Princess Yin Xiulan, together with her brother, Prince Yin Wenyan, didn't waste any more seconds and headed towards the Lotus Hall. The princess personally ordered Lieutenant General Liu Chen to keep an eye on the empress and make sure no one can get close to her while they're gone.
While they're on their way, the princess can't keep it to herself any longer and asked her brother. "Wenyan, there's this one thing that's bothering me."
"Speak." Her brother said.
"I as well is in debt to Lin-dage and wishes to help his son as much as I could, however..." She thinks carefully about how to put her words before letting those out of her lips. "I really think you're being too emotional when it comes to Eunuch Xu. Don't get offended, I'm just telling the truth but I really think that you've changed since he came along... or am I just imagining it?"
Prince Yin Wenyan is silent for a while. After thinking for a moment, he replies without looking at her. "No. I don't think you're just imagining it. I, too am confused. I do not know why I am being like this. All I know is that I want to protect and do everything I could for him. Especially now... now that I learned that he's actually Lin-dage's son. But even if his father isn't our savior back then, I would still treat Eunuch Xu nicely."
She's too surprised that she unconsciously let her thoughts out. "Oh my, you're gay?!" His statement just now... isn't it obvious that he feels something towards Eunuch Xu? Something that's only intended to be felt towards someone a person is interested in.
"What?" Prince Yin Wenyan got surprised by her reaction as well.
"Huh? What did I say again? I forgot it already. Hahahaha." She forced a laugh to escape the awkward situation she's in but it's undeniable that her heart skips a beat. Also, it's too late, her brother can't unhear what she said.
"..." Prince Yin Wenyan felt that his earlobes are getting a little warmer than usual.
Since the Lotus Hall isn't too far from her headquarters, they arrived not too long.
Prince Yin Wenyan slides the door open and entered the room with his sister following behind him. They didn't hear any sound in the hall so they expect that Xu Zhengming is still asleep. They headed behind the screen only to get surprised.
Xu Zhengming is on top of Emperor Yin Renshu and is sucking on the other's neck.
The princess gasps and covers her eyes with her palms but her fingers are apart from each other, letting her peep at these two men in bed. Her cheeks turn red and her heart feels like it's going to burst.
Prince Yin Wenyan's facial expression is ashen as his eyes stare at the two in a messy bed. The sour feeling in the prince's chest worsens the longer he stares. The emperor and the eunuch didn't even bother the prince and the princess' presence.
"Renshu..." Prince Yin Wenyan called out.
Princess Yin Xiulan's attention got drawn towards her brother. Her phoenix eyes widen as she witnessed how dark his face is. This made her collect herself back from being distracted by Xu Zhengming and her brother. She clears her throat and takes a step backward.
Emperor Yin Renshu slowly opens his eyes. Those eyes look tired and were about to lose consciousness. He slowly lifts his hand from Xu Zhengming's head and extended it towards his brother.
"Wenyan..." He calls, almost whispering.
This time, Prince Yin Wenyan realized that this must be different from what he was thinking. He comes closer to the two and carefully pulled Xu Zhengming's shoulder away from his brother. "Eunuch Xu, you...!"
Xu Zhengming's lips have been dyed with a red thick liquid. His lips also slightly parted, revealing his pair of sharp canine teeth. His almond eyes are strangely red and fierce. He's clearly out of his mind and what he is right now is just his pure wild instincts. He didn't even realize there are two emperors inside the hall.
In just a split second, Xu Zhengming raised his claw and was about to scratch Prince Yin Wenyan's face with his long and sharp nails. The prince didn't see this strange behavior of the eunuch coming. The moment he realized it, he thought it's too late to dodge this sharp claw. Fortunately, the princess general has her guards up. She opens her holy weapon and shielded her brother's face with her fan. As her fan is a holy weapon, it is not easily destroyed by just simple scratches just like this. She silently let out a sigh of relief. Just a split-second delay will surely cause irreversible damage.
Prince Yin Wenyan let go of the raged eunuch and made a couple of steps backward.
"He's turning into one. What should we do?" Princess Yin Xiulan said without averting her gaze from Eunuch Xu.
Prince Yin Wenyan can't think of anything either. However, one thing is for certain: Killing him is definitely not an option.
The prince grabs a talisman underneath his sleeves and whispers incantations on it before throwing the charm towards Xu Zhengming. His calculations for the force used and distance from him to the other is just right. It hits and is attached to Eunuch Xu straight in the middle of his forehead. After this, Yin Wenyan immediately made several hand seals to activate the immobilization enchantment. This spell is effective and quite convenient to use. Though the prince never thought he'll use this spell against Xu Zhengming.
Speaking of which, Eunuch Xu tries to free himself from the spell. Although he has become stronger after his physical changes, he still has a weak body so he is not very handful to deal with.
The princess hurried to the weakened emperor in the bed. She observed that he's still trying to catch his breath. His breathing is deep yet slow in manner. She then put her index and middle finger together on his wrist to take his pulse. His majesty's heart rate is rapidly beating. A sign that he lost a lot of blood. However, she doesn't think that his life is threatened but it doesn't mean that his life isn't in danger if they arrived a little later than they did.
"I thought we still have three months... could it be she's lying to us?" Princess Yin Xiulan can't help but be suspicious of the empress once more.
"I don't think so." Prince Yin Wenyan said. "The royal physician said the same thing so it must not be the case." The prince comes closer to Eunuch Xu and examined him with his eyes from head to toe.
Yin Xiulan, "Then why...?"
"The empress said that she gave Eunuch Xu a charm to slow down the effects. As long as he keeps it near him, it will buy us time." He added. "The question is, did he keep it with him?"
He then reached for Xu Zhengming's pulse on his neck. The prince let out a deep sigh as his pulse rate is abnormally fast. He really needs to be treated now but the spirit herb isn't with him at the moment.
"The empress..." Emperor Yin Renshu speaks in a low voice. He's too weak to make his voice louder. "Is it... a small pouch with... with strange things inside?"
"She did not mention what it looks like." Princess Yin Xiulan replies.
Although he's having a hard time grasping for air, he still forced himself to speak. "The pouch... is made of... a high-quality brocade. It must be... from the.. empress..."
"You've seen it?" Prince Yin Wenyan hurried to ask. "Where is it?"
The weak emperor responded, "I reduced it to ashes."
"..."
"..."
Prince Yin Wenyan is torn between pitying his brother or torturing him even more. So he is the one who made the situation worse. They're finally putting the pieces together slowly yet another problem appeared. When will this mess be solved?
The prince tried to calm himself. His sister is right about what she said to him earlier. In times like this, it is important to have a calm mind to come up with a solution.
He demanded, "Xiulan, call the royal physician, quick. He must have lost a lot of blood."
"Right away." The princess nods and headed out quickly.
"As for you..." Prince Yin Wenyan looks at Xu Zhengming with a worried face from head to foot. He massages the bridge of his nose. He's too distracted to think straight. He needs the herb right now but---
"Wenyan... treat him... now..." The pale emperor whispers in an audible voice.
"Mn." He nods. "I'll try every possible way."
Prince Wenyan lifts Eunuch Xu and carried him carefully onto his arms.
That moment, Yin Wenyan realized that despite being a big eater, Xu Zhengming weighs lighter than he expected. Does he even eat well while in the palace? Is he eating a large portion around him because he doesn't usually have a chance to eat until he's satisfied?
Prince Yin Wenyan shakes his head. That is indeed something to get worried about but there's an emergency they are dealing with at the moment. Better focus on the priority. He carried Xu Zhengming to the hidden underground passage of the hall heading towards the emperor's hall. He ought not to be seen by others with his brother around after all.
The truth is, this secret escape is not known to the grand empress dowager from the duration of its making up until now. Only the three of them know its existence. In addition, this is not the only hidden passage they made, there's also one heading towards the South and North-Western gates. It's not only convenient for Yin Wenyan and Yin Renshu to change places without anyone noticing but also a hidden headquarters whenever an emergency arises. May it be an external conflict or internal.
The passageway is dark since no sunlight can penetrate the area. Everything he sees is just pitch black. Yin Wenyan can't light a torch either since he won't have a match with him, and unlike his brother, he has a water element spiritual root.
The prince gently put Xu Zhengming down to the ground into a sitting position,  letting him lean on the wall.
He summoned his sword onto his hand and cuts his own palm with it. Since he can't see anything, he didn't manage to calculate the distance of his palm from his blade and the force applied. Maybe pressure played a role in him making a deep and long cut across his hand. Blood drips rapidly and the faint smell of iron lingers in his nose. He might not be able to treat Xu Zhengming completely but he can relieve him temporarily by feeding him his blood.
Since he can't see a thing, the prince has to use his sense of touch to locate Xu Zhengming's lips. His hand landed on his cheek down to his jaw until his finger touched a soft and moist flesh. Then the next thing he knew, his thumb is really painful. The eunuch bites him.
Prince Yin Wenyan's eyebrows twitched and tried his best not to let out even a single whimper. They may be in the underground but this place isn't soundproof. He endured it a little longer and let the blood on his other hand drip down directly aligned to his thumb that the eunuch is still nibbling.
In a little while, the prince noticed that the eunuch is gradually letting his thumb go which made him finally let out a sigh of relief. Prince Yin Wenyan clenches his palm to let more blood out. He thought Eunuch Xu would most probably clench his thirst in no time since he sucked a lot of blood from his brother. As he is feeding the other with blood, his heart becomes troubled. He can't let Xu Zhengming suffer like this anymore.
Hours pass by and Prince Yin Wenyan and Princess Yin Xiulan didn't make it back to the Department of Ministry of Justice. Empress Xue Chi is getting bored being alone in this huge bedroom, it was all quiet and peaceful.
She can't help but think of the young man he met several years ago. She whispers to herself, "What if Ming'er recognized me? Will he talk to me just like how he did so the last time? Does he still hate me? What happened to him after we parted our ways? Why is he working as a eunuch now?"
She pursed her lips. She knows no one in these questions can be answered unless she asks these to Xu Zhengming herself. With this thought, she's certain. She can never get the answers.
Truth be told, Xu Zhengming was the first one who made her heart flattered. She'd be lying if she says she never had felt more than that of a friend for him. He was her first crush, the first man she fell in love with. However, ambitions dominated his heart back then. Of course, she went through a lot and sacrificed a lot just to get where she is right now. Maiden Murong couldn't afford to lose it all for a feeling that was stranger to her. And now that she becomes the person she wants to be, Empress Xue Chi never felt the satisfaction she thought she would have. She tried to open her heart to the emperor, and capture his eyes as well but things aren't going on her way again. Whenever she tries to comfort herself, she'd say, "At least my biological family is well off now."
She shakes her head. She shouldn't think about this any further or else she'll just hate herself even more. She tries to distract herself by wandering her eyes around the four corners of the room. It's spacious, with not much furniture nor decorations. Her highness won't find it strange though. Although Princess Yin Xiulan is a lady, this is not her main bedroom. She thinks, her room must be nice, or perhaps decorated with different trophies she won from the battlefield. Things for keepsake such as a sword of the general of the opposite party, or maybe a king's head. Who knows?
Empress Xue Chi's eyes laid on the huge painting of a family portrait hung on the wall. It's a picture of a king, queen, and three infants. Though she didn't have the chance to see the emperor of the seventh generation and his empress personally, she could tell that the two in the painting are them. The face of the former empress is too similar to the princess' and the current emperor. But there's something that bothers Empress Xue Chi. Why is the painting depicting three infants in their arms?
The empress utters, "Emperor Yin Renshu, Princess Yin Xiulan... who's the third one?"
"You need not to learn." A voice coming from her back sounded. She got alarmed and quickly turns her head to see the one behind her. This person's identity is concealed with a black cloak and the face is well hidden by a veil.
Without seeing the face, Empress Xue Chi knows who this is because she recognizes the voice of this person.
She parted her lips and was about to call out a name but the person in black covered her mouth. A scented sachet is placed near her nose. Since her mouth is covered with a palm, she got no choice but to breathe through her nose or else she'll get suffocated. As the sweet smell enters her nose, her head is gradually becoming unclear and her eyes get heavier as seconds pass.
After she lost her consciousness, the person escapes together with the unconscious empress.