this personal maid, Xi Yu; her eyes were evasive, and she had lost her usual efficiency in doing things.

“Fine Rain,” she said, her voice low but chilling, “you seem to have something on your mind lately?”

Upon hearing Empress Lin's words, Xi Yu trembled with fear, lowering her head even further, her voice trembling with tears, "No...no! This servant was just...just worried about Your Majesty's health..."

"Worried about me?" Empress Lin scoffed, reaching out to pinch Xi Yu's chin, forcing her to raise her head. Her sharp gaze seemed to pierce her soul. "I see you worrying about yourself, don't you? Have you... found out something you shouldn't know? Like... hmm?"

Upon hearing this, Xi Yu met Empress Lin's unfathomable and oppressive eyes, and felt a chill instantly rise from her feet to the top of her head! She recalled the screams of Lin Mama as she was dragged away, and the little eunuch whom the Empress had casually ordered to be "dealt with"... It was as if a huge fear had instantly seized her!

She could almost see the terrible fate that would befall her if she confessed right now that she knew about the affair between the Empress and Zhao Zheng, and that the child in the Empress's womb was of unknown origin.

"This servant...this servant dares not! This servant knows nothing! This servant is loyal to Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, investigate!" Xi Yu was so frightened that she was incoherent, her voice trembling, tears streaming down her face, and her body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Empress Lin stared at her intently for a long time, seeing that Xi Yu's fear seemed genuine. She then remembered that this was the personal maid she had brought from her maiden home, who had watched her rise step by step from the rank of concubine to the position of Empress, the mother of the nation.

She slowly released her hand, her face returning to its usual gentle expression, even with a hint of pity: "Get up. I was just asking casually, look how frightened you are. I know you are loyal. Do your job well, and I won't treat you unfairly. Go now, you don't need to serve me here anymore."

Upon hearing this, Xi Yu felt as if she had been granted a pardon and scrambled out of the room. Only after she had run quite a distance did she dare to lean against the cold palace wall.

She gasped for breath, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest! Her clothes were soaked with cold sweat from fear.

She looked up at the gates of Kunning Palace, which resembled the maw of a giant beast, her eyes filled with despair. Loyal? She knew that in this cannibalistic palace, the more you knew, the faster you would die! She could almost see the gleaming guillotine hanging above her head, placed against her neck.

"What should I do? Keep quiet? Or should I tell Her Highness the Princess everything?" Xi Yu murmured to herself, her brows furrowed and her face filled with panic. At this moment, she thought of all the bad things she had done before, as if she had been punished. She also thought of the deaths of Granny Lin and the little eunuch. She looked up ahead and made up her mind about a certain idea deep in her heart.