Chapter 46: Chapter 46: "That Woman Looks Exactly the Same as the Empress!

When Cheng Yi returned to the palace, Li Yun was no longer in Taiji Palace.

After learning the Emperor was in Kunning Palace, Cheng Yi hesitated for a moment but decided to send word anyway.

The imperial harem now existed in name only. The former favored concubines had all become prisoners, to say nothing of the others.

But Cheng Yi knew that the rules of the harem were now even stricter than before.

It wasn’t because the Emperor worried someone might offend the concubines, but because he detested anyone disturbing the late Empress.

As for the concubines, their lives within the harem were likely worse than those of the palace eunuchs.

At least the eunuchs and palace maids had something to look forward to. Provided they made no mistakes, they could wait until they reached a certain age and be released from the palace. But these concubines might go a whole year without seeing the Emperor, destined only to grow old and die alone within the palace walls.

Without the Emperor’s favor, without freedom, and without children to dote on, they were no different from canaries kept in a cage. In fact, they were even worse off.

At least a canary could still see its master.

They were like gifts left to gather dust on a high shelf, and the master of the palace had never spared them a single glance.

Cheng Yi stood before the palace gate, head lowered in waiting.

He knew that sending word at this hour would surely infuriate Li Yun.

Li Yun hated any person or matter that disturbed him while he was with the late Empress.

But the matter had arisen suddenly, and Cheng Yi dared not delay his report.

Finally, after nearly an hour, Liu Ye arrived with the Emperor’s verbal decree and had a little eunuch open the gate.

Cheng Yi was ushered inside.

Liu Ye had no idea what incredibly urgent matter could have compelled Cheng Yi to seek an audience at such a time. When he had knocked on the door earlier, heart in his throat, he had nearly been run through by his master’s Emperor’s Sword—a blade that had slain countless enemies on the battlefield.

Even after reporting that Cheng Yi had an urgent matter to discuss, the fury radiating from his master hadn’t subsided in the slightest.

"Commander Cheng, you had best be careful tonight." Liu Ye was one of Li Yun’s long-serving attendants and knew that five years ago, Cheng Yi had been Li Yun’s personal bodyguard. The two of them had crossed paths many times, so he offered a word of warning.

Cheng Yi replied, "Thank you for the warning, Eunuch."

He knew that coming to the palace tonight would inevitably earn the Emperor’s displeasure.

Upon reaching Kunning Palace, Cheng Yi knelt on the floor to pay his respects to Li Yun.

Li Yun, for his part, was sitting there dressed only in a set of imperial yellow inner robes. For a long while, he did not permit Cheng Yi to rise.

A closer look would have revealed that the inner robes were quite old. The cuffs were so frayed that loose threads were visible.

Li Yun’s expression was one of impatience. He had been with Ming Lingyi. If tonight’s affair hadn’t concerned the Crown Prince—and if he were to neglect the Crown Prince’s safety, his Yuan Niang would surely blame him—he would not have moved. Only then did Li Yun rise, releasing the hand of the woman resting upon the Kunshan Cold Jade.

"I am curious to hear what discovery prompted you to report to me at this hour," Li Yun asked coldly. "Has the person been dealt with cleanly?"

Cheng Yi’s voice was strained. "...Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was unable to kill the target."

The moment the words left his lips, a white porcelain teacup shattered at his feet with a sharp CRACK.

"Have I grown old and forgetful, or is Commander Cheng no longer able to wield his sword?" Li Yun’s voice was laced with ice. "How can I still entrust the Crown Prince’s safety to you?"

Cheng Yi immediately kowtowed, begging for forgiveness.

"Enough," Li Yun said, impatient with the pleas for forgiveness. "Tell me. What is so difficult about this person?"

Cheng Yi swallowed hard. "...I discovered that the proprietress of that eatery... she looks... she looks just like the Empress... Her Majesty the Empress... exactly the same!"

Before Cheng Yi could even finish his sentence, he felt the Emperor’s gaze fall upon him, turning so cold it was like he was already looking at a dead man.

For a long while, Cheng Yi heard nothing from Li Yun.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. The Emperor believed the late Empress had never left, so none of them dared to address her as the "late Empress," continuing to use her former title.

But this, it seemed, was not enough to quell the Emperor’s fury.

"Cheng Yi, have you lost your mind?"

A moment later, Li Yun’s voice drifted down from above, dark and sinister.

"I dare not hide a single detail. If, through my error tonight, I have... truly offended Her Majesty, then my crime is one that even death cannot absolve!" Cheng Yi knocked his head heavily against the floor.

Li Yun stroked the ring on his thumb, his eyelids slightly lowered. The oil lamp on the table seemed to flicker in a draft that snaked through the empty hall, casting mottled shadows across his face and obscuring his expression.

’In truth, Cheng Yi had come today prepared to die.’

’He knew that discussing anything related to the late Empress was a surefire way to provoke him.’

’But he had no choice but to report it. If his omission were ever discovered, he would face a fate beyond redemption.’

’This way, at least there was a sliver of hope for survival.’

By the time Cheng Yi walked out of Kunning Palace, the back of his robes was soaked through with cold sweat.

Liu Ye saw him out and assigned a little eunuch to escort him to the main gate. As for anything else, the wily old eunuch didn’t ask a single question.

Before long, Liu Ye heard his master order someone to bring Fu Yunzi to the main hall.

Liu Ye’s heart skipped a beat.

When Ming Lingyi woke up, she found herself in bed.

"Miss, you’re awake! Are you hurt anywhere?" Xiao Chun, who had been watching over her, asked anxiously the moment she saw her stir.

Ming Lingyi clutched the area between her neck and shoulder blade. A sharp, stinging pain made it impossible to ignore.

But as she recalled what had happened, a jolt of alarm shot through her, and she ignored the pain in her neck. "I’m fine, but what about you?" She had clearly seen Xiao Chun collapse in front of her.

Xiao Chun rolled her neck. She figured she was pretty tough. It had been a bit sore when she first woke up, but after a little while, it already felt much better.

"I’m fine. When I came to, I saw you still slumped in the corner. I figured it was too cold outside, so I carried you into the house." She continued, "What on earth happened tonight, Miss? Did those thugs bother you after I was out? Should we report this to the authorities?" After waking up, Xiao Chun had been at a complete loss. The only thing she knew to do was stay by Ming Lingyi’s side and wait for her to wake up and decide what to do.

Ming Lingyi rubbed her temples and shook her head. She had no idea who the people that broke into their courtyard tonight were. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Is anything missing from the house?" Ming Lingyi asked.

Xiao Chun had already thought of that. After carrying Ming Lingyi into the room, she had immediately checked the shop out front and the entire backyard to ensure no intruders were still hiding there. Ming Lingyi had never hidden her habit of where she kept her money, so Xiao Chun had checked the money jar as well.

"Other than your personal savings box, which I didn’t open, I’ve checked everywhere else. Nothing is missing, and nothing is damaged."

Ming Lingyi’s personal savings were kept in a small box in her room, fastened with a small copper lock.

Ming Lingyi took out the key and gestured for Xiao Chun to open it.

Although Ming Lingyi had already guessed what she would find, hearing Xiao Chun confirm that nothing was missing only heightened her sense of unease.

A group of intruders had broken in, yet they didn’t steal any money, nor did they try to assault them. ’What could they have been after?’