Lin's smile froze for a moment, and the coldness in her eyes intensified. Suppressing her anger, she turned to Xi Linghao, her voice instantly becoming gentle: "Your Majesty, the Princess's safe return is truly a blessing for Xi Ling. However... Her Highness has been wandering abroad for several years, and must have suffered a lot. Why not let Her Highness rest well first, and then enjoy family time when she is in better spirits?" She attempted to temporarily isolate A Yuan.

“Mother is right,” A-Yuan interjected first, her smile bright. “Your subject is indeed a little tired. However, your subject misses Father very much, and also misses the old palace. I wonder if my former ‘Qiwu Palace’ is still empty? Your subject would like to live there, closer to Father’s bedchamber, so that I can pay my respects to him from time to time!” She specifically mentioned “Qiwu Palace,” which was her birth mother’s former palace, the closest to Xi Linghao’s bedchamber, its status self-evident.

Lin's face instantly turned extremely ugly. "Qiwu Palace" had been vacant for a long time, and she had tried several times to repurpose it or let her own child stay there, but Xi Linghao had refused with various excuses. Now, A Yuan had returned and specifically requested to stay there; her intentions were self-evident!

Upon hearing this, Xi Linghao's eyes revealed deep nostalgia and relief, and he immediately agreed: "Good! Qiwu Palace has always been reserved for you! Someone! Go and clean and tidy it up immediately. All supplies should be in accordance with the highest standards for the Eldest Princess! Prince Kang," he turned to Xiao Chengkang, "arrange for it to be in 'Tingzhu Garden' next to Qiwu Palace, which is closer to Yuan'er and more convenient."

"Thank you, Father (Your Majesty)!" A-Yuan and Xiao Chengkang said in unison.

Standing to the side, Lin watched Xi Linghao's undisguised favoritism and arrangements for A Yuan, watched A Yuan's seemingly docile but actually unyielding attitude, and watched the Prince Jing, who was like a shadow but made her feel extremely dangerous. Her hands, hidden in the wide sleeves of her phoenix robe, dug her nails deep into her palms.

Qiwu Palace was quickly cleaned up. Unexpectedly, after moving into the palace, the ever-present assassination attempts mysteriously disappeared.

Within the palace walls, however, a more perilous battlefield emerged—silent infighting, omnipresent surveillance, treacherous food and drink, and the overt and covert provocations and tests from Empress Lin.

However, A-Yuan is no longer the timid girl she once was.

She swiftly reformed Qiwu Palace, expelling or subduing the spies planted by the Lin family. Every day without fail, she paid her respects to Xi Linghao, showing concern for his well-being and personally serving him nourishing medicinal meals specially prepared by Xiao Chengkang. Her filial piety was impeccable, winning Xi Linghao's ever-growing affection and trust.

Nighttime is when she and Xiao Chengkang will fight back.

On a dark and windy night, Empress Lin's most beloved, priceless, pure white Persian cat suddenly went mad in the middle of the night, howling shrilly. It tore all the precious silk curtains in her bedchamber to shreds and even "accidentally" knocked over her most cherished dressing mirror, carved from a single piece of amethyst. The sound of the mirror shattering was particularly jarring in the silent depths of the palace.

The imperial physician examined the cat repeatedly, but could only conclude that it had been frightened and could not find any traces of human intervention.

Another night.

When Empress Lin got up to do her makeup in the morning, she opened her most beloved rouge box, which was inlaid with pigeon blood rubies. The rouge inside, which should have been delicate and bright red, had turned into a sticky and disgusting dark green, and it also emitted an indescribable fishy smell, which made her gag on the spot.

The Imperial Household Department investigated all those involved and could only conclude that the problem was "poor storage, which caused the spices to spoil."

One more night.

Empress Lin "accidentally" met Xi Linghao in the Imperial Garden. Just as she was about to show her tenderness, her carefully drawn eyebrows mysteriously smudged when she smiled, turning into two comical ink stains. This caused the palace servants to lower their heads and suppress their laughter, and Xi Linghao couldn't help but chuckle as well.

Empress Lin was filled with shame and indignation. She went back and thoroughly investigated all the rouge and powder, even beating two palace maids responsible for makeup to death, but she still couldn't find out what had been done to her eyebrows.

One after another, seemingly insignificant little accidents, like maggots clinging to the bone, precisely struck at Empress Lin's most cherished reputation, favor, and authority. Each one enraged her, making her paranoid and suspicious, yet she couldn't find any fault with them, so she could only vent her anger on the palace servants, causing panic throughout Kunning Palace.

Inside Qiwu Palace, A-Yuan, listening to the reports from her undercover agents about the chaos in Kunning Palace, leaned against the window, laughing uncontrollably. Xiao Chengkang sat under the lamp, slowly polishing several specially made silver needles, their tips gleaming a faint blue light in the candlelight. He looked up at A-Yuan's rare display of cunning and delight, a faint smile appearing in his eyes as well.

"Are you satisfied with the addition of the 'water-soluble ink' to the eyebrow pencil?" he asked calmly.

A-Yuan turned around, her eyes sparkling like a little fox who had just stolen some cream: "I'm so satisfied! Kang Kang, you're a treasure!" She leaned closer, looking curiously at the delicate "trinkets" in his hands, "Next time... what should we play?"

Xiao Chengkang carefully put away the silver needles, a slight smile playing on his lips: "No rush. Let her 'enjoy' a few days of living in fear first."

The night was deep in the palace, and the intrigue and counterattacks had only just begun.