After writing just ten pages, Xia Ruqing felt her grip on the pen was no longer steady. The characters she wrote began to look crooked and twisted. She never liked writing to begin with, and now, thrown into this icy-cold small Buddhist hall without even a charcoal brazier, it was no wonder that her hands were nearly frozen stiff, making it impossible to write well.
Yet, if she didn't write, overtly defying and tearing off all pretenses seemed unwise. The Emperor hadn't even torn off all pretenses with his own birth mother, let alone with her. Therefore, she could only grit her teeth and endure.
Internally, she ceaselessly prayed for someone to come and save her soon.
「Meanwhile.」
Noble Concubine Shih was sitting with the Empress Dowager in the warm inner chamber. Her smile was radiant.
"Mother, Consort Xian has been busy caring for the children, which is why she hasn't come to visit you often. You're so angry, it seems like you've wronged her!"
