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

Shen Wangxi sat down on the edge of the couch and reached out to take her hand.

"Aruo, I'm sorry, I broke my promise." His voice was low.

Shen Qingruo's tears flowed even faster, and she bit her lip, stubbornly refusing to make a sound.

Shen Wangxi apologized repeatedly: "It's my fault, I failed to protect you."

She looked at him, her voice choked with sobs, "Your Majesty, you promised, you said you wouldn't let me suffer any more injustice."

"But they just barged in, pushed me, pressed on my stomach, where were you then?"

"Your Majesty, our child, he's in so much pain..."

By the end, she was rambling incoherently.

Shen Wangxi felt a tightness in his chest and bent down to pull her, blanket and all, into his arms.

She struggled, crying so hard she couldn't breathe, "Let go, let go..."

"You're always like this, saying you care about me, but you're never there when they bully me."

He tightened his grip, preventing her from escaping, and pressed his chin against the top of her head. "This time is different, Aruo."

"I will never let them off easily."

She looked up at her tear-streaked face, her eyes filled with despair, "Whether you spare me or not, the child is gone forever."

"Your Majesty, I'm so scared, I feel so empty here." She pressed one hand to her lower abdomen, crying and trembling all over, collapsing into his arms.

Shen Wangxi tightly enveloped her hand, pressing it against his heart. "Can you feel it?"

"It hurts here just like it does to you."

Shen Qingruo was stunned for a moment, looking at him with pain.

Shen Wangxi stared into her eyes and continued, her voice firm, "Aruo, we will have more children."

"There will definitely be a little princess like you, or a little prince like me."

"I will give him everything, and all my favor to you."

Shen Qingruo shook her head repeatedly, tears streaming down her face; she didn't want a future.

"Trust me this once, Aruo." He cupped her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his fingertips. "Give me a chance to make amends."

Shen Qingruo couldn't break free from him, so she could only press her forehead against his chest and sob.

Shen Wangxi held her tightly and said nothing more.

After an unknown amount of time, the crying in her arms gradually subsided.

She cried until she was exhausted and leaned against him, feeling dizzy.

Shen Wangxi carefully adjusted her position, helped her lie down, and pulled the quilt over her carefully.

The candlelight crackled softly inside the hall, illuminating his obscured profile.

-

The night was deep, but the Jiaofang Palace was brightly lit with candles.

When Shen Wangxi pushed open the door, Wulan Yun was sitting alone in front of the dressing table, removing her hairpins in front of the mirror.

She saw him in the bronze mirror, but her hands didn't stop moving.

"Your Majesty, have you come so late at night to interrogate me?" she asked calmly.

Shen Wangxi stopped a short distance behind her, his face obscured by the candlelight and shadows. "Shouldn't I be here to question you?"

Wulan Yun suddenly turned around, looked up at him, and the emotions that had been suppressed for a long time finally burst out in her eyes:

"Sin? Even if we intentionally gave birth to her bastard child today, we are not guilty!"

Shen Wangxi frowned, looking at her slightly distorted face, a look of disgust flashing in his eyes.

Seeing his expression, Wulan Yun felt a pang of pain and gave a bitter smile:

"Your Majesty, I am the wife you promised to cherish for life, and I have given you two children, Ayan and Yinian. Yet you have had children with another woman behind my back. Can't I hate you?"

Without waiting for his answer, she continued to question him:

"And also, Your Majesty, do you know why Ayan and Yinian went to such lengths to frame Shen Qingruo last time?"

"Because they already knew you were having an affair behind my back!"

"They were afraid of upsetting me, so they didn't dare tell me and wanted to secretly eliminate this potential threat."

"You might be disappointed in Ah-Yan, you might think she's unreasonable, but in my eyes, she did all this to protect her mother! What did she do wrong?"

"If Your Majesty's elder brother were to be so humiliated and harmed today, wouldn't Your Majesty, like Ah-Yan, stop at nothing and fight with all your might to protect him?"

Shen Wangxi's hand, hidden in his sleeve, quietly clenched into a fist, but he did not answer.