As her eyes continued to study the outside scenery, the palace came into view. Hongyue sighed before she flipped the window curtain closed. Soon, a set of light footsteps came approaching her direction accompanied by a soft knock which sounded at the front of the carriage near the golden curtains, "Eldest Miss, we have arrived."

Hongyue's head curved over at the carriage entrance and lightly touched Qingyu on the head. The little snake looked up back at her sheepishly and shook itself before coiling itself up around her left arm. After the snake was completed adjusting itself, Hongyue shook her sleeves to cover up the little snake.

Patting out her robe, she proceeded her way out of the carriage. Climbing down, Hongyue was immediately greeted with the sight of rows of servants. Their eyes were to each other, and none of them dared look to her. The emperor was up ahead, just getting out of his carriage as well. Seeing Hongyue, he nodded to one of his aide who came quickly over to the first miss.

"Eldest Miss, this way," The aide invited her respectfully.

Hongyue nodded, and she trailed closely behind the aide. As they walked, Hongyue looked at the left ear of the person in front of her. The aide didn't have a marking on his ear. Nevertheless, his steps were too light to be a mere servant. Hongyue kept a faint smile on her expression as she began to plan her next steps.

A shadow guard?

It could be possible.

Now the question was if the emperor sent this aide over to protect or to observe.

As they strolled past the inner garden, Hongyue noticed a few servants eyeing her with disgust. The servants were clothed in vibrant colors and adorned with silver hair sticks. With huddled voices, some of the inner servants whispered among themselves as they stared at her. In front of her, the aide stiffened at their actions. Delivering a sharp glare to the gossiping servants, the aide resumed leading the eldest miss to the Palace Hall.

Hongyue didn't say a word, but a small smile already formed on her face that didn't quite make it to her eyes.

Arriving at the palace, Hongyue moved lightly on the vibrantly colored matted palace floor. Her arrival appeared to have stunned the people inside as there were mixed glances of contempt, surprise, and calculation.

The crown prince was nowhere to be seen while the third prince looked up with concern.

It was still too early for the daily court, but the palace was already filled with people. Hongyue narrowed her eyes; it looks like her invitation was already well-planned. The emperor took his seat and promptly waved for some servants to bring a seat for the eldest miss.

There was a woman seated by his side. Her dark black hair was polished back, fixed in position with plentiful assortments of gold hair sticks. A string of jadeite adorned each ear, and her neck was encircled by more gold pieces set with green gems. Her eyes were painted with a deep red, and the end of her dark eyebrows tilted upwards. Her body was encased in a purple dress that had some golden flowers outlining the edges. Hongyue took a quick glimpse and looked away. Nevertheless, she could still feel the intensity of the questioning look from the woman's eyes.

The emperor looked over to the woman and smiled, "My beloved, this is the eldest miss of the Wei family, Hongyue."

The woman nodded, her lips curved up in a smile, and she gracefully covered half of her face with a hand-held fan that had drawn on flowers. Nevertheless, her piercing gaze could not be covered up by the simple gesture.

The emperor turned back to Hongyue, "This is my beloved Empress."

Hongyue widened her eyes in astonishment and quickly bowed toward the empress, "The lowly one is happy to have met the Empress. Never have I seen such a beauty."

Her words were met with no answer.

Hongyue waited to be excused only to find the empress clearly didn't want to open her mouth to dismiss her. The longer she waited, the wider Hongyue found her smirk grew. The emperor frowned and quickly excused the eldest miss.

"My beloved, are you feeling alright?"

The empress covered her mouth with her fan and let out a light cough, "My apologies, my throat hurts when I speak."

Hongyue's smile grew wider, her eyes turned clouded before she opened her mouth, "Your majesty, this lowly one desires to know if I could get that pretty knife back."

With the change in subject, the emperor nodded and called out one of his aides. The bloody dagger was carefully brought out, wrapped in a white cloth and placed on a red plate. The Empress who had been smiling, stopped short.

Her eyes focused on the red plate.

"I thank your majesty," Hongyue's clear voice seemed to disturb the empress, and the empress deliberately set down her fan.

"Your majesty, this beloved empress is interested in the weapon. May I see it?"

in_awe

Yay~ Hongyue has arrived. Palace schemes are more advanced since the ladies there are more poisonous. Sadly, it's more set-ups and poisonous tongues rather than giving blows because they are sooo elegant. But still, I'm happy to pull out my bag of schemes soon