That night, the Emperor stayed at the Moon Viewing Pavilion.

In the middle of the night, Hua Qingqing was suddenly startled awake.

She threw herself into the Emperor’s arms, crying, and sobbed out a plea.

"Your Majesty, save me!"

The Emperor quickly sat up, holding her as he asked.

"What’s wrong?"

The palace maid and eunuch on night watch heard the commotion and hurried in, lighting the candles in the bedroom one by one.

Hua Qingqing looked up, her tear-filled eyes gazing at the Emperor.

"I just dreamed a dog was biting me—the same dog that bit me in the Plum Garden today. It kept chasing me, and no matter where I ran, I couldn’t shake it off. I was so scared... *sob*..."

The Emperor soothed her. "Don’t be afraid. It was just a dream. Nothing in a dream is real."

At that moment, Hua Qingqing was lying in the Emperor’s arms, her own arms wrapped around his neck. Her delicate, soft body trembled unceasingly; she truly looked terrified.

Her sleeve slid down, revealing a fair, slender forearm.

The Emperor had only to glance down to see the teeth marks on her forearm.

He immediately grabbed her wrist to get a closer look. The bite mark was no longer red, but had turned a deep, bruised purple.

Against her snow-white skin, the mark was exceptionally clear and jarring.

Hua Qingqing hastily tried to pull her hand back, mumbling.

"It’s too ugly. Your Majesty, please don’t look."

But the Emperor held her wrist tightly, not letting go. He frowned and asked.

"You were bitten by a dog? Why didn’t you say anything about this before?"

Hua Qingqing explained in a small voice, "It wasn’t a deep bite; it didn’t even break the skin. It’s probably nothing serious. You have so much to attend to every day, I didn’t want to worry you..."

The Emperor sighed. "You’re too foolish. A dog bite is no small matter."

He immediately ordered someone to summon an Imperial Physician.

Summoning an Imperial Physician so late at night was no small disturbance.

「In Lingxue Hall.」

Consort Liu, who had been sleeping soundly, was instantly wide awake upon hearing the news.

’On one hand, she was secretly pleased. Moon Viewing Pavilion summoned an Imperial Physician in the middle of the night. Something must have happened to Hua Jieyu. If Hua Jieyu loses the child in her belly, that means one less person will be competing with the Fifth Prince, Li Yan, for the throne in the future.’

At the same time, Consort Liu also felt a little uneasy.

’If something happened to Hua Jieyu, will the Emperor suspect it has something to do with me?’

’After all, Hua Jieyu’s incident happened right after she attended the tea party I hosted.’

’With the Emperor’s suspicious nature, it’s inevitable he’d overthink things.’

Consort Liu looked at her trusted Chief Palace Maid beside her and asked in a low voice.

"Where’s Snowball?"

"Replying to Your Grace, Snowball is already asleep."

Snowball was a dog her elder brother had given to Consort Liu. It was named Snowball because it was born a ball of pure white fur.

Consort Liu was quite fond of Snowball. Not only did it get to eat meat at every meal, but it also had a dedicated eunuch to wait on it.

To put it bluntly,

that dog lived a better life than many people in the palace.

The Imperial Physician rushed to the Moon Viewing Pavilion.

After a thorough examination, the Imperial Physician stated that Hua Jieyu was merely suffering from excessive shock. The wound on her arm had not broken the skin, so it wasn’t a major issue; applying some ointment would suffice.

In truth, the Imperial Physician could already see that the teeth marks were not from a dog.

But the waters of the rear palace ran deep. Hua Jieyu was pregnant and held the Emperor’s favor. The Imperial Physician was a smart man; he knew what should and shouldn’t be said.

He left the ointment and tactfully took his leave.

Even though Hua Jieyu’s injury wasn’t serious, the Emperor was still determined to find the dog that had hurt her.

’A dog that bites people absolutely cannot be kept in the palace!’

The Emperor ordered an investigation into the dog’s origins.

Not many people in the palace kept dogs, so a brief investigation quickly led to Consort Liu.

Early the next morning, Wu Wang led a group of men and stormed into Lingxue Hall, where Consort Liu resided.

Right in front of Consort Liu, they forcibly took Snowball away.

According to the Emperor’s wishes, a dog like this that bites people should be beaten to death on the spot.

Hua Qingqing, however, had a different idea.

She said softly,

"A dog is just an animal. It doesn’t know any better. If Your Majesty were to hold it accountable, it would be beneath your status.

In my opinion, if anyone is to be punished, it should be the person responsible for looking after the dog.

It was because the person failed to control the dog that it had the chance to hurt someone."

The Emperor found her words quite reasonable.

So, Wu Wang went to Lingxue Hall again.

He ordered his men to seize the eunuch responsible for looking after Snowball and had him held to the ground for a brutal caning.

Consort Liu watched from the side.

Her expression was utterly grim, her fingers clutching her silk handkerchief so tightly.

Beating one of her people in front of her was undoubtedly a slap in her face.

Only when the eunuch was beaten until he stopped breathing did Wu Wang order his men to stop.

He looked at Consort Liu with a smile, speaking politely.

"His Majesty had this servant relay a message to you, Your Grace.

It’s fine for you to keep a pet to relieve boredom on normal days, but you must not keep one that will harm people.

Today, Snowball could harm Hua Jieyu. Who’s to say it won’t harm the Saint tomorrow? Wouldn’t you agree?"

Consort Liu forced a smile. "His Majesty’s lesson is well-received. I understand now."

Wu Wang flicked his horsetail whisk and swaggered off with his men to report back.

「Inside Moon Viewing Pavilion.」

Hua Qingqing learned of what had happened in Lingxue Hall.

Xi Xiang, while carefully applying ointment to her arm, said indignantly.

"So that dog belongs to Consort Liu! Yesterday, in front of the Saint, Consort Liu didn’t say a single word about it.

If the Saint hadn’t ordered an investigation, we still wouldn’t know!

Now, it seems heaven’s eyes are open at last. She’s getting what she deserves."

Hua Qingqing looked down at the fading bite mark on her arm and smiled faintly, the corners of her lips curling.

"Yes. What goes around, comes around."

...

Hua Manman was truly and severely injured this time.

She was unconscious for a full day and night before waking up. When she opened her eyes, she saw Prince Zhao sitting by her bed.

Li Ji’s eyes were visibly bloodshot. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his thin lips were pressed into a straight line.

In short, he looked to be in an absolutely foul mood, as if he might kill someone at any moment.

Terrified, Hua Manman immediately shut her eyes again, pretending she hadn’t woken up.

Li Ji: "Stop pretending. I saw you open your eyes."

Hua Manman: "..."

’I can’t believe he saw through it.’

But to save face, she pretended to have just woken up, slowly opening her eyes with a dazed look.

"Where am I?"

Li Ji looked at her expressionlessly. "This is the Underworld."

Hua Manman was left speechless.

She resentfully shut her mouth, not daring to put on an act any longer.

Li Ji had someone bring in a bowl of medicinal soup and said curtly.

"Open your mouth."

Even a blind man could see that Prince Zhao was in a bad mood. To avoid becoming a casualty, Hua Manman immediately and obediently opened her mouth to be fed the medicine by him.

But the moment the medicine entered her mouth, it was so bitter that Hua Manman nearly burst into tears.

’Holy crap, this medicine is way too bitter!’

Seeing this, Li Ji sneered.

"This is the price you pay for hurting yourself."

Hua Manman’s heart skipped a beat. ’How does Prince Zhao know I self-harmed?’

Hearing her inner thoughts, Li Ji thought to himself, ’So it really was like that!’