"Is Sister worried about me?" Seeing that Consort De remained silent, Consort Yi finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked first.

Consort De simply couldn't sleep. For many years, she had preferred to go to bed only after Emperor Kangxi had gone to bed, and even when she was ill recently, she did not make an exception.

"You're overthinking it. I just couldn't sleep and thought that my sister isn't used to staying up late, so I came to check on her. If it's alright, my sister can really go back to Yikun Palace to rest first," said Consort De.

Consort Yi was still thinking about seeing the imperial edict about openly and honestly exposing the back door, and had no intention of going back. With Consort De's interruption, she realized she hadn't even achieved her goal yet, so how could she go back?

"No need, sister, don't worry. I'm doing just fine. Sister, please come again tomorrow after noon, as previously agreed," said Consort Yi.

Consort De was still wondering what Consort Yi and her maid had been doing outside, but it was obvious they wouldn't tell her, so she decided to stay and see what they were up to.

"Where is Liang Jiugong?" Consort De looked around, feeling that something was missing, and suddenly realized what it was.

“Oh, I told him to go and rest. He’s quite old, and I saw him yawning all the time, so I sent him back to his room to rest,” Consort Yi said quickly.

"That's impossible. Liang Jiugong wouldn't have gone to rest by himself. Huirong, go and check on Eunuch Liang in his room," Consort De immediately said to the maid beside her.

Consort Yi grew anxious and quickly said, "Sister, Eunuch Liang is already asleep. It's not very convenient for you to send Hui Rong now, is it?"

Consort De smiled and said, "Eunuch Liang is the Emperor's trusted eunuch. Why is he going back to rest? Could he be ill? Let Huirong go and check on him so I can feel at ease."

Seeing that she couldn't stop her, Consort Yi gave up. Hui Rong immediately withdrew and went towards Liang Jiugong's duty room.

Meanwhile, Liang Jiugong had tripped and fallen in the darkness and was being carried back to his house. Although he wasn't carrying a lantern in the middle of the night, he knew that road well, having walked it for decades, and knew exactly how many bricks there were. How could he have tripped?

"Did Eunuch Liang fall?" Hui Rong walked to the door of Liang Jiugong's room and found a young eunuch guarding the door, who told her that Eunuch Liang had fallen.

"Yes. Your Excellency tripped and fell on his way to the Imperial Tea Room. We had to help him back," the young eunuch said.

"How could you suddenly fall like that?" Hui Rong asked in surprise.

Hui Rong had no choice but to turn around and return to Qianqing Palace, where she told Consort De about Eunuch Liang's fall and injury.

"Oh dear, what happened to Eunuch Liang? I told him to go back and rest. How did he fall?" Consort Yi asked in surprise.

“But the eunuch who serves Eunuch Liang says that he fell on his way to the Imperial Tea Room,” Hui Rong said.

"The Imperial Tea Room? Didn't my sister say that Eunuch Liang should go back and rest?" Consort De glanced at Consort Yi and said.

"Perhaps he wanted to go have some tea. Oh dear, how badly did he fall? He's so old, I hope he didn't break his leg," Consort Yi said.

Consort De then stood up and said, "I'll go and see Eunuch Liang."

Consort Yi jumped and said, "Sister, you are the Empress, going to see a eunuch. If word gets out, it will cause gossip."

Consort De said, "Sister, you stay here. I'll go check on Eunuch Liang and then return to Yonghe Palace. Come back at noon tomorrow."