Although late autumn is chilly, at noon the sun shines brightly in the sky, and thousands of golden rays slant down, falling on the hundred-foot-high tower and reflecting a brilliant crimson light.

In front of the gate tower was an open space, which was the training ground for the Imperial Guards. When Li Qingchen alighted from his sedan chair in front of the Zian Gate and was about to transfer to his own carriage to leave the palace, he caught a glimpse of Zuo Huan, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, leading several groups of men in a martial arts drill not far away.

Li Qingchen inexplicably curled the corners of his lips into a smile, then flicked the hem of his sleeve, revealing a golden fruit that fell perfectly into his palm.

He casually raised his hand to adjust the jade crown on his head, and the golden fruit flicked out from between his fingers without anyone noticing, hitting a guard's elbow!

The guard was practicing swinging his spear. The spear was spinning smoothly and steadily above his head with the strength of his wrists. However, his elbow was suddenly struck, causing him to lose his balance. The spear was suddenly flung away in a certain direction!

The guard initially showed only surprise, but when he saw who was standing in the direction the spear had been flung, he was immediately ashamed and his legs trembled!

"Young Prince Li..."

Because Li Qingchen frequently moved around the palace, most of the palace guards recognized him. This guard immediately recognized the man standing not far away as Prince Xiaoqiaochuan, Li Qingchen. However, he missed his target, and the spear was already heading straight for Li Qingchen. He frantically called out to warn him, but his voice was filled with despair.

Zuo Huan, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard who was standing alone to one side, noticed the situation when he heard the sound. When he looked over, he saw the spear approaching Xiao Qiaochuan Wang. He was startled and his eyes widened like copper bells!

However, at the critical moment, nothing can undo the damage.

Fortunately, the spear had eyes and grazed Li Qingchen's right shoulder without injuring him. However, this result did not reassure Zuo Huan and the young guard who had missed, because the spear eventually pierced through Li Qingchen's carriage and became lodged diagonally in the wall panel.

Anyone who saw this scene would think it was a premeditated assassination attempt on the Prince of Qiaochuan!

As the spear pierced the carriage wall, the young guard's legs buckled and he knelt on the ground. Zuo Huan was not as spineless as him, but he frowned and sweated profusely, intending to step forward to apologize and explain.

However, Li Qingchen glanced back at his carriage, pierced by a spear, his expression calm, as if what lay on the carriage was nothing more than a broken branch or a drifting catkin. He casually picked it up and tossed it towards Zuo Huan's position not far away!

Before Zuo Huan could even step forward to apologize, the spear was returned to him in an instant and landed in front of him.

Zuo Huan looked up at Li Qingchen in disbelief, only to find that Li Qingchen was neither angry nor frightened, but instead nodded and smiled at him calmly.

Could it be that the Prince of Xiaoqiaochuan doesn't intend to pursue this matter? Zuo Huan was still hesitating when he saw Li Qingchen act as if nothing had happened, turn around, get into the carriage, and order someone to drive away.

Zuo Huan watched the carriage leave the palace gate, puzzled, when he suddenly looked down and noticed that the spear seemed a little strange.

He pulled the spear out of the mud and found that there was indeed a piece of paper stuck in the spearhead. He took it off and found that it was a note.

"See you at Lanxinzhai tonight at 7 PM."

These eight words were enough to send a chill down Zuo Huan's spine, his face filled with fear. This fear was something he had never felt when he had witnessed the spear piercing the young King Qiaochuan.

Lanxinzhai, the bedroom of Consort Wen.

Zuo Huan suddenly looked up and stared again in the direction where the carriage of the Prince of Xiaoqiaochuan had left, but there was no trace of it left.

His right hand, which was tightly gripping the note, trembled uncontrollably. Could it be... that he knew?

After the Prince of Xiaoqiaochuan left, the young imperial guard who had caused the trouble finally recovered, got up from the ground, and hurried over to the deputy commander to receive his punishment.

However, just as he approached, Zuo Huan quietly slipped the crumpled note into his sleeve.

...

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), just as Zuo Huan was about to finish his shift, he first went back to the barracks to take a cold shower before taking out the note he had hidden in his sleeve during the day, unfolding it again, and reading it once more.

A cold shower is simply taking a wooden basin and pouring several basins of cold water over your head, not to wash your body, but to calm yourself down and clear your head.

Now that he had calmed down, he recalled the sudden blunder by the imperial guards earlier that day, the calm and composed demeanor of the young Prince Qiaochuan, and that enigmatic smile at the end…

Yes, he didn't think much of it. It all seemed like it was deliberately arranged by the Prince of Qiaochuan. Perhaps he really knew something.

Having figured this out, Zuo Huan gasped, then without further hesitation, he picked up the clothes from the bed and decided to go to Lanxinzhai.

*

Inside Lanxinzhai, Feng Wan, who was once a woman of many men but is now deeply favored by the emperor, has just finished bathing and is sitting in front of her dressing mirror while two palace maids dry her hair.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, one of the palace maids mishandled the hollow, gilded ball filled with silver charcoal and brought it close to the back of Feng Wan's head. Instantly, a strand of hair got caught in the charcoal and was burned to ashes by the fire!

Feng Wan cried out in alarm as her scalp burned, clutching the back of her head and turning around to glare angrily at the palace maid holding the gilded ball.

Although she didn't verbally reprimand her, if looks could kill, she would have torn that little palace maid to pieces by now!

"This servant knows her mistake and begs Your Majesty's forgiveness!"

The palace maid who had caused the trouble immediately knelt on the ground, tossed aside the gilded ball in her hand, and kowtowed several times with her hands on the ground.

The other palace maid, though she hadn't done anything wrong, had angered her mistress and was in for a bad time, so she quickly knelt down on the ground as well, following the maid who had made the mistake.

Everyone knew that they were sent by the Imperial Concubine to serve Consort Wen, but the subordinate just now did not mean any harm. However, Consort Wen would not believe it and would surely think that the Imperial Concubine had instructed them to torment her again.

The little palace maid who had made a mistake thought about these things in despair, tears falling continuously to the ground, crying her eyes out.

Feng Wan, who was sitting here as Wen Chan, quickly suppressed her anger. She remembered her master's instructions after she was poisoned last time, telling her not to confront Consort Wen openly again, and to give some face even to the spies planted by Consort Wen, and not to punish them in public to arouse Consort Wen's suspicion.

She couldn't disobey her master, so fine, she wouldn't punish him, right?

Feng Wan smiled gently and reached out to help the palace maid who was kneeling on the ground with her head down. The little maid straightened up, still kneeling in front of Feng Wan, her tearful eyes like pear blossoms washed with water, making her look pitiful.