"Zhao'er, tell me, how could you be so foolish? What would your mother do if you were gone?"

Seeing that she was about to be overwhelmed by her mother's tears, Qingyin helplessly reached out to wipe them away for her.

Fortunately, Consort Zheng seemed to notice the worry in her daughter's eyes. She simply took out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes and said, "Zhao'er, if you don't want to, your mother will try to persuade your father again. Once he calms down, he will definitely not let you go, since he loves you so much."

Consort Zheng was clearly flustered as she tried to comfort her daughter. Perhaps because she had almost lost her only daughter, this wise mother had lost some of her intelligence and only wanted to comfort her daughter.

Qingyin gently tugged at Consort Zheng's sleeve and shook her head slightly.

Consort Zheng, who had been lost in her fantasies, came to her senses. Looking at her daughter, who seemed to be rejecting her, Consort Zheng bit her lip and said, "Zhao'er, do you not want me to go to your father, the Emperor?"

Qingyin nodded, her eyes showing some concern.

This made Consort Zheng unable to hold back her tears any longer, and she grabbed Qingyin's small hand again, "My poor Zhao'er, how can you be so loving, waaaah..."

Qingyin looked helplessly at Consort Zheng, who was crying again.

Fortunately, other imperial concubines came to visit later. Consort Zheng, being proud, was unwilling to show her vulnerability in front of her old rivals. She stopped crying, tidied herself up, and apart from her eyes being a little red, there was nothing else noticeable.

The other concubines, whether out of curiosity or other scheming, glanced at the weak Qingyin a few times, but fearing to disturb their daughter's rest, Consort Zheng only allowed people to see Qingyin from afar before sending them to a side courtyard to deal with her.

Qingyin also secretly added beauty pills and body-strengthening pills to a bowl of medicine brought by a palace maid and drank it.

Hearing the faint sounds coming from next door, Qingyin also felt a little sleepy and fell asleep as well.

After finishing her evasive conversation, Consort Zheng saw this scene: her pale and weak daughter lay on the bed with her eyes closed, her breathing barely perceptible. Consort Zheng couldn't help but sit down and gently rub her daughter's head before quietly leaving.

In the palace, the news of the eldest princess's suicide by hanging spread like wildfire. Although Emperor Xuanwu initially tried to suppress the news, too many people had witnessed it, and the various masters and mistresses in the palace eventually learned of it.

Someone in the Eastern Palace revealed this news to Crown Prince Aisin Gioro Xuanze.

The handsome and refined Crown Prince chuckled lightly, as if he were treating the news as a joke. He looked up at the handsome man with clear eyes sitting opposite him and said with a smile, "Ah Huai, do you think my little sister's actions were partly due to you?"

The crown prince chuckled and teased the man opposite him, his tone showing no concern whatsoever for his sister.

The man opposite him remained unmoved by the Crown Prince's direct teasing; his eyes remained clear and upright, though his handsome eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if he could not accept the meaning behind the Crown Prince's words.

"Your Highness, please don't flatter me. The Princess is of noble birth and would never work for me."

The man's implication was that it had nothing to do with him.

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince merely narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Ah Huai is truly heartless. My elder sister of mine ran around for you those past few days, sending you countless gifts, yet Ah Huai only offered a dismissive 'worlds apart.' I should summon all the young ladies of the capital to see your face and see who would dare to beg and cry to marry you."

Lin Huai remained calm and sat opposite the Crown Prince. As the eldest son of the Left Chancellor who had served two dynasties, he had been the Crown Prince's study companion since childhood. They grew up together and had a deep bond. They were not only ruler and subject, but also good friends.

Lin Huai was very familiar with the Crown Prince's quirky sense of humor, his fondness for gossiping about trivial matters. Although Lin Huai didn't understand the Crown Prince's hobby, he was used to the Crown Prince's teasing, and as long as he brushed it off with a blank expression as before, the Crown Prince would naturally let it go because he had no reaction.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the Crown Prince found it uninteresting to start gossip about his friends, so he stopped on his own.

After bidding farewell to the Crown Prince, Lin Huai remained unmoved as he sat back in the carriage. Even though he had been involved in the marriage of the princess, he felt no remorse whatsoever.

As politicians, they only care about their own interests.

When Qingyin woke up again in Huayun Palace, she found a young palace maid, about twelve or thirteen years old, carefully applying medicine to her neck by the bedside.

The little girl, still in school in modern times, stared intently at the grotesquely shaped neck, carefully applying medicine to the princess bit by bit.

But before long, the little girl seemed to realize that the master of this body had woken up, and she broke out in a cold sweat. She squinted, not daring to look directly at the legendary princess who was known for punishing servants and maids. Her gaze was fixed on the princess's chest and jaw. At this moment, she saw that the princess's light pink lips were pursed, and a few strands of soft black hair hung down from her temples.

This inexplicably adds a touch of frail beauty to the legendary, extremely unruly princess.

"Your Highness, I didn't mean to. I came to change your dressing," the maid explained incoherently.

Qingyin lowered her eyes and gently sized up the palace maid who was almost scared out of her wits. Her pink lips were slightly pursed. She didn't look scary this time either, so why was this little palace maid so frightened?

Qingyin sighed inwardly, her slender arm lifting slightly, her white nightgown slipping down to reveal half of her fair, jade-like skin, exuding an inexplicable allure.

Qingyin gently pulled the little palace maid's hand towards her neck, and pointed slightly with her other hand.

The young palace maid, Ah Hua, seemed to understand something and suddenly calmed down. She knew that the princess's neck was injured and she couldn't speak for the time being. She asked hesitantly, "Your Highness, should I continue applying the medicine?"

Qingyin nodded, and the little palace maid, having learned of her master's wishes, visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

She continued to apply the medicine to Qingyin with meticulous care and gentleness. However, while applying the medicine, Ahua vaguely felt that the princess was not as tyrannical and vicious as rumored. Curious, she quietly turned her head and raised her head.

She caught a glimpse of the legendary Princess and couldn't help but pause in surprise.

The woman beside him was tall and slender, with thick, black hair that was either messy or straight and draped over her body. Her small face was small and delicate, with features so soft they were flawless. Her eyebrows, neither too thick nor too thin, were perfectly suited to her. Her exquisitely shaped eyes were tightly closed, revealing only her curled and thick eyelashes. She had a delicate, upturned nose, and her pink lips were pitifully pale and lacked vitality. It was clear at a glance that she was still ill.

To the young palace maid, the girl with the white bandage around her neck seemed to possess an indescribable charm, making her steal glance at her again and again, as if her heart had been captivated.

Ahua couldn't express her feelings. In the end, with a strange reluctance in her heart, she gently bandaged the Princess's wounds and finished the job before lightly retreating.