"How are your uncle and aunt?" Xue Zining asked again.
Nangong Yue replied, "They are well."
"That's good," Xue Zining said.
Nangong Yue looked up at Xue Zining eating noodles and said, "A Ning, I actually ran away from my wedding."
Xue Zining was startled.
Nangong Yue stood up and walked towards the window, gazing at the moon obscured by dark clouds. "I once thought I would marry a man of my heart and live a harmonious life, but..."
Xue Zining looked at her and asked, "He wasn't a good match?"
Nangong Yue turned around and smiled, her smile tinged with bitterness. "He was licentious, yet talented and beloved by many women. I thought I could change him, but I was wrong. Not only did he have courtesans, but his own cousin also adored him. What was I then?"
Xue Zining stepped forward and took Nangong Yue's hand. "Someone like that is not worth having."
Nangong Yue nodded. "That's what I told myself, but my parents, citing the betrothal gifts received, wouldn't allow me to break the engagement. A Ning, I had resigned myself to fate, but then I learned he was attracted to both men and women. I truly couldn't bear it, so I wrote to you, asking to attend your palace banquet."
Xue Zining fell silent. In her past life, Nangong Yue hadn't come to the capital so early. Was Nangong Yue's death at her coming-of-age ceremony a coincidence?
"Why have you stopped eating, A Yue?" Nangong Yue asked.
"A Yue, do you have any enemies?" Xue Zining inquired.
Nangong Yue was taken aback. "A Ning, why do you suddenly ask about that?"
Xue Zining shook her head. "It's nothing, just a casual question."
"If I were to say I do, it would be my runaway husband, the son of the Prefect of Zhaoping."
Xue Zining blinked. "The son of Shen Congwen, the Prefect of Zhaoping?"
Nangong Yue nodded. "Yes, Shen Yunxuan."
"Good, I will deal with him properly," Xue Zining's gaze turned cold.
Nangong Yue was stunned. She hadn't expected Xue Zining to say that and quickly added, "A Ning, please don't do anything for my sake. I don't want you to do anything wrong because of me. Now that I'm in the capital, he can't reach me."
Xue Zining looked at her and said faintly, "A Yue, you might not know, but I have invited officials of the fifth rank and above, along with their families, to this palace banquet."
Nangong Yue's body trembled. A prefect was of the fifth rank.
"So, he might come," Xue Zining said.
Nangong Yue's expression turned a little unpleasant.
Xue Zining took her hand and comforted her, "Don't be afraid. With me here, no one can bully you."
Nangong Yue nodded with a pale face. "I... of course I trust A Ning."
"Young Master Yan has arrived!"
Xue Zining looked up and saw a tall, slender figure appear at the entrance. She stood up and said, "A Ning, you don't seem well. Please rest."
With that, she walked to the entrance, glanced at Yan Zhao, and said faintly, "Come here."
Yan Zhao looked up, his gaze clear as he looked at her. "Your Majesty."
Xue Zining saw with her peripheral vision that all of Nangong Yue's attention was focused on Yan Zhao.
She reached out and grasped Yan Zhao's hand. She was slightly startled, not expecting his hand to be so cold, chilling her body through her palm.
She couldn't help but shiver.
Yan Zhao's gaze paused slightly. The Empress had actually taken his hand for the first time.
"Your hands are so cold, how long have you been waiting outside?" Xue Zining's voice was gentle.
Yan Zhao looked up. He saw his reflection in the girl's clear eyes. "I haven't waited long. However long I wait, it is what I should do."
Heh, his words were even more ruthless than hers.
Xue Zining sneered inwardly, but her expression remained gentle. "Don't wait so long next time, it makes me heartache."
"If it can make Your Majesty heartache, it is all worth it."
His gaze was dazzling at that moment, like starlight converging into a galaxy.
Xue Zining turned her face away. "Let's go!"
As they left Zhaoxiu Palace, Yan Zhao felt the warm hand leave his.
"From now on, if Nangong Yue calls you, you may refuse."
Yan Zhao heard this and asked, "A pardon from Your Majesty?"
"Yes," Xue Zining replied.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Before he finished speaking, he saw the girl looking at him with a cold gaze, her tone ice-cold. "Behave yourself, and don't let me know you have other intentions, otherwise..."
The girl's gaze grew colder, like permafrost. "The consequences are beyond your ability to bear."
After speaking, the girl left.
Yan Zhao's eyes narrowed upon hearing this. Was he being threatened?
"Young Master, the Regent wants to see you!" Yan Yi appeared before him and said in a low voice.
Yan Zhao's gaze turned cold. "Return to the palace."
Stepping into the Yan Palace, Yan Zhao felt an unprecedented pressure.
He looked up and saw the Regent, Xue Wenjie, standing there.
"Your Highness, you were looking for me?" Yan Zhao said, cupping his hands slightly.
Xue Wenjie turned around. "Young Master Yan's life is going quite well."
"Thanks to Your Highness's arrangements, I am living such a good life."
Xue Wenjie's gaze turned cold. "Young Master Yan, I have fulfilled what I promised you. What about you?"
Yan Zhao looked up and said faintly, "If Your Highness fulfills his end, I will naturally keep my promise."
"Good," Xue Wenjie said.
He took out a letter. "I have found your foster mother."
Yan Zhao was startled. "Where?"
Xue Wenjie sneered. "Hua Yun Jin and I truly have fate; it's a never-ending feud."
Yan Zhao frowned and asked, "Your Highness, is this related to the Hua family?"
Xue Wenjie said, "Your foster mother is from the Hua family, but..."
"But what?" Yan Zhao asked.
"She was expelled from the Hua family." Xue Wenjie said.
Yan Zhao was taken aback. "Is... is she alright?"
Xue Wenjie replied, "Very well, because she is now the Old Madam Hua of the Hua residence, Hua Yun Jin's mother."
Yan Zhao's gaze paused. "Your Highness, you are not lying to me?"
Xue Wenjie sneered. "Why would I lie to you about this? This is what I have discovered. I want you to have nothing to do with the Hua family even more."
Yan Zhao lowered his gaze. "Thank you, Your Highness."
"Yan Zhao, I have done what I promised you. And you?" Xue Wenjie asked slowly.
"I will naturally keep my word," Yan Zhao said, bowing.
Xue Wenjie placed a bottle of medicine on the table. "Put this into the Empress's wine cup on the day of the palace banquet. You don't need to do anything else."
"Is this poison?" Yan Zhao asked faintly.
"You don't need to know. Just do this for me, and nothing else," Xue Wenjie said coldly.
Yan Zhao looked at Xue Wenjie. After a pause, he said, "Alright, I understand."
Xue Wenjie finally revealed a smile and stepped forward, patting Yan Zhao's shoulder. "Yan Zhao, if we succeed in taking the palace, you will have merits for supporting the dragon. I will not treat you unfairly."
Yan Zhao bowed upon hearing this. "At that time, please spare everyone in the Hua residence."
Xue Wenjie's gaze turned cold, but he still nodded. "I promise you."