Consort Su is gone.
It rained all night, and the news didn't spread until dawn the next day.
"ah?"
As soon as it was light, Leng Youyou stood there, being helped to dress by a palace maid. She stared out the window at the rain that was still falling incessantly, feeling regretful that the weather hadn't cooperated with her the night before, preventing her from taking Zhen Po to the Cold Palace.
As a result, the old nanny beside her, pale-faced, rushed in from outside the door and told her this news.
Consort Su, isn't that Bai Xiao?
Why did this player suddenly log off?
"What happened?"
Leng Youyou dismissed the other palace servants and looked at her personal nanny.
"Your Majesty, I heard that Consort Gui drank too much wine last night and left the window open when she went to sleep. The wind and rain were strong last night, and the cold wind aggravated her acute illness, which is why she passed away."
"Are you trying to fool me? Do you think I'd believe that?"
"Your Majesty, I am not lying to you. This is all the information I have gathered. The palace servants who took care of the Consort last night were all dealt with by His Majesty this morning. After this news, nothing else has come out."
That old woman was also aggrieved; how could she not know there was a problem?
The key is that we can't find out anything, and it's quite interesting that we can't find out anything no matter what we try.
Isn't it just that someone doesn't want others to know certain information?
Who else in the palace can handle information so flawlessly?
...
"Holy crap, how did Bai Xiao suddenly disappear from the game?"
The four players who left the palace naturally received news of the sudden death of the Imperial Concubine. Zhen Hu immediately took Zhen Po to the Prince Qing's mansion under a pretext to inquire about the situation from Yuan Fang.
After all, Bai Xiao is his girlfriend, so she must know something about it.
As soon as they entered, they saw Yuan Fang with a pale face and a bowl of medicine that hadn't been finished on the table next to him.
"I don't know either." Yuan Fang shook his head weakly and said with a wry smile, "It's all because of the heavy rain last night. We had planned to go find the mysterious merchant together. But the rain was so heavy, and I had been drinking. On the way back, I was caught in a cold wind, and I developed a fever during the night..."
Anyway, Yuan Fang was also full of worries and didn't know what to do.
"The rumors coming out of the palace say he died suddenly from an acute illness. Who would believe that?" Zhen Po pursed his lips and sat down, taking the tea brought by the servant. He didn't see the inscrutable glint in Yuan Fang's eyes right after he finished speaking.
“I heard Ah Xiao say before… she ate a boxed lunch sold by a mysterious merchant and said there was a secret in the Cold Palace. Could it be that she discovered some secret and that’s why she met with misfortune?”
"Huh?" Boxed meals have this function?
Hearing this, Zhen Hu, who had been sitting there without saying a word, suddenly looked up, glanced at Yuan Fang, whose face was pale, and then glanced at Zhen Po, who was standing to the side without much reaction. He then silently withdrew his gaze under the pretense of drinking tea.
Yuan Fang sat there and saw it clearly.
"Yes, I heard from A-Xiao that the two boxed meals have different functions. One can reveal a secret in Emperor Jing'an's heart, and the other can tell you whether the people around you are loyal to you."
Zhen Hu knew about the mysterious merchant, but judging from his reaction, he didn't know anything about the boxed meals he bought or their effects.
Even though they were twins, Zhen Po didn't tell him.
But now that Yuan Fang has said it, that's interesting.
...
"Wow, this is going to be interesting!"
As Mingmei ate the freshly delivered fruit, she looked at the three male players sitting there, each with their own hidden agendas, and couldn't help but recall the scene from last night.
Mu Chen asked Bai Xiao one last question: How much more can the Su family afford to pay for the mistakes you've made?
After a long silence, Bai Xiao finally chose to end her own life, trading her life for Yuan Fangfeng's.
If Yuan Fang hadn't failed to buy lunchboxes, Mu Chen would have killed them all. Instead, he not only agreed to Bai Xiao's suggestion but also allowed ten minutes to chat with Yuan Fang before the execution.
Through the live stream, Mingmei learned that Bai Xiao only told Yuan Fang one sentence in the end—
"You still need the Su family's support. If I live, the Su family will definitely be completely wiped out by Emperor Jing'an to make amends for my mistakes. Without me, whether you want their continued support depends on your own abilities... Also, the Zhen brothers, break up their early alliance as soon as possible! Julian... you need to be careful, he's not as simple as he seems."
It's unknown what Yuan Fang's mindset was when, after experiencing a series of stimuli in the early stages, he finally discovered that the person who had been carefully hidden away in the Cold Palace by Emperor Jing'an was actually a mysterious merchant.
But that didn't stop him from finally calming down, buying three lion's head meatballs, and then going back to cause trouble.
Judging from what he said to the Zhen brothers, Mingmei knew that the real show was about to begin.
[The real free-for-all begins after the remaining two players have successfully purchased their lunchboxes.]
Gui Gui and Ming Mei watched the players' actions together. Julian looked pitiful, weak, and helpless, but if it weren't for the fact that he summoned his staff to rearrange the plan after returning to the mansion, Ming Mei would almost have believed it.
Julian's current strategy is to exploit the time difference.
He was arranging the timing of when each player could buy the Bright Sunshine Boxed Meal.
Knowing that braised lion's head meatballs could reveal whether those around him were loyal, Julian first used the meatballs to test the loyalty of his three most trusted men. Only after confirming their safety did he begin his true scheme.
And so, Mingmei discovered that several other princes had spies planted by this brother, and some of them were even considered advisors by the other brothers!
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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