Ni Shang reminded You Qingcheng, because she could feel something strange in the atmosphere and people around were fl.u.s.tered.

"I am the Queen."

"It is true that my master, you are the Queen. But the people in the palace are rather shrewd. If you don"t make any precaution, you will help them count the money when you are betrayed."

"You mean that Jingyu wants to replace me?"

"People will change. Besides, Jingyu is young and pretty. If the Majesty loves her, where will he put you?"

"Jingyu is innocent and simple. She is not that kind of person."

"I think Your Majesty should be alert to her. It"s hard to read others" minds. There is one thing I can"t figure out. No sooner had we just left the palace did we encounter the robbery and killing."

"Is there any spy in the Eastern Palace?"

"Just guessing."

Ni Shang was waken up by the sobs at midnight. She saw her master huddled in the corner, her bedding lying on the ground. In the candlelight, You Qingcheng looked more haggard. Ni Shang put the bedding on her again, overwhelmed with conflict in her heart. On the one hand, Ni Shang hoped You Qingcheng could be more shrewd and sophisticated; on the other hand, she was afraid it would happen. Ni Shang asked herself whether she was willing to see You Qingcheng become cruel and merciless.

If it had not been You Qingcheng who had saved Ni Shang, Ni Shang would have vanished from the world. Ni Shang would never forget her master"s kindness. In the deepl palace, no one could be righteous alone while the general moral tone was low.

If you were weak, you would be slaughtered by others at will. If you were favored, you would be the attacking target of the women in the harem. The humanity were given a full play in this deep palace. Ni Shang was chaning, and You Qingcheng was also changing. In order to survive, the women in the harem were put on big show to compete for favors everyday.

After being a.s.saulted, her Master always had nightmares. Tonight, Ni Shang was going to a place to let those mischief makers pay for their deeds.

"To protect the master well."

Out of the door, Ni Shang enjoined Tao"er. This girl was a veteran who came to the palace from You family. She was a person that Ni Shang had trust in. When Ni Shang went far away, Tao"er could come back to herself. In the Eastern Palace, apart from the Queen, Xian"er also attatched great importance to ties of companionship. Tao"er liked both the Queen and the elder sister.

Ni Shang changed herself into You Qingcheng and flew to the Western Palace. Tonight, the Western Palace was quiet. Ni Shang waved her spiritual fingers to lie down the last several guards and sneaked into the inner hall.

A fierce gale sprang up and ill wind slammed the door and windows. The palace door creaked open and Ni Shang stood in front of the bed, her hair hanging loose. Hearing the noise, You Qingmo opened her eyes. Next second, she screamed with scare. Ni Shang smiled coldly in her heart, thinking, "How can You Qingmo fear it? Will you feel scared when you had someone to a.s.sault your sister?" And then, Ni Shang play one more fierce trick. She conducted a sorcery, and blood began oozing from all the seven openings of her head. You Qingmo on the bed had not seen it before and clenched the bedding tightly. She shivered, as her face turned paler. Ni Shang would not spare her, because Yon Qingmo was so ruthless that she even framed her sister up.

You Qingcheng had to swallow the humiliation herself. Being a woman in the palace, she had no choice but the way to death as long as the Majesty knew it. Therefore, You Qingcheng had to bear it and she was more afraid of being known by others. Ni Shang was a demon, so she had no concept on chast.i.ty, a.s.suming that her master had forgotten it. But when seeing her master go manic in the Qingyao Town, Ni Shang realized how serious it was to her master. It turned out that her master"s optimism was just a gloss. You Qingcheng who had once helped Di Qing to plot Lin Xiaosa just wanted to find a backer. When Di Qing"s love gradually faded away, You Qingcheng was driven by fl.u.s.ter. Without Di Qing"s love, You Qingcheng would be nothing. So in order to retain Di Qing"s love, You Qingqing had no alternative but to conceive again. The last life-saving straw for a woman was a child. What a miserable thing! Ni Shang took pity on her master.

"...Don"t you think I am afraid of you?"

You Qingmo did not fear ghosts. It would be nothing frightening compared to her experience in the childhood. So she came up to pull Ni Shang. When her fingers touched the hem, creeping corpe worms dropped everywhere on the ground. You Qingmo thought it was an illusion. But when the corpse worms drilled into her skin, she was really scared. Those corpse sworms crawled in her pulse. You Qingmo could even hear the worms sucking the blood. She tried to pulled out those disgusting worms. But she fainted immediately when seeing her fingers" skeleton. Ni Shang laughed wildly. It was not worth mentioning compared to You Qingcheng"s suffering. Ni Shang stepped out of the room, thinking that was all for today.

"Master, what happened to you?"

"Shui"er, look at my face."

You Qingmo picked herself up from the ground. Last night, she seemed to have a nightmare where she was covered with corpse worms. Shui"er could not help taking several steps back at the clear sight of her master. You Qingmo"s face was utterly grey, as if she had just came out of the coffin. Afraid that the master would be sad, Shui"er hastened to do the makeup for her. You Qingmo looked at her own face carefully and was not relieved until her face was as beautiful as before.

"Ask Supervisor Xu to come here."

Shui"er took the order and left there. Xu Yin was also shocked when he entered the room. Since You Qingmo was still good yesterday, why was she covered with coprse qi now?

"Your Majesty, what happened to you?" You Qingmo was of great use, so she could not have any accidents.

"I encountered something unclean last night. Go to find a Master to remove the evil."

"Your Majesty, did you come across a ghost?"

"Yes, it is a female ghost from the Eastern Palace."

"The Queen?"

"I don"t believe in ghosts, but the person is covered with corpse qi..."

Xu Yin did not believe in heresy. All the unclean things were disguised by human. In other words, the woman of the Eastern Palace was not dead at all.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Liuzi said the Queen returned to the palace last night."

"She could not die even if falling down the cliff. The Heaven is blind indeed."

"Xiao Liuzi also said the Majesty was living with the fake Queen in Qingshou Palace."

"A fake Queen? Why didn"t you mention her to me? Who is the woman?"

"She is a subst.i.tute who the Eastern Palace has set. But it seems that things are out of control. Seldom women in the world are willing to be subst.i.tutes."

"If so, let"s see how the real Queen fight against the fake one."

"Your Majesty, you"re right. We just need to wait."

"Wait?"

"We only need to cooperate with the side who is the loser. For the weak, all we do is like offering fuel in snowy weather. By doing so, we can have more chips and the power of saying."

"Never imagine that I will cooperate with the Eastern Palace."

"Your Majesty, in the harem battle, there are only the common interests. We share the same intention—you want power while I want Di Qing to die."

Xu Yin talked about the death in a light way, as if the Majesty"s life was as cheap as a nonent.i.ty. You Qingmo could not care that much. Whether Di Qing was dead or not had nothing to do with her. The reason why she came to contend for favor in the palace was because of her sister. Besides, You Qingmo was a self-contemptuous woman who had lived in the darkness since childhood, so she had forgotten what would be like in the sunshine. But her sister was totally different who seemed to be born with gleaming halo and win all the people"s love. So how could You Qingmo not be jealous of her sister?

Ni Shang felt pleased that she had frightened You Qingmo in Western Palace into a faint. Not long before Ni Shang woke up, the Queen had someone to send a message that Ou Jingyu came to pay respects. Ni Shang led Tao"er into the inner hall. Upon entering the room, she heard a burst of smash inside. Ni Shang let out a sigh inwardly, thinking that her master was so rash that she showed her severity in early morning. Didn"t the Master know that even a worm would turn? Ni Shang paid respects to You Qingcheng. Ou Jingyu knelt on the ground, crying while the Master looked sullen. Ni Shang did not dare to say anything, only hoping the Queen would not lose her marbles. Each step in the imperial harem should be taken with caution. Since You Qingcheng had taken a wrong one, Ni Shang did not want the Queen to continue to be wrong. Since Ou Jingyu wanted to fly on the branch and turn into a phoenix, why didn"t the Master give her a hand? Word spread rampantly that the Majesty only favored the Queen You. But no one could know that the Queen was just a subst.i.tute. Since it had become a fact, why didn"t the Master become more forgiving. After all, Ou Jingyu was just a subst.i.tute and was only able to live in other"s shadow. In fact, the Master could take advantage of Ou Jingyu to capture Di Qing"s heart. But unexpectedly, the Master was jealous of Ou Jingyu and even had her kneel in the early morning. How could Ou Jingyu not hate her?

"Your Majesty, please calm down and spare me."

Ni Shang knelt on her knees, hoping that she could do something for the Queen. Ou Jingyu did not expect that Xian"er would plead for her. In the deep palace, no one was willing to give a helping hand. Instead, adding insult to the injury was common. And now someone knelt down to beg mercy for her. It was rather hypocritical to say Ou Jingyu was not moved by it.

"Your Majesty, please spare Jingyu." Ni Shang knocked head on the ground. Tears poured down Ou Jingyu"s cheek, and she felt closer to Xian"er. Out of her expectation, there was still such a warm-hearted person in the palace. Ou Jingyu swore to herself that she was bound to reciprocate Ni Shang"s kindness to her. Ni Shang gave a wink at You Qingcheng. Of course, You Qingcheng understood Ni Shang"s intention well. The chilly ice began melting in her eyes. No one could distern whether it was genuine or false of their play. You Qingcheng thought, "Ou Jingyu, dare to seduce my man? No way! I will let all the woman in the imperial harem know who is the really master." You Qingcheng and Ni Shang played a battered-body trick. But how could Ou Jingyu know that it was their trick? At that moment, Ou Jingyu had nothing in her heart but grat.i.tude to Xian"er.

To be a p.a.w.n that would not be abandoned, you should have some values. The purpose that Ou Jingyu entered the palace was to seduce Di Qing. In order to play up to the Queen, Ou Jingyu had her face changed so that You Qingcheng had chances to see a person similar to her. And then, Ou Jing yu became You Qingcheng"s subst.i.tute. She managed to get close to the Majesty, believing that she could fly up into the branches. But out of her expectation, she was kicked out by the Queen finally. Ou Jingyu was only a p.a.w.n at the mercy of others. She was forced to enter the palace. If her mission failed, she would come to a miserable end. Ou Jingyu"s destiny was controlled by others. That person kept her parents in captivity in order to coerce her into submission. If it had not been for Xian"er"s pleading, the Queen would not have spared her.

"Considering you committed it for the first time... go away."

Ou Jingyu picked herself up and retreated cautiously. When she pa.s.sed the door, she spotted a suspicious person, who was sneaky there. When Ou Jingyu got closer, that person disappeared. However, Ou Jingyu did not care too much and jumped over the palace gate, followed stealthily by Xu Yin. He also climbed over the wall and knew clearly where the woman was going. To the mansion of a.s.sistant Prime Minister, a friend of her late father"s friends. Was the fake Queen a spy of Yan Shen"s? Xu Yin flew into the courtyard and was so familiar with Yan family that he could find the study room even closing his eyes. When approached to the door, coughing voice rang from inside. Xu Yin crouched down to take a look. He poked the paper window lightly, and then candlelight came out. Afraid of being discovered, Xu Yin only revealed his pair of eyes. The old master of Yan family looked dignified while the fake Queen kept lowering her head down.

"What has happened to the Majesty these days?"

"I don"t have time to find it out."

"You should take seriously what I asked you to do. Let"s see what will happen when you get the evidence..."

"Your Excellency, my mother is weak. Please take good care of her. I will do my best to finishe the task and never let you down."

"I want the evidence that Di Qing has become a devil and let all the people in the Qi Kingdom know that he is a devil and he is not qualified to be the king of the Qi Kingdom."

"Your Excellency, Is Di Qing a devil?"

Ou Jingyu also did not believe that the person who she spent nights with was a demon, but she had to believe Yan Shen, because this old man would not claim that if he did not have abundant evidence. If word came out, he would be killed for sure. Therefore, Yan Shen did not dare to make a false charge against Di Qing. Outside the room, Xu Yin was rather happy. How could he not think of this method to revenge himself on Di Qing? During the hundreds of years in Qi Kingdom, it had been stipulated by the ritual laws that the royal family"s pure bloodline would not be contaminated by Monsters.