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

Shen Wangxi put on a dark-colored outer robe, gently opened the door of the inner hall, and walked out into the outer room.

Wu Tian immediately bowed and greeted him, his head hanging very low.

"His Majesty."

"Find two reliable palace maids to go in and tidy up the bed," Shen Wangxi said in a low voice, tinged with post-coital hoarseness. "Be quiet, don't wake her."

"Yes," Wu Tian replied, then hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Your Majesty, regarding tonight's events..."

Shen Wangxi's eyes suddenly turned cold as he swept over Wu Tian. "If even a single word of what happened today is leaked, everyone involved will be executed."

"This servant understands." Wu Tian's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly replied, not daring to say anything more.

It should be known that although His Majesty is usually dignified and solemn, he rarely uses such a direct and bloody tone. He knows that the person inside has now truly become the most unspeakable secret in the palace.

Shen Wangxi rubbed his temples and rested fully clothed on the soft couch in the outer room for less than two hours before the morning court session began.

In the imperial court, he sat upright on the dragon throne, listening to the reports from his ministers, but his thoughts drifted back to the inner palace of the Taiji Hall.

Is she awake? Does she still hurt? Is she still crying?

She was so delicate, yet he treated her so fiercely and out of control on their first time... Why was she still a virgin?

After the court session, Shen Wangxi returned to the inner hall of the Taiji Hall almost immediately.

Shen Qingruo was still asleep, curled up in the soft couch, a small ball.

Shen Wangxi looked at her, recalling Wu Lanyun's bright smile, Shen Jingyan's spoiled appearance, and the fact that it was Wu Lanyun's birthday banquet last night.

Yet here he is, doing such absurd things to other women, especially since they once had that kind of relationship.

As noon approached, Shen Qingruo, lying on the couch, trembled her eyelashes and groggily opened her eyes, meeting Shen Wangxi's complex gaze.

Shen Qingruo was stunned at first, then all the unbearable memories of last night came flooding back, and her eyes immediately reddened.

She looked at him, said nothing, and just cried.

Shen Wangxi felt a pang in his heart and reached out to touch her face, but she shrank back.

His hand froze in mid-air.

"It's my fault." His voice was dry, with an unusual sense of helplessness.

"Last night, I don't know why I lost my mind."

He looked at her, his heart aching terribly, but on the other hand, guilt towards Wulanyun and the children also gnawed at him.

"Last night was the Empress's birthday banquet," he said with difficulty, his gaze heavy with sorrow. "If people find out about this, how will she save face..."

Shen Qingruo's sobs gradually subsided. She raised her teary eyes and looked at the troubled man in front of her. From his obscure gaze, she gradually understood what he meant.

He wanted to cover it up, to save face for the Empress.

Shen Qingruo slowly sat up, wrapped in a blanket, her voice soft, "Your Majesty need not blame yourself."

"The one who took Aruo's body last night was not His Majesty Shen Wangxi of the Great Zhou."

Shen Wangxi was taken aback.

She looked up at him with tearful eyes, "But it was when Aruo was the Consort Qing in Daliang that she lost her virginity to His Majesty of Daliang."

Shen Wangxi's breath hitched. She wasn't blaming him, but rather trying to exonerate him, taking all the blame on herself and the previous dynasty.

Looking at her fragile appearance as she tried to appear calm, he felt even more sorry for her. He reached out and took her small hand in his palm. "I'm sorry, don't say anymore, Aruo."

Shen Wangxi wanted to ask her why she was still a virgin and why the Emperor of Liang had never touched her.

But the words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't bring himself to ask them.

Any further questions at this moment would feel like another blow to her.

Shen Qingruo let him hold her hand, lowered her eyes, and tears fell drop by drop onto their clasped hands, hot and wet.

"It's okay," she said softly, as if comforting him, or perhaps herself. "Really, it's okay."

The more she acted like this, the more distressed Shen Wangxi felt, and he impulsively wanted to hold her in his arms.

But he knew he couldn't.

He also has a wife he has promised to cherish for life, and he cannot allow her to suffer such humiliation and become a laughingstock in other people's mouths.