“Very different,” Mrs. Huo smiled brightly, gesturing for her daughter to look towards the Empress Dowager’s carriage.

“The Empress Dowager was the Empress Consort of the late Emperor.  They respected each other their whole lives, but there was no love between them. The late Emperor’s favorite was Consort Cui, the mother of the current Emperor. Consort Cui was spoiled and lovely, and she often clashed with the Empress Dowager.”

“So, that’s why the Emperor and the Empress Dowager don’t get along?”

“No, no. The conflict between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager stems from political struggles, not palace intrigues.

When the Emperor was young, his relationship with the Empress Dowager was harmonious. Ning’er, there are indeed power struggles among the palace concubines, but they are minor squabbles.  Unless someone is extremely foolish, they won’t end up dead.

Besides, there are many female officials in the palace who balance each other out. No one can hold all the power, not even the Empress or the Empress Dowager.

They can’t fight even if they want to. Mother hasn’t heard a story about palace intrigue in many years. I said the palace isn’t a good place because there are many rules for consorts, and it’s not free, not because it’s a matter of life and death.”

“I see.”

Most of the Xie family’s accommodations were arranged in the same area, but Yu Ning’s lodging was not there. Mrs. Huo found it strange and asked the female official in charge of the accommodations if Yu Ning could be arranged to stay with the Xie family women.

The female official in charge made excuses, saying that the palace halls had already been assigned, and there were too many female members accompanying the autumn hunt, so there were no vacant halls to move or change.

“It’s okay, Mother. I can stay here. The scenery is beautiful, and it’s not too remote. It’s very quiet at night,” Yu Ning was blatantly lying.

The palace had assigned her a residence in the southeast corner of Taihe Palace, surrounded by artificial hills and ponds. Only this one palace stood alone by the pond, quite secluded.

Mrs. Huo felt that her daughter had been wronged and was very unhappy. She wanted to move in with her daughter, but she was stopped by the female official in charge, who said that they couldn’t share accommodations.

The food, drinks, and other items were all fixed, and sharing rooms was against the rules.

Unable to reason with them, Mrs. Huo had to give up and follow the arrangements of the female officials in charge.

Having just arrived at the palace, everyone was tired from the journey, and there was nothing to do at night, so everyone went to bed early to rest up for the official start of the autumn hunt the next day.

“Cangchun Pavilion.”

Returning from Mrs. Huo’s residence, Yu Ning stood by the pond and looked up at the plaque on this pavilion.

“Such a desolate place. Hiding what kind of spring?”

She lifted her skirt and entered Cangchun Pavilion, then removed the jewelry from her hair in front of the mirror and changed into a thin, cool nightgown.

As night deepened, a knock came at the door of Cangchun Pavilion. A palace maid’s voice came, “Miss Xie San, we’ve come to change the incense pellets and candles.”

“Mm, come in,” Yu Ning leaned against the couch, reading a book without looking up.

Two palace maids entered carrying hexagonal palace lanterns. They checked all the candles in the room, replacing them with new ones, and then opened the incense burner lid, placing several incense pellets inside.

Yu Ning’s gaze fell on the smoke rising from the incense burner and asked, “It smells so good. What kind of incense is this?”

The maid bowed and replied, “Madam, this is specially made calming incense from the palace. It helps with sleep.”

Having said that, they withdrew, and the room became quiet again.

Yu Ning got off the couch and extinguished the extra candles, leaving only one by the bed.

The calming incense was indeed effective.  Soon, sleepiness came, and Yu Ning put down her book and fell into a sound sleep.

The room was quiet, only the occasional crackling sound of the candle.

A gust of wind blew, and the palace door swayed slightly before closing again.

Since the last court banquet, Yu Ning had been having frequent dreams.

Sometimes they were fragments of things that had happened, bits and pieces of images of Shen Tuo, and sometimes they were her fantasies—fantasies of her past actions being completely exposed by Shen Tuo, Shen Tuo choking her neck, waving a knife blade in front of her eyes.

But tonight, the dream was different.

She seemed to have returned to five years ago, the night before Shen Tuo left Yunwu Mountain.

“Husband, there’s fighting everywhere outside, close to Yunwu Mountain. Soon, we’ll have to leave here,”

Yu Ning leaned against the man’s back, her chin resting on his shoulder, rambling about her life in Yunwu Mountain from childhood to adulthood.

She was reluctant to leave. Yunwu Mountain was where she grew up, and she didn’t want to leave.

But the war was spreading, and Yunwu Mountain couldn’t be spared.

She wasn’t the type to be sentimental.  She quickly cheered up and looked forward to the future. “I can do many things. I heard that most women in Great Ye can go out to find work and support themselves. Husband, don’t worry, I’ll definitely earn a lot of money in the future, and we’ll live a prosperous life. You just follow me, and I’ll support you.”

Hearing this, the man who had been silent for a long time finally spoke, “You can’t support me.”

“Hey, you’re acting up again, aren’t you? You have to tease me to be happy.”

He sneered, turning to glance at Yu Ning, his eyes filled with arrogance. “I’m just telling the truth. You can’t support me.”

Yu Ning was unconvinced, feeling that this man was about to rebel if he wasn’t disciplined. She bit his neck.

“Hiss.” He raised his hand and pinched Yu Ning’s chin, forcing her to release her grip, then pushed her onto the bed and bit her shoulder.

Such a petty man. She only bit him once, and he had to retaliate.

Yu Ning kicked him, but was suppressed by his strong force. Her eyes widened in shock, and she shouted, “When did you regain your strength!”

To prevent this man from escaping, Yu Ning gave him medicine every three days to ensure that his bones were soft and he couldn’t use his strength.

She had given him medicine yesterday, so why was it ineffective today? Miscalculation!

Yu Ning was very skilled, but compared to him, she was completely powerless. If she couldn’t fight, she would call for help. She opened her mouth to shout, but her lips were covered.

He had somehow hidden a pill and stuffed it into Yu Ning’s mouth, making her lose her ability to resist, even her shouts weakening.

Yu Ning knew he was going to run again, her eyes softening immediately. She pouted and said, “I won’t hit you anymore. I’ll definitely be good to you, husband. Don’t go, okay?”