The emperor's brow furrowed, clearly displeased.

"Why is there a fire? Today is the seventh day after her mother's death. She's probably burning paper money for her mother."

A shrewd glint flashed in Gu Jiangru's eyes as she followed the emperor, saying behind him:

"How could that be, Your Majesty? My sister has always been the most law-abiding. Knowing that burning paper money is forbidden in the palace, she would never do such a thing."

The emperor walked very fast, as if he were preparing to catch them in the act.

"Hmph, that was true before, but now... who knows!" He stared intently at the faint glow of the fire inside the room, his anger rising to the top of his head.

Gu Jiangru feigned concern and quickly stepped ahead of the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, if my sister truly violates palace rules by burning paper money for the deceased today, please consider the loss of her stepmother and allow me to persuade her."

Having said that, as if she were certain that Gu Jiangli was burning paper money inside the house, she pushed open the door and said:

"Sister, burning paper money in the palace is taboo. Please don't make the same mistake again..."

But the moment she actually pushed open the door, she was dumbfounded.

The brazier for burning paper money and the neatly arranged candlesticks that she had imagined were nowhere to be found!

There was no paper money or any sign of burning paper.

All that could be seen was the sky ablaze with fire; flames were everywhere—on the roof beams, in the window curtains!

She almost instinctively stepped out of the room, taking several steps back.

Gu Jiangru's lips trembled: "Really...really a fire?"

How could that be?

Wasn't she here with the emperor to catch the guilty?

Gu Jiangru turned around and said anxiously, "Your Majesty! Let's put out the fire first! My sister hasn't left the house for several days. I don't know if she's still inside. We must save her life first!"

Upon seeing the fire, the eunuchs behind the emperor immediately understood what was happening and rushed to fetch water to put it out.

Gu Jiangru said with a mournful face, "Your Majesty, today my sister burned paper money for our mother in the palace, causing such a big fire. Even if it was wrong, it must have been because my sister was so grief-stricken at losing our mother that she did such a wrong thing. Please, Your Majesty, do not blame my sister."

These words not only stated that Gu Jiangli was the cause of the fire, but also vividly demonstrated Gu Jiangru's kind and considerate personality.

The emperor helped her up, his expression deep and his voice filled with anger.

"If it was indeed Consort Gu who caused the fire by burning paper money, I will certainly not let her off easily!"

Gu Jiangru forcefully suppressed the corners of her mouth that were trying so hard to turn up, and put on a show of pleading for her sister, "Your Majesty, please spare my sister for my sake."

Just as the emperor was about to say something, a figure suddenly ran over from a distance.

Gu Jiangli, looking flustered, made her way through the crowd of eunuchs.

"What happened? What happened? Why is there such a big fire all of a sudden?"

Gu Jiangli ran over to the Emperor and Gu Jiangru while asking questions.

She didn't even bow to the emperor, but instead looked around the room she was staying in with a panic.

The emperor's anger vanished the moment he saw her.

Gu Jiangru stared at her in utter shock.

"Sister, how...how did you get in from outside?"

Gu Jiangli sneered inwardly.

Of course, they climbed out the window and followed the path to the main entrance.

Luckily, she was agile and slender, otherwise she might not have been able to climb out of that window!

Gu Jiangli touched his chest and calmed himself down.

"I was already outside, so why are you saying that, sister? Shouldn't I be inside the house engulfed in flames?"

Gu Jiangru waved her hands repeatedly, shaking her head guiltily, "Of course not, how could my sister think that way?"

Gu Jiangru stood up from the ground with a grim expression, and then took Gu Jiangli's hand and said:

"Seeing that her older sister was alright, the younger sister was very happy. At first, she thought that her older sister missed her stepmother too much and was burning paper money for her on the seventh day after her death.

"Putting aside the fact that this is something strictly forbidden in the palace, it would be terrible if the fire got too big and caused a fire. But thankfully, sister, you weren't inside the house, so it's good that you're alright."

After saying that, she even pretended to wipe away tears from the corners of her eyes, looking extremely sincere.

But in reality, every word she said was meant to lead the emperor to believe that the fire was caused by Gu Jiangli.

If it were the original owner of this body, she probably would have fallen for her trick, but Gu Jiangli wouldn't.

She also put on a show of sisterly affection, saying, "With my sister's concern, how could anything happen to me? Today is indeed the seventh day after my mother's death, but I still understand the rules of the palace and will not do anything that violates them."

"As for the fire in this house..." She paused slightly, then sighed, "Perhaps it's because I haven't had a good appetite lately. I felt extremely tightness in my chest before I finished my dinner last night, so I went out for a walk to clear my head."

"I'm afraid the food attracted the rats, which knocked over the candlesticks. I didn't expect the rats to come at such a good time; as soon as they knocked over the candlesticks, my sister and His Majesty rushed over."

Her words were pointed, and Gu Jiangru's smile became somewhat stiff.

Gu Jiangli withdrew his hand and turned to the emperor, saying:

"His Majesty arrived in time, so the fire should not spread to other palaces."

Gu Jiangli started the fire herself; she knew what she was doing.

The fire only looked scary; in reality, the ignition points were relatively scattered, and there weren't many flammable materials in her house, so it wouldn't have ignited into a large fire.

The emperor glanced at her sideways. In his memory, Consort Gu was a woman who was rigid and rarely spoke, but today, she was obviously talking too much.

"You mean the fire in your house was caused by an accident, not by you burning paper money?"

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