Even though he was discussing his own son and the traumatic past, the emperor held no emotion of affection in his eyes.

The aide nodded and waited for his next orders. The Emperor tilted his head and asked with a dull tone of voice, "How is the third prince?"

The aide had a troubled expression on his face as though he didn't know how to answer, "The third prince...there seemed to be something awfully wrong with his body. He's not waking up."

He sighed and turned his head to one of the guards, he commanded a quick order, "Increase the palace watch to protect him."

"What is to be done with the eldest miss?" The aide asked.

The Emperor gave a thoughtful look before quickly answering, "Give her the medicine every 8-12 hours. Keep your eyes on her and make sure she doesn't try to leave. Do not get distracted this time."

"As you wish."

After taking one last glance, the Emperor left the room. The door closed behind him, and everything went quiet. Stalking closer to the eldest miss in order to observe her, the aide abruptly felt his head bulge in pain. Uncontrollably, his temple was pounded by ma.s.sive pulses, and it felt as though his blood was moving backward. Falling to the ground, he felt his eyes rolled back as he melted into the pain. As his body thumped noisily against the ground, the figure on the bed sat up.

Hongyue opened her glowing blue eyes, revealing someone who seemed perfectly fine. Her eyes focused blankly on the figure on the ground before she turned her eyes slightly to the door.

Finally.

She thought he would never leave.

Sitting up slowly, she restrained herself from coughing.

Her eyes looked at the silk quilts on her body, and her lips arched in a mocking sneer. If not being awake the whole time, Hongyue would have thought the emperor really cared. She pressed her throbbing chest and moved her aching arms. To make the whole thing look real, of course, she had to endure the pain a little bit.

In the end, it was worth it.

Look at all the information she got~

As she thought, the emperor was more than just a little two-faced. 8-12 hours? He just wanted to keep her useless and reliant on him.

That part about Jiayi was a surprise.

No wonder his powers were so raw and oppressive. Hongyue had to combine an additional layer of strength to her barrier in order to avoid getting burned to a crisp. She saw his face at that time. He held no sign of fear or trauma. In fact, he seemed to thrive in the fire and loved the scorching flames.

Oh~

Did she just figure something out?

As for Jiayi now...Hongyue sighed.

She might have pulled a trick or two to keep it as realistic as possible. That pervert might not be able to wake up until after 2-3 days later.

Good.

She didn't want to keep seeing his face anyway. It would be a nice break.

Her eyes returned to their standard color as she reconsidered her plan.

Starting the fire was critical. One: it provided a cover for both her and Jiayi. Two: it destroyed the dead bodies along with the b.l.o.o.d.y evidence and three: the fire was to steer the finger at the Empress.

Numerous unknown players targeted her as the primary target, and since their goals overlapped, it would be reasonable they might operate together to harm her. The only thing that is restraining them from a.s.sisting each other was the Emperor.

Because of the Emperor's protection, no one dared to carelessly harm her and could only resort to underhand schemes and pulled in the others to cover it up.

This time, the Empress seemed to be devised as a coverup.

But what about next time?

Since they wanted to play dirty, she might as well play dirty with them. The risk was her life, and she still wanted to live longer than them. So why not just pit the schemers together? In any case, the Empress was not a fool. With Hongyue's story, along with the possible t.i.tle of a grave crime of killing not only the stupid eldest miss but a royal prince held over her head, there was no doubt the Empress would know who to take action agianst.

At that time, Hongyue would just have to watch and observe.

Turning to the aide that was lying on the ground, Hongyue smiled and clapped her hands twice.