Ding Yi was severely poisoned and spent several months confined to bed. When he reappeared in public, he was thin and weak, coughing constantly and needing medication frequently.
Once she's no longer of any use, why would the Crown Princess pay her any attention? She wouldn't even know when someone else had taken her place.
At that time, Song Xibai fled the capital and hid in a manor on the outskirts of the city, drawing the attention of almost the entire capital. Therefore, Ding Yi found a substitute and left the Eastern Palace himself.
At that time, however, she was still not fully cured of the poison and was too weak to travel far on her own. In addition, with the Crown Prince missing and the situation in the capital unclear, she hid in the north of the palace, pretending to be a palace maid.
This process took several months.
She only dared to show her face after the palace coup and Yuan Shen took control of the palace.
However, she had not accomplished anything and was disobedient, so Yuan Shen disliked her and expelled her from the secret guard, giving her freedom.
But Ding Yi refused to leave.
Where could she go after leaving the palace?
Afterwards, she secretly approached Wei Hong, wanting her to leave with her.
Wei Hong was naturally unwilling. She was doing well by Song Xibai's side and now only wanted to stay in the palace to watch the two young masters grow up. She had no intention of leaving.
At this moment, Song Xibai overheard their conversation and gave her a chance.
After that, she re-entered Changqing Palace under the guise of "Pan Chun" and became one of Song Xibai's personal maids.
Pan Chun rarely appeared in public, and given her long face and fiery temper, the palace maids were all afraid of her. Therefore, for so long, no one noticed anything different about her.
Granny Fangqi was stunned for a long time.
At this moment, she suddenly recalled Song Xibai's strategic planning and composure at the manor, and sighed in her heart.
No wonder His Majesty values him so highly!
I'm really getting old. Not only was I tricked and fell into a trap, but I also didn't even notice that a spy was right under my nose for so long...
Granny Fangqi felt utterly useless.
Song Xibai was unaware that in that instant, Granny Fangqi was thinking a lot. She stepped forward and helped Ding Yi up.
"I'll still call you Panchun! I'm used to it. What about the children?"
Pan Chun pointed to the door of the dark room.
"They're all asleep!"
As she spoke, she slipped back into the hidden door and brought out the two children.
Sure enough, both children were snuggled in their swaddling clothes and snoring.
Wei Hong hurriedly took a swaddled baby and carefully placed it on the bed.
Dingxiang, who had been silent until now, went forward to check on the two children. After confirming that they were alright, she asked, "The children are here, so... what did those people take away?"
Song Xibai smiled, pursed her lips, and winked at her.
"you guess?"
Dingxiang rolled her eyes: "I don't want to bother with this anymore. You don't need me to handle the rest, right? I'm going to sleep."
She yawned and dragged her feet as she walked outside.
Seeing that the children were all safe, Granny Fangqi got up to take her leave.
But when she left, her back view looked utterly dejected.
Wei Hong couldn't help but take a second look.
"Your Highness, what's wrong with the nanny?"
Song Xibai said calmly, "She's probably taken a hit. Although this incident has nothing to do with her, she blindly fell into a trap, led people to break into my Changqing Palace, and even beat Wen Niang. This mistake cannot be easily forgiven."
Song Xibai believed she had treated Fangqi Granny very well. Although Fangqi Granny had overstepped her bounds twice, Song Xibai did not pursue the matter further because Fangqi was the late Empress's person and loyal to Yuan Shen.
Not only that, after entering the palace, she also made Fangqi, the nanny, the head of the inner palace.
There was originally no female chief eunuch in this palace. There was only one Grand Eunuch, who was the most trusted eunuch by the emperor's side. It used to be Chen Dafu, and now it is Feng Jia.
In order to better manage the harem, Song Xibai added the position of "Chief Steward" above the Four Departments and Eight Bureaus, and appointed Fangqi, the nanny, to the position.
This power was immense; in the entire harem, below Consort Song Xibai, Fangqi was the most powerful.
Unfortunately, despite being given a lot of power, she failed to manage it properly.
Even after cleaning twice, there are still so many spies and agents in the harem. This is a dereliction of duty on the part of Granny Fangqi.
Her trespassing into Changqing Palace today shows that she doesn't take Song Xibai seriously anymore.
When a person suddenly rises to a high position, their arrogance grows extremely quickly.
It's not that Granny Fangqi harbored rebellious intentions towards Song Xibai, but rather that she lacked respect in her words.
Song Xibai pondered: Could it be that he had been too polite to her all along? That's why she thought he wouldn't punish her for bringing people into Changqing Palace?
Oh!
Song Xibai twitched the corners of her mouth, looked at Wei Hong who seemed hesitant to speak, and told her and Pan Chun to take good care of the children before she went to the front hall.
Yuan Shen is discussing upcoming government affairs with his ministers at the Qianqing Palace and is estimated to be back in another hour or two.
Before that, Song Xibai had to go first.
After settling Changqing Palace in, half an hour had passed.
Song Xibai led his men to Renshou Palace.
Before she even got close to Renshou Palace, she saw a group of imperial guards surrounding the palace walls.
Outside the gate of Renshou Palace, she saw a familiar round-faced eunuch.
"Eunuch Jin."
Song Xibai took the initiative to greet him.
Jin Xiang hurried over to pay his respects.
"Greetings, Your Highness. Why did you come in person? Couldn't you have just sent someone to deliver a message?"
Jin Xiang's attitude towards Song Xibai was much more respectful than at the beginning.
Song Xibai waved his hand dismissively.
"The Empress Dowager has ordered the area around Renshou Palace to be sealed off. What exactly happened?"
Jin Xiang looked troubled: "I don't know whether I should say this or not..."
Song Xibai raised an eyebrow.
"It's strange that there's a time when even you, the head of the Disciplinary Division, are in a difficult position."
Song Xibai raised her index finger, rested it on her chin, and looked at him with a smile.
"Is there anything in this palace that I cannot know?"
Jin Xiang thought about it and realized that although she hadn't been officially named Empress, she was already the uncrowned queen of the guild.
So he waved for the others to step back and said in a low voice.
"It was the eldest princess... The eldest princess fell into the water and was rescued by a guard. The Empress Dowager was furious and sealed off the Merlin and Renshou Palace, and imprisoned all those involved."
Song Xibai looked at the two vermilion doors with surprise.
"The eldest princess?"
Is she stupid?
Even if she disagreed with the marriage proposal put forward by Consort Shen, she could have easily ordered a solution. There are countless ways to annul a marriage, yet she chose the most foolish one.
Song Xibai frowned slightly.
Was the late emperor's gene not very good?
How can they all be so stupid?
Song Xibai raised her eyes: "Are you sure this was an accident? Or was someone secretly instigating it? Why would a princess come here alone?"
“He wasn’t alone; he brought a palace maid with him. However, the maid was terrified, and I interrogated her for a few minutes but couldn’t get any useful information out of her.”
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