"Master, I have found out. When the Queen Mother first became the Empress, there lived a concubine named Xia in Taoyu Pavilion. Concubine Xia was charming and was favored by the late Emperor. The emperor even planted a peach forest outside for her. Later, Concubine Xia died suddenly. The late Emperor was furious and found out that it was another favored concubine who poisoned her. This concubine never admitted to poisoning Concubine Xia until her death," Tingzhu whispered in Zhuang Luoyan's ear, "I think there is something wrong with this matter."

Zhuang Yuyan smiled and said, "Apart from the dead, only the people who committed the crime know the past events."

The Queen Mother would not come to the peach forest outside Taoyu Pavilion for no reason. If the peach blossoms were in full bloom, it would still be quite beautiful. But now that the flowers have faded and the melons have ripened, where is the scenery to be seen?

It was not a big deal for the Queen Mother to beat a palace maid to death, but it was bad for her reputation to do so right after she came out of chanting Buddhist scriptures. Moreover, the Emperor and the Queen Mother were not close now. The more troubles she caused, the more distant the Emperor would be from her. The Queen Mother could go to such a point, which did not seem like an impulsive and arrogant woman.

Moreover, the deceased Jin Tao was just a cleaning maid in Concubine Rou's palace. Even if Concubine Rou was stupid, she would not let such a person frame others. So did Jin Tao really come here just to steal a few peaches?

Although servants in the palace were not allowed to touch anything in the garden without permission, picking a few peaches was not a life-threatening matter, so why was she so panicked? Or...did she see something she shouldn't have?

So when she asked Fubao to scare the palace maid that day, the palace maid must have seen something she shouldn't have seen, so she was so scared when she heard the noise made by Fubao. So did the Queen Mother want to silence her or was she just really angry?

If Jin Tao's death was related to the Queen Mother, then was she plotting to frame her? Zhuang Yuyan looked at the rain outside the window. Although she was favored by the Emperor, she was not so fond of him that she would have any thoughts about him. If there was such an impatient person in the harem, then shouldn't Concubine Yan have been in trouble long ago?

"By the way, who among you was the first to see that the Queen Mother was coming to Taolin that day?" Zhuang Yuyan had a vague guess in her heart.

"Master, have you forgotten that day when the eunuch from the Internal Affairs Bureau came to pass on the decree that we should light the lamps at night, when I was escorting this eunuch out, I happened to meet a stewardess from Kang'an Palace. When she saw us, she said that the Queen Mother heard that the peaches were about to ripen, so she wanted to come and take a look." Tingzhu frowned, "I saw that this stewardess was walking towards the peach forest, and she said she wanted to see if there were any other people in the forest."

The Queen Mother drove the carriage, and according to the rules, those who had nothing to do with it should indeed stay away. Zhuang Yuyan lowered her eyelids. Perhaps someone wanted to exchange something with the Queen Mother, and this condition was related to Taoyu Pavilion, so the Queen Mother had to play this drama. Jin Tao happened to hear something she shouldn't have heard, and when she hurriedly ran out of the woods, she met the Queen Mother who was rushing over here. According to the Queen Mother's temperament, she naturally wanted to kill people to silence them, and she still used fair means.

"On the day when Jin Tao was executed, was his mouth covered?" Zhuang Yuyan took a sip of the slightly cool tea, her tone calmer than ever before.

"Indeed, his mouth was covered, because the Queen Mother issued an order that people who steal to satisfy their appetite should be punished like this." Ting Zhu guessed something in his heart, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Zhuang Luoyan sneered and put down the teacup. "Pack our things properly. After all, we are moving to Xihe Palace tomorrow. Don't worry about anything else for now."

The Er Ya notes that Xi means light, and the Guang Ya notes that He means harmony. The two words Xi and He also mean auspiciousness and peace.

Zhuang Yuyan stepped down from the sedan chair and looked at the plaque on the palace. The three characters "Xihe Palace" were newly made, with dragons flying and phoenixes dancing in the font. The characters were personally bestowed by Emperor Chengde, so it had a more noble tone.

All the furnishings had been put in place. Once she entered the main palace gate, she saw a small but beautifully maintained garden. The servants were all kneeling on the ground, welcoming her arrival.

Zhuang Yuyan asked these newly added servants to stand up, and left it to Fubao, Tingzhu and Yunxi to decide what to do. He held Tingzhu's hand and walked into the main hall. The furnishings inside were very elegant, not luxurious at all but very comfortable. What was even more rare was that the furnishings here did not violate the rules, and the utensils were all used by the third-grade attendants.

She walked to the main house, passed the outer room and entered the inner room. She touched the bed and found it was indeed very comfortable. Although it was soft, it did not make people feel hot. It was better than the one in Taoyu Pavilion. The other furnishings were of similar level to Taoyu Pavilion. As for the two side rooms on the left and right, Zhuang Luoyan did not look at them again. She walked out of the main hall again and saw that all the servants in the palace were standing in a row. She could not help but think of the time when she was a part-time servant in college. She was so tired that she had to attend morning meetings. She did not get paid much and listened to a lot of nonsense.

Sitting down at the head, Zhuang Yuyan took a sip of tea slowly, then gently put it down, trying to say, "Today I am able to live in the palace as a concubine, all because of the emperor's grace. You were also arranged by General Manager Gao and the Palace Department, so I am naturally relieved. There is nothing else to say, just do what you want."

Sometimes it is harder to have no rules than to have them. A concubine who speaks softly is more terrifying than one who makes too many demands. These eunuchs and palace maids have indeed almost all passed Gao Dezhong's eyes. Maybe they have some other thoughts, but they dare not think too much. Thinking of the eunuchs and palace maids who were struck to death by lightning a few days ago, and thinking about this master who entered the palace as a ceremonial position, these servants are all nervous. Who knows where this master who is blessed by God will go.

What's more, this master was forgotten by the emperor at the beginning, but he had the ability to be afraid, which shows his skill. Now he is smiling in a friendly manner, who knows what kind of person he is?

"Fubao, give each newcomer some money," Zhuang Luoyan smiled at everyone, "I'm just a filler, and my monthly salary is not as high as others, but don't despise me, just think of it as a token of my appreciation."

The servants who were originally standing knelt down and said they dared not. This was not to say that her salary was not as good as others, but to warn them not to think that she was just a formality and have inappropriate thoughts about it. They should just figure it out slowly.

Each servant received ten taels of silver, which was neither too much nor too little in the harem. Some of the shrewd servants could not see the mystery of this and only hoped that the new master would be more and more favored and did not want to think about anything else.

In Qianzheng Palace, the three most distinguished people in the palace sat together, appearing peaceful on the surface.

"Your Majesty, this Taoyu Pavilion is now deserted, what use should it be used for?" The Queen paused, and seeing that the Emperor did not object, she continued, "I think the peach forest outside Taoyu Pavilion is also quite old, why not renovate it?"

"Since it's already desolate, why bother repairing it?" The Queen Mother spoke up at this time. "Although the national treasury is full now, we should still avoid extravagance."

"It's not a big deal to build a peach garden. Your Majesty, there's no need to be so frugal. Someone died in this forest, which is not auspicious. Let's ask someone to renovate it tomorrow." Feng Jin called Gao Dezhong over, "Send some people to guard the garden to prevent any more trouble."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Gao Dezhong raised his head slightly and saw the stiff smile on the Queen Mother's face.

"Now that no one lives there, how can anything go wrong there?" the Queen Mother said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you are too cautious."

"It won't hurt to be more careful," Feng Jin smiled at the Queen Mother, "What do you think, Mother?"

"Since the emperor said so, I naturally have no objection," the empress dowager smiled and seemed not to want to talk about it anymore.

Summer wind and rain always give people a sense of shock, and this feeling is even more obvious at night. Feng Jin sat under the candlelight and saw Gao Dezhong hurriedly approaching with a tray, with a mocking smile on his face, "Found it?"

Gao Dezhong lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I led people to turn the peach forest upside down and dug out this box under a tree leaning against the wall of Taoyu Pavilion."

Feng Jin opened the box through her handkerchief, and inside was a jade bracelet wrapped in gold threads. The gold threads were very fine, outlining a charming golden peony pattern. Back then, her father had given this jade bracelet to Concubine Xia who was pregnant.

Under the gold-thread jade bracelet was a piece of cloth. When it was opened, many secrets that should not be kept were written on it with special dyes.

"Put it away," Feng Jin threw down the things and wiped his hands with his handkerchief, "Go to Kang'an Palace and tell the Queen Mother that the repair of the peach forest is going very smoothly. Please don't worry about it."

"Yes," Gao Dezhong did not dare to look at what was written on the cloth. He just glanced at it and inadvertently saw two words, "...Empress..."

There are too many secrets in the harem. The truth is not important. What is important is whether these truths can be used.

"Master, the Emperor has ordered the restoration of the peach forest," Tingzhu hurried in, his voice as low as it could be, "It's raining so hard today, but the people in the Palace Department are still busy, and they've just stopped working."

Zhuang Yuyan used a silver pin to pull out the candle thread, and the candle flame jumped twice. Zhuang Yuyan smiled and said, "Repairing the peach forest has always disturbed my sleep, so the emperor asked me to move to the palace."

"Master..." Tingzhu was speechless for a moment when she saw the faint smile on her master's face. She knew that the emperor did not give the palace to her master entirely out of favor, and her master should also be aware of it by now. What's the point of deceiving herself now?

"Go down, it's time for me to settle down," Zhuang Yuyan put down the silver hairpin, stood up and turned her back to Tingzhu, "You don't need to serve here anymore, leave."

Ting Zhu looked at Zhuang Yuyan worriedly and retreated hesitantly.

Zhuang Luyan took off the hairpin on her head, curled the corners of her mouth, and said, "How could the emperor be so generous? It turned out that this had happened before."

I think that the person who plotted against me probably didn't expect that the outcome would suit the emperor's wishes.

So how could she be the luckiest person in this play?