Zhang Ting was both heartbroken and furious; her fingernails dug deep into her flesh, yet she felt no pain whatsoever.

It's all that bitch Xu Yuehuai's fault. One day she'll make her pay.

Zhang Ting now truly hated Xu Yuehuai. She even secretly vowed that she would rather shorten her lifespan by thirty years as long as it could make that bitch Xu Yuehuai suffer.

As she walked towards Tianxiang Tower, she composed herself. Now that Xu Yuehuai and the others suspected her, it wasn't a good idea to act directly. It seemed that her only option now was to go find that Aunt Meng.

A calculating glint flashed in Zhang Ting's eyes as she decided to join forces with Aunt Meng to plot against Xu Yuehuai.

Thinking of this, she felt extremely pleased, and even sneered, as if she had already made Xu Yuehuai pay the price.

Zhang Ting quickened her pace and arrived at Tianxiang Tower. After looking around and seeing that no one was there, she pushed open Aunt Meng's door and slipped inside.

"Huh?" Zhou Wan was startled by Zhang Ting's sudden entrance. "What are you doing here?"

Aunt Meng's heart skipped a beat when she saw Zhang Ting. She knew Zhang Ting must have something to ask her, but she thought Zhang Ting was being incredibly stupid.

She glanced at Zhou Wan, then feigned surprise: "Who are you?"

When Zhang Ting opened the door and came in, she was genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected Zhou Wan to be talking to Aunt Meng here.

"Ouch!" Zhang Ting immediately pretended to be startled, jumped in surprise, then quickly opened the door, went out, looked around, and came back in.

Thinking of this, Aunt Meng rolled her eyes at her, then asked with feigned confusion, "Miss, is there something you need?"

As she spoke, she winked at Zhang Ting.

"I'm so sorry, I went to the wrong place. You guys talk, you guys talk." Zhang Ting apologized as she walked out and closed the door behind her.

After Zhang Ting left, she went back to her room while cursing Zhou Wan in her heart. Sure enough, everyone around Xu Yuehuai was just as annoying as her.

Fortunately, she was quick-witted and managed to avert danger in time, otherwise she would have been exposed.

Zhang Ting was unaware that Zhou Wan had already begun to suspect her.

"Zhou Wan, who was that just now? I think it was someone Manager Xu brought back a few days ago, but I don't know their name and we haven't had any dealings." Seeing Zhang Ting leave, Aunt Meng was afraid that Zhou Wan would suspect her, so she quickly asked.

Zhou Wan was already somewhat suspicious of Zhang Ting. Although Zhang Ting said she had gone to the wrong room, she had a feeling that Zhang Ting was lying.

"Oh, oh." Zhou Wan took note and replied to Aunt Meng, "That's Zhang Ting. She's from the Kingdom of Mingyue and is currently staying at our Tianxiang Tower."

“I see. But the people from the Dark Moon Kingdom are no good. Zhou Wan, you should advise Manager Xu to be careful.” After thinking for a moment, Aunt Meng had no choice but to speak up in order to completely clear herself of suspicion.

Both of them were somewhat distracted at this moment. Zhou Wan wanted to talk to Xu Yuehuai about Zhang Ting, while Aunt Meng was also wondering what Zhang Ting wanted to talk to her about.

"Aunt Meng, you can rest now. I have nothing else to do, so I'll be leaving now." Zhou Wan said a few polite words and then took her leave.

Zhou Wan had just stepped out the door when she rushed to Xu Yuehuai's room, feeling that there was a secret involved.

"Ah Yue." Zhou Wan called out to Xu Yuehuai as she pushed open the door and went inside.

"What's wrong?" Xu Yuehuai knew something must have happened when he saw Zhou Wan rushing over.

At that moment, she was still feeling down because of what had just happened and couldn't muster any interest.

"I was just chatting with Aunt Meng when Zhang Ting suddenly pushed the door open and walked in." Zhou Wan was afraid that things might get serious, and she didn't care about Xu Yuehuai's bad expression, so she immediately spoke up.

Xu Yuehua frowned upon hearing this, completely forgetting what had just happened.

Zhou Wan continued, "When she saw me there, she made an excuse that she had gone into the wrong room. But after she left, Aunt Meng comforted her."

"I felt something was off, so I came looking for you as soon as possible." As she spoke, the worry on her face became more and more obvious.

After listening, Xu Yuehuai frowned immediately: "Zhou Wan, do you suspect there might be something going on between the two of them?"

“Hmm…” Zhou Wan understood what Xu Yuehuai meant, and she thought so too. “I had already suspected Aunt Meng’s background before, but since she had been behaving herself since she came to Tianxiang Tower, I didn’t suspect anything anymore. But her behavior today is really strange. Yuehuai, do you think that the two of them might be backed by the same person?”

Xu Yuehuai frowned, having no idea what the connection was between the two things.

"It seems I need to keep a close eye on Zhang Ting and Aunt Meng." She became suspicious of their relationship and reminded Zhou Wan, "Zhou Wan, since you're staying at Tianxiang Tower these days, you must be extra careful. It would be best to observe Aunt Meng's movements every day; you might discover something."

"Don't worry, Yue," Zhou Wan quickly agreed.

...

While Tianxianglou was on tenterhooks, Ah Qi caused another mischief.

Since the incident involving Consort Jia, no useful clues have been found. The Emperor can only suspect the Empress of incompetence in her supervision, and thus he has neglected her.

Because of what happened with the Ninth Princess, he always felt that he owed Consort Min a debt, so he kept coming here.

But unexpectedly, this gave Ah Qi an opportunity.

Ah Qi personally served Consort Min a bite of food and said, "Mother Min, I remember your birthday is coming soon. The Empress is currently out of favor. If you can persuade Father to give you a grand birthday celebration, perhaps it will make those people realize your current status. Then no one will dare to lay a hand on you, let alone target Ninth Sister."

It must be said that he knew how to manipulate Consort Min's mind; with just a few words, he had her heart moved.

As long as the Ninth Princess is alright, she is willing to do anything.

Unexpectedly, the Ninth Princess refused.

"What do you mean by this? You're always urging my mother to do this and that. Don't forget, she's my mother. The Empress is your mother!" She put her hands on her hips and started cursing.

Ah Qi wasn't angry at all; instead, she became even more pitiful: "Ninth Sister, I'm doing this all for your own good."

"I won't listen!" the Ninth Princess said, even throwing a teacup.

However, it didn't hit Ah Qi, but instead hit Jin Shang, who had just entered the room.

The Emperor frowned: "What's going on?"

Consort Min was afraid that he would be angry, so she quickly went over to comfort him. Unexpectedly, Aqi's small body pulled the Ninth Princess to her side.

"Father, I was teaching Ninth Sister the proper way to play the pitch-pot game, but I accidentally dropped the teacup. If you are angry, please punish me." He cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, taking all the blame upon himself.