The Qianwan Emperor kicked open the door of Qingzhen Palace. Several palace maids wanted to come and serve, but seeing the Qianwan Emperor's gloomy expression, they all shrank back.

Zhang Kuo closely followed and hurriedly presented a cup of maple dew tea: "Your Majesty, quell your anger."

"That old thing Ding Huang! He's pressuring me step by step! Does he think that with Mingde dead, his daughter can become the empress? He's been corrupt for so many years in his official position. Does he think I won't remember to confiscate his family's property?"

Zhang Kuo looked around to ensure no one was nearby and leaned in to ask in a low voice: "Does Your Majesty still remember the mink and two-tone gold woven robe the young noble consort wore when returning to the palace?"

The Qianwan Emperor frowned slightly.

Zhang Kuo smiled and whispered, "...At that time, according to rumors in the palace... the Ding family had already asked someone to send purple sable fur and three-color gold to Ding Zhaorong's palace..."

Zhang Kuo actually wasn't very clear about these messy matters. Most of it was secretly told to him by the little eunuchs below. The people below loved money, and Minister Xia was willing to spend it. It was very normal for people in the palace to have good relations with the Xia household.

When the little eunuch told him this piece of gossip, he also brought a heavy, solid piece of pure gold, laughing sneakily: "Eunuch, don't think it's too little. Minister Xia said that a word from Eunuch in front of His Majesty is worth more than a mountain of gold."

Zhang Kuo didn't lack money, but Minister Xia doing this was actually very clever. He couldn't refuse to accept this favor.

The Qianwan Emperor doted on Mingde, and when it came to food, clothing, and daily necessities, he wished for the most luxurious and precious, eager to adorn this treasure with the best of the best. Especially now that Mingde had lost his mind and obediently let others dress him up, if the Qianwan Emperor took a liking to it, he really wanted to put the entire imperial treasury on him.

With such a degree of pampering, how could he tolerate Ding Zhaorong's behavior in the palace? Wasn't this woman clearly trying to outdo Mingde in every way? If the Qianwan Emperor could tolerate it, that would be strange.

Zhang Kuo only said this one sentence. Saying more would be overdoing it. He bowed and retreated. After a while, he heard the Qianwan Emperor say in a flat tone: "Depart. I'm going to see Mingde."

Mingde was still sleeping in the inner palace. Since going mad, he spent most of his time sleeping, almost never awake except when he needed to eat.

His sleeping appearance was actually much more adorable than when he was awake. Curled up in the quilt, he formed a small ball, snoring softly, sometimes sniffling. The Qianwan Emperor lifted the bed curtain, and Mingde happened to turn over. His flowing hair slid over his shoulders layer by layer, stirring up a subtle shimmer.

The Qianwan Emperor couldn't help but reach out to gather a handful of hair, letting it glide across his palm, cool and slightly ticklish.

He suddenly asked in a low voice, "Zhang Kuo."

Zhang Kuo knelt down and said, "Your servant is here."

"Seeing him like this... will he fall asleep and never wake up again...?"

"Your Majesty, don't think wildly! In your servant's humble opinion, with Your Majesty's boundless grace, Heaven will surely not take away the young noble consort!"

The Qianwan Emperor laughed sarcastically, not saying a word.

His so-called imperial grace had never been anything but boundless, yet Heaven still took away this little one's soul, leaving only a body to slowly wither and pale in the mortal world.

The Qianwan Emperor sat on the edge of the bed and gently picked up Mingde. His movements were very gentle, but Mingde opened his eyes, barely lifting his eyelids to glance at him. Suddenly, he struggled in extreme terror.

The Qianwan Emperor held him tightly, asking repeatedly, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Mingde couldn't speak clearly, only able to make some meaningless, dissatisfied, and unhappy single-syllable sounds while waving his hands, desperately trying to break free. The Qianwan Emperor was reluctant to let go, holding him tightly in his arms, coaxing him repeatedly: "Be good, be good, don't be afraid my child, what's wrong? What do you want? Don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."

Unable to break free, Mingde began to cry with extreme sadness, his face covered in tears, practically flooding like a deluge.

Zhang Kuo stole a glance and hesitantly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the young noble may be... afraid of your dragon robe..."

The Qianwan Emperor lowered his head. This dragon robe was none other than the one from the day of the mutiny in Zhengtai Palace. On that day, he was wearing this very dragon robe when he restrained the little one in his arms, forcing him to watch as the person who looked so much like the crown prince had his head chopped off with a single blade...

That was the last moment Mingde's consciousness was clear.

Then he fell asleep. That soul, having endured so much torment and pain, fell asleep in this delicate and weak body, possibly never to wake up again.

Mingde was crying so hard he was about to faint, his kitten-like cries so feeble it seemed they would stop at any moment. The Qianwan Emperor quickly let him go to change into regular clothes. Mingde had already fallen asleep sobbing and hiccuping, but when he opened his eyes and saw the palace maid holding the dragon robe from earlier, he immediately let out a wail and burst into tears again.

His voice was already very hoarse from crying, and the Qianwan Emperor was afraid he would damage his throat, so he quickly held him in his arms and carefully coaxed him: "Be good, don't cry, it's been taken off, no one will bully you, be good..."

Mingde sobbed and hiccuped, seeming to feel emboldened by someone comforting and supporting him, so he reached out to take the dragon robe.

The palace maid hesitated for a moment, but the Qianwan Emperor snatched the dragon robe and stuffed it into Mingde's hands. Now the little one was pleased, immediately biting the clothes with his teeth as soon as he got his hands on it, also constantly tearing at it with his hands, biting until his face turned red, looking extremely angry and furious.

The dragon robe was made of fine silk, not easily torn, and Mingde tried for a long time but couldn't even make a tooth mark, spinning around in anger. The people below were all so frightened they knelt on the ground, even Zhang Kuo fell to his knees with a thud, not daring to say much, only pleading over and over: "May the young noble quell his anger, may the young noble quell his anger..."

The Qianwan Emperor sternly ordered: "Quell what anger! You're all so clueless, don't you know to go get scissors?"

The palace maid cried out in alarm: "Your Majesty, that is..."

Seeing the Qianwan Emperor's gaze, she immediately didn't dare say anything more, getting up and stumbling off to get scissors. As soon as Mingde saw the scissors, he immediately reached out trembling to take them, insisting on cutting the dragon robe into several pieces before stopping. Even then he wasn't satisfied, vigorously stomping on the pile of scraps with his feet, as if he wanted to stomp the Qianwan Emperor himself into dust.

The Qianwan Emperor felt a stabbing pain in his heart, this wasn't just stomping on a dragon robe! Mingde's mind was already broken, he thought that by consuming its flesh and sleeping in its skin, it was the Qianwan Emperor himself!

— Do you hate me that much?

Hate to the point of wanting to stab me with scissors and stomp on me?

Mingde got tired from stomping, feeling dizzy, and softly slid down and fell to the ground. The Qianwan Emperor scooped him up, holding him horizontally in his arms, and sternly said: "Someone come! Build a fire outside the palace and burn this dragon robe!"

Mingde didn't understand what he was saying, suddenly being lifted off the bed, only daring to tremble as he reached out to hug the Qianwan Emperor's neck, being carried all the way out of the palace gates. A fire had already been built outside, burning and crackling, and Zhang Kuo quickly went to take the pile of cloth pieces and threw them all into the fire.

Mingde watched without blinking, and the Qianwan Emperor looked down at him, seeing the firelight reflected on his face, as dazzling as a jade burning in the fire. His heart stirred, suddenly recalling the previous year when Mingde burned paper to pay respects to Empress Mingrui on the night of the Lantern Festival, also staring at the pile of flames like this, not blinking once, enchantingly beautiful in the night to the point of making one's heart tremble.

His heart ached so much he almost shed tears, softly asking: "Mingde, do you feel happy? Are you a little bit happy?"

Mingde seemed to truly understand what he said, actually starting to smile, hiding his face in his embrace while laughing.

The Qianwan Emperor held him tight, wishing he could take out his own heart and liver to show him, only hoping for him to smile, only hoping for him to feel a moment of happiness and joy.

He even desperately thought, if I died, would he be happy? If he knew that the me he hated to the bone had died, would he feel a moment of relief?

At this time, a few palace servants secretly walked to the side and whispered something to Zhang Kuo. Zhang Kuo hesitated for a moment, but still walked over and softly said: "Your Majesty, Ding Zhaorong... requests to see you."

The Qianwan Emperor didn't even turn his head: "I won't see her."

"Your Majesty," Zhang Kuo couldn't help but say, "Ding Zhaorong said it's about the matter of reinstating an empress..."