The bright moon hangs high, beckoning him down from his pedestal.

As evening fell, Shen Qingruo dismissed the palace servants and wandered aimlessly into the bamboo forest behind the palace.

The bamboo forest is secluded and the path is winding.

When she came to her senses, she realized that it was already dark, with bamboo shadows swaying all around and the wind rustling, making it impossible to discern where she had come from.

Fear gripped her, and she tried to turn back, but she only went deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Shen Wangxi waited in the palace for a long time but she did not return for dinner. He asked the palace staff and learned that she had gone to the back mountain alone.

He frowned, a sudden tightness gripped his heart, and he immediately got up and personally led his guards to find them.

Deep in the bamboo forest, on a cold blue stone, a slender figure was curled up.

Shen Qingruo hugged her knees, buried her face in her arms, her small shoulders trembling, and her suppressed sobs sounded particularly pitiful in the quiet bamboo forest.

"Aruo!" Shen Wangxi stepped forward quickly, her voice urgent.

Hearing the familiar voice, Shen Qingruo looked up and saw the tall figure through her teary eyes. Feeling wronged and afraid surged up over her.

She sobbed and threw herself into his open arms.

Shen Wangxi felt the coldness and trembling of the person in his arms, and his heart was clenched tightly.

He picked her up and carried her in his arms, whispering to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Shen Wangxi turned around, picked her up, and walked step by step towards the edge of the bamboo forest.

Back in her bedchamber, Shen Wangxi dismissed all the palace servants and personally used a warm, damp cloth to wipe away the tear stains and dust from her face.

He then brought over a calming soup that he had prepared beforehand and carefully fed it to her.

Seeing that she had calmed down a bit, he pulled her onto his lap, encircled her in his arms, gently nuzzled the top of her head with his chin, and whispered soothingly:

"Tell me, what's wrong? Why did you go to the back mountain alone? Why are you unhappy?"

Shen Qingruo looked up at him with her eyes red from crying, tears welling up again, "Your Majesty..."

"In His Majesty's eyes, is Aruo merely a plaything?"

Shen Wangxi's face darkened, and her tone became urgent: "Nonsense! What kind of absurd talk is this!"

"You are the one and only treasure I cherish in my heart."

"Has someone been gossiping about Aruo? Tell me, okay?"

Shen Qingruo sobbed and recounted in fits and starts the gossip she had overheard from the palace maids that afternoon, as well as the news that powerful figures outside were seeking out women who resembled her for pleasure in brothels.

Finally, she said aggrievedly, "Aruo knows that His Majesty loves Aruo's body and dotes on Aruo alone. Aruo is happy in her heart."

"But Aruo didn't want to become a plaything in other people's eyes, and she was also afraid that those people outside would actually look for someone similar to Aruo in such a place..."

"This makes Aruo feel so dirty and sad."

She sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks: "And that 'Dance of the Startled Swan,' Aruo danced so earnestly, why did it appear so unbearable in the eyes of outsiders?"

Shen Wangxi listened, his expression still gentle, and he patted her back softly to comfort her.

But a chill ran through his eyes, and in his heart, he had already sentenced those who spoke ill of and blasphemed her to death.

He lowered his head and kissed away the tears at the corners of her eyes, his voice filled with heartache:

"It's not Aruo's fault. It's because some people bully the weak and fear the strong. They only dare to gossip behind your back and bully you when you were in a weak position."

"If you were then my most beloved concubine, whom I proclaim to the world, who would dare to act so brazenly in a brothel?"

"They simply feel that I don't value you enough, and the Empress doesn't like you, so they think they can treat you with any whim."

"Even if these things reach the ears of my other children, they may become topics of conversation for them to boast about and claim credit for."

Shen Qingruo understood the sordidness and snobbery in his words, but deliberately rubbed her face against his chest, speaking in a coquettish tone:

"Aru doesn't understand, and doesn't want to understand, all these twists and turns."

She took his large hand and placed it on her soft chest, tilting her small face up to him: "All I know is that it's always so stifling here, I can never be happy."

Shen Wangxi was heartbroken.

He tightened his arms around her, looking down into her watery eyes, and made a solemn promise:

"Aru doesn't need to understand the dirty thoughts of those people below. You just need to know that it's all my fault."

"It is because I failed to protect you that you heard these foul words."

"I will give you an explanation, and I assure you that no one will ever dare to treat you like this again."

The little girl remained listlessly nestled in his arms, whispering, "Your Majesty, Aruo doesn't want to stay here anymore."

"Okay." Shen Wangxi agreed without hesitation. "Then we'll return to the palace early tomorrow."

"The people at this palace are not serving us well and have a bad atmosphere. We've wronged Aruo."

Shen Qingruo stretched out her slender arms to wrap around his neck, buried her face in his shoulder, and rubbed against him.

Her clingy demeanor deepened Shen Wangxi's feelings of pity and anger.