After becoming pregnant, the cold-hearted nobles all went mad.

Fuquan lowered his eyes, waiting for the person in front of him to accept the gifts.

Shen Lingyi couldn't believe it; why would Pei Heng, that scoundrel, send her a pot of flowers out of the blue?

Why did you give me this?

"Reporting to Miss Shen, this is His Majesty's will."

After she accepted it, she subconsciously glanced ahead and saw the man sitting at the very top of the crowd, his hands casually resting on his knees.

The Great Wei Dynasty revered black, and the emperor's ceremonial robes were all this color, embroidered with a lifelike black bird. This black robe seemed to have been tailor-made for him.

Shen Lingyi measured the distance between them and couldn't help but want to go forward.

"Miss Shen the Second".

Xu Yanqing couldn't help but call out to her, his face ashen, and for some reason, he seemed somewhat displeased.

He glanced at the emperor, and finally his gaze fell on Shen Lingyi. Unlike before, he no longer looked down on her; instead, his gaze held a hint of inquiry.

"May I speak to you in private?"

Shen Lingyi met his gaze, took a step back, completely ignoring his cold eyes, and said, "Your Highness, is this inappropriate? My sister is watching. Aren't you afraid of hurting her feelings?"

Xu Yanqing was startled and searched around for Shen Tingjiao.

Sure enough, she was found among the group of women.

The latter stared blankly in his direction, her eyes misting over, biting her lip in embarrassment. When she saw him looking at her, she covered her face and ran away.

Xu Yanqing barely suppressed the urge to catch up with Qian, and gritted his teeth as he questioned, "Shen Lingyi, do you know that His Majesty is searching everywhere for you?"

"Will His Highness the Crown Prince implicate me as an accomplice?" Shen Lingyi tilted her head back, revealing the snow-white curve of her neck, which instantly made Xu Yanqing look away as if he were burned.

He didn't even know why he wanted to find Shen Lingyi.

He should have been annoyed by her and stayed away from her. He should have been happy that she had found someone she liked.

But for some reason, after Pei Heng nearly dug up three miles of the palace grounds, Xu Yanqing suddenly became unwilling to give up.

Why the Emperor?

If we consider the order of arrival, he is the one who deserves her the most.

"Your Highness, you've already run away, why aren't you chasing after her? Could it be that you really have feelings for me that you shouldn't have?" Shen Lingyi's smile was like a poisonous flower, every frown and smile exuding a fatal attraction.

"Would I like you?"

Xu Yanqing scoffed. How laughable! He, the Crown Prince, could have any woman he wanted.

"I just wanted to tell you that you helped me out, and I got what you wanted for you. From now on, we're even. Whether in the past or now, the only person I've ever loved is Jiaojiao, not someone as talentless and immoral as you."

"That's wonderful." Shen Lingyi clapped her hands crisply twice. "Please remember what Your Highness said today."

Hopefully, you won't be proven wrong later.

Xu Yanqing turned and left, hurrying after the person.

As Shen Lingyi turned around, a palace servant accidentally bumped into her and hurriedly apologized.

"No need, I'll just go change my clothes." This was exactly what she wanted. She asked the palace maid to lead her to a suitable place to change her clothes.

Shen Lingyi had just seen Pei Heng leave his seat and was worried about not finding an excuse to follow him.

This convenient excuse has been handed to me.

A moment later.

Shen Lingyi changed her clothes smoothly, and nothing happened during the process, such as the door being locked from the inside or incense being burned in the hall.

Just when she thought things were going incredibly smoothly, a fair-skinned eunuch walked by hurriedly, head bowed, carrying a scroll.

A faint, familiar fragrance lingered in the air.

It wasn't until the commotion at the banquet that she remembered it was the Lingxi Incense, which could induce the Gu worms in Pei Heng's body to activate!

That little eunuch just now...

"Someone has attempted to assassinate His Majesty! Arrest the assassin!"

The entire palace was shaken by this sudden assassination attempt.

The Imperial Guards emerged one after another like silent black shadows, while the women huddled to one side, trembling with fear.

The firelight flickered in the distance, but Shen Lingyi felt a slight chill on the tip of her nose. When she looked up, she realized it was snowing.

Pei Heng was the first emperor in the history of the Great Wei Dynasty to be proficient in both civil and military affairs.

He grew up under the oppression of Consort Wan, and later endured hardship and bided his time to stand out from the other princes. The first thing he did after becoming emperor was to exterminate the entire Wan family, killing countless people.

From then on, assassination attempts against him never stopped.

The records of the Wan family in the storybooks are not comprehensive, and this assassination attempt was completely unexpected by Shen Lingyi.

She didn't know if it was Wan's henchmen who did it; she just wanted to save her life.

As for Pei Heng's safety, that's not something Shen Lingyi can worry about.

She made up her mind, but as soon as she turned around, she ran into a frantically fleeing eunuch, with the Imperial Guards in hot pursuit behind him.

They hadn't dared to fire arrows for fear of hurting the people at the banquet, but now the assassins had gotten the better end of the deal.

"Serves you right for being so blind as to run into me. I'll use you as a shield."

Shen Lingyi met his cold eyes, and the image of her own tragic death flashed through her mind.

Is it still that nothing can be changed?

A cold wind brushed her cheeks, and she was gently pulled by the waist into a slightly chilly embrace.

The boy immediately kicked the assassin in the chest, and before the man could stand up, the tip of the knife was already pressed against his throat.

Wei Chengrui pointed his sword at the assassin: "I arrived too late to save Your Majesty; the assassin has already been captured."

A figure draped in a cloak gradually appeared in the corner. Qing was fastening a jade thumb ring, and his murderous aura was no less than that of someone who had spent many years fighting in the northern frontier.

Snowflakes fell on his long eyelashes, and Pei Heng said expressionlessly, "You have rendered meritorious service, my dear minister."

"Pfft!"

Unexpectedly, the eunuch suddenly grabbed Wei Chengrui's sword and, without the slightest hesitation, swiftly stabbed it into his chest, laughing loudly even before he died.

"Tyrant! You may kill one, but you can't kill thousands upon thousands!"

He lay convulsing in a pool of blood: "The souls of the Wan clan will be in heaven... watching you perish along with the Great Wei."

"Fuquan, arrest all the palace servants who have had dealings with this man and send them to the Censorate." Pei Heng gave the order without blinking, his indifferent tone far more terrifying than rage.

Shen Lingyi dared not imagine that after this night, a dozen or even dozens of palace servants would be burned in the palace.

When the emperor is angry, millions will die; that's all.

"Yes."

Even Wei Chengrui didn't say anything; he was already used to bloodshed.

This is their true nature; neither of the two men is easy to get along with.

For some reason, Shen Lingyi felt not fear, but rather a surge of excitement.

She had already witnessed the bloodshed beneath power, and she was even more eager to touch what was buried beneath those golden buildings.

A faint red stain fell on the snow, which Wei Chengrui quickly collected.

But Shen Lingyi still saw it; it was a mottled red hairband that looked somewhat familiar.

This action made Pei Heng, who originally intended to leave, stay, probing and intrigued, "My dear minister, your arrival is quite timely, just in time to save Miss Shen the Second."

"I……"

"I'm not familiar with her, we just happened to run into each other." Wei Chengrui completely distanced himself from the relationship.

Pei Heng thought of the moment he made his move, his eyes darkened slightly, but then he looked away after a moment.

Well, maybe he guessed the wrong person.