Finding herself once again trapped in Consort Bai's chamber, just as she had been the previous night, Mei desperately attempted to leave but to no avail, and with no other option she resigned to remaining in the chamber throughout the night until the following morning.
She started talking to the baby just like the night before, and the baby kicked. She realized the connection between the baby and the palace, which shocked her a lot since she couldn't understand.
She spent the entire night being poisoned in the bedchamber and could not leave till the following morning immediately she could she left.
Just as she left, she found Ling'er floating around frantically looking for her, and the moment they met, Ling'er started scolding her. She looked so distraught as she explained she had spent the entire night looking for her in every corner of the capital and couldn't find her.
She told her how she was scared that Mei's spirit had disappeared and that she would never see her again; Mei apologized and explained she had simply been in Consort Bai's chambers in the palace, but Ling'er refused to believe it, insisting she had checked the entire palace. Mei then led her to Consort Bai's chambers.
Once they reached Mei, she went in, and when she turned around, she looked back to find Ling'er not following as she thought, so she floated out Ling'er, trying to enter the chambers only to fail.
There was an invisible protection around that chamber, and every time Ling'er tried, they pushed back, and she got very frustrated.
Mei stood at the side, checking Ling'er, trying her best but failing to enter the chamber; she became more puzzled about why she was pulled in every night and how she could just go through it while Ling'er couldn't enter.
They both left silently, each thinking about the situation, and Mei explained to Ling'er the events of the past two days and how unknown forces had pulled her into the bedchambers. They agreed to check if it happened again that evening.
They were floating around the palace when they came to the emperor's throne room.
Emperor Wang Zichen was sitting on his throne regally wearing yellow silk with lifelike dragons' embroidery, and taking one glance at him made Mei breathless. He looked very handsome with a sharp jawline and thick eyebrows.
Immediately they entered, Ling'er rushed to the emperor, floating right to his face, exclaiming however much she had seen the emperor, he looked more handsome each day than the previous day. Mei, shocked at Ling'er's antics, pulled her back from the emperor's face.
She immediately heard a loud voice announcing the presence of noble consort Su at the door, and Mei was wondering what she came to do now. The emperor permitted her to come in, and her sister strutted into the throne room like it was her house with her two maid servants in tow carrying what looked like a bowl of soup. She went in front of the emperor, bowing slightly as she inquired about the emperor's health.
Once the greeting was done, she looked back at the emperor offering him a bowl of soup to nourish his dragon body. Mei rolled her eyes at the comment while Ling'er laughed, telling Mei how her sister was very good at acting coquettishly, and Mei was annoyed by her sister just floating right out of the throne room.
She had had enough of listening to her sister's laughter and witnessing her happiness. She needed to go somewhere not to look at such an eyesore.
So she left the palace wandering around, and she ended up on a street where a wedding was taking place. She went to the bed chamber and saw the bride already dressed in a ceremonial red dress,, sitting on the bed as she waited for the groom to come and pick her.
This reminded Mei of her own wedding. She was just like the girl, hoping for a great future ahead, but in the few years she was married, she underwent he under the hands of her husband and in-law.
So early morning, the first day in the Duke's mansion, she woke up early to go and greet her mother-in-law. She reached the hall, and after small talk, the tea-serving ceremony started, and Mei knelt before the table. She had been rehearsing for this moment ever since her engagement was set, and she gracefully tilted off the teapot to pour tea to her mother-in-law to show her respect and extended her hand to hand over the cup.
Her mother-in-law, instead of reaching out to take the cup of tea offered, just sat there staring at Mei, and the more Mei knelt, the more uncomfortable she felt as her mother-in-law ignored her gesture of respect.
Mei has been kneeling there for a whole. It was very clear to Mei that her mother-in-law was declaring war the moment she first met her and she could hear the servants snickering in the background, which added to her humiliation.
After a long moment of silence, her mother-in-law picked up the tea from her, but instead of taking a sip, she put the tea aside, and it stayed untouched.
She handed over a piece of jewellery and Mei noticed it was cheap, not that she minded, but this was a public gesture that her mother-in-law was unsatisfied with her.
Till the moment Mei went back to her chambers, she did not receive any good word from the mad, and she cried her eyes out as she didn't know what she had done for her mother-in-law to treat her so badly.
Growing up without a mother, Mei dreamed of a good relationship with her future mother-in-law. She hoped to find a mother-in-law who treated her like a mother would, and this was something she had looked forward to since her engagement.
However, her first day as a daughter-in-law shattered her dreams, breaking Mei's heart because she didn't understand why this was happening or why her husband was cold and her mother-in-law disrespectful.
Thinking back, she was hurt by the painful years she desperately tried to connect with her mother-in-law and the entire Chen family. Unfortunately, it all ended in death, with two lives lost—one of which was her own.
As Mei's senses returned, she looked at the scene before her. Which confused her more if she was with her husband and her mother-in-law were okay with this concubine; she couldn't understand why the Chen family had asked for her hand in marriage, a question that wouldn't be answered for years until she finally discovered the secret they have been keeping.
She was never their intended bride in the first place.