Nianzu looked at the sheets on which Chuntao had written the basic Chinese characters. He smiled, seeing how neatly she had written the characters. "Did you learn them? Shall I ask you?" Nianzu queried Chuntao who bowed her head. Nianzu asked her a few characters which Chuntao answered correctly. This impressed Nianzu.

"You are a fast learner, Miss," Nianzu stated, and took out a book from the drawer. "Let's start with the first lesson," pronounced Nianzu. Chuntao nodded and listened keenly to whatever Nianzu was telling her. After studying for two hours, Chuntao took her to leave.

But before leaving Chuntao asked permission to go to her home. "You don't need to ask for my permission, Miss. Do you want to go by a palanquin there?" Nianzu humbly asked.

"No, your highness. I will go there on foot. Thank you for asking," Chuntao stated, and left from there. Nianzu wanted to give her that book from which he was teaching Chuntao but she had already left the study room. He put it back inside the drawer and called out the name of Eunuch Chung.

Eunuch Chung in a few seconds came there and bowed his head. "Master, do you need something?"

"I am going to meet my mother. I will be there until this evening. If someone comes by, then tell him to meet me tomorrow," Nianzu proclaimed as he stood up from the chair.

"Yes, your highness," Eunuch Chung accepted the orders while Nianzu left his study room. Soon he arrived outside the chamber of his mother. He went inside the chamber when he saw his mother was applying something over her elbow.

"Mother!" Nianzu called out for her when she jolted up on the bed. She had a bewildered expression on her face. Quickly she put her sleeves down and hid the china dish so that Nianzu could not see that but she was wrong! Nianzu had noticed that. Hastily he came towards his mother and asked her what she was hiding.

Deng Huo hid the China dish behind her back, and said, "Nothing son. You came here unannounced. Have you done your lunch? Come, have lunch together," Deng Hui proclaimed. She stood up from the bed and turned Nianzu towards the other side. She took her towards the other end of the chamber when Nianzu halted at his place.

"What happened, son?" Deng Hui asked and saw the frowns on the faces of her son when she felt Nianzu's hand on her right wrist. Before she could react, her sleeve was moved up.

A tear rolled down the eye of Nianzu as he saw the bruised hand of her mother. It was purple mostly near the elbow. Deng Hui pulled her hand back and pulled the sleeve down. "I slipped in the bathhouse," Deng Hui lied to Nianzu who was prying into her eyes.

Nianzu lowered his eyes. "How can you lie to your own son? Did she do it?" Nianzu asked. His nostrils flared up in anger. "Why are you not answering? Did she do it?" Nianzu shouted and looked into his mother's eyes.

"Calm down. Don't get angry," Deng Hui worriedly said as she looked towards the door, hoping no one would hear that.

"I will kill her," Nianzu suddenly said when Deng Hui told him not to say things like that, but Nianzu did not listen to his mother. "This is enough, mother. I will not spare that woman! She is torturing you. How dare you bear all this? You are as equal as her. Then why?" Nianzu blurted out.

Deng Hui too was crying. "How come father does not know anything about this? I will tell everything to my father and show him how callous the Empress is! She first killed Sheng Li's mother and now she is after you." Nianzu was infuriated by the way Empress Wei was treating his mother.

He turned to go when Deng Hui held his arm and came to his front. "Don't do anything. It is just a minor injury. His majesty will get sad if he learns about this," Deng Hui tried to make her son understand.

"Mother, I will not listen to you anymore," Nianzu said and moved forward but Deng Hui did not let him go.

"I beg you, son. Do not do anything. If you step out of this chamber now, then I-I will" she moved back and grabbed the knife from the table there. She brought it closer to her neck and said, "I will die here if you step out of this chamber."

Nianzu clenched his fist and told his mother to drop that knife. "First, promise me," Deng Hui stated.

"I promise," Nianzu said with a heavy heart. Deng Hui was relieved upon hearing that and put the knife back at the table.

"Why are you doing this? Let's leave this palace. I will request father to give a separate residence for us then we two will live happily there," Nianzu suggested to his mother.

"No. We are not leaving. Do you want to let people talk about your mother? Nothing has happened to me," Deng Hui said as she came closer to her son and placed both of her hands on his cheeks. She wiped the tears from his cheeks when Nianzu stepped back.

"I do not like this. Seeing my mother in this state broke my heart into a million pieces. How can a son like me not do anything in this? It hurts, mother. I know you are doing all this for me, but what's the use? I am not happy with this life," Nianzu veraciously said. "I am sick of all this!" he turned his back towards his mother.

"I, Han Nianzu, take a vow that until I punish Weng Wei for her crimes, I will not step in your chamber. Even if I have to die, I will do that." Deng Hui with inquisitiveness looked at her son. She stopped him, but he did not listen to her and left his mother's chamber.