The Empress Dowager had no biological children of her own, but she always regarded the Emperor as her own son and treated Nan Zhiyun as her own daughter.
Nan Zhiyun's father, Nan Su, was one of her father's most capable men. He was also adopted as her godson and given the Nan family surname. She treated him like a younger brother.
Nan Zhiyun's mother sacrificed herself to save her when Nan Zhiyun was only a few years old. So how could she possibly abandon Nan Zhiyun? Nan Zhiyun has always been very well-behaved and considerate; wasn't the Empress Dowager also fortunate to have Nan Zhiyun?
"With the Emperor's temperament, how can he achieve his goals without some means? I understand him... I am the one who understands him best in this world," the Empress Dowager murmured to herself.
"Hurry up, I don't want this matter to drag on. The longer it drags on, the more uneasy I will feel..." The Empress Dowager also had her concerns.
“Yes,” An Xin replied.
The Empress Dowager looked out the window at the falling snowflakes and wondered when spring would arrive.
Yunpeng Palace
The imperial concubine leaned against the chaise longue, her face pale.
"Your Majesty, perhaps I should call a royal physician to take a look at you? I'm truly worried about you." Hua You was a loyal servant.
"No need," the Imperial Concubine said wearily, closing her eyes. She was too lazy to invite him.
"Your Majesty..." Hua You wanted to continue persuading her. This morning, the Imperial Concubine endured her discomfort to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager, and ended up standing outside for so long. Her Majesty's health is already poor; how could she withstand such exertion?
"No need to persuade me anymore, you may leave. There's no need to arrange for anyone to serve you tonight. I want to be alone for a while." The Imperial Concubine spoke weakly.
The imperial physician had been summoned before, but he said it was only because the Consort was too tired and depressed that she was in this state.
Hua You had no choice but to back down.
That evening, the Imperial Concubine fell ill, and Yu Jingchen personally went to see her. He then sent many imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital, who worked until midnight. However, all the physicians said that she was fine, just overworked.
Yu Jingchen felt somewhat exhausted lately. His memories of the Imperial Concubine were still quite vivid. In his previous life, the Imperial Concubine died of illness, and after her death, a letter and a dagger were found under her pillow…
Yu Jingchen remembered that this imperial concubine had always been unassuming and never fought for anything, but... Yu Jingchen seemed lost in thought. But at that moment, Xinglai's voice broke Yu Jingchen's thoughts.
"Your Majesty..." Xinglai looked somewhat solemn.
"What happened?" Yu Jingchen frowned. For Xinglai to show such an expression, it probably wasn't something trivial.
"Your Majesty, Qianxia, the palace maid who serves Consort Nan, just arrived and said... Consort Nan has gone missing." As Xinglai spoke, she immediately knelt down, not daring to raise her head.
"What did you say?!" Yu Jingchen even doubted that he had heard correctly.
"What do you mean 'missing'? How can a perfectly healthy person just disappear?!" Yu Jingchen walked down from upstairs.
"Your Majesty, this servant doesn't know the specifics either..." Xinglai had just heard it from Qianxia.
"Useless!" Yu Jingchen lifted his foot and walked outside, only to see Qianxia kneeling at the door.
"Explain yourself clearly. What do you mean by 'the person is gone'?" Yu Jingchen asked, his tone revealing an urgency and tension that he himself was unaware of.
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