From the moment Madam Yin stepped into the study, her jealousy and envy towards Lanqin had never been so intense. Only after seeing this room could one understand how much the Fourth Prince cared for Lanqin. How could there be such a vast difference between two women who were chosen for the imperial concubines in the same year and brought into the Fourth Prince's mansion at the same time?

Madam Yin thought bitterly, looking at the abundance of huanghuali wood, the calligraphy and paintings by famous people hanging everywhere on the walls, and the various finely bound books on the bookshelves. Although Madam Yin had no talent or interest in reading or painting, seeing these things, she knew that Fourth Master's feelings for Lanqin were unparalleled.

Lanqin turned around and naturally saw the envy and jealousy in Madam Yin's eyes, but she didn't care: In the inner quarters, all these women belonged to one man. Apart from jealousy, rejection, envy, and hatred, it was already difficult for these women to be as insightful and detached as Madam Song.

Lanqin knew that one day, she might have no allies left, but she would have the Fourth Prince's favor all to her name.

"Well, can we begin now?" Lanqin walked over to the large rosewood desk, placed the nail guards on it, and slowly ran them across the desk, making a slight sizzling sound.

"Consort, you misunderstand. I only want to tell you that you cannot defeat the First Lady. Even if I do as you wish and turn against the First Lady, I'm afraid the final result will still be a quiet death at Zhanghua Terrace. In this way, the Consort will be the biggest beneficiary. If the First Lady falls, I will also be eliminated. What a skill!" Lady Yin seemed to have reached her limit, her eyes radiating a fierce and hateful light.

Lanqin frowned, looking at this woman who was not very familiar to her, or even a stranger. Her beautiful face now revealed her resentment and jealousy, making her look extremely ugly.

"Yin, you shouldn't say these words to me, your concubine. Your fate is the result of your own actions, you can't blame anyone else. People must take responsibility for their own deeds, not blame others for their actions. I have no grudge against you, not even any connection with you. If you are in this state today, it is only because of your own resentment. If you are willing to confess truthfully to me now, perhaps I can save your life. If you continue to be stubborn, I'm afraid you will be used as a tool again." Lanqin took a few steps back and leaned against the rosewood chair behind her.

Yin's originally beautiful face suddenly changed color, and she revealed a strange smile, staring intently at Lanqin. She knew that now, she couldn't escape the consequences of her clever trick of adding ginseng slices to the Third Prince's medicine, which was detrimental to his condition. Those maids certainly wouldn't survive the punishment. Although only Ye Ying knew, could she endure it?

"What are you going to do?" Lanqin felt goosebumps rising on her hands, all because of Yin's smile, which was less than a cry.

"Don't worry, Consort, I wouldn't dare do anything to you, especially since everyone outside is your servant. I was just wondering what it would be like if you could really defeat the Princess. I'll take my leave now." Madam Yin suppressed the strange smile on her face, curtsied, and turned to leave.

Lanqin felt as if her heart had suddenly skipped a few beats. She pondered Yin's words carefully, feeling that the strange smile seemed to be hinting at something.

Lanqin kept Yin's last words in mind, so she asked Nianxue to instruct her to take good care of the Third Prince and not let anyone get close. She planned to entrust the whole matter to someone else once the Fourth Prince and his wife returned the next day. Fortunately, the Third Prince was out of danger.

Originally, it was the second day of the Lunar New Year, and Lanqin had planned to take the children back to her parents' home for a visit. But now, apart from hiding at home, she couldn't do anything at all.

"Nianxue, send Chen Shou out to return the New Year's gifts for Mother and Father. We promised to go back and see them, but now we're not going back. I'm afraid Mother will worry." Lanqin stood in front of the door, watching the snow begin to fall sparsely again outside.

"Master, don't worry. After the master returns and investigates the matter, you can still go back to see Master and Madam one day." Nianxue draped a purple cotton cloak with gold flecks over Lanqin's shoulders.

“This matter is probably not as easy as you think. If Ye Ying refuses to speak, there will be no direct evidence to prove that Yin Shi did it. Also, how exactly the lily of the valley entered the Third Prince's body is still a mystery. I'm worried that this time it will be like last time.”

Nianxue didn't know how to persuade him, so she could only say, "Anyway, this matter has nothing to do with you, Master. You have no choice but to find out the truth."

Lanqin looked back at the quartz clock and said, "Wake the two little ones up. If they sleep too long, they won't sleep well at night."

After returning to her room, Madam Yin locked herself in her inner chamber. No matter how much Yuhen and Yulu knocked on the door, she refused to open it, saying only that she wanted to sleep.

My Ladyship, my Ladyship, you must find a way to save me! And by the way, lily of the valley powder—how did it get on the Third Prince? I must find out, I must find out, otherwise…

When Madam Yin remembered the pillow that had been swapped out from the Third Prince's room, she quickly stood up, ran to the cabinet, pulled open the cabinet door, and reached inside to rummage around.

Madam Yin took out the pillow, held it under her nose and smelled it, and faintly detected a strange odor.

"It's in this pillow!" Lady Yin exclaimed joyfully to herself. She hugged the pillow tightly, as if grasping at her last straw. With this pillow, Lady Yin held the Fujin's lifeline firmly in her grasp. This time, this time she absolutely could not be the Fujin's pawn again.

"Sister, are you inside?" Suddenly, Wu's voice came from outside the door.

Sister Wu!!

Madam Yin stared blankly at the two doors, then at the pillow in her arms. After thinking for a moment, she immediately hid the pillow under her blanket.

"Sister, I'm sleepy and want to sleep for a while. I'll come back to talk to you after I've rested." Madam Yin tried her best to calm her excited emotions and said to the voice outside the house.

"Alright, come sit in my room again after you've rested." Seeing that she couldn't get him to come, Madam Wu had no choice but to give up.

"Although you are only here temporarily to serve, you must take good care of Sister Yin. Look, it's so cold in the room, why isn't there a brazier?" Wu Shi's voice reprimanding the maids came from outside again.

Upon hearing this, Madam Yin remained unmoved, simply sitting motionless on the bed, unfazed even though the brazier in the room had long since gone out.