Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

54 Favoring Qie Over Wife (54)

Left alone inside her bedchamber, Song Jia was in the middle of having a mental breakdown.

"What could he be thinking?!"

It was one thing for them to divorce while they were still wang ye and wang fei, but it was another thing for them to divorce when he was already the Emperor and she was his Empress.

The only Emperor Song Jia knew that had been divorced was the last Emperor of China, Puyi. Even then, it had been difficult for the divorce papers to be approved. Aside from that, the only way Zhao Cheng would be able to change his Empress is if he made her, this virtuous grandma, become a deposed Empress.

Was Zhao Cheng really going to make her become a deposed Empress?

"Black-hearted and wicked man! This is how you repay this virtuous grandma for her good deeds? Truly having the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog! Pei!"

Song Jia sat heavily on the bed after cursing, her chest heaving up and down. It seemed that venting out her anger had slightly cleared her mind. In curiosity, she picked up the little computer screen she had stored in her storage space to look at Bai Mei Lien's inner bedchamber. As the love interest of the monarch that she had the mission to protect, Song Jia saw the need to put a spy camera in there too. However, she rarely reviewed the footages it recorded, not wanting to be labeled as a pervert.

She wondered what Bai Mei Lien's reaction would be. She hoped she would be angry at Zhao Cheng and ignore him for few days. Fight for the injustice the two of us have suffered, my fellow sister!

But when Song Jia finally saw Bai Mei Lien, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Inwardly, she let out a little shriek.

Bai Mei Lien...was trying to commit suicide!

A waist silk band was thrown over the roof arch, and Song Jia watched as the pregnant woman clumsily climbed on a chair to wrap it around her neck. Song Jia froze, the absurdity of the situation nearly short-circuiting her brain. This was not in the mission plan!

She muttered under her breath, half horrified and half exasperated. "Three ways to vent frustration in the feudal era: one, cry; two, make noise; three, hang yourself. Sister Bai skipped straight to level three!"

Still, even she had to admit—the guts it took to go straight for the final option were remarkable. Whether foolish or brave, she couldn't decide. But she did know that if Bai Mei Lien died, Zhao Cheng's mental stability would shatter.

Then Song Jia frowned. Based on Bai Mei Lien's open affection for her unborn child, she wouldn't truly kill herself just because Zhao Cheng made Li Jia his Empress. Then it must be that classic "fake suicide for pity" trick straight out of a palace drama! It was indeed true that Zhao Cheng's visits to Bai Mei Lien had been decreasing, so she must be feeling abandoned. Now that Zhao Cheng became the Emperor, more beauties will enter his harem, really not sure if Bai Mei Lien's title of being his 'childhood sweetheart' would forever remain stable.

If so, then this 'fake suicide' was a preemptive strike to capture Zhao Cheng's heart!

Even if Song Jia understood, she was still unwilling to take chances. She pulled out the anti-gravity boots from her storage space ring and jumped out of the window, avoiding the wangfu's guards and the imperial bodyguards that the high-ranked eunuch had brought. Moonlight flashed briefly on her figure as she sprinted along the tiled rooftops, her skirt fluttering like a dark cloud. A very stylish dark cloud.

She had just perched on the ridge of Bai Mei Lien's roof when a scream split the night.

"Sister Bai!"

Song Jia flipped herself into the window before landing on the ground, catlike. She inwardly thought, isn't this grandma very cool~ Then she observed the situation inside the room and her heart dropped.

Bai Mei Lien was no longer trying to commit suicide. However, there were now five men in dark uniform that held her captive, and from their appearance, they must have been the shadow guards of a certain noble with a high status. Song Jia was guessing that it was more likely the scheme of a certain resentful prince, who was sullen that he didn't get the throne. Since Zhao Cheng was well-protected in the palace, they must have planned to force him to abdicate the throne by threatening the life of his loved one.

"Tsk." Song Jia straightened up. "Such a despicable move."

She shook the sleeves of her dress, and took out five multi-colored balls that she squeezed in her hand. Warily eyeing the shadow guards who seemed surprised to see her as much as she was surprised to see them, she dropped the balls into floor with none of the dramatic flair that she had when she came in.

Of course, it was always the understated movements that are the most fatal.

In the 23rd century, there was a game that the teenagers there liked to play. It was called 'Dead Men Needs Air.' Stupid name, but awfully accurate. This was played using balls that release a type of gas when squeezed, and that gas could cause anyone to get severely drunk when inhaled. To win the game, the player should be the last person to take a breath. The gas released will only last for two minutes, so the player needs to last only then.

Her advantage was simple: none of these ancient men had ever heard of 23rd-century party games.

As she had expected.

"What..."

One of the shadow guards that was about to rush towards her lost his balance, tripping over his own feet and falling face-first on the floor. The others also began to feel dizzy, their balance lost as they tried to make sense of what just happened.

"Don't breathe the air!"

However, their realization came too late.

All five crumpled to the ground. Song Jia rushed forward to catch Bai Mei Lien, who was already faint from panic and her pregnancy. She barely managed to steady them both.