Wenting's journey with Consort Wan was incredibly smooth.

But she was getting more and more flustered. Even though nothing had gone wrong along the way, she still felt uneasy. Looking at the familiar courtyard in the distance, she forced down her anxiety and said to Qingyin behind her, "Your Majesty, Princess Cuiyue is inside."

"I have just angered the princess, so I will not go in. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Qingyin smiled gently: "It's alright, I can go in alone."

Following Wenting's words, Qingyin entered the house and fell into a brief silence upon hearing the sound of the door being immediately locked. Sigh, this year's palace intrigue is too rushed. She hadn't even gone far yet, and the door was locked so quickly. What if she reacted quickly and stopped the person from closing the door?

After reprimanding the little palace maid, Qingyin casually looked at the room specially prepared for her. The room was spacious and clean, and decorated with very elegant decorations. It was an ethereal design, clearly inspired by her Qiming Palace. Qingyin admired her design for a moment, then walked into the inner room. Layers of thin, transparent white gauze hung outside, blocking a blurry black figure.

Qingyin curiously walked into the room, and wow! A handsome man with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist was lying on the bed with a flushed face, curled up in a disheveled manner, clearly under the influence of some kind of drug.

Looking at the familiar face she had glimpsed just half an hour ago, Qingyin was stunned. They sent her a handsome guy?!

Upon hearing the noise, Prince Chen's reason, which had been struggling against the drugs, gradually began to fade. He vaguely raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Qingyin, at her blurry yet still incredibly beautiful figure. His heart pounded violently...

As his reason began to crumble, he couldn't help but stand up and grasp Qingyin's slender white wrist.

With a loud crash, a solid, heavy stool slammed down on the man's neck, and he fell to the ground with a thud. The hand on Qingyin's wrist also disappeared.

Qingyin looked at Meng Guqing, who had suddenly appeared, with surprise in her eyes.

Meng Guqing thought Qingyin was scared, so he explained, "Don't be afraid, she wasn't killed."

Qingyin: "..."

As he spoke, Meng Guqing casually grabbed a thin sheet from the bed and tied it tightly around Prince Chen's body in a knot, making sure he couldn't move. He only stopped when he had stuffed the man into a cabinet.

Having done all this, Meng Guqing then decided to comfort the beautiful woman who had been tricked.

"Are you alright, Consort Wan? Are you injured anywhere?"

Qingyin: "No, my sister arrived just in time. Are you just going to leave this here like that?"

Meng Guqing thought Qingyin didn't know his identity, so he explained, "This person is Prince Chen, the Emperor's youngest brother. Judging from his complexion, he must have been drugged. It wasn't intentional. Someone must have deliberately plotted against you and him. To avoid damaging your reputation, Wanwan, I'll hide him first and find someone to rescue her later."

Sure enough, as soon as Meng Guqing finished speaking, a number of people came looking for him.

"Your Majesty, Consort Wan has been gone for so long. A palace maid just saw her go here, which should be this room."

"Alright, you can stay here. I'll go in by myself."

A familiar voice came from outside, but the tone was completely different from the one in front of Qingyin. It was cold and ruthless. Upon hearing the female voice outside, she dared not say anything and fell silent.

Consort An, who had specially led the Emperor out, reluctantly stopped outside, comforting herself that it was alright if she couldn't go in. Anyway, she had brought the Emperor with her, and if he went in and saw that scene, he wouldn't be angry with her.

As her voice faded, the door, which had been forcibly opened twice, finally broke down and creaked to one side, allowing Fu Lin to walk in.

Inside the room, the Empress held Qingyin's hand and looked at the Emperor who had appeared: "What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

...

After waiting for a long time without the Emperor coming out or hearing any movement inside, Consort An gritted her teeth, staring at the doorway with a mixture of panic and excitement, hoping for the Emperor and Consort Wan to appear.

However, the scene that appeared was not what she wanted. The Emperor was holding the hand of his mortal enemy, who should have been scolded and beaten, with a concerned expression. The mortal enemy, Consort Wan, was smiling gently and leaning against the Emperor as if she had no bones. There was also an Empress who shouldn't have been there. Then, after a few minutes, the wild man she had planned to see did not appear at the door.

An was furious. Pig knew her plan had failed. She glared angrily at Tao Yue, who was obediently bowing her head beside her. In her anger and cover-up, Tao Yue didn't notice the cold, murderous gazes that the Emperor and Empress were casting at her.

Qingyin and Fulin returned to the banquet. When they saw the Emperor, Qingyin and Meng Guqing said that they suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in their stomachs, so they found a courtyard to rest for a while. The Empress happened to meet them on the way, so they went together.

Fu Lin didn't believe it, of course he didn't. He wasn't stupid. The reason he came was because he saw that Qingyin had been gone for a long time and hadn't returned yet. Then An Yingding suddenly appeared in front of him. He guessed that something must have happened to Wanwan. If he hadn't seen Wanwan standing in front of him completely unharmed, he would have already killed that woman.

Back at the banquet, Meng Guqing avoided the Emperor's gaze and gave Qingyin a comforting look. In the courtyard, following the Empress's instructions, Prince Chen, who had been knocked unconscious, was also painstakingly taken to the Imperial Hospital for treatment by the Empress's men.

Taking advantage of the Empress's extensive experience in tying sheep in Mongolia in previous years, it took the imperial physicians half a day to untie the rope and successfully detoxify the prince.

The imperial physicians in the palace were all extremely intelligent people; they knew what to say and what not to say. When Prince Chen woke up, they told him what they already knew, and they didn't say anything else, such as that the prince had been saved by the empress's people...

As Prince Chen regained consciousness, he recalled the stunningly beautiful face he had seen while he was half-awake. He wondered if he had pinched her too hard and if she was hurt. Just the thought made his heart pound as if it would burst out of his chest. Prince Chen's face turned bright red, but when he thought of her identity, his face turned deathly pale.

The banquet ended quickly without any further complications.

At night, Fu Lin personally escorted Qing Yin back to Qiming Palace. As Qing Yin's breathing gradually calmed down, Fu Lin, who was holding her, opened his eyes in the darkness, turned over one side of the quilt, and got up quietly.

In the brightly lit side courtyard, Fu Lin's face flickered in and out of focus as he listened to the truth revealed by Wu Liangfu. His magnetic voice had lost all warmth.

“When Consort An died of illness, those implicated were exterminated along with their entire families, and the An family was no longer needed.”

Wu Liangfu nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty." His round face was devoid of any smile, filled with indifference. As the chief eunuch by His Majesty's side, how could he be a simple good person? An Shi was truly audacious, daring to set her sights on Consort Wan.

You reap what you sow. Since you dared to do it, this person will have to experience our methods.