Chapter 4 — Empress Dowager Marries the Regent Prince

Manager Ly's face suddenly changed dramatically. He held the map and slowly turned around to look at me. His eyes were filled with horror and disbelief.

"The Queen..."

His voice was hoarse and sharp.

"This... is this the map of the royal palace's secret passage?"

General Manager Ly's voice was like a blade tempered in ice, stabbing straight into my heart. Map of the royal palace's secret passage? How is that possible! What my mother left me was clearly just a map of the way out of the palace! My mind went blank, instinctively denying it.

"No way!"

"It's just... I just like to draw and play in my free time!"

That explanation was so pale it was laughable. Even we ourselves don't believe it. General Manager Ly held that map, his hands shaking constantly. He is a man who has lived in the palace his whole life, no storms that he has ever witnessed. Being able to frighten him to this extent is enough to see the weight of that map.

"Your highness..."

He looked at me, his eyes turned from fear to fear.

"What is marked on this map is a secret escape route known only to emperors."

"There is a path that goes straight down to the dragon bed in your majesty's palace."

"This... crime is equal to treason!"

Mischief. Those two words were like a thunderclap ringing in my ears. My whole body felt cold, like falling into an ice cellar. We finally understand what a terrible trap we have fallen into. This is not the map my mother left me. Or more accurately, it was swapped. Since when? I suddenly looked at Xuan Dao. Xuan Dao was also stunned and knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing.

"General, please spare your life! General, please forgive your life! This servant really doesn't know anything!"

It can't be Xuan Dao. She has followed me for so many years, always loyal. In my mind, Tham Lien's gentle face suddenly appeared. It's definitely her! She has installed someone next to me! Taking advantage of the time I wasn't aware, I didn't know the devil was good at swapping the map! What she wanted was not to turn me into a useless person. What she wants is for me to die! The entire Tham family must be buried with me! What a trick to pull out firewood from the bottom of the pot! I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms.

"General Manager Ly."

I forced myself to calm down.

"This thing definitely has twists and turns."

"This map is not mine."

Manager Ly smiled bitterly.

"My lady, this map was found in your private mailbox."

"Now that people and material evidence are enough, you tell me... how should I speak to your Majesty?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Bui Triet's voice was heard outside the palace.

"What are we talking about?"

Bui Triet strode in. Behind him is Tham Lien with a pale face. She was not thrown into the cold palace. Or rather, she had never been there. She just stood outside the palace waiting to see this play take place. Bui Triet's eyes swept across the crowd of palace servants kneeling on the ground, finally stopping on the map in General Manager Ly's hand. His pupils suddenly shrank.

"What is that?"

His voice was as cold as ice and snow in mid-December. General Manager Ly knelt down trembling, holding the map above his head with both hands.

"Your Majesty... I... I found this inside The Queen's vanity box."

Bui Triet stepped forward and grabbed the map. He just took a look, and the atmosphere around him had cooled to the extreme. The whole hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone felt the king's wrath rolling in like a thunderstorm before a storm. He slowly raised his head to look towards me. In those eyes that were once filled with love every time they looked at me, now there was only endless disappointment and overwhelming murderous intent. He gritted each word, as if squeezing it out from between his teeth.

"What else do you have to say?"

I looked at him and suddenly burst into laughter. Extremely sad smile.

"If I say it's not mine, will you believe it?"

"The evidence is clear!"

Tham Lien, who had always been silent, suddenly spoke in a high-pitched voice. She pointed straight at me, her face full of pain and anger.

"Sister! How could you do such an immoral thing!"

"Your Majesty's kindness towards me is as heavy as a mountain, yet you... how could you..."

She cried until she choked, as if she was the one suffering the greatest injustice in the world.