"Fucha has disobeyed the rules and shown disrespect to the Fujin. She is hereby confined to the Lan Courtyard to reflect on her actions. She will be released when she has come to her senses!" Yinzhen said in a deep voice as he walked outside, completely ignoring Fucha's grating laughter inside. After uttering these cold words, Yinzhen left this place he loathed without a second thought.

Yinzhen wasn't afraid of any rumors from Lady Fucha. After he said those things, there would be no more spies in Lady Fucha's courtyard; only his people would be there. Lady Fucha would never be able to say anything detrimental to Qingqing for the rest of her life!

Soon, news of Lady Fucha's confinement spread. Apart from Consort Yin and the Fujin, everyone in the inner courtyard was somewhat confused. Wasn't Lady Fucha recently very favored? Why was she confined to her quarters now that her leg was like this? They all asked their servants if they had misheard, and the answer they received was, of course, the same.

"Why is Lady Fucha under house arrest?" Lady Li couldn't understand it at all. She was still the one being favored by the emperor just yesterday, so why?

"They said she was disobeying the rules and disrespecting the First and Second Consorts, which is why she was confined to her quarters." Li Zhongde wasn't entirely clear on the matter, but he had a vague feeling that something was amiss. It seemed that Consort Fucha was becoming the most favored concubine in the harem. Logically, the master should have called the imperial physician to treat Consort Fucha's leg, but instead of calling the imperial physician, he confined her to her quarters? This just didn't make sense.

"Li Zhongde, don't you also feel something's wrong?" Madam Li looked at Li Zhongde, who had his head down. She had always relied on Li Zhongde because he had a good mind; he could always remind her of things she couldn't understand.

"This servant is not sure either." Li Zhongde was indeed unsure, and he wouldn't directly tell the princess something he was unsure about. But if the princess insisted on asking, he could explain himself if he was wrong, right?

"Tell me about it first," Madam Li said, as the whole affair was indeed strange.

"This matter is still uncertain. I said if it's wrong, Your Highness must forgive me." Li Zhongde gave himself some assurance first.

"Okay, go ahead and say it." Madam Li nodded. She wasn't angry about it. Li Zhongde had been with her for over ten years, and she knew what kind of person he was. She felt that Li Zhongde would only say something if he was 70 or 80% sure, otherwise he wouldn't say he was uncertain, he would only say he didn't know.

"This servant thinks that Princess Fucha might just be a target pushed out by Master, but this servant can't guess who Master wants to protect." Li Zhongde said what he was thinking. He actually had the answer in his heart for the last sentence, but he knew that if he said it, Princess would definitely be angry, so it was better not to say it, although Princess herself probably understood.

"A target?" Li Shi thought for a moment and understood. As for Li Zhongde's last sentence, she didn't believe it at all. If she could figure it out, how could Li Zhongde not? He was just afraid she'd get angry. She was indeed quite angry, but not as much as Li Zhongde imagined. A year had been enough time for her to think things through. Although she still felt jealous of the women who received the master's favor, she wasn't as impulsive as before.

"Alright, get out of here." After thinking it through, Madam Li looked at Li Zhongde, who was still kneeling on the ground, and chuckled, "This dog of a servant is so cunning."

"Yes, this servant will leave now." Li Zhongde looked at the princess who was not angry, and was both surprised and relieved. The princess finally did not need him to worry about her like this.

Yuhua Pavilion

Niohuru was the first to know that Fucha had been confined to her quarters, and also the most surprised. The Lan Courtyard was right next to hers, and every night the sounds from there would last for an hour or two. Although it was hard to hear clearly, there were definitely some noises. That's why she was so happy that Fucha's legs were crippled. But this sudden confinement left Niohuru bewildered. In her mind, being favored meant that the man held a place for her in his heart. Even if she fell out of favor, it wouldn't happen so quickly; there would at least be a transition period. But how could Fucha have fallen from heaven to hell overnight? Just because of those legs? That shouldn't be the case; the man didn't seem like such a heartless person.

The only person in the inner courtyard who didn't care about the gossip was Madam Song. No matter how much trouble was stirred up in the inner courtyard, she remained as still as a rock, without the slightest ripple. Just like now, even after learning that Madam Fucha had been confined to her quarters, Madam Song still showed no change in expression, focusing on her Buddhist prayer beads and devoting herself to Buddhism.

When Yin Qingyi heard the news, she almost slapped her thigh. Why didn't she watch this show? Sigh~ It's all because her three kids are too clingy. Yin Qingyi sighed as she held her daughter in her arms.

"What's with that expression, Master? Why are you still unhappy that Princess Fucha is under house arrest?" Chunlan couldn't help but ask, seeing Yin Qingyi sigh for the third time.

"Sigh~ I'm happy on one hand, but something's missing, so I'm not really happy." How could Yin Qingyi explain her desire to watch the play to Chunlan? She couldn't explain it clearly, so she could only say something like this, neither here nor there.

"...This servant is foolish and doesn't quite understand what you mean, mistress. Happiness is happiness, and unhappiness is unhappiness. I'm sorry, this servant can't figure it out." Chunlan was even more confused after hearing Yin Qingyi's words. She scratched her head, looking completely bewildered.

"You don't need to understand, just know that your master is feeling very conflicted right now." Yin Qingyi looked at Chunlan's wrinkled face and found it amusing.

“…Master just thinks I’m stupid.” Chunlan stamped her foot.

"Master really doesn't think you're stupid. We didn't understand what Master meant either." Qiuju chuckled. Chunlan still had such a childlike nature; it was all thanks to Master's protection. Qiuju was always grateful that this was the first master she had followed since entering the world. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't even know where she would be now. She might have died in that dry well, or perhaps she would be being scolded somewhere.

"Alright, go ahead and do your work. I was just saying it casually." Yin Qingyi looked at Chunlan with amusement. She had never changed Chunlan's personality because she liked it that way. Actually, she had thought about it when things were difficult at the beginning, but Chunlan soon became the emperor's favorite. Now that she was favored and could protect those around her, Yin Qingyi naturally stopped thinking about it.

"Greetings, Master!" Mingyue's voice rang out from the doorway.

Yin Qingyi looked outside and saw Yinzhen walking in quickly.

"What brings you here, Your Highness?" Yin Qingyi looked at Yinzhen as he entered, somewhat puzzled. Did he come over right after dealing with Fucha because he didn't want others to know that all of this was because of her?