Song Wenyue lifted her skirt and jogged out of the palace. She put on a veil and then found a palace maid and said, "Please go and inform the First Prince that the Imperial Concubine has asked him to come here."

The palace servants, seeing her attire, knew she was a young lady attending the banquet. But those working in the palace were all shrewd and wouldn't dare to actually accept.

"Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine?"

Knowing she didn't believe him, Song Wenyue said, "I am a young lady from the Liu family. The Imperial Concubine has already betrothed me to the First Prince as a concubine. She asked me to come here to see the First Prince, but he has been late. Go and find the First Prince, and I will reward you handsomely."

As she spoke, she took out a few gold coins from her purse and tossed them into her hand.

After hearing that she would soon become the Crown Prince's concubine, the palace servants stopped being so dismissive. After all, it was just a matter of relaying messages; even if something really happened, she would only be a mouthpiece.

Seeing that the person had left, Song Wenyue hid back in the shadows.

How dare she try to steal the Third Prince from her? We'll see if Liu Manli has the ability!

She hid in the shadows and saw the eldest prince walk slowly towards her after a short while, followed by several palace servants. Knowing that the matter was settled, she secretly left.

The palace was so vast, with one palace connected to another, that she couldn't tell which way back she was going, so she could only head towards the brightest lights.

After walking for a long time, she saw a brightly lit palace with the words "Fengwu Palace" written on it.

Song Wenyue was puzzled. She had never heard of any high-ranking concubine living here. But she still went up to knock on the door and asked someone to escort her back to the banquet.

But as soon as she reached the front door, her neck suddenly went numb and she collapsed.

Fang Rao carried the person over the palace wall and into Fengwu Palace. After his figure disappeared, Xie Liwei leisurely walked to the palace gate and knocked on the palace door.

Inside the Phoenix Palace, Yuwen Wuji had already bathed and changed. He was only wearing a bright yellow undergarment when he walked gracefully to the bedside. The woman on the bed lay quietly, her face serene.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to touch Song Yaozhu's cheek.

The woman's cheeks were flushed, and she smelled faintly of alcohol. Yuwen Wuji chuckled and prepared to begin his meal.

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the hall, and he frowned in displeasure.

Outside the palace, the eunuch who opened the door trembled upon seeing Xie Liwei, feeling uneasy and anxious as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

"Why has Your Highness come?"

Xie Liwei stepped inside, and the eunuch dared not stop him, but could only run in tremblingly to announce: "The Prince of Xiaoyao has arrived!"

His shrill voice instantly roused the quiet palace, and several eunuchs and palace maids rushed out, all looking flustered.

"Why has Your Highness come?"

The head eunuch in charge of the palace trembled as he stepped forward. Before he could finish speaking, Xie Liwei gave him a cold glare, and he immediately prostrated himself on the ground in fear.

"Are you trying to control me?"

"This servant wouldn't dare! But this is the inner palace, Your Highness cannot come and go as you please!"

What are the palace guards doing? How dare they let someone in here! The Emperor and... the carefree Princess Consort are inside!

"I have come to see the Emperor and also to offer sacrifices to my elder sister."

The eunuch trembled uncontrollably; how could he have known the Emperor was here!

Before the eunuch could speak, Li Wei came out of the room and bowed to Xie Liwei from afar, saying, "Prince Xiaoyao, His Majesty invites you."

Xie Liwei stepped into the hall.

He must have known Yuwen Wuji by now; if he wanted to kill him, he would naturally try to understand his enemy's temperament.

Over the years, Yuwen Wuji has consolidated power, and he has begun to reveal his arrogance and disdain for others. However, he has been very good at pretending before, which has led his ministers to still harbor unrealistic fantasies about him.

And he'd been feigning deep affection for ten years; he probably even believed it himself. Since he coveted Song Yaozhu's beauty, he would surely give himself a grand ceremony when he got her.

Fengwu Palace was the palace where his elder sister lived before her death. Since he regarded Song Yaozhu as a substitute for his elder sister, he would naturally bring her here to "fulfill his wish".

Thinking of this, Xie Liwei felt a churning in his stomach and wanted to vomit up everything he had eaten at the banquet.

Upon entering the main hall, Yuwen Wuji, dressed in casual clothes, was reading a book. Seeing Xie Liwei enter, he smiled and waved to him, "What brings you here?"

Seeing the lively palace banquet, I couldn't help but think of my elder sister, so I came to take a look.

Yuwen Wuji was silent for a moment, then said, "I know you care about your sister, but you are, after all, an outsider. How can you move about in the inner palace?"

Xie Liwei stared straight at Yuwen Wuji, and after a long while said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty has forgotten that before my sister passed away, you granted me a token that allowed me to move freely in the inner palace."

He placed the token on the small table and said with a wry smile, "My elder sister has been gone for so many years, and I am now in the capital. This is the only place where I can remember her. I have overstepped my bounds. With my elder sister gone, how can I not avoid suspicion?"

Yuwen Wuji remained silent, his expression one of deep sorrow, truly a testament to the profound bond between siblings.

But considering the rumors circulating before, his sibling relationship seemed to have long surpassed ordinary kinship. However, the person was dead, and those were just rumors. As the emperor, he had to be magnanimous and could only swallow his anger.

"I am not blaming you. I understand that you miss your sister. I also miss your sister, which is why I came here today."

He gave Li Wei a wink, and Li Wei immediately stepped forward and put the token away.

"If you wish to come in the future, just tell me."

Xie Liwei gave a wry smile and looked up at the palace.

“This place is exactly the same as when my sister was alive. You can’t tell at all that a great fire once took place here.” As he spoke, he walked around the main hall. “I remember there used to be a chessboard here, and my sister and I used to play chess here.”

As Yuwen Wuji listened to his rambling, thinking of the woman already prepared and waiting for him to favor her in the inner palace, the veins on his temples throbbed.

If Xie Liwei had arrived just a quarter of an hour later, he might have already finished!

"Ah, there really is a chessboard here. Your Majesty, we have nothing to do tonight, why don't we play a few games to remember my elder sister!"

Yuwen Wuji: "..."

He wanted to refuse, but his image as a loving husband was too firmly established. If he refused, wouldn't that mean he couldn't empathize with Xie Liwei's grief?

But he had something on his mind tonight, and if the game started, he didn't know when it would end. He gritted his teeth and said, "It's getting late tonight. After the New Year, I'll summon you to the palace. We'll have a good game of chess then."

Xie Liwei regretfully put down the chessboard and sighed, "I've been too long-winded. I'll take a few more glances and then leave."

Seeing Xie Liwei's state, Li Wei's conscience ached terribly. But he was the Emperor's man; he couldn't betray his master!

Unfortunately, he was a useless eunuch who couldn't do anything!

"Alright, let Li Wei accompany you for a stroll. I'm tired today, so I'll go and rest first."

Watching Yuwen Wuji's retreating figure as he entered the hall, Xie Liwei made no attempt to hide his mockery, which made Li Wei tremble with fear.

Oh my god!