The palace guards brought in several eunuchs, who were all forced to kneel on the ground. The old eunuch beside Wu Yaohui asked, "Did the people in the Secretariat secretly switch the Empress's medicine? Is that true?"

"This old servant doesn't know," Eunuch Xu replied, glancing at Tian Yu. Tian Yu was instantly shocked. Thinking back on the medicine she had been taking recently, its effects seemed to have weakened. She had thought it was Li Xingyun's doing. Could it really be him? But why would he help her? They had no connection whatsoever! Besides, she didn't remember him.

“Still not confessing? Bring up the witnesses and evidence.” Wu Yaohui said.

The eunuch brought in another young eunuch, who introduced himself as the one in charge of decocting the medicine. He said that he had recently noticed that the Empress's medicine was much less than before. At first, he thought that the imperial physician had covered up the prescription, but later he accidentally discovered that a young eunuch who delivered the medicine had secretly taken some of it.

Wu Yaohui asked, "Who is that little eunuch?"

The eunuch in charge of decocting the medicine pointed at the man who had already been knocked unconscious and said, "It's him!"

"Someone come and wake him up!" Wu Yaohui said.

Several eunuchs brought cold water to wake up the unconscious young eunuch. The young eunuch was dragged in front of Tian Yu, who saw that his back was already soaked with blood. With the addition of a bucket of cold water, the blood began to flow down his clothes.

“Tell me who ordered you to do it,” Wu Yaohui said.

"No one ordered me to do this. I just felt sorry for the Empress and wanted to help her."

“The Empress is pitiful, but aren’t you pitiful?” Wu Yaohui said.

"This servant is a pitiful person, which is why I want to help the Empress even more."

"The Empress heard you. The medicine you drank isn't working!" Wu Yaohui said.

"I don't know?" Tian Yu murmured. Her memory was slowly improving, but it was still very blurry, and there were some things she couldn't remember for the time being.

"I'll give you one more chance to confess honestly, and I might spare your life."

"This servant has nothing to report."

"Alright, bring his brother up here!" Wu Yaohui shouted.

Then several eunuchs brought up a boy who was about half a year old who had been standing next to Eunuch Xu. Tian Yu looked at all of this in disbelief.

"Your Majesty, it has nothing to do with him. It was all done by this servant. Please, Your Majesty, release him."

"Release them?! You two are both my slaves, I can do whatever I want with you. If you don't speak up, he'll die!"

The young eunuch lay on the ground, crying and pleading, "Your Majesty, please have mercy! It has nothing to do with him. It was all my doing. I will atone with my death!" Before anyone could react, the young eunuch, who was already half-dead, suddenly bit his tongue and committed suicide.

Tian Yu was so frightened that she stepped forward to stop her, but it was too late. The little eunuch spurted blood from his mouth, looked at Tian Yu and pointed at his younger brother kneeling on the ground, then his head lolled to the side and he was gone.

"He's dead! Drag him away!" Wu Yaohui said angrily.

Tian Yu was still staring in shock at what was happening before her eyes when she heard Wu Yaohui say, "Since your brother is dead, you can go down and keep him company!" Then he stood up and walked down the steps, lashing out at the little eunuch with his whip.

Tian Yu felt a burning pain in her back and almost fainted from the pain. She held the little eunuch in her arms and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it's alright!" Xu Gonggong, who was kneeling opposite her, saw Tian Yu with tears streaming down her face but dared not disobey the emperor. He wanted to speak up and plead for her, but Tian Yu smiled and put her index finger to her lips, telling him not to say anything.

Wu Yaohui was clearly taken aback, not expecting Tian Yu to rush forward and block the whip, but he still refused to give up, saying, "Does the Empress want to take the punishment for him? Don't think I dare not hit you!"

Tian Yu didn't speak, but simply protected the little eunuch in her arms. Wu Yaohui lashed her twice more with his whip, but Tian Yu endured it without uttering a sound. Her face turned ashen. Looking at the child in her arms, she thought of Tangyuan, Zhao Moyan, and Wu Yaohui's past actions. She turned and glanced at Wu Yaohui, a glance that made him feel like he had lost.

"Men, drag these lackeys out and beat them to death with sticks!" Wu Yaohui said irritably to the swindler.

“What does Your Majesty want to know? You can ask me directly. There’s no need to harm others,” Tian Yu said weakly, turning to look at Wu Yaohui.

"What has the Empress remembered?"

"Yes! What do you want to know?"

"You know that!"

Tian Yu sneered, enduring the pain in her back, and slowly stood up from the ground, saying, "You want it that badly?"

"Empress, don't forget your child!" Wu Yaohui said through gritted teeth.

"How long has it been since I last saw him? Am I still considered his mother?" Tian Yu asked Wu Yaohui.

"This is your own doing. Guards, the Empress is unwell. Escort her back to the palace!"

Tian Yu glanced at Eunuch Xu and the others, shook her head at them, and turned to Wu Yaohui, saying, "My regaining my memories has nothing to do with them. Let them go!"

The two stared at each other for two seconds. Wu Yaohui waved his hand, and the eunuchs escaped a disaster. Tian Yu was helped back to her palace by her nanny. The imperial physician left after prescribing medicine. A palace maid was applying medicine to Tian Yu's back when Wu Yaohui entered. He dismissed the palace maid, and Tian Yu lay on the bed, covered herself with the quilt, and buried her head, not wanting to look at him.

Why pretend to have amnesia?

"If I don't pretend, will you let me go?"

"I don't believe that the medicine had no effect on you at all!"

"Yes, for a long time I did forget who I was, but there are some things I want to forget but dare not forget."

"Wouldn't it be better to forget? You are still my Empress, the Queen of the Nation."

"I am your Empress, and what is Consort Li? What is Li Weiwei? What are these three thousand beauties in the harem?"

“You are different from them. You are the one who will unify the world with me, the one who will stand shoulder to shoulder with me.”

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!