As dawn approached, clouds gradually gathered directly above the capital, turning the faint light into a dim darkness. In the cluttered cluster of buildings behind the Imperial Palace, the resting eunuchs and palace maids were still turning in their sleep, yet some among them had already awakened.

Hong Zhu braced himself, slapping his cheeks repeatedly, trying to maintain his composure. He wasn't on duty at the East Palace today, so he hadn't been silenced by the eunuchs and guards. However, even in the Laundry Bureau's courtyard, he felt fear, unsure of what awaited him.

Suddenly, a sound came from outside the courtyard. Though it didn't awaken those still sleeping, it startled Hong Zhu, who rushed to the window. His hand, hidden in his sleeve, tightly gripped a poisoned dagger Fan Xian had given him for self-defense, ready to fight to the death against anyone who came to silence him.

Fighting would likely lead to certain death, but surrendering without a fight was something the stubborn young Eunuch Hong, much like a scholar, couldn't bring himself to do.

His hand trembled, his ear pressed against the door, listening to the sounds outside the courtyard. Occasional groans and cries rang out, only to vanish moments later.

His face was deathly pale. He knew people were being killed outside. The eunuchs and maids living in the Laundry Bureau mostly served the East Palace and Guangxin Palace, so Hong Zhu knew exactly what was happening. He tightened his grip on the dagger, biting his lip so hard he didn't notice it breaking.

He wondered when they would come to kill him.

He wondered if he could kill even one of them before dying.

Hong Zhu nervously awaited his death.

…

…

But after an unknown amount of time, no one knocked on Hong Zhu's courtyard door. Gradually, the noises from the Laundry Bureau faded, and the courtyard returned to silence.

Hong Zhu swallowed, his saliva tasting faintly of blood. He nervously peered through the crack in the door, finding no one outside. He wanted to push the door open to see what had happened, but fear had stiffened his body, and he couldn't move for a long while.

He squatted down to massage his ankles, mustered all his courage, and pushed the door open, stepping onto the street of the Laundry Bureau. He looked around, somewhat dazed, and saw that the doors of the nearby residences of the young eunuchs and maids were tightly shut, seemingly undisturbed.

He walked to one of the courtyards and cautiously reached out to push.

The door wasn't bolted; it opened with a push.

Hong Zhu stared at the courtyard before him, his face growing even paler, his lips turning a shade of blue.

He didn't see a courtyard filled with corpses, but he noticed several patches of blood in inconspicuous corners, and the courtyard was empty, with no one present.

He imagined the other courtyards were the same. The eunuchs and maids in these courtyards had all been killed by the Emperor's decree, and their bodies had been dragged away under the cover of darkness before dawn to be burned in some secret location.

The Emperor's hands were indeed bloodstained.

…

…

Hong Zhu retreated from the empty courtyard, somewhat foolishly standing in the deserted alley of the Laundry Bureau. He couldn't understand why they hadn't come to kill him. A mixture of relief and fear intertwined in his heart, causing his whole body to tremble.

Crack!

A flash of light pierced through the depths of the dark clouds overhead, fleeting in an instant. Thunder rumbled across the capital and the surrounding countryside, followed by a gust of wind and countless raindrops, which fell upon the earth accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Hong Zhu stood in the rain, letting the water wash over his face and soak his thin clothes. After a long while, he regained his senses, tightly clutching the dagger like a lifeline, returned to his small courtyard, shut the wooden door, and dared not open it again.

———————————————————————————

"Father, why is this happening!" the Crown Prince shouted at his father with a rare display of anger, "Why!"

The Emperor of Qing Yu Nian did not answer him. Instead, he stared at the Queen's distraught face, put his hands behind his back, and slowly lowered his head, pressing his cheek against hers.

The Queen trembled for no reason, looking at the middle-aged man she knew best, loved most, and hated most, drawing closer to her. She saw clearly the golden dragon robe with black borders he wore, the patterns of the golden threads on the robe, smelled his scent, but could not make out the expression on his face, could not see the emotions hidden beneath that expression.

Over the years, the Queen had never truly seen the Emperor clearly.

She trembled again, clearly exhibiting a fear of the Emperor that came from the depths of her being.

The Emperor whispered in her ear, "The fine son you raised."

The Queen was stunned. She had no idea why such a terrible thing had happened in the palace today. Hearing the Emperor's words, she realized it was related to the Crown Prince. But the Crown Prince had been so steady and well-behaved recently, what could he have done? Hearing the Emperor's words especially stirred up a unique female emotion, and she cried out in a shrill voice, "My son? Isn't he your son too?"

The Queen's response was a sharp slap. The Emperor slowly withdrew his hand, looked coldly at the Queen, who was covering her cheek and staring at him in disbelief, and said, "If you don't want me to depose you, don't shout here."

Though his words were gentle, they carried a chilling and intimidating intent.

A look of despair flashed in the Queen's eyes. She looked at the Emperor and laughed hysterically, "You hit me...you actually hit me? For more than a decade...you couldn't even bother to look at me, and now you hit me? Should I...thank you?"

At this moment, the Crown Prince, seeing his mother humiliated, roared and rushed forward, standing in front of the Queen, staring at the Emperor with anger and helplessness, shouting, "Father, enough!"

But although he stood between the Emperor and the Queen, the Emperor's deep eyes seemed to see right through the Crown Prince, directly piercing his flesh, staring at the Queen behind him, who was on the verge of tears, and said indifferently, "Don't lose your decorum, understand? Queen."

The Queen raised her head in fear, looked at the Emperor through the Crown Prince's not-so-broad body, bit her lip, and remained silent for a long while.

The Emperor frowned slightly when he saw that she did not answer, and took a step forward.

Another step forward, and he would directly bump into the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince's heart had turned to ice. He knew what a harsh and ruthless figure his father was. A monarch never had any softheartedness, especially at this moment. His father had slapped his mother, but at least that proved that he still regarded his mother as a person.

But the Emperor's gaze went straight through him, as if he didn't exist. What did that mean? It meant that the Emperor no longer regarded him as a person!

…

…

The Crown Prince didn't understand why his father was so angry, so intolerant of him. Suddenly, he thought of something, and his face grew even paler. But he still stood in front of the Queen because he wanted to protect his mother.

Although the Emperor only took one step forward, the Crown Prince felt like a massive Dongshan mountain range was descending upon him. An oppressive aura erupted from the man in the dragon robe before him, pressing directly down on him.

The Crown Prince could hear the cracking of his knees. He was afraid, he wanted to step back, but he couldn't retreat because he knew the Emperor was in a rage, and he didn't know what the Emperor would do to his mother in his rage.

So he stood unyielding between the Emperor and the Queen, resisting that oppressive aura with all his strength. He felt somewhat dazed, thinking, could this be the aura of a supreme ruler? Did someone have to be so iron-blooded and ruthless to sit on the dragon throne?

"Why?" The Crown Prince struggled under the immense pressure, veins bulging on his neck, and shouted shrilly, "Father, why!"

This time, the Emperor finally looked directly at the Crown Prince, gazing into the eyes of the young man who dared to stand in his way, his pupils gleaming eerily, his voice squeezed out from between his lips, low and harsh, "Disgusting!"

…

…

The Crown Prince understood, the Crown Prince confirmed his suspicion, the Crown Prince collapsed, the Crown Prince's legs went weak, and he fell to the ground before the Emperor, bursting into tears, his face covered in tears and snot.

The Emperor didn't look at him again, walked to the Queen's side, waved his hand coldly, and delivered another slap!

The Queen cried out in pain and fell to the ground, landing on the low couch.

The Emperor lowered his head, leaned close to the Queen's ear, and said with gritted teeth, "I entrusted this child to you, and you raised him to be like this?"

…

…

The Emperor straightened up and walked out of the East Palace coldly. As he was about to leave the palace gate, he turned his head and looked at the Crown Prince, who was slumped on the ground, with a cold and disgusted gaze, saying disdainfully, "If you had dared to stand before me the whole time, I might have given you some respect."

After saying these words, the exceptionally ruthless and heartless Emperor of Qing Yu Nian left, his figure appearing so upright, so cold and stern, not at all like a husband or a wife, but...only like a monarch.

The gates of the East Palace were slowly closed, the bloody smell still lingering in the hall, but besides the weeping Queen and the Crown Prince, there was no one else, making it seem so desolate.

The Crown Prince suddenly stood up slowly, somewhat woodenly helping his mother to sit up properly.

With a slap, the Queen struck him. The Crown Prince did not dodge, his eyes filled with despair and struggle. He grabbed his mother's wrist as she tried to strike him a second time and said harshly, "Mother...if you don't want to die, quickly think of a way to notify Grandmother!"

The Queen was stunned.

…

…

The East Palace and Guangxin Palace, within the palace and outside the palace, inside and outside the Laundry Bureau, in the space of half an hour, every eunuch and palace maid who had ever served in the two palaces had been killed, leaving not a single survivor except for Hong Zhu. Hundreds of innocent souls were sacrificed to conceal the imperial family's scandal.

Perhaps only at this moment did the Emperor of Qing Yu Nian begin to gradually reveal his most iron-blooded, most ruthless, and most powerful side.

The middle-aged man in the dragon robe came alone outside Guangxin Palace.

No eunuchs followed him.

Old Eunuch Hong saw him arrive, bowed deeply, and then disappeared like a ghost.

Only the Princess Royal within the palace and the Emperor outside the palace remained, standing on either side of the thick palace gate, wondering what each other was thinking. What would follow, death or memories? Decades of acquaintance or a moment of separation? Were they sovereign and subject, or brother and sister?

The wind picked up.

The clouds above the capital grew thicker.

A bolt of lightning struck, and countless raindrops poured down.

Sitting on the low couch, the Princess Royal slowly raised her head and looked at the palace gate with a cold, mocking gaze. The palace gate creaked open, and a middle-aged man, soaked to the bone and his long hair disheveled, slowly walked in. The dragons embroidered on his robe seemed to be struggling in the wet water, wanting to burst out and tear apart everything in this world.

Princess Royal Li Yunrui looked at him coldly and said, "So, even you can be this disheveled."

Crack! Thunder roared in the sky, and lightning illuminated the dark palace, making everything brilliantly bright in a fleeting moment.

Especially the figure of the Emperor, that angry and suppressed, lonely and domineering figure.