"Princess, the Empress asks you to come to the study." Steward Zhao called out respectfully from the doorway.
Nuan Li, who had been lying on her bed reading, responded obediently, "Understood, Uncle Zhao. I'll go right away..." The steward looked pitifully at that door, his aged eyes brimming with tears, then turned and left.
Nuan Li tidied her clothes, afraid of being scolded by her stepmother, then carefully walked toward her father's study. Because of her petite figure, no one paid any attention to her.
[Study]
"Mother, why don't you make that wretch leave the palace? Father is mine, so the throne is naturally mine too." A sharp voice made the noble lady sitting on the sofa furrow her brows.
The woman grabbed the girl's hands and consoled her, "Baby, you are Mother's treasure. I won't let you suffer. Since your mother could make that woman die without a sound, I can also make that wretch's daughter die without a sound." A sinister ruthlessness flashed in her eyes.
"Mother, who is that woman? Why doesn't Qinqin know?" The girl stared curiously at her mother.
The noblewoman covered the girl's mouth and carefully looked around before saying, "Baby, that woman is the Empress you hate the most. As long as Mother can kill that little wretch, in the future, I will be Asia's only Empress, and you will be the only princess."
"Really? Long live Mother! Long live Mother!" Eleven-year-old Nuan Qin shouted happily in her mother's embrace.
Unbeknownst to them, Nuan Li, standing at the doorway, trembled all over. She couldn't believe the words spoken inside. Although her stepmother was strict with her, her father had always told her that as an imperial princess, she must maintain a dignified bearing. So she didn't blame her stepmother's severity. But what she never could have imagined was that her most beloved mother had been killed by this demonic stepmother.
Terrified, Nuan Li stepped back and accidentally bumped into a flowerpot by the door. The noblewoman in the study immediately cried out warily, "Who's there? Who's at the door..."
Nuan Li quickly righted the flowerpot and hid in another guest room, her small hands clenched tightly together as she observed her surroundings.
The noblewoman opened the door and saw no one outside. Beside her, Nuan Qin also curiously poked out her small head to look around, tugging at the noblewoman's hem. "Mother, there's no one here."
"Alright, it's getting late. Baby, Mother will put you to bed." The noblewoman doted on the girl as she picked her up and walked toward the dim corridor.
Watching as the footsteps faded, Nuan Li sat down on the floor, her eyes hollow as she stared ahead. Her mind endlessly replayed her stepmother's words just now. She bit her lip, and tears gushed from her eyes unstoppably...
She vaguely remembered her mother's last words: "Li'er, protect yourself well. Protect yourself well..." Her mother's weak gaze and kind smile all flooded into Nuan Li's mind.
Mother, Li'er will protect herself well. I definitely will!! If she told her father about this matter, he definitely wouldn't believe an eleven-year-old her. He would instead believe that sinister stepmother.
Supporting herself against the door, she slowly climbed to her feet. Feeling dizzy, she clenched her teeth and persisted, walking step by step back to her room.
She walked to the desk in her room and looked at the photo of her mother and herself. She smiled—a warm, knowing smile—even as tears streamed down her face. Her hand stroked the frame as tears dripped onto it, when suddenly a knock came at the door.
"Knock, knock, knock..." Then came the voice she least wanted to hear: "Li'er, are you there? I'm coming in!"
Nuan Li immediately wiped away the tears on her face and put the photo back in its place. Nuan Li had to be strong and not reveal the slightest panic. She gave herself a mental boost of strength.