Hongyue faltered back at the Empress's sudden shout with confusion written all over her face. Her big eyes looked over to the emperor for help before she looked back to the Empress. Staring at the green string of jade shattered on the ground, an understanding look suddenly settled on her face. Her eye narrowed as her lips moved fast.

"Could...could it be, that was for me?"

The Empress almost wanted to puke blood. What was this annoyance in front of her made of? If she wasn't handing over the earring, what would she be doing? Randomly breaking jewelry?

Holding back her anger, the Empress mustered out a slight smile, "Could it be eldest miss didn't know?"

"Well, Hongyue has never set foot into the palace before. Other than playing all day, this stupid miss doesn't know anything else," Hongyue answered sourly.

This skill at degrading one's self! How irritating. Hongyue's words left no room for the Empress's planned next wave of criticism since the eldest miss admitted all her fault herself. What was the Empress left to say? She could only nod, trying to hide her anger in her heart.

Hongyue tilted her head. Her hands hugging her porcelain-like cheeks, "Ah! How about this? I'll tell you another story!"

Was she pretending to be stupid?! At this point, the Empress wasn't even sure of the possibility anymore. Could there really be someone so stupid? She gritted her teeth and tried not to break the fan in her hand.

"No need," The Empress's reply was short and sharp.

Downcasted, Hongyue put an unhappy pout on her face, "Then..then what about my reward?"

What reward? The reward was already gone. This brat! The Empress stood up angrily, her eyes narrowed at the girl in front of her. Even if the earring was going to be broken, it should have played the purpose of dragging the eldest miss with it. However, it didn't even do that much! How could she not be angry?!!

"Eldest miss, please don't be unreasonable," A calm voice echoed behind her and Hongyue turned her head.

Oh~

What a timing.

The Crown Prince gracefully flipped over his robes as he stepped into the room. One hand rested behind his back while the other hand clutched to his fan. His usual playful expression seemed awfully forced on his face; nonetheless, his smile was blinding. His presence seemed to have calmed the Empress down. The woman sat back down, her eyes s.h.i.+ning. Her red lips curved in a smile, and she waved for her son to take a seat.

Jiayi pursed his lips at the Crown Prince's sudden appearance but said nothing. Sitting down himself, he lowered his gaze and rested his hand on the curve of his teacup. His eyes focused blankly on the ground before him. Hongyue suddenly felt her arm being tighten by Qingyu, and she slowly lowered her hand. Her smile turned rigid, and she took one step back.

Meanwhile, the crown prince stepped up and gave his greetings to the emperor before nodding to his mother. Giving a short glance at Jiayi, he looked over at Hongyue.

"What would the eldest miss want? This prince will get it for you," His voice was soft and gentle, but there was no denying that his eyes were dark.

Hongyue smiled. Her heart was already unsettled by his strange timing. She was just about to force the Empress, but now the timing was off. I want you to leave. Can you do that much?

She looked around, and her eyes settled on the tray where the dagger laid untouched, "Then I want that pretty dagger!"

At once, the Empress narrowed her eyes. What was this? A game? Who gave and took back the things they gave like that? However, before she even opened her mouth, the Crown Prince smiled.

"Sure."

His eye met his mother, and he gave her a rea.s.suring smile.

"As long as you don't kill anybody with it, you can have it," He said as he pa.s.sed over the knife.

Hongyue nodded, "Okay."

Oh.

That was done so smoothly even Hongyue didn't feel safe. In truth, she merely did that to see the balance of powers.

The Crown Prince seemed to hold a lot more influence over his mother, which was strangely unexpected.

Receiving the blade in her hands, she gave a satisfied expression. She walked her way to her seat. Sitting down clumsy, she took a look at her food and continued to eat.

Someone must have informed the Crown Prince to come, but she didn't see anyone leave.

The Emperor didn't mention a word during the whole verbal exchange, she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Jiayi held her in a higher stage than she expected.

Hongyue shook her head slightly.

So many masters of the game.

Her eyes glowed slightly.

Looks like she'll have to knock them down one by one.