The Vampire Empress: Blood Queen & Her Kings

Who was the Groom?

"Goodness! It feels like I'm about to pass out." Ying Yue muttered in a barely audible voice as she settled down on the stairs.
"Miss, we told you not to overdo yourself. You haven't eaten anything since morning and you have been working nonstop ever since. Your body won't be able to stand it."
The worry was clear in Li Qi's voice as she passed a glass of water to her exhausted Miss.
Ying Yue gulped down the water hurriedly even though both Li Qi and Li Wu were telling her to slow down.
She returned the bowl, which was supposed to be a glass, to the Li Qi as her eyes roamed over her surroundings.
"I know that today we all worked too hard and over-exhausted ourselves, but take a look at this courtyard and tell me - Was our hard work worth it?"
Her question made smiles appeared on the faces of the two girls as they too took in the beauty of the courtyard that was located at the very end of the Cold Palace.
There were a total of five courtyards inside the Cold Palace with eight gardens, two ponds, an empty area near the third courtyard, and two pavilions.
For the past five years, Li Wu and Li Qi had stayed at the first courtyard, closest to the entrance gate of the Cold Palace, along with their miss.
At first, there was a team of servants who used to clean the Cold Palace once a week but by the end of the first year of their stay in the Cold Palace, the servants stopped cleaning the manor.
The girls couldn't clean such a huge Palace on their own and decided to just keep the first courtyard in great shape.
In the past four years, the rest of the Cold Palace, except the first courtyard, had become dusty and a forbidden place.
Who knew that Miss Jiang would suddenly decide to clean the entire Cold Palace? And she started this great work by cleaning the largest courtyard of the Cold Palace, the fifth courtyard.
"It's looking so beautiful after the cleaning. Just a pity that...all the valuables have been taken away from here."
Li Wu sounded sad as her eyes took in the emptiness of the rooms. Even though it was a courtyard of the Cold Palace but it was still supposed to be beautifully decorated.
Ying Yue patted Li Wu's head softly as she said, "Why are you making such a sad face? Don't think too much. Since I've decided to live a happy life from now on, we need to work hard for it."
A sigh left her lips as she clapped her hands before speaking with a bright smile on her face, "From today onwards, we will sleep in this courtyard. Now, you two should go and get our things from the first courtyard. Hurry!"
Even though the girls were surprised to see the sudden change in their Miss but none of them were complaining.
After sulking in misery for such a long time, their Miss was once again enthusiastic about embracing her life. They would support her no matter what!
The two girls immediately hurried to bring their clothes from the First Courtyard.
As soon as the girls left the courtyard, Ying Yue turned her attention towards the lamp post.
A small white cat was hiding behind it and as it realized that its presence was no longer a secret, it came out of its hiding place and started walking towards Ying Yue.
By the time it reached the top of the stairs where the girl was sitting, the cat had transformed into the silver-haired guy.
"Where have you been all this time?" Ying Yue asked as she observed the guy with suspicious eyes.
Silver took a seat beside her as he replied, "Was out collecting important information. Though I must have to say that you did a pretty good job in cleaning this place. It's shining the most among all the other courtyards of this palace."
Ying Yue ignored his praises as she asked, "What did you find so far?"
A small twitch appeared on Silver's lips as he passed a quick look at the girl before answering her question.
"Do you know that the time when the Empress Dowager sent the decree to this Jiang Ying Yue, there was no mention of the name and identity of the Prince to whom she was going to get married?"
Silver's question left Ying Yue in a state of confusion and as she racked her memories, she was totally shocked to realize that he was telling the truth.
It was true! The decree only mentioned that Ying Yue was selected for the position of the Empress of the Hyuang Empire. However, at that time no Emperor was sitting on the throne.
After the death of the late Emperor, the seat of the ruler of the Empire was left empty for thirteen years since all the three princes were too small.
It was the Empress Dowager who kept the Imperial court in check while making sure that all the three princes were being prepared for their future.
Even when the princes entered their mid-teens, the Empress Dowager did not show any signs of finally appointing the Crown Prince.
That's why when the decree was sent to Ying Yue's house, the citizens finally started hoping to soon see one of the three princes getting the title of the Crown Prince.
However, little did the people knew that as soon as the auspicious day arrived, everything went upside down.
The Princes were suddenly sent to the war. The soon-to-be Empress was confined in the Palace so that she could prepare for her future as the Empress of their nation and the Empress Dowager kept taking care of the court matters.
Till this day, there was no Crown Prince of the Hyuang Empire as neither of the Princes had returned from the border.
"Whom she was supposed to marry then?" Ying Yue found herself asking to no one in particular.
However, Silver decided to answer her question, "According to the citizens, there were two theories. First, the Empress Dowager would have appointed the Crown Prince just before the wedding and he would have married Miss Jiang. Second, the prince who would have married her would then become the Crown Prince/ Emperor."
Both the theories made sense. But what did not make any sense to her was exactly what the Empress Dowager trying to do?
"Do you think that the Empress Dowager is so attached to the power of ruling the Empire that she no longer want to...."
Ying Yue did not finish her sentence as both of them knew what she was trying to imply.
"To be honest, I have no idea. It's very hard to understand what is going on. Moreover, I don't care about what she wants or do as long as she stays away from you."
Silver answered her question after a few seconds of silence.
"I have the same plan too." Ying Yue added as she stood up from her sitting position to give a stretch to her sore muscles.
"Yue, I have a surprise for you."