Long Chi did not go to sleep after Beauty Lin left.

He leaned against the head of the bed, staring at the letter in his hand that was illuminated by the candlelight in this room.

It had been quite a while and there was still no news of Chen Qiyu. It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth.

At this point, the child in her womb might very well have suffered an unfortunate fate.

Long Chi was actually not too bothered by that child.

However, even though his hidden illness no longer troubled him for the last few months, there did not seem to be any developments in the wombs of those few women in the harem.

It did not matter how many times he had bedded them, they were not successfully impregnated.

He had no choice but to send out scouts to search for Chen Qiyu. He knew very well that his Royal Uncle would not have allowed her to keep the child in her womb, but Long Chi held on to his last thread of hope.

If he were to take over the Emperor’s throne, it would be unacceptable to have no heirs.

His Royal Uncle was quite thorough with his tactics. Not only did he poison Long Chi’s grandmother, but even Long Chi’s child would not be spared.

Long Chi clenched the letter in his hand. His eyes were filled with hatred and determination.

The next night.

Beauty Lin served Long Chi in bed as usual.

When they were about to begin the action, Beauty Lin suddenly screamed and grasped tightly onto Long Chi’s slender, muscular waist.

“What’s wrong?”

Beauty Lin buried her face into his chest. She pointed outside the window and said with a trembling voice, “There’s someone out there…”

Alarmed, Long Chi quickly turned to look. Just as Beauty Lin had said, a blurry figure could be seen through the window’s gauze netting.

He pushed Beauty Lin away, rolled over in the bed, and jumped off. He picked up the sword on this table and called out sharply, “Who’s there?”

He was about to swing the sword in the direction of the figure when the window, which was supposed to be shut tight, was suddenly thrown open from outside. Lu Yunshuang’s face, pale as a ghost, appeared in front of Long Chi’s eyes.

Long Chi could not prevent getting a shock from the sight of a bloodless face suddenly appearing before him in the middle of the night. Then the realization of who it was hit him and it took him a tremendous amount of self-control to stop himself from swinging the sword at her.

He put the sword away and forced a smile on his lips. “Shuang’er, what are you doing here? You can inform the servants if there is anything wrong, or get someone to send a message to me.”

Lu Yunshuang gave a sarcastic look behind his back. Beauty Lin was trying to put on her clothes in a panic.

“Looks like I didn’t come at the right time. I’ve disturbed My Liege’s happy hour.” With that, she glanced at him, sighed soulfully, and turned to leave.

She had hoped Long Chi would come running after her to cajole her. However, he did not do a single thing even after she had left his courtyard.

The light in Lu Yunshuang’s eyes slowly dimmed and all that was left was deathly darkness.

She returned to the side courtyard without saying another word.

Long Chi watched her leave, and once she was out of sight, he rubbed the spot between his eyes and returned to the side of the bed.

Beauty Lin was already fully dressed. When she saw the fatigue on his face, she said with concern, “My Liege, you should have an early rest. I’ll take my leave first.”

Beauty Lin was not considered the prettiest among his concubines, but she was the most considerate.

Long Chi gave her a rare hug and held her in his arms when he heard her words. “It’s already late. You should stay here and rest.”

Beauty Lin was quite surprised.

“What’s wrong? Do you not want to stay?” Long Chi nudged her face upward and looked at her with an unfathomable expression.

Beauty Lin gave a start, as if giddy with delight. She began to stutter aimlessly, “Of course not. I’m just… I’m just delightfully surprised!”

Long Chi stared at her lips and suddenly kissed them fervently.

Beauty Lin felt pain from the sudden action and struggled slightly, but that only made him treat her even more brutishly.

Compared to sleeping with her, Long Chi much preferred kissing her.

However, he was always rough with his actions and usually ended up hurting her.