Grand Dowager Empress at once asked her maid to bring the dinner from the Royal kitchen and since the meal belonged to the Grand Dowager Empress, the kitchen worked swiftly and within minutes Little Mimi returned with the dishes that were prepared for the Grand Dowager Empress courtyard and had it placed over the dining table.

" I apologise if the dishes aren't to your tastes," said Grand Dowager Empress slightly embarrassed when she saw that not a single dish had any meat in it. She was used to eating a vegetarian meal and she has been living a simple life ever since her daughter died, it has been years and she was used to it but the same could be said for Scholar Wei.

"It's all right, your majesty," Scholar Wei simply picked up his chopsticks calmly and smiled at the Grand Dowager Empress as he took a bite of the stir-fried beans. " I am not very fond of meat dishes myself as well, eating simple and clean is a must sometimes."

" That's exactly what I say to everyone else," said Grand Dowager Empress with a soft chuckle as she picked up her own chopsticks and used them to scoop some rice drizzled with vegetable soup.

…

" What's the matter with you? What happened?" Unlike the Grand Dowager Empress's courtyard which was filled with nothing but peace and serenity, the Emperor's palace was filled with tension.

Zhai Tianyu looked at the guard who was responsible for assassinating the Queen and was surprised at the condition of the man, the guard said that he made a mistake and tumbled down from a tree while he was trying to escape but why did it look like he was beaten up by someone and that too quite brutally.

" Are you sure that you fell and were not caught by someone?" asked Yu Lingyun as he looked at his clumsy soldier, it would be too embarrassing for him if a man under his command caught himself in such trouble that he tumbled off a branch and then rolled around the ground before smashing his face into a boulder.

" Maybe you can't remember it but someone might have hit you, you can not receive so many injuries just from rolling down on the ground."

The soldier shook his head, Jia Li has done her work excellently and the soldier even after being beaten up didn't dare to say anything unpleasant. To him, he was speaking the truth, what he did not know was that after he fainted, he was caught by Jia Li who possessed his body and used the sturdy hands of the man to hit himself.

Since she was simply a soul possessing the body Jia Li did not feel any pain and let the man beat himself up until his entire face turned black and blue.

Now that the man sat kneeling in front of Yu Lingyun, Zhai Tianyu and Zhai Heng with his face swollen like a pig, it was clear that neither of them wanted to believe his words but this was one of their most loyal guards and knew that he will never betray him for someone from the Liu family, not after losing his wife and son in the hands of the master of the Liu family.

" All right you can leave," Zhai Tianyu was sure that something was really wrong but he couldn't grasp hold of it after all there was no way the soldier would not have caught hold of anyone chasing him and as far as he knew he made sure that the  Queen's hidden guards that were sent to her by the Liu family were taken care off, so how come this guard was beaten like this?

Zhai Heng watched the man slip out of the study room before he turned to look at Zhai Tianyu and asked, " Are you sure that no one chased after him? What if one of the queen's hidden guards was left behind? Did you really make sure that no one would be able to protect the Queen?"

" I did make sure of everything," Zhai Tianyu murmured as he clasped his hands behind his back and swept a gaze at his broad study room. " But experience has told me that no matter how well I prepare, the Queen has her own way to get out of every trap that I have laid for her."

His eyes flickered slightly as he carefully thought over the happenings of the afternoon. It was clear that the Queen knew something and she knew it better than anyone else… at least she was very much aware of the fact that he wanted to kill her.

If the queen knows about his plan then does it mean that the Liu family knows about it too as well? No, that would be impossible. If the head of the Liu family knew about his plan or if he caught so much as a wind about his true personality then he would have surely made a move by now but left prime minister Liu hasn't made any move till now.

So, how did the Queen find out that it was he who was planning everything from behind the scenes? As far as he knew he never made any mistake in front of her. So how come she caught hold of his intentions?

" The Queen is smart," summarised Zhai Heng as if he was reading his mind. " Either she has someone who is guiding her or she has always been a wise woman who pretended to be a fool."

The reason the Liu family sent Liu Hui Ying to the palace as the candidate for Empress was simple, they wanted someone whom they can easily control even when she sits on the throne of the Empress, a woman without a brain just like a puppet in their hands.

And Zhai Tianyu accepted her as his empress because she fit his taste as well, he could have easily taken her down but now …

" I will go and see what the Queen is hiding," said Zhai Tianyu after a long pause as he placed a halt on his pacing, his eyes glittered with murderous intent. " I will see how long she will be able to play this game…after all tonight is our wedding night."