Chapter 11

The cold wind howled outside the hall, and the candlelight inside the hall flickered, becoming increasingly dim. His Majesty sat trembling on the dragon throne.

"Your Majesty, it's bad, it's bad, the mob has already broken into the palace..." The eunuch outside the palace came in urgently to report.

"How could it be?" His Majesty couldn't believe it.

"Your Majesty, let's escape quickly." The eunuch urged.

His Majesty stepped down from the dragon throne and followed the inner palace to the corridor. Then, he realized what was happening and grabbed the sleeve of the eunuch leading the way. "Wait...why have I never seen you before?"

The eunuch in front turned around, revealing a ferocious face and the dagger hidden in his sleeve: "You tyrant king, you deserve to die..."

His Majesty wanted to escape, but when he turned around, he found that behind him were the innocent souls he had been "forced" to kill. Every face was filled with resentment, as if saying, "It's all your fault, it's all your fault. As our Majesty, why didn't you protect your people?"

His Majesty muttered, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me, I... I didn't mean it..." Suddenly, he woke from his dream, realizing that this was the "nightmare" from ten years ago. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he stood in a daze at the doorway, not noticing that the Queen, who had been lying with him, had opened her eyes after he left...

The next day, the Queen poured a cup of tea for the Prime Minister and hesitated to speak: "Your Majesty's nightmares have been getting worse recently. He often suffers from insomnia. When he finally falls asleep, he wakes up in the middle of the night and can't fall asleep again..."

The Prime Minister took a sip of tea slowly. "What happened ten years ago must have left a big shadow on him!"

"The fetus in my belly has been making a fuss lately and I've been having morning sickness all the time. Can I temporarily separate from Your Majesty? That way we can both get a good rest?" The queen cautiously tested him.

The Prime Minister placed the teacup on the table, and the tea fell out of the cup due to inertia. The Queen's heart skipped a beat. "No, His Majesty is at a very vulnerable time right now. You are so caring for him even though you are pregnant. With his fragile nature, he will remember it."

"Do we really want to do this? I already have his child in my belly. What use is he to us?" the queen asked cautiously.

"We don't know whether the baby in your belly is a boy or a girl yet. If we act rashly, it might discourage him. We can't make any mistakes now." The prime minister explained patiently.

"Yes, father." The queen was somewhat unwilling, but she did not dare to disobey her father who was the prime minister.

*

After the eunuch examination was over, the eunuchs began to assign the destinations of all the eunuchs who passed the examination. Luo Sanrong was assigned to Jingren Palace to serve Concubine Shu. The eunuch who assigned him at that time specifically told him to take good care of Concubine Shu. Although the Queen had more power and was more favored by His Majesty in the palace, Concubine Shu was the one who raised His Royal Highness the Crown Prince since he was a child. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was very respectful to Concubine Shu. He must serve her carefully, otherwise His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not forgive him.

Luo Sanrong had heard countless times from others about the Crown Prince's terror, silently complaining in her heart, "What a terrifying figure this Crown Prince is!" But she dared not show it on her face, and could only say respectfully, "Yes, Eunuch Sun."

Eunuch Sun was the eunuch on duty who caught Luo Sanrong sneaking out at that time, and he was also the eunuch who later helped Luo Sanrong pass the eunuch examination. Luo Sanrong did not know that the eunuch with whom he had many "strange encounters" was named "Sun" until he was sure that he would stay in the palace.

Sun Neiguan led Luo Sanrong to pay his respects to the Concubine Shu. "I am here to see the Concubine Shu. This is Luo Sanrong, who passed the eunuch assessment and was assigned to Jingren Palace..."

"I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Concubine Shu. May Her Majesty be blessed with good health." Luo Sanying secretly glanced at the woman sitting in the upper seat.

She had very few hair accessories on her head, only three or four at a glance. She was pale and looked frail. She was wearing a light pink dress embroidered with butterfly-like patterns. She was similar to what Sun Neiguan had described: unfavored but friendly and respected, frail, and not interested in interfering in the affairs of the harem... Sitting next to her was a little girl of seven or eight years old, with a pure face, who looked at Luo Sanyan with a kind smile.

"Stand up! Luo Sanrong?" Concubine Shu's voice was gentle as she repeated Luo Sanrong's name.

"Yes." Luo Sanying responded respectfully.

"Okay, Sanrong, this is Princess Yongning. I am not feeling well and cannot take her out to appreciate flowers often. You take the princess with you." Concubine Shu held Yongning's right hand and expressed encouragement with her eyes.

There was no way. Ever since Yongning was born, Concubine Shu's health had not been very good. She could not be exposed to the wind and needed to pay attention to every aspect of her life. Sometimes servants would spread some gossip, but they were quickly punished by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. However, Yongning became even more silent after hearing those words, so Concubine Shu really hoped that there would be someone to accompany Yongning instead of her.

With the encouragement of her mother, Yongning finally put her hand into Luo Sanrong's hand. Eunuch Sun nodded to her, indicating that Luo Sanrong could take Princess Yongning out to play.

After watching Luo Sanrong and Princess Yongning walk away, Concubine Shu took a sip of tea and said to Eunuch Sun, "What's wrong? People assigned to this palace have always been cautious and prudent. Why is it different this time?"

Eunuch Sun knew the inside story. In the past, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was afraid that the newly assigned eunuchs would be disrespectful to the Concubine Shu, so he always carefully selected them and gave them strict warnings before daring to send them to the Concubine Shu. This time, it was indeed different from the usual. "This person was the eunuch that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally selected and chose to stay."

"Oh? Was this person chosen by Yin'er himself?" Concubine Shu finally became interested. She had raised the prince since he was a child. She knew that the prince was a man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. However, his sharp tongue alone was enough to discourage many people. Over the years, only Ji Zeming and Wei Dao from the Prime Minister's Mansion had entered his heart. After so long, another person entered his heart. How could Concubine Shu, who regarded Li Yin as her own son, not be happy!

"Yes." Eunuch Sun did not explain much. Submitting a blank paper and being hired by the prince as an exception was also a choice!

"I understand, you can leave now!" Concubine Shu's face regained some color.

In the Imperial Garden.

Princess Yongning stood beside Luo Sanrong, who was diligently digging weeds nearby. She had said, "I want to transplant the flowers from the garden into Mother's palace so that Mother, who loves flowers and plants, can look at them often and feel better."

The soft-hearted Luo Sanrong immediately squatted down to pull out the weeds for Princess Yongning. While pulling out the weeds, he said to Princess Yongning: "I met a person who is like a flower in a greenhouse. He is delicate and has a bad temper. He always loses his temper for no reason..."

Luo Sanrong was still complaining and didn't notice that Princess Yongning had gone somewhere else to chase butterflies, and there was a new person next to Luo Sanrong, who was the protagonist of what she was saying.

Luo Sanrong saw that she was in a tall shadow. She squatted and turned her neck stiffly, and saw "Master Li" looking at her with a smile.

Luo Sanrong was so frightened that he sat down on the ground. Then he realized that he had overreacted. He quickly adjusted his expression, stood up, and said to Li Yin, "Are you an eunuch or a guard? Why do you do nothing every day and wander around like this?"

"Want to know?" Li Yin asked teasingly.

"Of course I want to know. Sometimes you are an eunuch and sometimes you are a guard. If you stroll around like this every day, don't sneak out of the palace." Luo Sanying said to Li Yin while arranging the flowers and plants in his hands.

When Li Yin heard this, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at? I'm telling you this because I treat you as a friend." Luo Sanrong said unconvinced.

"Friends?" Li Yin repeated.

"What else?" Luo Sanying looked at Li Yin fiercely, as if she was going to pounce on him if he said something that made her unhappy. However, this look had no deterrent effect on Li Yin.

"My little pet?" Li Yin teased.

"I have a name." Luo Sanrong emphasized again.

Li Yin smiled but said nothing.

Luo Sanrong changed the subject: "I've always called you Lord Li, Lord Li. What's your name?"

Li Yin suddenly fell silent, as if no one had ever called him by his name, only "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

When Luo Sanrong saw that Li Yin suddenly stopped talking, he thought that Li Yin had something to hide, so he also kept silent.

After a while, Li Yin was afraid and patted the dirt off Luo Sanrong's body, and he was still complaining: "You are a palace servant now, you should pay attention to your image and not be so sloppy. But why are you here?"

They both tacitly skipped over the previous topic. Luo Sanrong replied, "Didn't I tell you last time that I became a eunuch? Now I've been assigned to the palace of Concubine Shu. Concubine Shu asked me to bring Princess Yongning out to appreciate the flowers." At this point, Luo Sanrong suddenly realized something was wrong and screamed, "Where's Princess Yongning?"

Li Yin also reacted, "When I came here, I only saw you, not Yongning..."

The two looked at each other and said in unison: "Oh no—"