One early morning, Lady Min suddenly jolted awake from a nightmare, drenched in sweat and tears, her eyes blank as she kept crying out: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this consort misses you too..."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty... This consort, this consort misses you so much..."
Lady Min seemed trapped in a nightmare, muttering strange words no one could understand. For several days she was dazed, bursting into tears as she sat, her copied sutras smeared with tears, until she finally fell ill...
The imperial physicians diagnosed Lady Min with an illness brought on by sorrow and advised her to relax, but she spent every day washing her face with tears, unable to find any joy.
The physicians tried everything, but nothing worked. Just when they were at their wits' end, Lady Min suddenly recovered. The first thing she did upon waking was to forcefully demand that the abbot find her a secluded thatched hut, far from the world, so she could chant for the late Emperor's soul...
"The Grand Empress Dowager really knows how to stir up trouble." William Wang Jinling felt a headache coming on as soon as he heard about Lady Min. He deeply disliked this seemingly harmless woman—every time he saw Lady Min, he thought of the concubine who had made his own mother suffer.
Still, as Ninth Royal Uncle's mother, Lady Min was beyond William's authority. He had no right to handle her affairs. Fortunately, he could still contact Ninth Royal Uncle, so William sent a swift courier to deliver the news and let Nolan Dongling decide.
A thatched hut inside the monastery was no different from staying in the temple—the abbot's arrangement for Lady Min was just in a more remote corner, and true freedom was impossible.
Nolan Dongling couldn't figure out Lady Min's true intent, but, ever cautious, he quietly increased surveillance around her...
Lady Min was far from the only one making moves behind the scenes while Nolan Dongling was away. Besides her, the Night City Lord Reid Yale and his family, confined in Eastlyn, were also restless...
Not long after, Wendy Summers gave birth to a daughter. The three of them lived together in a small courtyard; though their meals were adequate, the difference from their former life of luxury was stark.
Falling from privilege to living at the mercy of others was torment Wendy Summers refused to accept. She schemed relentlessly until she finally found a chance to escape, but Reid Yale would not cooperate.
Wendy Summers finally snapped, shouting at Reid Yale: "You useless man! After all I’ve done to build connections with Eastlyn officials and arrange our escape, you refuse to leave. Are you content to be a prisoner here forever? Are you even a man?"
"A man? What kind of man am I? Do you still see me as a man?" Reid Yale’s gaze was dull, his voice weak, unwilling even to look at Wendy Summers.
With crippled legs, he sat outside on a stone under the sun, filthy and unkempt, clearly not having bathed in a long time.
In less than a year, the once distinguished Young Master of Night City had become a slovenly, defeated middle-aged man with no fighting spirit.
"I don’t see you as a man, so what? Look at yourself—do you even look like one?" Wendy Summers had long lost her former pride; to leave this wretched place and regain freedom, she would do anything, never hiding her contempt for Reid Yale.
At first, Reid Yale thought these visitors were sent by Nolan Dongling to humiliate him; later, he realized Nolan forbade any external contact and would never stoop so low. It was all Wendy’s own doing—her willing degradation.
Reid Yale’s early rage had faded to numb disgust. Even after his daughter was born, he refused to look at her.
Reid glared at Wendy Summers with deep loathing: "You want me to go with you only so you can command Night City’s last loyalists through me? Fine… I'll give it to you."
At some point, Reid Yale picked up a sharp stone and, without blinking, smashed it into his own knee. Wendy Summers heard a sickening crack, followed by a spray of blood…
Wendy Summers turned away in disgust. When she looked again, Reid Yale was holding a blood-soaked jade token, which he tossed to the ground: "Take it and get out… I never want to see you again." For him, the token was useless under Nolan’s control, but if it could cause trouble for Nolan, he didn’t care whose hands it ended up in.
The jade landed with a dull thud. Wendy Summers quickly picked it up, wiped it clean, confirmed its authenticity, and hid it next to her body.
With the token in hand, Wendy Summers’ demeanor changed. She sneered: "If you want to die here, I won’t stop you. My daughter and I will never stay in this ghostly place."
Wendy Summers, having obtained what she wanted, didn’t spare Reid Yale another glance. She took her daughter and left.
Don’t think she kept her daughter out of kindness; she only feared the token might lose its value. As long as she had a Night-blooded descendant, Night City loyalists would always show her some respect.
With Night City’s final credential in hand, Wendy Summers disguised herself and her daughter as commoners. With the help of her bureaucratic lovers, she smoothly exited the Imperial City.
As soon as she reached the city outskirts, a squad of black-clad men was waiting for her.
"Did you get it?" the leader asked coldly. When Wendy Summers confirmed, he tried to snatch it, but she dodged nimbly.
Seeing their murderous intent, Wendy Summers forced herself to remain calm and warned: "You’d better not play tricks. The token is not on me. If you kill me, you won’t get it. Escort us safely to Southlyn, and someone there will hand it over."
“Hmph… you’re not stupid.” The leader immediately withdrew, whistled, and a black horse appeared before him.
“Let’s go.” Under cover of darkness, the squad took Wendy Summers and her daughter away. At the same time, word reached the monastery: Night City’s forces were in hand.
By the time William Wang Jinling found out, Wendy Summers was long gone.