Shen Qianshan brushed the wet bloodstain on his clothes. It was not noticed before. When he brushed it, she was greeted with the bloody smell, which pervaded the large main hall.

She turned around. Shen Qianshan waved his hand, and then Sha and Jin Ye walked out with Ling from the side hall.

Ling’s rope had been untied, but the bloodstains on her clothes were shocking. Her hair was smeared with soil and bloodstains, and her face was dirty too. Though she was not very pretty, any woman wouldn’t allow herself to be so dirty.

Ling staggered like an old woman of one hundred years old. After walking two steps, she had no more strength.

Sha hurried to help her. Ling knelt in front of the Empress. Her voice was hoarse, and each word she said made her painful. Her voice was dry as if it would be torn anytime.

“Your Highness, I’m so sorry.” Then she began to sob.

The Empress stood there. She wanted to walk over to lift Ling, but she didn’t move, no matter how eager she was.

She was the Empress, while Wangyue Ling was just her servant. What was the use of a servant? It was almost nonsense for the Empress before. Everyone’s sacrifice meant nothing, compared with the position of the Empress. Without such a determination, how could she entrench her place?

However, it was different now. The young girl was just like a grass swaying doggedly and persisting in the cold wind. But she would wither unexpectedly at an unknown time. It would happen quickly and leave her no time to feel sad.

The Empress was to blame. If it were not for her, how would Ling be seized and become so miserable?

The Empress kept silent, and her eyes were dry. Then tears gushed out, and she looked at Ling with watery eyes.

Everyone there was surprised. Having served the Empress for so many years, Ling had never seen the Empress cry. Sometimes she was sad about something, such as her brother’s death and Shen Zhongbai’s love for another woman. When she felt sad, she always sat at the window silently like an emotionless tree, but she was surrounded by sadness.

As the dignified Empress, she was crying for a humble servant girl?

Ling was startled. She moved forward on her knees and couldn’t help wailing.

Her voice was hoarse, and her cry sounded like autumn wind blowing the old bark, tough and harsh. But no one laughed at her. They only felt sad.

Shen Qianshan sat nearby, wiping the bloodstains on his clothes mechanically with a handkerchief and staring at the Empress.

Shen Qianshan looked at the Empress and then smiled casually. Her identity was obvious, but she behaved like a kid today and showed the softest side of a woman to everyone here. Besides the Empress of the country, she was only a woman born in the lap of luxury.

The atmosphere was different. The Empress wiped her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t do anything improper in public. Now that Ling had been rescued, it went well at least. She lifted her eyes and told Sha, “Take Ling back to the Wangyue Family. Xiang will go with you.”

Xiang and Sha walked towards her hurriedly and said, “No, Your Highness. When you are in the palace alone, if…”

If she was bullied by Shen Zhongbai, she would have nobody to rely on. Of course, they didn’t need to make things clear. After all, none of them were foolish.

The Empress shook her head firmly and told the two servant girls, “My relationship with him has broken. I can’t put you at risk. Go home to wait for my message.”

Then she walked towards the side hall, where her clothes were placed. Her servant girl wanted to say something and reached out her hand to stop her, but she didn’t. The Empress was cold by nature. She wouldn’t give up or change her decision.

Shen Qianshan zipped his lips. He returned to his bedroom, changed his clothes, and never appeared again even when the Empress left his residence.

The Empress went back to the palace the next morning. She stank. Though she didn’t join the fighting, her clothes were dirtied with the bloodstains of those guys.

The Weiyang Palace was desolate, and only the Empress lived there. The remaining servant girls stood still like statues.

When she just changed her clothes, she heard a eunuch reporting in a squeaky voice, “Here comes the Emperor.”

The Empress sat silently on a chaise longue and looked indifferent. Her eyes sparkled and she sneered. The man chose to come here at this time specially, or how could he arrive when she just returned?

She stood up. Before she went to the main hall, Shen Zhongbai entered with Shen Qiangwei. His dragon robe was impressive and awe-inspiring, but his facial expression was extremely cold.

Shen Qiangwei was wearing expensive clothes, which were even better than those of the Empress. Shen Zhongbai said all women were his chessmen, didn’t he? Why did this chessman have access to privilege?

She knelt on the ground. Shen Zhongbai walked past her. He smelt good, but she thought the smell disgusting. It might come from another woman.

Shen Zhongbai sat down, put down his hand on the table, and asked coldly, “Where have you been recently? Did you forget your identity?”

With her head lowered, the Empress answered quietly, “My servant girl was captured, I didn’t know why, so I left the palace to rescue her.”

He was clear about everything, but he still asked the question. He just wanted to find an excuse. Therefore, the Empress didn’t want to waste time on him. The most important thing was that if the Empress deceived him, she would commit the crime of deceiving the Emperor, and he would have a better excuse to kill her.

The Empress was clearer than anyone about the determination of Shen Zhongbai to kill her.

“You mean, as the dignified Empress, you left the palace for a servant girl? Do you know where you should stay? When you were out of the palace, what would others think about it and what would they say?” Shen Zhongbai said coldly and emotionlessly.

The Empress laughed suddenly. Shen Zhongbai tried to impose the crime on her with a trick, but she denied his charge and prepared to refute it.

“Your Majesty, you mean I can’t resist or rescue my servant girl after she was captured? I am the Empress and my position is just second to you in the country, but I can’t even protect my servant girl. Don’t you think it shameful? What’s more, did the person who captured my servant girl respect me, you, or the whole royal family?” Then the Empress looked up and met Shen Zhongbai’s eyes. Her eyes sparkled as if she was laughing.

She must be laughing at him. What did she want to prove by saying so much? She wanted to prove that she looked down upon the Emperor. Neither of them respected the other one.

They were just courteous to each other superficially.

“You mean I overthink? Or what I do is improper?” Shen Zhongbai raised his voice suddenly and glared at the Empress. However, the woman before him was proud and stubborn.

The aggressive manner was funny. Did she have any excuse to defend herself? Did she think Shen Zhongbai had no idea what she had done?

“I didn’t mean that. Besides, you don’t punish me. I think you are a wise emperor.” The Empress kept lowering her head and looked casual and calm. It was not the first time for her to bicker with the man about it. She knew what kind of words would irritate the Emperor at once.

When a person was raging, he would make an impetuous decision. Meanwhile, he would show his slip unconsciously.

As expected, Shen Zhongbai trembled all over in anger and stared at the Empress crazily with his scarlet eyes.

But he said nothing and just glowered at her.

Shen Qiangwei said suddenly, “Your Highness, it’s always your style. How impressive! You dare to do whatever you want regardless of anything. I admire you very much.”

Then she looked at the Empress smilingly in an aggressive way.

The Empress had got used to Shen Qiangwei’s provocation.

She rose slowly before Shen Zhongbai. Everyone fell silent and just looked at the Empress. She was so awe-inspiring that Shen Qiangwei was overwhelmed even with the Emperor on her side.

The Empress moved slowly, and it was unknown what she wanted to do. Then she slapped Shen Qiangwei’s face hard before the latter realized her intention.

The slap was too loud. Shen Zhongbai withdrew his neck and his eyes sparkled. He couldn’t help curling his lips. How impudent… she was!

Shen Qiangwei was knocked down on the ground and her body couldn’t help twitching. She covered her face with a hand and was close to tears in pain. Her face became red and had five fingerprints on it.

Refraining from cursing, she turned around to look at Shen Zhongbai, hoping that he would avenge her suffering.

Unexpectedly, Shen Zhongbai just coughed quietly, stood up, and said, “Let’s go.”

Shen Qiangwei looked at Shen Zhongbai in surprise and wanted to stop him. The Empress slapped her in the presence of the Emperor himself. Did he just let it go?

Did the man care about her? Wasn’t she the most important concubine in his heart? Did he choose to ignore the Empress’s slap?