Zu An smiled slightly: "Your Highness, what are you saying? The Crown Princess has always remembered Your Highness. We are all members of the Eastern Palace, so we are naturally working together to serve the Crown Prince."

Consort Bai chuckled lightly: "No wonder Lord Zu has been rising so high these days. I heard he was just promoted to Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince. I suppose the Crown Princess also likes your way of speaking."

As she spoke, she gestured to the maid beside her: "Go and brew some herbal tea. This lady is a favorite of the Crown Princess, so we can't neglect her."

"Yes~" The maidservant stepped back, a hint of resentment in her eyes. She thought to herself that the Crown Princess was far too domineering. Even her subordinates had to be treated with such care by our Lady.

Zu'an, however, knew that Consort Bai was trying to find an excuse to send the maid away, and said with a smile, "To be honest, Your Highness, I now have a kind of stress reaction whenever I hear the words 'Hundred Flower Tea'."

Consort Bai smiled knowingly, referring to the incident where she was poisoned by Xinrui and then framed for having an affair with the Crown Princess: "Don't worry, my Hundred Flower Tea is definitely fine."

Zuan's gaze fell on the baby in her swaddling clothes, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "The Crown Prince is so cute, can I hold him?"

Consort Bai was taken aback, her expression somewhat strange. She knew that the Crown Prince's status was special, and apart from her and her personal maids, no one else in the palace would dare to touch him. If something happened, no one could afford to take that risk.

However, as a mother, she was quite pleased to hear others praise her child: "Lord Zu's words are indeed somewhat presumptuous."

Although he said that, he wasn't angry at all.

Zu An laughed and said, "Your Highness Bai is mistaken. As the Crown Prince's Junior Attendant, I am responsible for managing many matters, big and small, in the Eastern Palace. The Imperial Grandson is the young master of the Eastern Palace, so taking care of him is within my duty."

Bai Fei chuckled: "Ordinary people wouldn't dare to make such a request."

As she spoke, she stood up from the swing, picked up the child, and came to his side: "Lord Zu, please be careful not to wake him up. I finally managed to get him to sleep."

Zuan carefully took the child, feeling as if he were weightless: "This is the first time I've looked at the Crown Prince so closely. He's really well-behaved and handsome."

Bai Fei was somewhat surprised. Most men in the world don't know how to hold children. She had just been sweating bullets, worried that Zu An would be clumsy. But she didn't expect him to be so skilled. Moreover, seeing his careful expression, she could feel that he genuinely loved children. So her expression softened even more: "Lord Zu is really different from others."

The two were standing very close. Zu An could smell her mysterious and elegant fragrance. Because he was holding the child, his elbow accidentally brushed against her soft body. He said with a smile, "Your Majesty, aren't you afraid of gossip spreading when we stand so close?"

Consort Bai said calmly, "This Hundred Flowers Palace is already quite deserted, and there aren't many people gossiping. Besides, the palace is currently talking more about you and the Crown Princess in private, so what am I worried about?"

Zu An smiled and said, "Your Majesty's elegant and composed demeanor is truly captivating."

Then, as if casually, he said, "The Crown Prince is so adorable; he doesn't quite resemble the Crown Prince."

Bai Fei's expression changed, and her tone turned cold: "Lord Zu, be careful with your words. Some things can easily get you beheaded."

"Your Majesty misunderstands. I meant that the Crown Prince resembles Your Majesty more, just like Your Majesty in beauty," Zu'an said, changing the subject.

Bai Fei snorted and took the child back from his arms: "What exactly is Lord Zu's purpose in coming here? He can't have come all this way just to say these irrelevant things, can he?"

“I did come here on another matter. The case of Xinrui has been resolved,” Zu’an said. “The Imperial Attendant Shi Jun used his position to get close to and seduce the Empress’s maid, Xinrui. How could an ordinary palace maid like Xinrui resist the pursuit of such a dashing young master from a noble family? She quickly fell in love. Unfortunately, she didn’t know that she was caught in a conspiracy. The other party approached her entirely to use her to frame the Crown Princess, and at the same time, to frame Consort Bai, causing trouble for the Crown Prince’s two most important concubines at the same time.”

Bai Fei's expression changed slightly: "The Shi family's scheme to frame someone is so vicious. It's all my fault for not paying enough attention to Xinrui in the past. I didn't notice that she had been deceived."

"Is that so?" Zu An chuckled. "Those were the assessments of the Embroidery Pavilion regarding this case, but I have a completely different opinion."

"What do you mean?" Bai Fei asked, looking completely bewildered.

Zu An went to the swing next to him and sat down casually, swaying slowly like Bai Fei had just done: "Everyone thinks that Shi Jun deliberately approached and seduced Xin Rui, and even Shi Jun himself thinks so. But I checked the relevant information carefully and found something interesting. It wasn't Shi Jun who took the initiative at first, but rather Xin Rui."

Bai Fei frowned: "What do you mean? Xin Rui has always been a law-abiding citizen and would never do such a thing."

"Is that so?" Zu An's smile faded. "I've obtained a relevant statement through specific channels. I discovered that the two first met by chance when they bumped into each other. But if we don't prejudge Xin Rui as the victim and instead think about it from a different perspective, we'll find that Xin Rui was the perpetrator from beginning to end. She got to know Shi Jun and let him approach and seduce her. The whole process was actually guided by her. Unfortunately, that idiot Shi Jun thought he was incredibly charming and was being sold out while still counting the money for others."

Bai Fei said calmly, "These are just your wild guesses. I know Xinrui's character best. She is kind-hearted and would never do such a thing."

“Your Majesty, please hear me out,” Zu’an continued. “I’ve always had a question: why would the mastermind go to such lengths to send Xinrui out of the palace? Wouldn’t it have been better to just silence her? I immediately realized there must have been a reason for doing so, but I couldn’t figure out what that reason was until recently when I learned some things and finally understood why the mastermind went to such lengths to send her out of the palace.”

----

I've been revising the previous chapters all day, and this is the only one left.

Actually, revising it wasn't difficult, because this book has always been very careful about its content and has maintained excellent control, mostly glossing over certain points. So, minor revisions were all that was needed. The troublesome part was finding those potentially prohibited sections. Fortunately, after these days of hard work, I finally finished revising it today.