The fire started in a strange way. Although it started in the small kitchen, the fire was the biggest in the main house where Qin Yanning lived.

By the time the news reached the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager had already fallen asleep. The sixty-year-old woman, dressed in a plain silk underdress, rose from her bed and ordered Ruixue to quickly dispatch the eunuchs to Tingyu Pavilion to rescue the people.

Seeing Ruixue trotting to call the eunuchs, the empress dowager grabbed the Buddhist beads on the bedside and began to roll them up. As she was rolling them up, tears began to fall.

Jue'er had said long ago that she was a good mother in every way except for three things: first, she was too obsessed with the fact that he had no children; second, she loved beautiful women too much; and third, she loved to cry too much.

As a queen mother, she didn't want to cry, but her eye sockets were shallow, and she couldn't control herself when something happened.

Regardless of the fact that she also liked Lady Ning, based on her mother's understanding of her son, the Queen Mother did not want anything to happen to Qin Yanning.

No one knows a son better than his mother. Although her son has many concubines in his harem, he is over 30 years old and has never truly fallen in love with any woman.

But Lady Ning is different. Her Jueer really likes her.

The Empress Dowager prayed to all the gods and Buddhas in heaven, but in Concubine Shu's palace, she had an irrepressible smile on her face.

She knew that with that person's intelligence, he would not let her down.

Bao Lian also congratulated Concubine Shu with a joyful look on her face, "Your Majesty, as long as Ting Yuxuan dies, and the Prime Minister thinks of a solution in the front court, your return to favor will surely be just around the corner!"

Concubine Shu sighed softly and grabbed the handle of the chair.

She knew that she would not be able to sleep tonight if she did not hear the news of that bitch's death.

Helian Jue also couldn't sleep that night.

Although it was already April, the chill of spring still lingered on the summit of Wangshan Mountain. Helian Jue, wrapped in his cloak, knelt outside the altar, and all the ministers who had come to pray for the spring planting also knelt behind him.

This year marks the tenth year since Helian Jue ascended the throne. According to the rules of the Dagan era, when the emperor has reigned for ten or twenty years, the spring planting and blessing ceremony will be more grand than in previous years.

Even at night, the monarch and his ministers had to stand guard outside the altar, hoping for peace and prosperity for the country for the next ten years.

Eunuch Wang was not qualified to kneel with him. He was wrapped in a cloak made of shredded fur and stood not far from the altar, guarding in case Helian Jue needed anything.

It was already three quarters past midnight, and Eunuch Wang was so sleepy that he was dozing off. Just as his eyelids closed, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from afar.

When the sound of horse hooves got closer, Eunuch Wang realized that the person coming was actually a golden-armored guard from the palace.

Fearing that the blessing ceremony would be disturbed, Eunuch Wang quickly stopped the inner guard.

"But what happened in the palace?" Eunuch Wang asked in a low voice.

The golden-armored inner guard clasped his hands and replied, "My lord, there's a fire in Tingyuxuan. When I left the palace, Concubine Zhuang was already organizing the eunuchs and imperial guards to put out the fire."

When Eunuch Wang heard that Tingyuxuan had a fire, he almost collapsed.

Even if there was a hole in the Yangxin Palace, it would still be more pleasant to hear than this news.

The spring planting and blessing ceremony cannot be stopped. Logically, even if there is an uproar in the palace, Your Majesty has to wait until the rooster crows three times before leaving Wangshan.

But the accident happened at the residence of the person dear to His Majesty. You know, this fire can be a big or small matter.

If anything really happened to that person, I'm afraid even ten heads of Old Wang would not be enough to chop off.

But if the spring planting and prayers were interrupted, it would be fine if the weather was good in the next ten years, but if there was drought or flooding in any area, I am afraid that his master would be criticized by the censors.

Eunuch Wang showed an embarrassment on his face.

Helian Jue couldn't help but wave to Eunuch Wang to come over. When he saw the golden-armored guards coming, he had a bad premonition in his heart.

When Eunuch Wang saw Helian Jue calling him, he had no choice but to go forward obediently.

"But something happened in the palace? Is it that the Queen Mother is not feeling well?"

No wonder Helian Jue asked this. The empress dowager had suffered a lot in the years of hard practice in front of the Buddha, and she had indeed developed a chronic illness.

Eunuch Wang shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, there was a fire at Tingyu Pavilion. When the inner guards reported it, Concubine Zhuang was already arranging firefighting. She thought..."

Before Eunuch Wang could finish his words, Helian Jue stood up.

The ministers kneeling behind Helian Jue all looked at their majesty in astonishment. Prime Minister Wan was the fastest to react and was the first to shout, "Your Majesty, you can't do this."

Suddenly, many ministers began to dissuade him. Although they didn't know what the emperor was going to do, they knew that leaving Wangshan without permission was against ancestral rules!

Helian Jue could not hear the voices of the ministers at all. The only words in his mind were "Tingyuxuan broke into the water."

Helian Jue quickly walked over to the golden-armored inner guard and jumped onto his horse. He had fought in battles on the frontier in his youth and was quite proficient in the art of riding and shooting.

When Eunuch Wang saw that Helian Jue was about to leave, he didn't bother to stop him and quickly called on the imperial guards to follow him.

In an instant, the entire mountain was filled with the sound of war horses neighing.

Helian Jue took the lead and rushed towards the imperial city. The spring night breeze whistled in his ears, and he felt his eyes were sore.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he would think of his Ning'er's every smile and frown. He knew that when he left Wangshan today, he would have to face all kinds of criticism from the censors and the people in the future, but he didn't care.

If it weren't for the ancestral system, he wouldn't have believed that praying for blessings could guarantee the people a peaceful and prosperous life. He only believed that man could conquer nature. It was because he was a good emperor that the people could live a good life.

But even he, who did not believe in gods or Buddhas, prayed to God at this moment to protect his Ning'er and make sure she was safe.

After nightfall, there was a curfew in the capital city and no one was on the empty streets. Helian Jue urged the horse under his crotch again and again.

The journey from Wangshan to the palace would normally take an hour and a half, but he arrived in less than an hour.

Before Helian Jue arrived at Tingyuxuan, he saw the flames rising into the sky.

Helian Jue drove his horse to a stop in front of Tingyuxuan. Outside the small courtyard were many eunuchs and imperial guards who were putting out the fire.

Helian Jue glanced over and didn't see Qin Yanning. He just felt as if his heart was being grabbed by something and it hurt.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Your Majesty, Ning'er is fine."

Helian Jue turned around suddenly and saw her Ning'er standing under the big cypress tree outside Tingyuxuan, her little face covered with black ash.

Perhaps he was too nervous just now, and it was dark at night, so he didn't notice Ning'er standing in the shadow of a tree.

Seeing that his worst guess did not become a reality, Helian Jue breathed a sigh of relief.

He rushed forward and hugged Qin Yanning, burying his head in her hair.

This time, Helian Jue hugged her tightly because he was afraid that his Ning'er would disappear in an instant.

Qin Yanning felt a chill on her neck. She whispered softly in Helian Jue's ear, "Your Majesty, are you crying?"