Yun Chaoxi shuddered, her expression shifting from cautious to cold, and she quickly pushed the person away.
The man paused, then reached out to tear at her clothes without saying a word.
Yun Chaoxi quickly pulled out a packet of hallucinogenic powder from the small space, held her breath, and sprinkled it on his face. The next moment, the man on the bed fell into a deep sleep.
Yun Chaoxi kicked the other person hard, quickly climbed off the bed, straightened her clothes, and then turned back to look at the person.
The bedchamber was dark, the lights were off, and it was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, let alone make out faces. But with the hint from the brocade pouch, Yun Chaoxi felt that the person on the bed wasn't the emperor. If the emperor was impotent, how could he be so aroused and pounce on her as soon as he entered the room?
Yun Chaoxi finally understood why the emperor was impotent, yet the concubines in the harem were still able to receive his favor. It turned out that he had found a substitute to help him with his love. No wonder no one in the harem had been able to give birth. If one of them were to give birth, he would become a father.
Ha! What a scoundrel! None of the men surnamed Chu are any good.
Yun Chaoxi glanced around the room. Zhu'er and Eunuch Liu, who served the emperor, were guarding the door. She would leave through the window on the right side of Liuxia Palace without being noticed.
Yun Chaoxi was glad that she had learned some self-defense skills from her uncle, and that something as simple as climbing through a window was no problem for her.
After leaving Liuxia Palace, Yun Chaoxi took out a map from her small space to locate the emperor's direction. Sure enough, the guy in Liuxia Palace was not the emperor at all. The map showed that the emperor was currently in a small garden near Liuxia Palace.
Yun Chaoxi ran towards the small garden.
In Qinfang Garden.
Every night when he had chosen a concubine, Chu Xiao would wait in his everyday clothes near her bedchamber for his bodyguard to finish his business before returning to Zichen Palace. He remembered that today was the day the new concubine sent to the palace by the Prime Minister's residence would serve him. Calculating the time, two quarters of an hour had already passed, and it was about time. Chu Xiao turned around to head back.
Suddenly, a figure in a light purple color appeared at the corner of the garden and rushed over in a panic.
"Ah!" Yun Chaoxi was caught off guard and bumped into a hard chest, her nose turning red.
Ignoring the pain in her nose, she frantically grabbed the man's collar, lowered her head, and sobbed for help, "Help! Please save me!"
Chu Xiao's sword-like eyebrows furrowed, his eyes sharpening. He shoved her aside and coldly demanded, "Which palace are you from?!"
Yun Chaoxi raised her head shakily, only to find that the person in front of her was wearing a bronze mask with carved patterns. She was startled, and her thin and frail body trembled even more violently with fear. "I...I am from Liuxia Palace."
Chu Xiao then got a clear look at Yun Chaoxi's face. Her snow-white face was covered in tears, her eyes were wet, and a tear was still clinging to her long eyelashes. Her cherry-blossom lips were biting her lip gently from time to time out of fear, and she was looking at him timidly.
The lotus-root-colored gauze dress couldn't conceal her exquisite figure, and the rouge-colored undergarment was faintly visible, making the surrounding skin appear dazzlingly white. Under the moonlight, it exuded a hazy beauty, and her chest rose and fell with the panting from running, almost bursting out.
With skin as white as snow and a face as beautiful as a flower, she was nothing more than that.
Chu Xiao's eyes darkened slightly.
Considering that she said she was from Liuxia Palace and was dressed like that, Chu Xiao guessed that she was Yun Shi, the prime minister's legitimate daughter who had just entered the palace. But why would Yun Shi be here? Shouldn't she be receiving favor in Liuxia Palace at this time?
Yun Chaoxi mustered her courage and took two steps forward. Her delicate white hand gently grasped the man's sleeve, and she asked him in a trembling voice, "Are you a palace guard?"
Chu Xiao neither admitted nor denied it, but only asked her, "What happened?"
"I am Consort Yun of Liuxia Palace. A thief has impersonated the Emperor and entered my palace with malicious intent... Can you send someone to capture him?" Yun Chaoxi said, tears streaming down her face, her body trembling with fear.
Yun Chaoxi chuckled coldly to herself. Since he wanted to put on an act, she would play along and see how he would handle the situation.
They actually found a substitute for her; she's not someone to be trifled with.
Chu Xiao narrowed his eyes and scrutinized her.
Yun Chaoxi seemed oblivious to his gaze, continuing to cry pitifully, anxiously urging him, "Hurry up, what if the thief wakes up and runs away? Waaah..."
"Why do you think he isn't the Emperor? Everyone in the palace knows that tonight it was the newly arrived Consort Jieyu from Liuxia Palace who was to serve the Emperor. So who else could it be but the Emperor who went to your palace tonight?"
Chu Xiao showed no outward expression, but was inwardly surprised. Over the years, the women in the harem had always received the emperor's favor in the dark, and no one had ever discovered that the person in the bed was not him. Yet this seemingly weak and delicate woman had noticed something was wrong on her very first day of serving him.
Yun Chaoxi raised her wet, fox-like eyes, her charming eyes red. "His Majesty often handles state affairs in the Hall of Diligent Governance and the Imperial Study. Incense should be burned in these places. Even if incense is not burned, one should still cleanse oneself daily while in the palace, so one's body should smell clean and fresh."
"But tonight, that thief smelled strongly of sweat, as if he hadn't washed in a long time. As soon as he got close, I felt like vomiting from the stench. He is definitely not a person as elegant and refined as His Majesty."
Yun Chaoxi's words were reasonable and well-founded, and she even subtly praised the emperor.
Chu Xiao hadn't expected this reason.
Could it be that this bodyguard never bathes when he favors the concubines on his behalf?
Now that this unexpected incident has occurred, he needs to step in and resolve it.
"Let's go, I'll go with you to take a look."
"Thank you, thank you."
Yun Chaoxi was dressed in thin clothes, and the night was chilly. The cold wind made her light gauze dress flutter wildly. She hadn't felt cold while running, but now that she had stopped and was being blown by the wind, Yun Chaoxi couldn't help but hug her arms and shiver.
Chu Xiao noticed her lips, which were pale from the wind, and took off his coat, throwing it to her. "Put this on."
Yun Chaoxi did not refuse. After putting on her coat, she felt much warmer and walked ahead of Chu Xiao to lead the way.
The two returned to Liuxia Palace, where Eunuch Liu, who was guarding outside the sleeping quarters, stared in shock.
Zhu'er is not here; perhaps she was sent away by Eunuch Liu.
Eunuch Liu was the chief eunuch in the palace and also Chu Xiao's personal eunuch. The fact that the emperor was impotent and needed someone to take his place was known only to the emperor, Eunuch Liu, and the secret guard in the entire palace.
When Eunuch Liu saw the Emperor and Consort Yun walk in from outside the palace, he was so frightened that he could hardly stand and almost knelt down on the spot.
Why is the Emperor here?! Isn't Consort Yun inside?! In that room...
Yun Chaoxi timidly hid behind Chu Xiao, her hands tightly gripping the back of his robe, and said in a low and nervous voice, "The fake emperor is inside, you must go in and catch him quickly."
Liu Gonggong's legs went weak and he was about to collapse on the spot, stunned by Chu Xiao's casual glance, but he still couldn't help but feel flustered.
What's going on here? Is the real emperor coming to expose the fake emperor?
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