Zhan Country, Renshou Palace.
For the past few days, Empress Dowager Zhuang hasn't had much of an appetite, and Eunuch Qin keeps having the Imperial Kitchen try different ways to prepare her meals, but she barely eats a few bites.
Eunuch Qin secretly passed a message to Bishui Alley, only for Empress Dowager Zhuang to intercept it.
Empress Dowager Zhuang glared at him.
Eunuch Qin sighed, knowing she didn't want her juniors to see her in her ailing state, but his heart ached for her.
"Empress Dowager, His Majesty has arrived." A palace maid reported from outside the Sleeping Palace.
Seeing that Empress Dowager Zhuang looked quite ill, Eunuch Qin whispered, "Should I inform His Majesty that you are resting?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang glanced at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky, suppressing the fatigue between her brows as she said, "For him to come at this hour, he must have something important."
"Yes," she responded.
Eunuch Qin went to invite His Majesty in.
