Chapter 27 The Emperor is Coming

Yun Zhao rose as instructed, her steps carefully respectful, and she knelt again beside Empress Dowager Zhou's well-maintained phoenix shoes. She lowered her head and eyes, and said in a steady voice, "Your Majesty, I will listen to your instructions."

Empress Dowager Zhou twirled her Buddhist prayer beads between her fingers, the sandalwood beads clattering with a dull sound. Her tone was filled with false regret, "My dear child, it is A-Yan's blessing to marry you. But it was a strange coincidence... He was in Jiangnan, providing disaster relief, but his heart was with you. He has repeatedly pleaded with me, refusing to break off the engagement! As soon as I return, I will ask the Emperor for permission to marry you at an early date."

The ghost won't go away! I can't get rid of it even if I become a slave!

The Yun family's military power is indeed a trap to attract wolves and monsters!

Yun Zhao's heart froze in fear, but she didn't dare show any emotion on her face. She only said respectfully, "Marriage is a matter of parents' decision and the matchmaker's words. As long as Your Majesty grants permission and my parents agree, I...will have no objection."

She kicked the ball back firmly—her parents would never agree, and the emperor certainly wouldn't agree! Xiao Yan, you can't succeed!

A hint of satisfaction flashed across the empress dowager's eyes, and then her words were as sharp as a blade tempered with ice, piercing the vital point: "You have been serving in the emperor's court recently. Has the emperor... discussed any important matters?" The old hag finally revealed her true intentions!

Yun Zhao's heart was filled with alarm, and her back instantly tensed, but her face became even more submissive and humble. "Your Majesty is very cautious in his words and deeds. He never discusses military and national affairs with a humble servant like me. I am terrified and only know to do my duty. I dare not pry into the ears of the emperor."

"Oh?" The Empress Dowager's voice suddenly dropped, carrying an intimidating pressure, and the twirling of her Buddhist beads stopped. "You've taken over my niece's position as secretary. You've sorted and delivered memorials, and you've even been there serving tea during the political discussions in the study! How dare you say you knew nothing?!" Yun Zhao's mind raced—she could have a hand in the harem, but she had to avoid the former court! This was courting disaster! She immediately acted as if she had realized something, lowering her voice with just the right amount of panic. "Your Majesty, are you asking about... the political affairs of the former court? I'm clueless! But... but yesterday, while sorting through the documents, I vaguely heard something. Your Majesty seems to have agreed. This morning's court might discuss... the vindication of Lord Yu Cheng of the former court..."

"What?!" Empress Dowager Zhou's face paled with anger, her well-kept face twisted in shock. She clenched the Buddhist beads in her hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "He dared to overturn the ironclad case decided by the late emperor?! He's... going to blow the whistle! He's going to provoke public outrage!"

Yun Zhao lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes hiding the sneer in his eyes: "Poke the sky? You mean to poke the sky of you, the termites who are sucking blood from the old cases! This move will win the hearts of the scholars all over the world and wash away the stigma of the late emperor in his later years!"

The Queen Mother suppressed the rage that threatened to burst forth. "You are a clever person. From now on, you must serve the Emperor well and report to me every night on his daily words, actions, and discussions, no matter how big or small. I... this is also for the sake of the stability of the country. Do you understand?"

Reporting every night?! This is like roasting me on a raging fire, forcing me to death!

She suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with genuine, unfaked fear. Her voice trembled violently, almost pleading, "Your Majesty, please be considerate of me. If Your Majesty knew, you would surely be filled with gratitude! But I serve you day and night, and cannot leave your side for even a moment! If Your Majesty were to discover me... I would be instantly crushed to pieces! Please... spare my life!"

Alarm bells rang in her mind - this Ci'an Palace must have been turned into a dragnet by "his" spies!

One wrong step can lead to eternal damnation.

The last trace of disguised kindness on the Queen Mother's face completely peeled off, and her eyes were as sharp as ice spikes, piercing Yun Zhao: "You... don't want to?"

Yun Zhao met her cold, piercing gaze and kowtowed with all her might. His forehead banged against the cold, hard gold bricks, a subtle echo echoing. "It's not that I don't want to! It's that I don't dare! Your Majesty knows your Majesty's temperament well! I'm afraid... I'm afraid I'll die in Yanying Palace before I can leave the palace to report to you! Your Majesty... don't you want to see the day when I... live to become the Princess of Qin?"

"You!" Empress Dowager Zhou laughed in anger, her eyes narrowed dangerously, and the temperature in the palace suddenly dropped. "What a sharp tongue! How dare you imply that the emperor has a violent temper?!"

Yun Zhao lay prone on the ground, her voice remarkably clear and resolute, revealing a desperate determination: "This servant would never dare to speak ill of Your Majesty! This servant...only seeks to stay alive! Only seeks...the day when I can serve Your Majesty!"

"Hmph!" The Empress Dowager slammed the armrest, causing the teacups on the small table to clink. Her rage surged. "I thought you were a sensible and understanding child! Now it seems you're nothing but an ungrateful, stubborn fool! The Emperor has imprisoned you in the deep palace. Isn't it because he suspects you, Yun, of harboring evil intentions?!"

Yun Zhao's back instantly stiffened like iron, her nails digging deep into her palms. Slowly and with great difficulty, she raised her head, her face free of any trace of fear or timidity. She stared directly at the empress dowager, her words clear and resounding as if falling from a rock, "Your Majesty, this servant only accepts the evidence."

"My entire Yun family has been loyal and valiant for generations. Our loyalty is unwavering, and heaven and earth can bear witness to that! If anyone shows any signs of disloyalty, they will be punished by heaven and earth!"

"Please, Madam—be discerning!"

Empress Dowager Zhou's cold gaze swept across the trusted nanny standing beside her like a poisonous snake.

The maid understood and immediately took a half step forward. Her voice was not loud, but it was as clear as a blunt knife scraping across periosteum, and every word was heartbreaking: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Punishment has just sent word that Yingluo couldn't bear the torture and vomited everything she should and shouldn't have. But she is already a cripple, hanging on by a thread. It seems she is useless."

The empress dowager raised her eyelids slightly, her gaze shimmering with a hint of cruel amusement as she passed over Yun Zhao, who knelt motionless on the ground. Her tone was as light as brushing off a speck of dust, "Since she's useless, let's kill her quickly. Considering she delivered some 'useful' information a while ago, let's leave her body intact."

Killing the chicken to scare the monkey! Next... is it my turn? The hall was so silent that one could hear the sound of dust falling to the ground.

Suddenly, a eunuch's shrill voice was heard outside the palace, breaking the suffocating silence: "The Empress Su has arrived—"

The ice and snow on Empress Dowager Zhou's face instantly melted away, and she smiled an extremely warm and gentle smile. Her voice also returned to its usual kind and gentle tone: "Quick! Let my A'li come in!"

The sound of rings and pendants jingled, and a fragrant breeze filled the air. Even before Su Mingli arrived, her voice, so soft it could drip with honey, drifted in: "Empress Dowager, did Ah Li disturb your meditation?"

"How could that be? I'm just feeling bored!" The Queen Mother smiled even more broadly and waved warmly, as if the rage just now had never happened. "Come, sit next to me. Look, Ah Zhao is here too, chatting with me to cheer me up. Quick, find a seat for the Imperial Concubine!"

This huge difference in treatment was like an invisible, cold slap in Yun Zhao's face.

She still maintained her kneeling position, her eyes looking at her nose, her nose looking at her heart, like an unconscious stone statue.

Su Mingli gracefully walked to the Empress Dowager's side and took a seat. Her gaze, with a touch of just the right amount of surprise, lightly fell on the kneeling Yun Zhao. Her red lips curled slightly, with an undisguised sense of superiority and sarcasm: "Ah, Sister Zhao, why are you still kneeling? The ground is so cold! Could it be that... I was careless and upset the Empress Dowager?"

The Queen Mother took over the conversation. Her tone sounded "concerned," but every word was like a needle, piercing Yun Zhao. "She serves the Emperor so closely, yet she can't even grasp His Majesty's feelings or preferences. How foolish! I'm trying to teach her the rules. Ah Li, you are so perceptive and have won the Emperor's favor. Please teach her well and help her improve, so that... she won't be embarrassed in the future and bring shame upon me and the King of Qin."

Su Mingli chuckled softly, her eyes gleaming with icy venom. "That's what Mother said. Although Sister Zhao is the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion and the future consort of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin, and holds a distinguished position, she's still a bit unfamiliar with the palace's rules. She should learn them well, lest she offend an honored person without realizing it."

They sang the same tune, cut the flesh with a soft knife, and did their utmost to humiliate others.

Yun Zhao knew very well that in Ci'an Palace, he could not be beaten with a stick or slapped in the face at this moment, and he could only endure it.

There is a knife hanging over your head.

The Queen Mother put down her teacup and spoke slowly, her voice filled with the arrogance of a benefactor: "Kneeling for long periods of time is common in serving the king. I've asked you to kneel more today to temper your temper. Don't be jealous of me. I... do this all for your own good. If you can truly become my daughter-in-law in the future, you should be able to endure this little bit of hardship... right?"

Yun Zhao slowly raised her eyes, meeting the Queen Mother's scrutinizing, pressured gaze. "I can bear it. After all... if I could truly be blessed by Heaven and become the Prince of Qin's Consort, what would this little suffering today mean?"

Sure enough, the perfect smile on Su Mingli's face froze in an instant, like a crack in exquisite porcelain. A trace of extremely twisted jealousy and resentment flashed in her eyes, and she almost wanted to eat Yun Zhao alive.

In this tense moment filled with silent smoke of war——

Outside the palace gate, the eunuch's unique, penetrating voice rang out again, this time with a subtle tension and unprecedented respect:

"Your Majesty has arrived!"

The empress dowager's kind smile froze, and the jealousy in Su Mingli's eyes was instantly replaced by panic. Yun Zhao, kneeling on the ground, swayed imperceptibly, his already pale face draining of the last trace of color, and his straight spine seemed to tremble slightly at this sudden announcement.

Her hands hung at her sides, and the pain from her nails digging deep into her palms became the only sense that could prove that she was still alive.

The emperor is coming!