"It suits you very well, Ming'er!" Zhao Yangguang said with all smiles. "Don't you think so, Ah-Jie?"
"Mn." The sect elder nods.
While the emperor, the prince, and the princess are struggling to eliminate the ongoing corruption in the imperial palace, Sect Leader Zhao, Sect Elder Wang, and Eunuch Xu are having a peaceful morning together.
For a short period of time, Sect Leader Zhao and Xu Zhengming became comfortable with each other as if they met for a good while now.
Xu Lin's death was never brought up ever since Xu Zhengming set his feet inside the Wan Moli Hua Palace. He doesn't think there's someone to blame. It's his father's choice so he respects that. Also, he can't disregard the fact that the sect leader didn't force his father to do so. Sect Leader Zhao, on the other hand, is being sensitive to the other. If he wants to talk about it, he's willing to exchange words with him. But if he doesn't bring the topic up, it could only mean one thing: Xu Zhengming doesn't want to talk about it.
"I think it's a little short for me?" Xu Zhengminhg said as he looks at himself.
Zhao Yanggunag made him wear their plain white sect uniform. Specifically, the uniform that the emperor used in his teenage years.
Xu Zhengming is not that very tall of a man, to begin with, and Emperor Yin Renshu was 172 centimeters tall when he was 17 so the uniform fits him just fine. It's just he can't accept the fact that he's just about as tall as the 17-year old Yin Renshu. He doesn't have a big body build too. But if he does, wouldn't that make him a perfect man? He would be violating the rule of the universe by then since "no one is perfect".
"No, no. That's good." Sect Leader Zhao picks up the pair of snow-white boots and handed it over to Xu Zhengming. "Now, try these on too."
Xu Zhengming does what the sect leader said. The boots are a little bigger than him but it doesn't feel uncomfortable at all.
The sect leader looks at him from head to toe. It seems there's something else that's missing but he can't point it out. "Is it a weapon or...?"
Wang Junjie saw through him and suggested. "Perhaps it's his hair."
Hearing this, Zhao Yangguang snaps. "That's right! The hair!" He hurried to Xu Zhengming's back and untied the ribbon that keeps the eunuch's hair in a braid.
"Ah? What are you doing, Sect Leader Zhao?" Xu Zhengming asks but he didn't stop the other from untying his braid.
"I want to try something. Don't move." He picks a wooden comb, putting Eunuch Xu's hair together in a high ponytail and used the ribbon to tie it up.
After doing so, he looks at Xu Zhengming, encircling him.  The sect leader seems to be satisfied. He looks more or less a cultivator now! The curly hair due to prolonged braid made him look adorable... or at least to Sect Leader Zhao.
"Ming'er..." Out of nowhere, Zhao Yangguang suddenly hugs him. "Be my son!"
"Um..." Xu Zhengming doesn't know what to say in reply. In the end, he didn't say anything.
Wang Junjie tries to pull the sect leader away from the eunuch but he's just sticking on him like a lizard. "Hana, you're scaring him."
Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, the three of them successfully sneaked inside.
They stop the carriage at the back of the imperial kitchen. There's no one around so the princess singlehandedly went out of the cabbage chest. "I never thought being a cabbage is a very hard task."
"You did a great job there. You're a good cabbage. I'm proud of you." Prince Yin Wenyan praised her.
Feeling proud, the princess flips a lock of her hair. "Well, you should be."
"What took you so long to deliver these?!" They flinched when the voice of the imperial chef sounded behind them. "Well? Let me check the quality of these goods."
"I apologize for the delay, royal chef." Prince Yin Wenyan turns around and gives the royal chef a sweet smile.
The royal chef froze. His face becomes pale and fear is evident. Well, who would not be terrified? It's his majesty, the deceased emperor's face!
He put his palms together and rubs them together, real quick. He closes his eyes tightly as he pleads, "Your majesty, please spare me. I pray for you to rest in peace. I'll burn joss paper for you and her highness the first princess as well! Please leave me alone."
The prince can't help but chuckle. He's being reminded of Xu Zhengnming again. This royal chef and Eunuch Xu have the same reaction! How come he's being reminded of him with almost everything?
"Wenyan, you're scaring him." Princess Yin Xiulan said.
Hearing a woman's voice, the royal chef opens his eyes, only to see the first princess' face that's believed to be dead as well. "Y-your highness! Please spare me!" The pitiful royal chef wonders, why does the royal twins' ghost come to him? They barely even have an encounter in the past.
"You're scaring him too." Emperor Yin Renshu can't stay silent anymore.
Seeing another emperor, the royal chef looks like he lost himself. He thinks he's gone mad.
"Don't be scared, royal chef. We're not dead. Our death is fabricated." Prince Yin Wenyan said with a soothing voice, trying to comfort the poor old man.
"So that means... your majesty's death, as well as her highness', are faked?"
"That's right. We're still alive." The prince replies. "We're currently facing an internal crisis. I cannot tell you the details, however, I want you to keep this a secret. Do you understand, royal chef? Do not tell anyone that you saw us."
The royal chef nods. "Yes, your majesty." But there's still this one thing he can't understand. "But your majesty, who is that person who shares the same face with you?"
Given that question, the prince looks at his siblings. It's too complicated. It's hard to explain. He doesn't even know where to start. And it would be a long story.
"You'll know it very soon." The prince taps his shoulder. "For now, you're an important part of resolving the inner dispute of the imperial palace. Please do not forget about it, royal chef."
The royal chef clasps his hands. "It's an honor for me to be of any help to his majesty."
"Thank you so much." Then the prince remembered something. "And one more thing. Please lend us your assistants' uniform."
"Huh?" The royal chef doesn't know why would his majesty wants it.
Only by then did he realized that they're wearing a commoner's robes. He hasn't even finished analyzing everything when the prince speaks again.
"I'll pay you. Is fifteen gold coins enough?" He took his money purse again, took fifteen gold coins, and handed it over to the royal chef; not giving him a chance to refuse.
The royal chef looks at the gold coins in his hands. This is a big amount!
"Uh... let me get those, your majesty." The old chef hurried back to the imperial kitchen to get what his majesty demands.
"What's with fifteen gold coins?" Princess Yin Xiulan noticed that the prince has been offering fifteen gold coins since this morning.
"'Fifteen gold coins always works." The prince replied with a smiling face. "Eunuch Xu taught me that."
"It does?" Emperor Yin Renshu's curiosity activated. He looks at his sister, applying what he just learned. "Xiulan, if I give you fifteen gold coins, will you fart in public?"
Her face darkens, the princess got annoyed. She didn't say anything. Instead, she slaps his arm real hard.
"Ouch! You could have just refused if you don't want to! You don't have to hit me." The emperor rubs where she hits him. Even without looking at it, he's sure that there's a red mark on his arm, forming a palm.
Annoyed, she yells at her brother, "What? If I give you fifteen gold coins, will you fart in public then?"
"..." The emperor is silent for a while, seeming to be thinking about the biggest decision in life that he's about to make. "Make it thirty."
The princess hits him again at the same spot. "Shameless!"
After the royal chef lends them the uniforms they need for their undercover mission, the three immediately headed to the Grand Empress Dowager's Hall. They made sure that no one gets suspicious, which made it very difficult for them to move in broad daylight.
So far, so good. They reached her hall single-handedly. Well, aren't they so good of sneaking? They've been doing this for years!
As expected, the grand empress dowager is inside her hall. The empress dowager is also around, assisting the grand empress dowager. They were peacefully doing her daily beauty routine when the three arrived. Surprisingly, their unannounced presence did not surprise her. Or at least she did not let it show. Just what are the guards in the gates doing? Why did these three in here again? But never mind, she always has a backup plan.
The grand empress dowager sighs and turns to face her grandchildren. "Bad weeds are really hard to kill."
Emperor Yin Renshu steps up. "Well, I can also say the same thing to you. How old are you again? How come you're not dead yet?"
The empress dowager speaks up for the grand empress dowager with a low voice. "Your majesty, please show some respect. She is still your grandmother."
"Respect? Alright." Princess Yin Xiulan sneered. "With all due respect, grand empress dowager, we will take you down right here and now."
"..." The empress dowager was caught off-guard with the princess' response.
What a polite way of degrading someone! The empress dowager thought, she might try it some time.
"Empress Dowager, if you don't mind me asking, would you still respect someone who tried to kill you?" The prince, on the other hand, speaks for his siblings.
Well, the grand empress dowager didn't threaten her life back then until now. However, she's a hundred percent sure that she's the one who killed Eunuch Ye Feng. She would be lying if she says that she still respects her unconditionally. In fact, she's weighing things over, waiting for the right time for her to carry on her revenge.
Prince Yin Wenyan then looks at the grand empress dowager straight in the eyes. "Or did Grand Empress Dowager wishes for the best that she wants her grandchildren, including the emperor of this empire, killed?"
The grand empress dowager ignores them and turns her head in the direction of the empress dowager instead. "Empress Dowager, don't mind them. Activate the array now."
Without any hesitations, she replies, "Yes, your highness."
The triplets don't know what array are they talking about until the wooden floor suddenly got illuminated by a huge magic circle.
Unfortunately for them, the grand empress dowager anticipated for the worst thing to happen. She ordered the empress dowager to set up an array similar to the one she used in the woods.
Right now, the emperor, the princess, and the prince can't use their spiritual powers properly as long as they are inside the hall.
"Try to take me down now." The grand empress dowager said with a confident voice.
And then the fully recovered Lieutenant General Song, as well as some of his men, arrives at the hall. These soldiers that once obeyed their orders are now pointing their swords at them.