C20

Yue Ziyue immediately shut her mouth, thinking that even if this was the case, they wouldn't accept it. Because this was Li Jing, she would always make this kind of low level mistake, testing them with thoughts from thousands of years later.

Sai Yao turned and instructed Yan Junqing, "Junqing, help the fourth prince search for the corpse of Imperial Concubine Jingfei. I have the protection of the fourth prince, so there won't be any problems!"

"That won't do, Princess, if there's any danger …" Yan Junqing looked at Yan Muqing for help, because once Sai Yao made a decision, it was very difficult to change her mind.

Yan Muqing coldly looked at the silent Yue Ziyue, whose mouth looked as if it had been stitched with needles. "Since you're not optimistic about the coffin, then I'll leave it to you to find it!"

"I am unfamiliar with this place …" Yue Ziyue cried out. Beside her was a pitch-black shadow, and an image appeared in her mind. She was holding a lantern in her hand as she searched for the body of the esteemed wangfei in the dark night. Suddenly, she reached out her hand and shouted, "Yue Ziyue, you've caused me so much pain!"

He suddenly stopped thinking. If he continued to think about it further, it would become a terrifying scene. Yue Ziyue swallowed a mouthful of saliva and was about to explain herself when Yan Junqing suddenly pushed the lantern in her hand to Yue Ziyue, "I'll be troubling you, Miss Yue!"

Yue Ziyue took the lantern and looked at the endless night. She sighed in her heart. She really couldn't back down from the tiger's back.

"If you have any news, report back in time. Do not act on your own initiative." After Yan Muqing finished her instructions, she said to Yue Ziyue very calmly, "Go!"

With all her hopes extinguished, Yue Ziyue fearfully charged into the darkness with a lantern in her hand. Although searching for something was her strong point, this was the first time she had searched for a corpse.

Seeing the lights on both sides of the road gradually fading into the night, she thought for a moment and decided not to go the same way as them. This way, she would have a better chance of finding her way.

She slid from the hillside to the bottom of the ditch, stepped on the sprouting grass, and slid uncontrollably down the hill.

It was only at the bottom of the ditch that she noticed a flat path, low in the lantern, with a line of crooked footprints in the dim light. Yue Ziyue's heart suddenly lit up. She had indeed guessed it.

Instinctively, she had imagined the route she would have taken if she had stolen the body, and now it all seemed as she had expected.

He followed the footprints as he walked, and they disappeared as soon as he reached the foot of a mountain. Yue Ziyue looked around and saw that there was no road nearby. Just as she was wondering, she suddenly heard someone say, "Xue Yi, why didn't you wait for me to come back? We agreed that after I sit on the throne, we would leave the capital together and roam the world!"

The sound became more and more distant in the empty valley, making people feel as if they were floating out of the ground. Yue Ziyue shivered, she raised her lamp and looked up, only to discover a pitch-black cave on the slope.

Without time to think, she grabbed onto a branch and climbed into the cave. When she was about to reach the cave entrance, she suddenly heard a loud voice shouting, "Who's there!"

This voice was half male and half female. It sounded very familiar, but in that instant, his brain froze, as if he couldn't figure out who it was.

She simply returned the compliment. "Where did these cowards come from? How dare they steal the body of esteemed wangfei? Hurry up and surrender!"

"It's you!" Someone in the cave stretched out his arm, his eyes twinkling in the night. "I didn't expect you to find me so quickly!"

"Shadow …" Yue Ziyue cried out involuntarily. Her mouth opened so wide that an egg could fit inside. Her head suddenly died, so she didn't know what the black shadow had meant by bringing over the body of Empress Jingfei.

"Xue Yi and I, the childhood sweethearts, were forbidden from entering the palace because of the Emperor's talent. Who would've thought that this separation would take twenty years!" The shadow looked depressed as it looked at the body of Jing Fei. She looked dignified, and there weren't any signs of damage.

Yue Ziyue scratched her head. Just what was going on? Was it really as she had thought, that the black shadow was the Empress' lover?

Seeing that Yue Ziyue still did not understand, the black shadow blew out Yue Ziyue's lantern and pulled her to sit on a rock inside the cave. He said meaningfully, "Listen to me …"

The cave was very dry, and there was a thick layer of hay on the rocks. It seemed like the black shadow had long been prepared and was only waiting for Yan Muqing's men to come and rest.

"Xue Yi was only eighteen when she entered the palace. I thought that the Emperor wouldn't choose her!" The shadow's voice was choked with sobs. Although his face could not be seen, the pain in his heart could still be vaguely felt.

Yue Ziyue had not spoken a word since the beginning of the story. She only wanted to quietly listen to the story, only to hear the black shadow continue, "That day, she had specially dyed her skin yellow with orange water. She looked extremely thin.

"Then why did the Emperor choose her afterwards?" This was a little strange. They could even get selected if they intentionally put on an ugly appearance. Could it be that the emperor was blind?

There were occasional drops of rain falling outside the cave, making it very quiet. Aside from the voice of the black shadow, there was only the sound of their breathing.

The black shadow let out a long sigh and dropped the straw in his hand onto the ground. He absentmindedly looked at the pitch black night and said, "This is also heaven's will. The Emperor was not in a good mood that day.

"Huh?" Hearing this, Yue Ziyue felt rather regretful. This was like the saying, 'good fortune makes a fool out of'. People who love each other can't be together, but those who don't love each other have to face each other day and night.

The black shadow shook his head, his voice sounded deep and deep, "If she's in pain, even if she's in danger of dying, I'll break into the palace and rescue her, then we'll leave together."

"And then she fell in love with the Emperor?" Yue Ziyue was completely confused. If a woman's feelings were so fickle, then the love stories of this world might not exist anymore.

"She has Murin, the Emperor's child. At that time, she was the only one among the six beautiful ladies who entered the palace together. Xue Yi was the only one who had a dragon seed in her womb!" The black shadow could not finish his sentence. The empty cave was quiet for a long time. It was as if the world had fallen into darkness and time had stopped for a moment.

It was not hard to guess what would happen next. Since Jingfei was pregnant with Yan Muqing and knew there was no way for her to leave the palace, she could only let Shadow give up on this relationship. Then, she fell into a struggle within the palace. In the end, because of Yue Ziyue, she died within the palace.

This was a painful memory. If it had been Yue Ziyue at that time, she would most likely have died from the pain as well.

"That's not right. You said twenty years ago that we'd parted ways, and you've even met after Jingfei went to court?" The shadow in the dark didn't move at all, like a stone statue. However, the grief radiating from its body was enough to affect anyone around it.

"That's right. We met before when Jinxi was born, and it was precisely because of this meeting that caused the misfortune of Xue Yi and Jinxi!" When the black shadow spoke of its emotions, it took in a deep breath. The endless remorse in its heart had all blended into this sigh, causing Yue Ziyue to feel a deep sense of uneasiness in her heart.