Bewitchment

After Ping An left Guo Shu's sight, he ran to find Qing Ya.

"Mother!" Ping An's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement: "I remember you said that you and the late Empress had a past, am I right?!"

Qingya looked at Ping An, who was completely unlike Fu Yunjin, and nodded slowly after a long silence.

"Great! We're going to be rich! We can leave the Cold Palace!" Ping An looked at Qing Ya with shining eyes and said, "Do you know that the late Empress's son has become the Crown Prince? I heard Guo Shu say that all the palace servants in Kunning Palace are dead, so you are now the only one still alive in this world who was a palace servant who interacted with the late Empress. If the Crown Prince finds out, he will definitely take you out and take good care of you!"

Qingya lowered her eyes, her tone full of determination: "I will not get close to the Crown Prince, and I will not tell him that I was once a servant of the Empress. You are not allowed to either."

Ping An was stunned.

"...Mother, are you sick? Are you delirious from the fever and talking nonsense?"

"I don't."

"Then why are you unwilling to get close to the Crown Prince? The Crown Prince is the late Empress's own son, the one you revered to the extreme. The one for whom I was punished by copying the Ksitigarbha Sutra to atone for my slightly offensive words. Don't you want to see him? Don't you want to help the late Empress see how he is doing?"

"I don't want to!" I don't want to see that imposter! I don't want to see that unknown child who caused the Fu family to reject Fu Yun Jin's bloodline!

Ping An didn't understand why Qing Ya, who clearly admired the late Empress so much, was so resistant to the late Empress's only bloodline. She didn't want to understand either. All she knew was that she wanted to leave the Cold Palace, she wanted to go to the Crown Prince's side, and she wanted to obtain supreme power through the Crown Prince's help.

Just like the imperial concubine.

Qingya is the safest and fastest way for her to get close to the Crown Prince.

But Qingya was unwilling.

But it doesn't matter, she has a way to get Qingya to agree.

“Mother,” Ping An said softly, “Don’t you dislike me getting too close to Guo Shu? Think about it, if you take me to the Crown Prince, would I still pay attention to that eunuch Guo Shu? I would only fawn over him… no, I would obediently listen to you, go wherever you tell me to go, and do whatever you want me to do.”

Upon hearing this, Qingya was stunned.

In recent years, Ping An has been getting closer and closer to Guo Shu. She has scolded and advised her, but Ping An is stubborn and listens to her in everything except this matter. So when she suddenly heard that taking Ping An to the East Palace could keep Ping An far away from Guo Shu, she couldn't help but be tempted.

However, the Crown Prince has Cui Shenzhi.

The main reason why Cui Shenzhi was able to become the crown prince was that he was Cui Sugong's only son. If Ping An went to his side and he discovered something, and traced the clues to find out that Ping An was Cui Sugong's bloodline, he would definitely kill her to keep his position as crown prince. It would be better to let Ping An go with Guo Shu!

"If I had to choose between the two, I'd rather you follow Guo Shu and become his accomplice." At least you'd be able to live a decent life.

Ping An was somewhat surprised because Qingya had been bringing this up every few days for the past few years, and the relationship between the mother and daughter had deteriorated considerably because of it. However, faced with such a temptation, Qingya only wavered for a moment, and even in the end, she decided that she would rather she continue to follow Guo Shu as an accomplice than take her to the East Palace to live a good life.

This is a bit too outrageous! Could it be that there's some danger in the Eastern Palace that she's unaware of?

She should find out more about the situation before making a decision.

Ping An sighed, seemingly helpless, and said, "Alright, since you're so determined, then so be it. I won't mention going to the East Palace, and please don't ask me to stay far away from Guo Shu."

Qingya hesitated, after all, she had just said that she would rather Ping'an follow Guo Shu than take Ping'an to the East Palace, and Ping'an had given up the idea of ​​going to the East Palace. If she continued to pester her, Ping'an might rekindle the idea of ​​going to the East Palace. It was better to wait a few days.

*****

Ping An thought that it was definitely not enough to just ask Guo Shu to find out the situation in the Eastern Palace. After all, Guo Shu didn't think much of the late Empress, so his opinion of the Crown Prince must also be biased. Therefore, she had to leave the Cold Palace and go outside to find out the truth.

The only way for her to leave the Cold Palace is through Guo Shu, but Guo Shu rarely leaves the Cold Palace, so how could he possibly take her away?

Ping An fell into deep thought.

If she wanted Guo Shu to take her away from the Cold Palace, the first priority was to prevent Guo Shu from staying there all the time. However, Guo Shu had a mission to keep an eye on the deposed concubines and prevent them from sneaking out and saying things they shouldn't. So how could Guo Shu leave so easily?

Should we find a way to kill all those deposed concubines? No, that would be too conspicuous.

How can we find a way to shut up all those deposed concubines? Most of them have already gone mad, and madmen are uncontrollable; it's too difficult.

Could she find a way to get the Imperial Concubine to change Guo Shu's mission? If she had that ability, she would have just gotten the Imperial Concubine to release Guo Shu and his mother.

Find a way to make Guo Shu stop listening to the Imperial Concubine? Impossible! Guo Shu is dependent on the Imperial Concubine; how could he possibly listen to her instead of the Concubine…

Wait a minute, Guo Shu listens to the Imperial Concubine because she holds absolute power in the palace. She can hold absolute power because she is the Emperor's favorite. As long as the Emperor is alive, she can continue like this. But the Emperor will eventually die, and the Crown Prince will eventually ascend the throne. Even if the Imperial Concubine and the Crown Prince have a good relationship, they will never be able to hold power like they do now.

What will Guo Shu do then?

There are quite a few deposed concubines in this cold palace who know about the grudges and entanglements between the late Empress and the Imperial Concubine. Once the Crown Prince hears any rumors and finds out the truth of the past, the Imperial Concubine herself will be in trouble, let alone protect Guo Shu, a mere eunuch.

Ping An smiled slightly and confidently found Guo Shu.

"Eunuch Guo, I need your help with something."

Guo Shu found these words somewhat novel.

"Tell me about it. You've been by my side for several years now, and this is the first time you've asked me for help. As long as it's not too outrageous, I can consider it."

Ping An curtsied and said, "I need you to take me away from the Cold Palace. I need to see the Crown Prince without attracting his attention, and I also need to find out about his situation and the situation in the Eastern Palace."

Upon hearing this, Guo Shu's expression changed drastically.

“Ping An,” Guo Shu said with a grim expression, “you certainly dare to think and bring this up.”

"Of course, after all... I'm doing this to help you, Father-in-law."

Guo Shu scoffed, "Help me? Ping An, I have the Imperial Concubine behind me. Do I need a little girl like you to help me? What can you possibly do for me?"

"I can save your life, father-in-law."

"Life? I'm perfectly fine, why would I need you to protect me?"

“Father-in-law, you are certainly not in mortal danger now, but have you thought about something?” Ping An whispered to Guo Shu, “What will happen after His Majesty passes away?”

Upon hearing this, Guo Shu shoved Ping An aside and shouted, "How dare you! How could you say such a thing!"

"Why wouldn't I dare? To put it bluntly, His Majesty is just a mortal, not a god. Of course, that day will come. When that time comes, the Imperial Concubine will have no choice but to obediently hand over power to the new emperor's empress. Eunuch Guo, aren't you worried?"

"What am I worried about? I'm just following the Consort's orders to keep these deposed consorts from going out and scaring people. Is that wrong? Besides, so what if the Consort relinquishes her power? The Consort has a very good relationship with the Crown Prince. Even without power, she's still a high-ranking consort, and who knows, she might even become the Empress Dowager. Wouldn't I still be just as glamorous then?"

"Is that so?" Ping An chuckled softly, a strange light flashing in her eyes. "Father-in-law, if I were you, I wouldn't be so optimistic."

"As far back as I can remember, you've been in charge of the Cold Palace. That means you've been watching over the Cold Palace for the Imperial Concubine for at least several decades. You must have heard a lot about how the Imperial Concubine didn't want those deposed concubines to cause trouble. Think about it, if the Crown Prince heard that, would he still have such a good relationship with the Imperial Concubine?"

Guo Shuming choked up slightly.

"...They're crazy, and nobody believes crazy people."

"Yes, no one believes the words of a madman, so why is the Imperial Concubine afraid that they will spread the word? Besides, no one will believe the words of one madman, but what about a group of madmen? A group of madmen spouting the same 'mad talk'? Eunuch Guo, do you believe this? Do you think the Crown Prince will believe it?"

Guo Shu fell silent.

Seeing this, Ping An pressed on, saying, "Once the Crown Prince finds out how the late Empress was framed by the Consort, he will know that the Consort has been deceiving him all these years. In his anger and shame, what do you think he will do? The Consort only has one daughter, who cannot protect the Consort. Do you think the Consort can protect you? You have been helping the Consort deceive the Crown Prince for more than ten years."

"...So, you think you can save my life from the Crown Prince? And that the Crown Prince will listen to you?"

"Of course not now, but that may not be the case in the future."

Guo Shu rolled his eyes: "If it's not certain, then why are you making such big promises, and why should I help you?"

“Because you have no choice, sir,” Ping’an said with certainty. “Sir, the Cold Palace is a place that is easy to enter but hard to leave. This applies not only to the deposed concubines but also to the palace servants. So anyone with a bit of ability will not come here, and those with ambition have already run away. What’s left are just useless people who are not even willing to fight for their own lives. You don’t really think they can help you fight for your life in front of the Crown Prince, do you?”

"..."

"Moreover, what I'm saying is not certain. It depends on what you, my lord, are capable of. If you can let me clearly understand the Crown Prince's true nature and the situation in the Eastern Palace, I am confident that I can get close to the Crown Prince, enter his heart, and become a concubine-like figure by his side. At that time, not only will I be able to save your life, but wealth and honor will also be within my grasp. What do you say?"

Guo Shu did not answer, but three days later he gave Ping An a set of eunuch clothes to change into, and then took her out of the Cold Palace.