The palace path was pitch-black. All the familiar sensations of the palace—its opulence, its grandeur, the heavy, suffocating weight of absolute power—were utterly erased. What remained was a darkness that light could not pierce, and a sense of absurdity that felt like a path with no end and no escape.
"Deputy Minister Yan, this way, please."
Yan Xiaoyu snapped back to reality, realizing he had followed the young eunuch to the entrance of the Qianqing Palace. Whether it was the agitation of his own mind or a heightened sensitivity following his rebirth, he noticed that everyone—from the Imperial Guards to the palace maids and eunuchs—kept their heads bowed exceptionally low.
The unease in Yan Xiaoyu’s heart grew. Their demeanor suggested the Emperor was in a foul mood. Yet, it was late at night, and Prince Jing had just been married; what reason could the Emperor possibly have to be displeased?
Suppressing his apprehension, Yan Xiaoyu lowered his gaze and stepped into the hall. Moments after he entered, he heard the heavy doors behind him being pulled shut. Yan Xiaoyu faltered.
Directly ahead, the Emperor of Dashang—a man in his forties, healthy and vigorous—was staring at him with eyes as dark as an abyss. Under the crushing weight of imperial authority, Yan Xiaoyu found it difficult to breathe.
"Your subject, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, Yan Xiaoyu, pays his respects to the Emperor."
Hardly had he knelt and finished the greeting when a teacup filled with scalding tea was hurled directly at his robes!
"Sss!" Yan Xiaoyu was burned so badly he nearly lost his composure. "Your Majesty, please calm your anger, your subject—"
Before he could ask for clarification, Emperor Zhou interrupted, his voice low and dangerous: "Was it you who stopped the Crown Prince at Prince Jing's Estate?!"
Yan Xiaoyu’s brow furrowed tightly—partly from the stinging pain, partly from confusion. Emperor Zhou’s tone sounded calm enough, but after years at court, Yan Xiaoyu knew perfectly well that the Emperor was suppressing a volcanic rage. Yet, at Prince Jing’s Estate, he had stopped the confrontation between the Crown Prince and Prince Jing to preserve the dignity of the Imperial family and the prestige of the Crown Prince. How could this possibly have earned the Emperor’s fury?
"It was your subject."
With so many ministers present at the time, denial was impossible. Emperor Zhou’s cold eyes were now ignited with genuine fury.
"Fool! You fool!"
Enraged, Emperor Zhou swept everything off the table beside him, hurling the items at Yan Xiaoyu. Yan Xiaoyu winced in pain, his mind sinking into a fathomless void. What was happening? Why?
"Fool!"
Emperor Zhou had smashed everything within reach, yet his anger only continued to escalate. "What use do I have for fools like you!"
Yan Xiaoyu’s face turned pale. In the next moment, driven by stubbornness, he lifted his head to look at the Emperor and raised his voice. "Your Majesty, what I stopped at Prince Jing’s Estate was a clash between the Crown Prince and Prince Jing! I was upholding the dignity of the Imperial family..."
Emperor Zhou glared at him. "Stopped them? Upheld it? Do you think you deserve a reward?!"
Yan Xiaoyu could not understand. He still couldn't grasp it. He stubbornly recounted the events as they had unfolded: "Your Majesty! The Crown Princess and Prince Jing were cornered by us in the courtyard! They were the only two there, disheveled and untoward. Even without entering the main chamber, we all knew what had happened..."
"Why didn't you go in?"
Yan Xiaoyu froze. "Wh—what?"
That the Emperor had to hear about such a blunder a second time made him want to draw his sword and behead the man right where he knelt!
"I asked you, why did you not look? Why did you not bring the other ministers in with you?!"
Yan Xiaoyu was utterly bewildered. He stared at the Emperor, seeing no trace of a joke in those eyes. His lips moved, but he found himself speechless. To march the ministers inside... the Crown Princess committing adultery with Prince Jing was a direct blow to the Crown Prince’s face! It would shatter his prestige! Once word spread, the commoners would ridicule him, and the courtiers would whisper behind his back... How much effort would it take for the Crown Prince to regain their submission?
"Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, Yan Xiaoyu..."
A monarch’s wrath could result in a million corpses. Yan Xiaoyu was now feeling the raw, unfiltered fury of the ruler of the land. He felt his entire body go cold, shivering uncontrollably.
"Your subject is here..."
"Deputy Minister Yan, you must understand that you are my Minister of War first, and an advisor to the Crown Prince second."
The brilliant Yan Xiaoyu, known for his cunning, suddenly felt as if he had been jolted awake by the Emperor’s warning.
"On the day of the marriage alliance between Dashang and Anguo, Prince Jing abandoned the Anguo Princess to commit adultery with his own sister-in-law, the Crown Princess, and was caught red-handed... Deputy Minister Yan, tell me, has Prince Jing ever left behind such a exploitable flaw in all these years?"
"Could I have found any other event that would make Prince Jing suffer such a backlash from his ministers?"
Yan Xiaoyu was left speechless. Since Emperor Zhou ascended the throne, Prince Jing had used his caution and scheming to remain untouchable, even poaching many ministers from the court.
"Are you telling me that on the day of her wedding, upon seeing her husband dallying with his own sister-in-law, the Grand Princess of Anguo would still bond with such a man?"
Yan Xiaoyu’s lips trembled.
She would not. Yao Yingying was no ordinary woman; in both of his lives, Yan Xiaoyu had never seen her endure humiliation or submit to injustice. And so, when Yao Yingying had insisted on entering the room, it wasn't to spite the Crown Prince... she was...
Faced with this conclusion, Yan Xiaoyu dared not think further. He struggled to find any other possibility, but realized the answer was indisputable.
"The Grand Princess of Anguo is arrogant and overbearing. Her mission in this alliance is merely to sign a ten-year non-aggression pact with Dashang. Tell me, will she cling to Prince Jing? Must she wait for him to ascend the throne before she signs it?"
She wouldn't... she wouldn't! In his previous life, Yao Yingying had chosen Zhou Wei because no one knew about his affair with Yao Mengtao. But now... Yao Yingying had a fierce temperament; how could she ever compromise?
The very thing he had tried to avoid was now laid bare before him. Yan Xiaoyu finally realized he had committed an act of... pure stupidity.
"The Grand Princess of Anguo was taking the initiative to deal with Prince Jing! That was equivalent to a pledge of allegiance! I wouldn't have dared to dream of such a stroke of luck, yet you lot not only failed to assist her, you actually protected Prince Jing?!"
"Did you think he hadn't sat on the throne long enough, so you needed to ensure he could sit there in this life, too?!"
...
The hall fell into a heavy silence. Yan Xiaoyu’s pupils contracted. *Emperor Zhou... he has been reborn, too.*
"She is temperamental, beautiful, arrogant, and ruthless. She doesn't seem like the brightest person, so why has she been playing you all like dogs?"
Yan Xiaoyu could not smile. He looked up at the sovereign of Dashang, still struggling. "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is the Heir Apparent. If I had not protected him..."
Emperor Zhou looked down at Yan Xiaoyu, his anger hardening into a chilling indifference. "I am not dead yet. I have many sons. Who sits in the position of Crown Prince is for me to decide."
Compared to removing Prince Jing, the Crown Prince being mocked by the masses meant nothing. Yan Xiaoyu’s eyes burned, and his entire body felt frozen. He realized he wasn't stupid—he was simply not as ruthless as Emperor Zhou.
Yao Yingying... Yan Xiaoyu finally understood what she had meant. She had been mocking his idiocy all along.
Emperor Zhou gazed down at the man kneeling on the floor, his voice icy and laden with unquestionable authority.
"Lü Weihua! Have the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, Yan Xiaoyu, arrested for forming cliques and abusing his power. Throw him into the dungeon to await execution!"