A quarter of an hour later, the young soldier brought the doors. Under Serena's supervision, the Imperial Guards—armed with knives and spears—put down their weapons, stripped off their armor, spat into their hands, and switched professions to become carpenters.
These Imperial Guards are experts at catching and killing people, but ask them to dismantle and install doors and you're really making things difficult. It took all their strength just to remove the broken door, and even more effort to finally get the two new doors installed. But...
"It's crooked!" Serena picked at their work.
"They don't line up!" Serena continued to complain.
"Would you leave such a big gap in your own door?" Serena said irritably.
"Whose doors are this lopsided? Can you even close them? Are you helping thieves out here, or do you think my guards are too idle?" It wasn't that Serena was being picky—they really hadn't installed it right, missing a latch.
The Imperial Guards had no choice but to take the doors down and put them back up, over and over again. Normally so arrogant, now they were as obedient as grandsons, leaving the spies outside stunned, mouths hanging open for half the day.
"Are those really Imperial Guards? Are they? My eyes must be playing tricks on me."
"She actually managed to train Imperial Guards into grandsons! Is she really a woman? My eyes can't handle this."
"Is that woman really Serena? I remember seeing her trapped at the Feng Manor gate by a bunch of maids, nowhere to run. Now... hell, would any maid even dare block her way?"
Serena didn’t care how angry the Imperial Guards were, or what those spies outside said about her. She only nodded in approval when she was finally satisfied, allowing them to leave. Of course, before they left, she reminded the Imperial Guard commander to take the broken door with him.
The Imperial Guard commander walked a few steps, then turned back to take the broken door, not daring to utter a word. Only by following Serena’s orders could they return smoothly—otherwise, they’d be the ones suffering.
Carrying the broken door, the Imperial Guards ran out of the West District courtyard faster than ever before—practically fleeing.
"Serena, you are just way, way too cool." Dominic Zhai propped his chin in his hands, elbows on the chair, looking at Serena with absolute admiration.
"I'm a woman, so 'cool' isn't really the right word. You can say I'm charming." Serena stood up gracefully and walked inside, signaling Dominic to follow—she had something to discuss with him.
Once she was sure no one else was inside, Serena took out a slip of paper from her sleeve. "Young Lord, if you have nothing else to do, help me gather the things listed here. Keep it secret—no one can find out. Once you’ve got everything, just leave it at the newly built Feng Manor."
"What are these things? What do you need them for?" Dominic stared at the list—charcoal, sulfur, and the like—totally baffled.
"Shh!" Serena pressed a finger to her lips, leaned in close to Dominic’s ear, and whispered, "They're for killing. Don’t ask more, and don’t tell anyone else. This is just between us. Trust me—I'm doing this to save Prince Nolan."
There were things she didn’t want to use, but now she had no choice. Without causing a huge disturbance, how could she force the Emperor to let him go?
Serena suppressed her unease. Things had come to this—she could only lower her standards. As long as these harmful things weren’t used on ordinary people, it would be fine.
The battlefield is merciless—it's kill or be killed. She couldn't afford to be soft-hearted; the consequences were too great. Better someone else die than her own people.
Seeing Serena's grave expression, Dominic grew serious too. He memorized the items and quantities on the paper, then took out a firestarter and burned it right in front of her. "No one but us will ever know," he promised—not even his grandfather.
Dominic’s promise carried real weight.
"Thanks, Young Lord. I'll treat you to a drink later—I brewed ten jars of peach blossom wine at the start of the year. It's only aged for a year, but the flavor's good enough. When the time comes, we'll dig it up and have a proper toast, just the two of us." Serena was neither overly polite nor presumptuous; this was her way of expressing gratitude.
It showed she was grateful for Dominic’s help, but didn’t treat him as an outsider.
The best way to bring two people closer is to ask for a favor—not too big, not too small—owe them a debt, and share a secret.
"Deal. Just the two of us—no one else, not even William." Dominic agreed happily, and when Serena nodded, his face lit up with joy.
"Hahaha... I scored big! I’m going to drink all ten jars, then I’ll tell William and make him jealous."
Serena just smiled without answering. If you looked closely, you’d see her brows had relaxed a lot since Dominic agreed to help.
She trusted Prince Nolan, but with all this happening, she couldn’t help worrying. Still... with so many people watching her, she couldn’t show a hint of anxiety or unease. She had to keep up her calm, in-control facade—only then could she reassure everyone and keep Prince Nolan’s hard-won power from collapsing.
At this moment, every move she made represented Prince Nolan. If she panicked, so would everyone else—and then Prince Nolan would truly be in danger.
No matter what, she couldn’t let Prince Nolan be put at risk!
When the Imperial Guard commander returned to the palace, he nervously recounted everything that happened at the West District courtyard, even asking the Emperor’s forgiveness for failing to capture Serena.
He expected the Emperor to be furious, but the Emperor didn’t say a word from beginning to end. When the report was finished, he simply ordered the commander to leave.
The commander thought he’d misheard, but only after a eunuch reminded him did he shakily stand up, legs weak, and hurried out. Once outside, he looked up at the uncertain sky and let out a heavy breath.
The sky was so blue!
After the commander left, the Emperor waved the eunuchs away, leaving himself alone in the grand hall.
The Emperor sat alone on the dragon throne, his face twisted, eyes bulging, veins standing out on the back of his hand as he struggled to contain his rage.
(This chapter isn’t finished yet~.~ Click next page to keep reading!)
He hated. He resented. He was the supreme ruler—yet there were things even he could not have.
"Ah—!" The Emperor roared, unable to hold back any longer, and swept his arm across the table, sending memorials crashing to the floor.
"Mother of Eastlyn, Mother of Eastlyn... What a Mother of Eastlyn! Father, you’re so biased, so terribly biased. Is there room in your eyes for anyone but those two?
I’m your son too, and my mother was your consort, but you never saw us. His mother is the Mother of Eastlyn—so what is my mother? He has the Phoenix Empress Hairpin, so what is my Empress?
Father, I’m the Emperor of Eastlyn! My mother is the true Mother of Eastlyn! My Empress is the true Mother of Eastlyn! He’s nothing—nothing at all..."
"Father, I can’t accept this—I just can’t!"
After his tirade, the hall rang with the sounds of crashing and banging. Outside, the eunuchs and maids shrank back, wishing they didn’t have ears so they wouldn’t hear the Emperor’s true feelings.
But these maids and eunuchs were doomed. When the Emperor finally calmed down, straightened his disheveled clothes, and strode out with regal bearing, there was no trace of his earlier fury.
The eunuchs and maids breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing that as soon as the Emperor left the hall, he ordered his chief eunuch, "Execute every maid, eunuch, and guard who was on duty in the Hall of Supreme Harmony today."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The chief eunuch nodded, only wiping his cold sweat after the Emperor left.
Luckily, the Emperor hadn’t ordered his death. He’d escaped—for now. Just as he was about to carry out the executions, a young eunuch’s shrill cry rang out...
"Urgent report—eight hundred miles express! Eight hundred miles express!"