Another room in the palace. Thin vapor emerged from behind the screen, making the whole room misty.

With her beautiful hair loose and wet, Lengmei stood up in the bath tub and stepped out with the help of a maid. As soon as she left the tub, another maid dried her body with a towel and wrapped her in a bathrobe.

And another maid wiped her hair carefully with a handkerchief of flower fragrance.

Lengmei walked up slowly to her dresser and looked at herself in the mirror. These days she lived a comfortable and carefree life, and her beautiful face turned more charming than before. At this thought, her lips curled to a smile.

Her smile turned into happy laughter as she contemplated her increasing beauty in the mirror to her satisfaction.

After a while, she asked the maid on her side while combing her hair, “What’s the Queen doing these days? What about His Majesty?”

One of the maids replied instantly.

“Congratulations, Your Grace! Your prediction was perfect! These days the Queen was behaving exactly the way as you planned! His Majesty was annoyed by the Queen’s repeated animosity and sent more guards to watch her and confined the Queen to her room! Your Grace, it’s your time from now on!”

“Oh, is it? Really?” Lengmei’s smile was more obvious than ever and her eyes gleamed with complacency. Her words turned ever tenderer and seductive to the extent that they could almost melt human bones.

And she continued, “The Queen? Hah, who does she think she is? Does she deserve the title of Queen? She just enchanted two emperors with some shabby tricks, and that’s all that she can do. From now on, there should be a new Queen!”

The maid on her side hurried to echo her, “You are so right, Your Grace! In my humble opinion, only you deserve the position of Queen! That Tang Xia is not your rival in any aspect: Family background or means! What kind of rubbish she is!”

Lengmei’s smile was more blatant than ever, but she pretended to be unacceptable of the maids’ insulting words, “Shut up! Watch your tongues! She is still our Queen for now. You should always show respect to her, or people might use it as ammunition against me!”

Those maids had served Lengmei for a long time and knew she was just pretending to be critical. They bowed while smiling and said, “Forgive me, Your Grace. I will be discreet in the future.”

Lengmei turned around and said to one of the maids, “You. Do my orders. Send more people to watch the Queen in the next few days and make sure she can’t do anything!”

“Tang Xia failed to intercede for Helian Jue in front of His Majesty, and she will surely come up with other tricks to save Helian Jue during the next few days. After all…”

“Helian Jue is going to be executed soon! It’s a critical time for me to make the last move. I need to know Tang Xia’s every move!” With these words, Lengmei narrowed her eyes with cruelty on her face.

“Yes, Your Grace. I will make the necessary arrangements now.” The maid bowed to Lengmei and turned on her heel.

Lengmei turned around and continued to gaze at her pretty face in the mirror. She picked up a Gold Phoebe comb and started to comb her hair slowly. Her lips were curled with a smile of contempt, and her eyes gleamed with evil schemes.

Meanwhile, Tang Xia paced to and fro in her room, racking her brains for a way to save Helian Jue.

She leaned an elbow on the table and propped up her face with one hand, gazing silently at a corner of the room with empty eyes and bothered mind.

Suddenly, she raised her eyes and caught sight of the imperial edict rewarded to the Queen, lying next to the bookcase. The golden reflection from the shiny imperial edict attracted Tang Xia’s attention, sending a gleam into her eyes and a smile up to her lips. Tang Xia had an idea!

“That’s right!” Tang Xia thought, “I can steal the imperial jade seal from Chu Tiankuo and forge an imperial edict with his handwriting to exempt Helian Jue from death!”

The more she considered the plan, the more practicable she found it to be. She stood up, walked to her wardrobe and started to fumble inside. After a long search, she found a set of plain clothes in deep color. She was filled with joy and started to make detailed plans as to how to steal the imperial jade seal from Chu Tiankuo’s room without being noticed.

She recalled from the historical TV dramas she watched before that the imperial jade seal was usually kept in the study, and she did see one in Chu Tiankuo’s study before. She remembered its design and size clearly.

Tang Xia waited patiently until it was dark outside. She told Lyuyou she was tired and wanted to sleep early, and told Lyuyou to go back to her own room to sleep. Lyuyou didn’t think much as Tang Xia didn’t like to have someone near her bed while she was sleeping. She helped Tang Xia comb hair and wash face, put her in bed. She blew off the candles and went back to her own room to sleep.

About two hours later, Tang Xia figured Lyuyou should have been fast asleep and sneaked out in darkness when the guard was at the weakest during shift change.

Tang Xia walked past several gates on her way and arrived at the door of Chu Tiankuo’s study. She looked around and sneaked inside the study after making sure there was no one near.

She tiptoed toward the desk but didn’t see the imperial jade seal. She hesitated for a while and came to the conclusion. “How can such an important thing as the imperial jade seal be placed blatantly on the top of the desk?” After realizing this, she started to search for it in the room.

Tang Xia groped here and there, on the shelf and under the table. As she was busy with her search, her hand accidentally touched a vase, and she panicked over the thought that the sound of the vase smashing might attract the guards.

But to her surprise, the vase didn’t budge at all and stood stably on the desk, as if it had never been touched.

Tang Xia approached and made an attempt to lift it, but oddly enough, the vase was fixed to the desktop and was unable to move!

“That’s it!” Tang Xia thought to herself. She then tried to rotate the vase one way or another.

A hidden slot popped out from the wall nearby. Tang Xia turned her head and found the imperial jade seal there! She hurried over, took it out carefully and put it on the desk. Then she took out the forged imperial edict she had prepared and pressed the seal on it.

Tang Xia was filled with joy as she viewed the sealed imperial edict to exempt Helian Jue from death. After watching this, the spectators started to send bullet screen comments.

[Fan] Night: Brilliant, girl!

[Fan] Your Lover: Superwoman, is that you?

[Fan] Wheat: Right! Amazing! Where are the gifts?

[Fan] Wheat gifted the anchor a yacht.

[Fan] Forget-me-not: …Rich guy, you again!

[Fan] Nocturnal Fragrance: The legendary rich man! Take a photo with me!

…

Tang Xia shot a quick glance at the bullet screens before hiding the imperial edict in her pocket. Then she hurried back to her room along the original route under the protection of darkness.

The next morning, Tang Xia got up early and called Lyuyou to help her comb hair and wash face. Later, she changed into a suit for getting out, sent Lyuyou on an errand, and secretly left the palace for the execution ground without being noticed by the guards.

However, a maid of plain looking followed Tang Xia all the way without being noticed. She went back after seeing that Tang Xia had left the palace.

Meanwhile, Lengmei just got up and finished washing and combing. As she was having breakfast, a maid entered and whispered a few words at Lengmei’s ear. Lengmei gently wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and her eyes turned cold at the maid’s words. Then she said calmly, “Let her in.”

It was that maid of plain looking that entered Lengmei’s room. She bowed to Lengmei and said, “Your Grace, I followed your order and watched the Queen closely these few days. Today she sent Lyuyou away and left the palace secretly in a plain outfit.”

After hearing this, Lengmei slightly lowered her head and mulled for a moment. Then she raised her head and said to her maids, “Change my clothes. I’m going out.”

The maids were perplexed and asked, “It’s still early now, Your Grace. Where are you planning to go?”

Lengmei sneered and said, “His Majesty ordered for the decapitation of Helian Jue in public outside the Wu Gate at noon today. The Queen sneaked out early in the morning, and she must have gone there!”

“We want to go there, too, Your Grace! We want to see what the Queen is plotting!”

In a dark and wet prison cell, Helian Jue lowered his head, and his facial expression was not seeable. Suddenly, noises sounded outside and a tall and brawny jailor came in.

He opened the door to Helian Jue’s cell and said to Helian Jue who was lying inside, “Let’s go! It is time!”

Helian Jue put up a bitter smile, stood up, and walked out slowly with heavy chains trailing on the ground.

Once outside, Helian Jue was temporarily blinded by the sunlight, and he slightly closed his eyes. The jailors rudely pushed him into a prison cart, locked the door, and drove the cart on a humiliation parade.

The citizens on the streets all saw Helian Jue in his shabbiness. They grabbed cabbage leaves and eggs, and threw them at Helian Jue while abusing him.

“Trash! You disgraced your ancestors!”

“Kill yourself, you a-hole!”

“Die now, tyrant!”

…

Helian Jue just stood quietly in the cart, paying no attention to the people on the streets, as if he could not see or hear anything. He didn’t respond to the abuses, nor did he defend himself.

Time flew, and the parade was over. Just as Helian Jue was escorted to the decapitation stage and was about to be beheaded, Tang Xia rushed out of the crowd and cried, “Stop!”