The next day passed quickly and before they knew it was already evening. Jiang Ying Yue had returned to the Cold Palace after spending a busy day at work. She hurriedly ate her dinner before leaving for her cultivation training.

    Since she already had grasped the basics of spiritual cultivation techniques, she found it easier to continue cultivating spiritual qi. Besides, after getting back ten percent of her original powers, her body was no longer as weak as before.

    For several hours, she sat in the lotus position on the surface of the flowing water of the stream while using spiritual energy to balance her vampiric powers. It was not until midnight appeared did she decided to take a break.

    "Are you taking a break?" Wu Xie asked as he appeared in front of her out of the blue. He loved doing that as far as she had observed, appearing all of a sudden and disappearing just like that too.

    "I have some matters to deal with. So I''m taking my leave now. Will see you tomorrow." She didn''t give the Prince any chance to either speak or stop her as she hurriedly walked away. The plan that she had formed was meant to be executed that night and she didn''t have enough time to spare.

    The good thing was that Qing Shan and Wang Shu were busy with some work and it made things easier for her because she only needed to deal with Wu Xie, who unlike his eldest brother didn''t like to tell her what to do or not to do.

    Jiang Ying Yue returned to the Cold Palace and hurriedly changed into the dress that she had prepared for this special occasion. It was dark blue in color, and could almost be mistaken as black in the dim light of the night. The hems and borders of the dress had silver peonies embroidered on them with little pearls used as decorations.

    She styled her long hair simply but made sure to decorate them with a beautiful peony set of silver and pearl jewelry that she had designed herself. She added matching earrings, a simple pendant, and some bracelets and rings to finish her getup. The last thing she added was the light makeup that gave her a mature and confident look, one that she needed the most for the success of her plan.

    After getting ready, she cast a simple spell of invisibility around herself before setting out of her courtyard. After months of living as a normal human, she was finally getting the chance to use her powers, one that made her soul and body escalate with an adrenaline rush.

    Even though she only got hold of ten percent of her original powers, it was still enough to make her a hundred times more powerful than a human. Besides, the more she would use her powers, the better her body would become in handling the effects and would get used to her vampire side.

    It didn''t take her long before she was standing right outside the brightly lit palace that was the current residence of the Empress Dowager of the Hyuang Empire. A small smile appeared on her pink-painted lips as she stepped inside the palace.

    The spiritual wards placed around the palace didn''t hold her back but she knew that the woman living inside the building had been already informed of her arrival. And just like she predicted, all the servants and guards disappeared while making a clear way for her to approach the woman.

    "Never knew that you will be bold enough to come here."

    Jiang Ying Yue heard the woman''s calm but sinister voice as soon as she entered the main hall which was brightly lit with dozens and dozens of lanterns and candles.

    The Empress Dowager was sitting on the throne-like chair on the other end of the room. Dressed in a dark green nightgown with her long black hair falling freely down her back, she still seemed as powerful as when she dressed up and probably, even more, considering she was showing her true colors at the moment without holding anything back.

    "Desperate times call for desperate measures. I''m sure you are friendly with such situations. And since you have been keeping your eyes on me all this time, I''m sure you know why I''m here." Jiang Ying Yue spoke as she walked deeper into the hall before taking a seat on the first chair sitting beside Empress Dowager.

    She made sure neither to sit too close or too far away from the woman. Besides, she didn''t really care where she was sitting. She wasn''t there to compete with the woman because they both knew who would win if they actually competed and they also knew that the situation would change after a few months.

    Meaning, even though Jiang Ying Yue was comparatively weaker than Empress Dowager at the moment, the latter was aware that within the next few months, she would no longer be weaker just like she was now. Considering she couldn''t kill Jiang Ying Yue even now when she was weaker, the woman wasn''t looking forward to any dispute between them.

    Besides, just like Jiang Ying Yue said, she was there for a completely different reason, and Empress Dowager knew pretty well what it was. What she didn''t know was the plan that the girl had in mind.

    "Just like I thought, even though my men succeeded in keeping out of the Princes'' radar, they were still not good enough to hide from you." The woman spoke as she clapped her hands and two dark shadows appeared in the room.

    Jiang Ying Yue watched as one of them headed towards Empress Dowager while the other one made its way towards her. The next thing she knew, there was a tray sitting on the table beside her seat with a cup of freshly brewed tea and some snacks.

    The shadows immediately disappeared in the air as soon as their job was done. If she had to guess, those shadows were demon beasts of Empress Dowager, considering even she couldn''t bring anyone from the demon realm out from the depths of hell there was no chance that those shadows were demons.

    "I knew that you are tracking me from the very first day. Since you never tried to interfere with my life, I also did nothing about your spies. Besides, even if I killed them, you could always have sent more. It was a never-ending saga." She told the woman as she picked up the teacup to take a closer look. It was made of pure white jade and the aroma wafting from the tea stated its top quality.

    Looked like the so-called Empress Dowager was only used to top quality products. A small smile appeared on Jiang Ying Yue''s lips but there was no humor in it. She looked up at the woman sitting on her throne while watching her closely before she took a small sip of the tea and put down the cup back on the table.

    "Can I ask now why you are here?" Empress Dowager asked as she too sipped the tea while closing her eyes to enjoy it.

    "Before I answer, there''s something I want to ask too. Why did you never try to stop me or create trouble for me even after you realized my identity at the Third Prince''s welcome banquet?" Jiang Ying Yue was really curious to know what the woman had to say.

    "Because you never tried to create troubles for me either. Besides, it''s not like I can kill you and the Princes are always there to help you out. Since you never told them about my spies, I also didn''t want to do something stupid to bring unnecessary troubles to myself." The woman replied with a swift shrug of her shoulders.

    Jiang Ying Yue nodded her head, understanding what the woman didn''t say out loud. They both knew that the Princes hadn''t decided yet whether they really wanted to stop Empress Dowager or not but if she did something to create troubles for Ying Yue, they would probably not let her go.

    "Fine. Since we are not opponents yet, let''s help each other now if we can. I need your help with something and I hope you will not deny it." Jiang Ying Yue didn''t try to beat around the bush and went straight to the main topic.

    "And why do you think I''ll help you? Even though we aren''t opponents yet, we aren''t friends either." Empress Dowager looked at the girl with a questioning gaze.

    Jiang Ying Yue smiled as she stood up from her seat and walked to the center of the hall before stretching out her right hand that was holding something. "Don''t worry. I''m not here to take advantage of you. Since I want your help, I have something to offer you in return."

    The woman rose from her throne looking at the object in Ying Yue''s hand.. "Alright, tell me what you want."