At noon, Yu Qianqian woke up from her drowsy state. The dazzling light made it hard for her to open her eyes. After thinking for a moment, she suddenly realized that she had slept for a whole day and night without even noticing when Mu Beichen came last night.
She pushed aside the bed curtains, and the room was filled with golden light. Her face was pale in the sunlight, and her haggard face had a deathly look on it.
She had just gotten out of bed when someone ran over and called to her.
"Why did Your Highness get out of bed by yourself? Let me help you change your clothes!" Chunxing burst through the door and rushed to her side without even taking a breath.
“No need,” Yu Qianqian immediately waved away Chunxing’s support, her agitated expression revealing her impatience: “Although I am still recovering from my illness, I am not so weak that I cannot take care of myself.”
In the past, she wouldn't have been so sensitive. Even if she was served meticulously, it would have been considered a privilege as the Empress. But now, her frail and sickly body could crush all her hopes at any moment.
Her intense dissatisfaction startled Xiangxing, who immediately retreated to the side without a word. Seeing this, the others also wisely kept quiet.
Yu Qianqian was unaware that her body was swaying precariously due to the sudden force. Before she could take more than a few steps, she fell to the ground with a dull thud. The sudden fall made her bones ache.
Seeing this, all the palace maids rushed over, helped her up, and then silently retreated.
The place had just returned to calm when Yu Qianqian went straight to the dressing table and sat down. She looked up at the completely changed face in the mirror and couldn't help but lie down and wail. Her sudden change in emotions took a long time to calm down.
Only after a long while did she finally look up at herself in the bronze mirror and slowly utter, "I am not afraid of pain, nor am I afraid of life and death, but I don't want to become so useless, nor do I want to live like this, neither human nor ghost..."
Yu Qianqian's low sobs, trembling frequently, echoed clearly in the otherwise silent room.
Seeing her pitiful and helpless appearance, even the palace maids beside her couldn't help but shed tears. They felt that although the Empress was ugly because of the scar on half of her face, at least she was still so optimistic at that time. But now, she had just lost her child and was so weak because of the poison. These things were like adding insult to injury for her.
At that moment, a light rain began to fall outside, like willow catkins drifting and splashing onto the smooth jade floor. This immediately created a misty, rainy atmosphere over the entire palace, making the distant palaces appear and disappear in layers of rain, and further blurring the figures of people hurrying to and fro.
The moment the door to the Imperial Study was knocked on, a clear, cold voice followed: "Enter!"
At this moment, Mu Beichen was still sitting quietly at the table with one hand supporting his chin. Upon hearing the sound, he stood up without thinking and with a slight flick of his sleeve, his dark black robe fell vertically to the ground.
He looked down at the guard kneeling before him. His cold, stern face was expressionless, yet it exuded a terrifying aura, commanding respect even without anger.
The guards, their faces slightly lowered, could still sense Mu Beichen's angry glare. They quickly lowered their heads even further and replied in a flustered manner, "Your Majesty, we have searched the entire city overnight, but we still haven't found the culprit..."
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