Consort Hui sat in her palace for half an hour, wearing the peony flower. Consort Rong had already left. Her purpose in coming was to have Consort Hui dredge up old grievances from many years ago. These grievances had become somewhat blurred over the years. It was thought that those things had happened, then passed, and been forgotten. In reality, it was just that no one dared to bring them up. Those things that had happened were still things that had happened; they couldn't be treated as if they didn't exist.

"Your Highness, it's late. Let me help you wash up and rest." The palace maid Huijuan saw that Consort Hui was still sitting there, like a lifeless puppet, which looked rather frightening.

"I'm going to the Cold Palace!" Consort Hui suddenly said.

Huijuan was startled and said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, it's so late at night, why are you going to the Cold Palace? It's no good place, you know?"

Consort Hui said, "Alright, then let's go first thing tomorrow morning. I need to see someone. Come, help me wash up. I need to get a good night's sleep so I'll have the energy to ask about those past events and save my son."

Meanwhile, in Yanxi Palace, Consort Rong of the Ma Jia clan couldn't sleep either. She had waited far too long. She had been waiting for this opportunity to reveal the secret that had been buried for so long.

"Your Highness, it's late, you should retire for the night," said the palace maid Wanxin to Consort Rong.

"I can't sleep. I was so excited today. I finally did something I've always wanted to do. I finally did it today. Will Lady Nara go?" Consort Rong asked.

“Your Majesty, I think Consort Hui will definitely go. Given Prince Heshuo’s current situation, she has no choice but to go. Only when the Emperor knows about Hesheli’s crimes will he be lenient towards Prince Heshuo!” Wanxin said.

“Indeed, that’s what I saw, which is why I went to see Lady Nara today. Wanxin, am I being too scheming?” Consort Rong said.

“Over the years, others may not know the suffering Your Highness has endured, but I do. Your Highness has never forgotten the deaths of those young princes. So have I, and that’s why I’ve been waiting with Your Highness all this time, waiting for this day,” Wanxin said.

"Wanxin, I've held you back. You could have left the palace to get married when you were twenty-five, but you insisted on staying to accompany me," Consort Rong said, taking Wanxin's hand.

“Your Majesty, I am not wronged. I am content to be able to accompany you for the rest of my life. I have no relatives outside, and I could hardly marry a good man. I am already very lucky to have met such a good mistress as Your Majesty,” Wanxin said quickly.

“Alright, Wanxin. I know your character, which is why I’ve kept you by my side for so many years. Sigh. Have I gone too far? The Qin family from back then is long dead, but I’ve found someone who resembles her and slowly taught her all those things from the past. As long as Consort Hui goes to find her, she will be able to tell you all the dirty tricks that Granny Li did.” Consort Rong said.

“Your Majesty was forced into this situation. If Your Majesty hadn’t orchestrated this, all those young princes would have died in vain. And the Third Prince of the Nara Clan would have been one too. Now, Your Majesty is merely dredging up forgotten events. Back then, Empress Hesheli was two-faced in public and private, yet the Emperor trusted her so much. If she hadn’t used those schemes, Your Majesty’s young princes wouldn’t have perished. It’s truly a blessing from heaven that she died in childbirth,” Wanxin said.

"Alas, what I'm doing today is to clear the names of those unjustly killed souls. It was Heaven's arrangement that Qin Shi's dying moments brought me to know the truth," Consort Rong said. "It's just a pity that His Majesty trusts Hesheli too much; I couldn't easily speak ill of a dead person to him, so I've endured until today. Now, Nara has enough reason to bring it up. Let those unjustly killed souls rest in peace." Consort Rong looked up at the air and spoke.

In her early years, Consort Rong was favored by Emperor Kangxi for her beautiful appearance, gentle and generous personality, elegant demeanor, and outstanding literary talent. However, on one occasion, Consort Rong let slip a slight dissatisfaction with Empress Hesheli, which led to Emperor Kangxi ignoring her for three years.

Consort Rong bore the most children with Emperor Kangxi, but she also lost the most. Prince Yi was her second child and the only one who survived to adulthood.

Prince Yi inherited Consort Rong's looks and also possessed some poetic talent, thus he was also favored by Emperor Kangxi.

"Your Majesty, you should rest. Otherwise, where will you find the energy to plan these things tomorrow?" Wanxin advised again.

"Hmm. Let's rest. Hopefully, Lady Nara will go to see her. Then all our work will begin to show some results," said Consort Rong.

That night, the palace lanterns in Zhongcui Palace and Yanxi Palace remained lit for a long time before being extinguished.

No one knows that the two empresses residing in these two palaces were the objects of envy, jealousy, and hatred of countless women in the harem when they were by Emperor Kangxi's side.

Time gradually eroded the beauty of these two concubines, and also their place in Emperor Kangxi's heart. They were more like large blue stones in the Forbidden City, placed there as scenery, unchanging and eternal. But without them, the palace would be like a place devoid of vitality and grandeur.

Meanwhile, the lights in the Imperial Prison were still on. Gao Tan and Shan Lao had lost count of how many times they had fainted after trying various forms of torture. The jailers were already dozing off; they no longer had the energy to beat the prisoners, so they simply unloaded them and threw them into the filthy, smelly cells.

"Master, let's just confess. This isn't a solution. We'll be tortured to death sooner or later." Gao Tan felt like his hands and feet didn't belong to him. These people were inhuman; they could come up with all sorts of ways to torture people, like driving toothpicks under fingernails or piling bricks on feet. It was like hell on earth.

"You think you'll be fine after I told you? Telling you will probably only make you die faster." Old Shan's face was covered in blood. He was old and couldn't take much more stress, so he was no longer able to go to the hospital.

“But Master, I really can’t take it anymore. If this continues, they’ll torture me to death sooner or later,” Gao Tan said. He didn’t want to die, much less die here. He had thought he was just doing someone a favor, then he could take the money and leave, but he hadn’t expected so much more to happen.

"You better hold on, or you'll die even faster! Our master will come to save us, so we must endure until he arrives. Understand?" the old man said.