"Your Ladyship, Chen Zhaoyi has arrived again."

  In the hall, incense was burning, and Yuan De Fei stood in front of a desk wearing simple clothes, devoutly copying scriptures. Upon hearing this, her brush paused for a moment before continuing to write: "Send her away."

  Dan Qing took off the bangle from her wrist and put it on the table: "Chen Zhaoyi said she's waiting."

  Yuan De Fei glanced at the bangle and put down the brush in her hand. Dan Qing immediately handed over a towel.

  Yuan De Fei slowly and deliberately washed her hands, then slowly and leisurely returned to her chair to take a sip of tea.

  "How many days has she been like this?"

  "Adding today makes it the tenth day."

  Yuan De Fei's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery: "Then, how long has Qi Wang been missing?"

  "It's been over fifty days."

  Yuan De Fei didn't say a word, silently took another sip before handing over the teacup.

  Dan Qing stepped forward, took the tea cup and said: "Since Ji Wang went missing, Chen Zhaoyi naturally couldn't rest easy. But I don't understand, why didn't she seem anxious in those 40 or so days before? Now she's been guarding you every day."

  "In the past, she didn't have a burning desire in her heart. Now, she's probably so fired up that she can't sit still. Alright, let her come in!"

  Dan Qing was taken aback: "Your Highness, you want to see her?"

  "Look." Yuan De Fei lazily yawned: "Not letting her give up is also a heavenly annoyance."

  Dan Qing nodded and turned around to go and spread the news.

  "Slow down! Put on that bangle, it was given to you by someone else, what's the point of leaving it here? Also, tell her to come in alone, and take that maid of hers... outside."

  "Yes, Your Ladyship."

  Dan Qing's heart led her to put the bangle back on and wear it well, and then she left.

  As soon as she left, Yuan De Fei took a deep breath, her eyes no longer lazy, but instead revealed some sharpness.

  "Master, the sun is scorching today. Don't you want to go back and avoid it for now? Cui'er fanned the wind to bring coolness to Chen Zhaoyi while anxiously advising her."

  Chen Zhaoyi has been restless in her sleep and appetite for days, growing increasingly haggard. She is truly worried that Master's body will collapse before hers does.

  "It's nothing......" Chen Zhaoyi had just spat out two words when Dan Qing walked out, and she hurriedly went to meet her: "Miss Dan Qing."

  "Chen Zhaoyi, your timing is good. The empress has just woken up and says to let you in. Please enter quickly!"

  Chen Zhaoyi's face immediately lit up with a hint of joy: "Good, thank you Miss Danqing."

  Chen Zhaoyi took a step forward, and Cui'er naturally followed behind her. But just as Cui'er reached Danqing's side, Danqing suddenly pulled Cui'er back: "Miss Cui'er, the masters are talking, let's sit outside for a while!"

  Cui'er heard this and didn't dare follow him in, she could only watch as Chen Zhaoyi entered the palace alone.

  "I said..." Dan Qing asked bluntly at this time: "When others encounter things, they are anxious to hug Buddha's feet. Are you guys a bit late?"

  ……

  "Su Yi has met Empress De."

  Chen Zhaoyi entered the palace and saw Yuan De Fei writing at a desk, so she hurried forward to pay her respects. However, Yuan De Fei kept her head down, copying from a book, seemingly oblivious to Chen's presence. As a result, Chen could only maintain her respectful posture, half-kneeling there.

  Half squatting, neither up nor down, even borrowing strength is difficult, it's the most unbearable.

  Chen Zhaoyi endured for a moment, but her body began to shake uncontrollably. However, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and hold on tight, as she was now in a difficult situation.

  "All right, stand up straight!" Yuan De Fei spoke out just as she was about to kneel down.

  "Thank you, Consort De." Chen Zhaoyi stood up straight and wiped the sweat off her forehead, wanting to ask a question, but seeing that Consort Yuan didn't lift her head, she opened and closed her mouth twice before shutting it.

  Yuan De Fei wrote slowly and finished a sentence before lifting her pen to examine the characters and ask, "Are you copying scriptures?"

  "Copy, recently... all copy."

  Yuan De Fei looked up and glanced at Chen Zhaoyi, then handed the pen in her hand forward: "Come, copy a section."

  "This..."

  Chen Zhaoyi felt unexpected and somewhat hesitant, she couldn't figure out what kind of trick this decades-old enemy was going to play.

  "Hmm?" A hint of displeasure flashed across Yuan De Fei's face, but her eyes were dancing with mockery.

  Chen Zhaoyi's heart skipped a beat, and she hastily stepped forward to take the brush, carefully standing in front of the desk. Yuan Defei, on the other hand, retreated to the window on one side and sat down, staring intently at her.

  Chen Zhaoyi could only take a deep breath, pick up her brush and continue copying, but she had tears in her eyes after writing just two characters.

  Yuan De Fei's gaze shifted towards the window, her lips moving softly as she whispered.

  "Parents' kindness is deep and heavy, mother is one hundred years old, long worried about eighty children, want to know the end of love, life is exhausted before parting."

  The brush slipped from Chen Zhaoyi's hand and she suddenly turned around and knelt down in front of Yuan Defei.

  "Empress De, I beg of you to show mercy! The king has already ascended the throne, my son only asks for a tiny patch of land to live out his remaining years in peace, please spare him!"

  Chen Zhaoyi finished speaking and then continuously kowtowed, the muffled sound of each bow was like the sound of a wooden fish in a Buddhist temple hall, filled with sorrow.

  Yuan De Fei slowly turned her head and looked at her: "You have a son, I also have a son."

  "Your Majesty, my son has been missing since he disappeared from court and will no longer pose any threat to the Emperor..."

  "It's useless for you to say that. As long as Ji Wang has no news, the king will not be at ease."

  "I swear he has no ulterior motives!"

  De Fei suddenly stood up: "You swear? Ha! The imperial court's politics have always been unpredictable."

  Chen Zhaoyi immediately knelt down and moved forward, grabbing the hem of Yuan Defei's clothes: "Sister Defei, I..."

  "Shh..."

  De Fei made a silencing gesture, looking down at Chen Zhaoyi: "Go back! From the moment Prince Qi disappeared, his life and death were no longer something you or I could decide."

  "But they're brothers after all, Su Yi just hopes for mercy..."

  "Chen Su Yi!" Yuan De Fei's eyes flashed with a stern expression: "If today your son were to become king, how would you treat me and my child?"

  Chen Zhaoyi's head shook like a rattle drum: "Elder sister Mingjian, Su Yi has never had such presumptuous thoughts."

  Yuan De Fei coldly snorted, brushing Chen Zhaoyi's hand away from her collar: "Don't come again in the future. If you truly wish for the king's well-being, then copy scriptures and burn incense more often!"

  Yuan De Fei finished speaking and turned around to leave for the side hall, leaving Chen Zhaoyi alone on the ground wailing in pain.

  Her sorrow and worry were so overwhelming that even her concession could not get a single promise from the victor.

  The king defeats the enemy without changing his rules.

  She cried for a moment, then wiped away her tears and walked out in a daze.

  "Consort Chen!" Cui'er, who was struggling to cope with the painting, immediately went up to greet her when she saw Consort Chen come out, but seeing her master's face full of sorrow and tear stains, her heart ached and tears welled up in her eyes.

  "Let's go."

  Chen Zhaoyi's eyes were dull and lifeless, and she walked away with Cui'er, looking disheartened.

  After they left, Yuan De Fei walked out of the palace again.

  "Your Ladyship, it seems that Chen Zhaoyi has given up all hope!"

  Yuan De Fei looked up at the sky: "She won't give up."

  "Your Ladyship, I asked Cui'er and it's true that Consort Chen didn't panic when she first found out about the disappearance of Prince Qi. You are wise, Your Ladyship."

  Yuan De Fei gave her a sideways glance: "It's not that I'm being unreasonable, it's just that she saw the Emperor hesitating to withdraw his troops and was genuinely afraid that her son would be defeated, so she came to beg me."

  "Your Highness, don't worry, Ji Wang will never be a threat to our Great King."

  Yuan De Fei narrowed her eyes: "Although the Great King has succeeded to the throne, only the news of Qi Wang's death can put the Great King at ease."