After this segment, the lanterns that were surrounding the banquet place suddenly started to diminish one by one which made an eerie atmosphere at the banquet location all of a sudden. There was no light left --- not only that, but there was also no moonlight that night. Thus, the banquet place was totally engulfed with the darkness.

This was the first time that something like this had ever happened in the palace especially at such a big event. With so many palace maidservants, palace guards, and hidden guards, who would dare to do this? However, this thing indeed happened and it made people become restless.

It seemed like luck was on Yao Ling and friends' side because there was no moonlight as well and this would make their next performance become even better and easier to do.

The people started to get panicked because they were feeling afraid of the unknown. Many things could happen in the darkness ah~! Some things could also appear out of nowhere... for example, ghosts! a.s.sa.s.sins! There were a lot of women who made the situation become out of control as well by creating a ruckus and talking loudly to each other. The situation became quite out of hands because of their behaviors!

The military officials were better when dealing with this kind of weird situation because it was no different when they went to war. However, for the scholar officials who generally stayed behind, they felt really afraid. Only a few of them would be able to calm their minds because of the experience that they had.

The beautiful atmosphere that was created because of the performance from Yao Ling's group just now was gone in a heartbeat... No one would think that Yao Ling's trope's performance would continue on. After all, who could see their performance in the darkness ah~?!

Yao Ling had stopped playing the qujin because of the darkness and it turned the atmosphere quieter... eerier... However, she continued sitting calmly at the stage --- even calmer than those n.o.ble ladies. After all, she knew that this would happen.

While she was sitting leisurely, the others were preparing themselves for the next segment. Her job for today was just to play the qujin and did another performance with it later.

The Empress Dowager didn't feel afraid, but she was just feeling disappointed with the sudden turn of the event... She didn't want the performance to stop in the middle like this before she could watch the ending. In her heart, she hoped that it would be a happy ending. It would serve as an alternative ending of her own story. Stupid? She knew! However, she just couldn't help it.

'Ah San... Her Ah San...'

The Empress Dowager closed her eyes, trying to maintain her feelings. Well... if it was being stopped here, it was also alright. She would call this trope and let them perform privately for her next time. Thus, she didn't have to hold back her feelings anymore. In the end, there were too many people in her banquet and she couldn't do freely everything that she wanted to do.

When she looked at the situation around her, the Empress Dowager didn't plan to do anything and let her son handle this matter, because her mind was still in chaos.

She shook her head when she heard the commotion around her. Ladies nowadays weren't as clever as her generation. This was the palace... even if they were scared, they should have remembered their manners and also the royal family that was here as well. What did they take her and the Han Emperor for?

'Useless... Really really useless!' The Empress Dowager thought to herself. She decided to listen to what some of them were discussing.

"What happened?"

"Why is there no light?"

"How could all the lanterns diminish at the same time?"

"Where are the palace maidservants?"

"Where are the person in charge?"

"This is too crazy ah~!"

"How could something like this happen in the palace?"

"Is there a conspiration?"

"Is this a part of the show?"

"This is so scary!"

Those people were talking to each other in fear, really forgetting where they were at the moment.

"Be quiet!" The Han Emperor was annoyed by those stupid n.o.bles and roared in anger. Weren't they supposed to keep this calm in this condition? If they kept talking out loud, they wouldn't be able to tell what happened around them.

"Where are the palace guards?! Are they all dead?" The Han Emperor yelled loudly. "Where is everyone?!"

Suddenly, a lot of small torches were lit up and they were brought by more than a dozen palace guards. The leader quickly kneeled down and said, "Forgive us for the slight delay, Your Majesty! We need to find torches to light up the way."

The Han Emperor knew that he had to hold himself back because the palace guards' leader's argument was reasonable. Besides, if he kept making a fuss about this, he would look like an incompetent leader in front of all of his subordinates here. Thus, he waved his hand and ordered, "Just do your job well!" The Han Emperor looked around warily, feeling afraid that there would really be an a.s.sa.s.sination around this time.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The palace guards' leader quickly answered and stood up. He yelled at his subordinates, "Protect the Emperor!" The guards were being busy surrounding the Emperor because they were afraid that this would be the opportunity that the a.s.sa.s.sins had been waiting for. The audience saw the display of power and didn't dare to move a muscle --- one misstep and they would end up dead. After all, the Han Emperor had turned vigilance due to the weird phenomenon.

However, after so long... nothing had happened. It made the Han Emperor look like a fool. Who did he display his power to? This must have been a glitch. The audience wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, but the Han Emperor seemed to perceive their mocking gaze. The latter knew that he was unpopular lately because of the blood letter matter and it really annoyed him!

The Emperor squinted his eyes and asked Feng Yong Rui in displeasure, "Feng Yong Rui, is this your doing?!" He might as well threw the blame at Feng Yong Rui. When the Han Emperor threw this question at Feng Yong Rui, the wicked concubine smirked to herself.

Feng Yong Rui raised one of his eyebrows and sneered. He really regretted being loyal to such a stupid Monarch! He dared to do that because the light from the torch was quite far from him and he believed that the Han Emperor wouldn't be able to see him. "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"Making the lighting diminished altogether! What else?!" The Han Emperor asked. He didn't dare to accuse Feng Yong Rui that the latter wanted to kill him because there was not enough proof! So far, there was no a.s.sa.s.sination ah~!

Feng Yong Rui helplessly looked at Emperor and quickly looked down, "Your Majesty, please give this official a justice! The performance was presented by me if something happened at the time of my performance, wouldn't it only bring trouble to myself just like this? This official isn't that muddleheaded. Please, Your Majesty! Give this official a justice!"

After that, he kowtowed a few times and didn't forget to do it hard enough so that his forehead would be bleeding and gain sympathy from the onlookers.

The Empress Dowager furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her own son's expression. She felt that something weird was happening here... Feng Yong Rui was always loyal to his son, so why did he suddenly go against the former all the time? What exactly had happened when she was in the confinement?!