C48

The water looked like it was sleeping soundly. It was very peaceful, of course, it was an ordinary time. However, at this moment, it still looked very horrifying.

Ling'er and the princess consort looked at each other, and then the princess sighed, "It seems that the plan has failed."

"Esteemed Empress need not worry, she has her own plans." Ling'er consoled Shangguan Yun. But Shangguan Yun couldn't be happy.

The empress's ingenious plan would definitely drag her, as well as the Shangguan family, into it.

This was something she absolutely did not want to see. As a member of the Shangguan Family, although she loved the Night Emperor's flames, at least she couldn't harm the Shangguan Family for her own selfish sake.

Thinking about that, the Crown Princess frowned. No, I can't let the empress lead her by the nose.

Right now, there seemed to be a stalemate between the emperor and queen. Although she didn't know why, she absolutely couldn't involve herself in this.

He had to get someone to help him!

While thinking, the Crown Princess started to search in her mind.

Other than Shangguan Family, who else could help her?

And the worst thing about it was that it could help her without asking for anything in return. To be able to enter and leave the Imperial Palace as he pleased and not be a member of the Shangguan family, there was only one — the Night Emperor.

To be honest, she was still afraid of Ye Huangze. That man was always keeping an eye on her, making her afraid to use him.

However, on the one hand, he wanted to accept the temptation. If someone dotes on you, you must be very happy, right?

She would often think of this, but very quickly, she would remember Night Emperor Yan's face and her persistence. She would also remember that Night Emperor cultivator who once watched her marry the crown prince!

She didn't love the Night Emperor, and as expected, she still had to think about it.

While thinking about it, the Crown Princess sighed.

On the other side, Shui Ruo was sleeping calmly. In her dreams, she dreamed of her own past.

She dreamed of the young man who would always smile sweetly at her and call her sister.

She also dreamt of him gently looking at her. She dreamt that every time she was injured, he would cry so crazily that he wanted to kill himself repeatedly.

She was not her biological brother, but to her, he was even more important than her own.

That youth was so beautiful, just like her sunshine, illuminating her life.

There had never been anyone who needed her that much. There had never been anyone who could move her heart like that before.

Thus, under the driving force of her heart, she chose to guard. It was just that the usually smiling youth had lost his innocent smile at some point in time. He only knew how to be gentle.

Maybe he was tired? When he thought about how his daily life had been exchanged for someone else walking on the edge of a blade and extinguishing his humanity, did he feel dirty?

Perhaps, it was because of this that he felt so relaxed when he died.

When she thought here, Shui Ruo's eyes couldn't help but turn hot.

Tears fell down onto her hands, waking her up.

"The girl had a nightmare?" Ling'er, who had woken up with her sharp eyes, asked with concern.

Shui Yuehan smiled when he heard this. "No, I just had a blissful dream. I was too blissful, so I cried …"

"Is that so?" Ling'er was half-believing and half-doubting, because right now, the carefree expression on her face didn't seem like it was caused by happiness at all.

She looked so sad.

Even if he was smiling, it was hard to conceal it.

To Ling'er, she had seen many of these people. However, she was still quite envious of them.

Because they had feelings, and they had both liked or loved.

They all had their own stories, not like her.

She grew up by the empress's side. When the empress said 'one', she'd never say 'two'. The empress's request was everything.

For the sake of the empress's request, she could do whatever it took to wipe out her conscience.

Even if he killed himself.

However, after living for so long, when she looked at those palace maids in the palace and saw them giving up their lives for the sake of love and friendship, she was also at a loss. Why? Why wouldn't I do that once?

If I don't obey the Empress's orders, what will I be?

She was curious, but in the end, when she saw the miserable deaths of the palace maids, and even when her family was implicated in their deaths, she gave up.

No courage.

She didn't want to lose anything she had. Therefore, he could only envy those people.

"We seem to have arrived."

Feeling the car stop, the water jumped in first. It was this movement that made Ling'er and the Crown Princess look at each other.

Of course, the two of them did not think too much about it. They only thought that Shui Ruo was someone who did not know the rules and had never seen the world, which was why he was so reckless.

When the water slowly began to flow, Ling'er came down as well. Then, Ling'er respectfully supported the crown prince's consort as she walked down.

When the three of them walked towards the main entrance of the palace, Shui Long finally realized how big and deep the palace was.

Once you entered this place, life and death would be a joke. Maybe one second you're eating a melon seed, and the next, you're on the guillotine.

It was a place like this — cold, cruel, conspiracy, and deceit. However, it was the place that everyone in the world yearned to go to in their dreams.

Because here, there was a sense of glory and honor that made people go crazy. There was also a sense of accomplishment that made them unable to ignore him.

"Let's go in." The Crown Princess looked at Shui Yuehan. She was surprised. She thought Shui Yuehan had never seen the world before, so she became proud of herself.

At the end of the day, she was just a wild girl from who knows where, but because of her face that resembled the woman in His Highness' dream, she was able to show off her power in front of her.

Compared to her Shangguan family's wealth and influence, what was she worth? The world was always more important than a beauty.

Shangguan Yun became more and more proud of herself.

All the guards at the Palace entrance had seen Shangguan Yun'er before, especially since Ling'er was still by her side. As such, when they entered, almost no one was there to stop her.

However, when they saw the water flowing leisurely behind them, the guards expressed their shock!

Apart from the figure and the hair, it was hard to tell where she looked like a woman. No, to be exact, she wasn't human at all!

Which family's person looks like this?

Seeing the guards' frightened expressions, Shangguan Yun felt her stomach ache.

How could she expect other young masters to set their eyes on someone that even the guards couldn't?

Then should he really be counting on the empress to come? However, on the empress's side … Shangguan Yun frowned. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she really did not want the empress to get involved in this matter from beginning to end. As long as the empress got involved, she, Shangguan Yun, would definitely not have any good outcomes.

This was something she understood after battling the empress for so many years.

He still remembered when he had just become the princess consort. She was unstable and arrogant, and when she faced the empress, she had no rules. It was only when the empress gave her a warning, a scheme that she could not find a flaw in, but had framed her that she realized. In this world, there were some people that you could provoke, but there were some people that you could never touch, because not everyone was kind.

Not everyone was a fool.

Like a queen, not so much a person as a devil.

The number of women who had died in her hands had long since reached an uncountable number. In this imperial harem, everyone feared her, and everyone looked at her face while she lived.

Even the concubine beside the emperor didn't dare to challenge her. The reason? Of course, it wasn't because of her position as the empress, but because of this woman's viciousness, her intelligence, and the huge clan behind her.

She was like a giant tree. Once she wavered, the very foundation of the country would waver as well.

The Emperor had long since bound her to him. Therefore, no matter who the Emperor liked, he could not expose his beloved woman. The moment he did, the Emperor himself would not be able to protect him.

After entering the palace, Shui Ruo sighed with emotion once again. This place was truly worthy of being the residence of the most respected people in the world. Every single plant was so exquisite and had been meticulously cultivated. And the size of this place was simply shocking.

Looking at this, Shui's gaze became deeper. In a place like this, no matter how many people died, they probably wouldn't be discovered, right?

It was because the people who lived here were people who could control the life and death of everyone here.

As for the rest of the people in the palace, they were just pitiful people living next to the tiger.

Everyone was enjoying their prosperity, but they also had to take the risk of being ripped apart by a tiger at any moment.

"The Empress's bedroom is over here." Just as Shui Ruo was sighing with emotion, she heard Ling'er's sudden introduction.

It was only then that Shui Long realized that her relationship with Ling'er and the princess consort had been reversed due to her curiosity towards the palace.

The last time she entered the palace, she didn't pay much attention to the palace. Now that she looked at it again, it had a different flavor to it.

When they arrived at the empress dowager's quarters, they heard laughter and cheers from inside.

The man's hearty laughter, the woman's shy voice, and all sorts of other voices mixed in, causing people to be curious as to what was going on inside.

The empress had invited the crown prince's consort to the banquet, but because of the assassination attempt on the crown prince's wife, she might not be able to make it, so she invited the young lady to come with her. Firstly, to take care of the crown prince's consort, and secondly, to see the world. Standing in the doorway, Ling'er looked at Shui Long, and began to lecture him sincerely and earnestly.

Shui Long, on the other hand, clearly understood what Ling'er really wanted to say. She smiled as she looked at Ling'er, a hint of happiness flashing across her eyes. "What Miss Ling'er said is correct. I thank Miss Ling'er for her guidance, as well as the princess consort's great love." When a person was under a roof, they had no choice but to lower their head. Although this was a bit infuriating, it was still better to endure for now.

Shui Long took a deep breath and watched Ling'er and the crown prince's consort follow the two into the empress's chamber.

The queen's palace was divided into the front courtyard and the front courtyard was used to entertain guests while the back was used for fun and entertainment. The empress was entertaining them in the backyard.

It could be seen that the empress valued today's banquet very much.

In the palace, the empress held a small banquet, which was very common. The empress was different from the concubines in the imperial palace. She had to consult with them regarding everything she did. It was as if she was completely in charge of this matter.

When Shui Ruo arrived at the backyard with Ling'er and the princess consort, all the guests had already arrived. They were waiting for Shui Long and the princess consort.

"Esteemed Empress, the Crown Princess and Miss Shui have arrived." When they arrived at the backyard, Ling'er took the initiative to walk to the empress's side and bend down as she spoke.

The empress looked at the crown prince's consort and saw that she was still as elegant and as decent as ever. She felt satisfied. This was what the empress was fond of.

She would not be like those other women who fought to be the first to want to stare, especially in front of the empress.

This made the empress even more pleased, and it was for this reason that she wanted to help her settle this carefree matter.

The empress's gaze fell upon Shui You when she passed by the princess consort.

However, when she saw Shui Long, the empress's expression changed. It was obvious that he was shocked by this appearance.

Heavens, this, this, was this really a human?

The empress saw the makeup on Shui Ruo's face and quickly turned her head away. She no longer looked at her, as if a single glance would cause her to have nightmares.

Shui Ruo, on the other hand, looked at the empress innocently, as if she didn't know anything, making people hate her to death.