At first, when Feng Jingteng was defeated, the Prefecture Governor’s Office became the General Residence, where He Qia presided for a while. Later, after being promoted to Governor, Xinzhou’s administration was restructured, and the state government was moved to Andu County, where another residence was established.

As a result, the General Residence was left empty.

But Feng Yun never went there even once after that.

Despite having lived there for several years.

Pei Jue watched her intently.

She cast her gaze downward, lost in thought.

Pei Jue grasped her shoulders with a hiss.

Feng Yun raised her head, with a look of concern in her dark eyes.

"Did it hurt the wound?"

Pei Jue was silent.

Slowly, he took her hand, pulled her close, and held her tightly in his embrace, asking softly, "Do you regret it?"

Feng Yun looked up, "Regret what?"

"Marrying me," Pei Jue locked his gaze onto her, with deep, dark eyes.

"Why would I regret that?" asked Feng Yun.

Pei Jue watched her for a long time before breaking the silence.

"Being with me, you’ll never have peace in this life."

Feng Yun started to laugh softly, her voice low and her expression serene.

"What I want in this life isn’t peace."

Pei Jue asked, "Then what does Lady Yun desire?"

Despite the close distance, Feng Yun couldn’t see through his thoughts.

A gust of wind blew, causing the curtains to sway, and the room became permeated with the faint scent of medicinal herbs.

She half-closed her eyes, gazing at Pei Jue with earnest.

She knew that to him, a woman he couldn’t fully control like herself was far more interesting than anything in his past life.

But she couldn’t tell Pei Jue about those memories that surfaced only in nightmares.

She couldn’t fully trust, and neither could he.

He wouldn’t endlessly indulge her either; affection came at a price.

With a faint smile, her eyes shining, she leaned in, her gaze falling upon his feverish chest.

"I wish for the General to recover from his injuries soon, so that husband and wife can fulfill their marital duties."

-

The new moon hung like a hook.

The night had already fallen silent, but in the Fangyun Hall of Yecheng, there was the sound of flutes and drums, as if the night itself was infused with a longing melody.

Li Sangruo lay half-drunk, her body languishing on the Imperial Concubine’s chair, eyeing the few handsome young men in front of her, shaking her head repeatedly, before suddenly seizing a wine pot from the table and hurling it down.

"Ugly imitations, all of them are ugly imitations," she said.

The Fangyun Hall was filled with prostrate figures.

The Palace Attendants dared not even breathe too loudly.

Since moving from the Central Capital to Yecheng, Empress Dowager Li had become more deranged.

"Can’t you find even one person in Yecheng who resembles him? Incompetents, all of you incompetents, what use do I have for you? Useless, all of you are useless!"

With each outburst, she berated harsher than before.

Her own breath became ragged as if she couldn’t catch it.

Fangyun Hall fell into a hushed silence.

Ever since Fang Fucai died in the dungeons of the Imperial Cavalry Division, Li Sangruo felt she had no one useful by her side.

The current Chief Eunuch of Fangyun Hall, Deng Pei, had been sent by her father.

Li Sangruo felt that he was not there to serve her, but to watch her.

So she did nothing else but send Deng Pei searching all around the city... for someone who looked like Pei Jue.

It was as if she was possessed.

There were similar faces in the world, but someone who matched Pei Jue in spirit and demeanor... where could they be found?

The harem of Yecheng was filled with dark and noxious air.

The Palace Attendants in Fangyun Hall also suffered greatly from Li Sangruo’s torments.

Li Zongxun found it neither bearable to be angry nor to curse; seeing her act with reckless abandon, he simply chose to ignore her.

In his eyes, Li Sangruo was nothing more than waste.

Her only value lay in the fact that she was still Emperor of Xifeng’s Empress and legitimately the Empress Dowager of Dajin.

Li Zongxun turned a blind eye.

"Song and dance intoxicate, intoxication complements the song and dance, such fine scenery and a good night, yet without Mr. Pei, how can I wear a joyful expression? Where to find, where to find, look, the good night has passed..."

Li Sangruo, tipsy and unsteady, rose to her feet, laughing in a slurred voice. She staggered over to the few young lords who were holding their breath in silence, smiling numbly, pinching this one, touching that one, as if she had suddenly developed an interest.

"You, you, and you..."

"Come with me..."

She grabbed the waistband of one of the young lords and turned around, only to collide abruptly against a wall.

No.

It was a person.

Li Sangruo, with bleary, drunken eyes, took a long while to recognize him. It was Tang Shaogong.

She pushed Tang Shaogong forcefully, her face contorting into a grotesque mask, her hoarse voice like the wails of ghosts and howls of wolves.

"Get out, get out quick, I don’t want to see you. You killed my son, usurped my son’s throne, you are a treacherous official, a sycophant, a mistake of my father..."

Tang Shaogong watched her expressionlessly.

Liang Sanruo normally did not drink and was always proper in front of him, but when she was drunk, her temper flared. However, to treat him like an enemy, cursing and hating like today, was the first time.

The palace attendants were silent as cicadas in winter.

After a while, as Li Sangruo sat down with a thud, he waved his hand, signaling the palace attendants who tried to help her to back off.

Then, he walked over to Li Sangruo step by step.

"Has the Empress Dowager had enough of her madness?"

Li Sangruo glared at him with vehemence, letting out a cold laugh...

Once.

Twice.

Each laugh colder than the last.

"Get out!"

Tang Shaogong bent at the waist, slowly crouching down, looking at the pitiful Empress Dowager, his gaze filled with an indescribable complexity.

"Someone avenged the Empress Dowager, are you not pleased?"

Li Sangruo half-closed her eyes, calming down slightly.

This was his father’s favorite and trusted confidant.

She, as his daughter, could not afford to offend him.

"I... don’t understand what Uncle Shaogong is talking about."

Tang Shaogong stared at her haggard face, "Don’t you hate Pei Jue? Hate him for betraying you. I’ve heard that Pei Jue met with danger on Xiufeng Mountain, was crippled by remnants of the Qi Army bandits, and lies unconscious..."

Li Sangruo’s chest heaved, and she suddenly sat upright.

"What? What did you say? What happened to Mr. Pei?"

Tang Shaogong said, "I said, someone has taken revenge for you. Pei Jue is seriously injured, many have seen him being carried on a wooden frame by a few soldiers, taken to Changmen of Huaxi..."

The focus in Li Sangruo’s gaze blurred, as she let out a great cry of grief at the words "Changmen of Huaxi."

"He deserves it, he deserves such a fate. Even near death, he still seeks that little wretch, he deserves it, it serves him right..."

Li Sangruo’s curses were always frenzied.

Tang Shaogong waited until she had finished cursing, then spoke indifferently:

"With the war just concluded in Xijing, Pei Jue’s mishap will surely stir up chaos. Now is the perfect time for His Majesty to make his move and take advantage of the situation to lead his troops."

Li Sangruo’s heart gave a slight shudder.

Gradually, she turned her eyes to look at Tang Shaogong.

Another cold laugh.

"For you to talk to me about this, Uncle Shaogong, isn’t it ridiculous? Everyone in the court of Yecheng, from the civil to the military officials, knows that both the Young Emperor and I are nothing but puppets, mere figureheads. If Uncle Shaogong wants to strike at someone, when to strike, why not discuss it with my father?"

Tang Shaogong sighed, "The new dynasty has just been established, the Prime Minister has many concerns."

Li Sangruo glanced at him coldly, her eyes still drunk with alcohol, "Are you mocking me, Uncle Shaogong? A matter that even the Prime Minister is concerned about, what can I, a worthless Empress Dowager, possibly do? Uncle Shaogong... you think too highly of me."

Tang Shaogong said, "The Empress Dowager rules, and the people recognize the Empress Dowager, not the Prime Minister. When the time comes for Your Highness to act, you must seize the opportunity." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Li Sangruo let out a scoff, "Opportunity, what is opportunity? I am a broken person now. My child is gone, and I am a broken person. "

Tang Shaogong frowned slightly, and in a low voice by Li Sangruo’s ear he whispered:

"Only by taking back Central Capital and seizing Andu County can the Empress Dowager fulfill her wishes... Even if the Empress Dowager cannot achieve this, it is still much better than indulging in the company of men and doing nothing as you are now..."

He paused, half-closing his deep and inscrutable eyes, and fixed his gaze on Li Sangruo.

"I’ve learned that the Prime Minister is stabilizing the political landscape to prepare for an abdication."

Li Sangruo was stunned.

Her father had put the Emperor of Chunde on the throne simply to control the government.

Li Sangruo knew that once the time was ripe, her father would force the Young Emperor to abdicate, ascend to the throne himself in a legitimate and justified manner, and then let his beloved son inherit the empire.

What would her end be then, a useless former Empress Dowager?