"What? She just beat someone to death like that, without asking any questions?"

“Yes, Your Highness, many maids witnessed it with their own eyes,” Rongju stood in front of Consort Jia and reported respectfully.

Consort Jia was utterly shocked; the bandit's crude and mindless behavior completely shattered her worldview.

This bandit's haphazard, brutal behavior, capable of killing his master with a flurry of punches, deeply alarmed Consort Jia. Now that the bandit possessed the dragon pendant bestowed by the Emperor, it was as if he held an invincible sword. Given the bandit's style of slapping and threatening violence at the slightest provocation, if she didn't exercise some restraint, someone in her palace might be next to die.

"From now on, you should all avoid the people from Hui Nuan Ge and try not to confront those bandits head-on," Consort Jia had no choice but to give this order.

Qing Sang was furious and extremely frustrated: "Your Majesty, are we just going to stand by and watch her continue to be so arrogant?"

At this moment, Tinglan, dressed in plain clothes, was helped in by Lü'er. She was still not fully recovered and her face was pale, but her eyes were filled with intense hatred: "Rongju, you said before that the Emperor rewarded that bandit with a dragon pendant and fruit, and the Empress Dowager also rewarded him with fruit. What kind of fruit did they send?"

"The Emperor bestowed amethyst and agate, while the Empress Dowager bestowed green olives," Qingju replied.

Upon hearing this, Tinglan smiled happily and relievedly: "Did she eat it all?"

"She said she didn't like sour food, so she gave that plate of green olives to the maids." Rongju found Tinglan's words strange and asked, "What happened to those two fruits?"

“Those two fruits, one from the south and the other from the northwest, are not something ordinary people can afford, so they don’t know that these two fruits cannot be eaten together and will cause diarrhea.” Tinglan laughed even more heartily: “But others don’t know, the Empress Dowager doesn’t know, and it’s impossible for the people around the Empress Dowager not to know.”

Rongju and Qingsang understood upon hearing this, but they weren't particularly surprised.

They too had once been part of the royal family, and they knew that within the royal inner court, apart from power and status, everything else was merely embellishment, and none of it could save your life.

Consort Jia paused for a moment, then looked up and said, "It has been a long time since I last visited the palace to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. Let's invite Consort Jin to go to the palace together tomorrow to see the Empress Dowager."

Tinglan and Consort Jia smiled at each other, and Consort Jia still asked Lü'er to help her down to rest.

A dark room in the side courtyard of Hui Nuan Pavilion.

Hei Xiao stood in front of the bed, watching Ji Fengyao personally clean and treat Bai Rumei, who was covered in blood from the beating.

During the daytime executions, Ji Fengyao lay on a rattan chair and mouthed to him, who was standing behind the rattan shed, "Tell them to leave them alive, don't kill them."

He then secretly told the two guards that he had spared Bai Rumei's life.

"This woman hates you so much, she even wants you dead, why did you spare her life and wait for her to be poisoned again?" Black Owl was extremely puzzled and finally asked.

“She’s a pitiful person too, but her mind is bound by her limited perspective, and she can’t find her own way out.” Ji Fengyao shook the wine jar in her hand and sighed softly, “It seems that we still have to distill some alcohol for use. The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and I always feel that this strong liquor is not very reliable.”

"So what do you want to do?" Black Owl asked.

Ji Fengyao looked up at him: "Are you saying she's still alcohol?"

"Yes, they are."

Ji Fengyao bent down to continue treating Bai Rumei, saying casually, "As for her, I'm treating her body while also cleaning her brain. Once all the mush in her brain is cleared out, she might be of great use to the Prince. As for that alcohol stuff, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. I'll send you some to try, and you'll see."