"Your Majesty, you should not be here tonight," Hua Yunjin said, kneeling on one knee in the study, his voice cold and desolate.
The young woman standing by the window looked up at the moon, mostly obscured by dark clouds. After a long moment, she spoke slowly, "If I were not here, do you know what would happen to you? Do you know what would happen to your Prime Minister's estate?"
Hua Yunjin's gaze paused, but his body remained upright. "Your subject is prepared."
"The entire family beheaded, blood flowing like a river," the young woman parted her red lips, her voice carrying the weight of a thousand pounds with each word.
Hua Yunjin's body trembled slightly. He lowered his eyes and said softly, "Your Majesty, now that I have reached this position, I have been prepared for the possibility of beheading at any time."
The young woman turned and walked towards him step by step. He saw the golden dragon-embroidered boots within his sight. A slender, jade-like finger reached out and landed on his chin, feeling icy. He raised his head, and saw eyes that were clear to the extreme, transparent to the bottom.
The young woman parted her red lips, her voice more solemn than ever before, "What I want is not your death, not the beheading of your entire Hua family; I want you to stand by my side, whole and unharmed, to watch this vast land of the desolate wilderness with me."
Hua Yunjin trembled all over, his heart deeply shaken. He felt his mouth go dry. He wanted to say something; his heart seemed to be surging with emotion.
The young woman's fingertips left his chin and returned to the window, pointing directly at the moon that was breaking through the dense clouds. She said, word by word, "At this moment, I am like this moon. Although the clouds are dense now, I can break through in the future. When that time comes, it will surely be a vast expanse of mountains and rivers, all in my hand."
Hua Yunjin moved his lips. The young woman continued, "Hua Yunjin, I need your help, not your blood sacrifice, but your intelligence and resourcefulness to move the stones blocking my path."
Hua Yunjin felt his blood boil. A thousand words converged into a few, "Your subject obeys! I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's command."
The young woman walked over, extended her fair, slender hands, and helped him up. "Let us begin now!"
Emerging from the Prime Minister's estate, Xue Zining looked up. The bright moon hung in the sky, and there were no longer any dark clouds around. A smile curved her lips. Enduring the clouds to see the moon; she would not repeat the mistakes of her past life. This life, she would surely forge ahead, invincible.
What was owed to her, she would reclaim.
"Feng Ying, Feng Jiu," the young woman parted her red lips.
Before her voice faded, two figures appeared before her, kneeling on one knee. "Master."
"From today onwards, you will protect Hua Yunjin. Ensure his safety."
Feng Ying and Feng Jiu were startled. "Master, your subordinates cannot leave your side."
Xue Zining's body trembled. In her past life, when she sent Feng Ying and Feng Jiu to protect Xue Zixuan, they had said the same thing.
At that time, she had only said, "This is the Emperor's command."
But now, she held Feng Ying and Feng Jiu with both hands and said slowly, "I need Hua Yunjin, and I need you too. In this deep, secluded palace, the people I trust most are you Feng Yin. And you are the ones most capable of finding people to work for me."
Feng Ying and Feng Jiu trembled. The reasons they had spoken vanished, replaced only by submission. "Your subordinates will not fail our mission."