A night was neither long nor short. The concubines present might have been tired or not, but the emperor sat upright and no one dared to say the word "leave".

Zhuang Yuyan felt a little regretful. If she had known that she would be stuck here, she would not have come to join in the fun. Now that most of the night had passed, even if she felt sleepy, she had to force herself to stay awake. This was the moment that most tested her acting skills.

Suddenly there was a noise in the house, and several imperial doctors rushed out and knelt in front of the emperor, "Your Majesty, we are incompetent. The third prince... has passed away."

Zhuang Yuyan found that the room, which was originally quiet enough to hear breathing, became dead silent. She looked up at the emperor and found that his face was still emotionless, but his eyes were chillingly cold. Zhuang Yuyan looked away. She was frightened by such a harsh look.

"Pass on my decree. The Third Prince is given the name Luo, and is named Prince Ning. He is buried in Jinling." Feng Jian slowly stood up, no longer looking at the Third Prince's room, and said in a steady and heavy voice, "Move to the main palace."

"Farewell, His Majesty." Although the voices of all the concubines rang out in unison, the room seemed extremely silent.

After watching the emperor leave, the queen looked at the women in the room and said in a somewhat cold tone, "Everyone, leave."

"Yes," all the concubines bowed obediently and stepped back. Now that the Third Prince had run into trouble with Concubine Xian, the ones who were naturally worried were the Empress, Concubine Xian and the others. How much did this have to do with them?

Zhuang Yuyan and the others retreated and accidentally saw Kong Cairen kneeling in the corner. She saw that the woman's face was terribly pale and her eyes were wide open. Even with the bright candlelight in the room, she still looked very scary.

If she was not mistaken, the look in Concubine Xian's eyes was extremely eerie and terrifying, as if... Concubine Xian was the murderer.

Just when Zhuang Yuyan thought she was going to go crazy, this Concubine Kong suddenly stood up, bowed to the empress in a proper manner, and stumbled out.

The Queen frowned slightly, but soon seemed to have thought of something. In the end, she said nothing and let Concubine Kong leave.

Kong Cairen walked very slowly. After she left the palace, a palace maid came forward to support her. When Zhuang Yuyan passed by her, she felt a chill, not knowing whether it was due to psychological reasons.

Sitting on the sedan chair, Zhuang Luoyan felt a little chilly at night. When she walked a distance, she shuddered. Thinking of the third prince who had gone inexplicably, she rubbed her forehead. There was no easy life in the harem. It was not easy to be a eunuch, a palace maid, or a concubine. If you were favored, you would have family support and hope. If you had no status and were not favored, even if you disappeared silently in the harem, I'm afraid no one would be moved.

Feng Jin had slept for less than an hour when it was time to go to court. He put on his dragon robe and crown, sat on the sedan chair, and people kept kneeling down wherever he passed. All he saw along the way were the backs of the heads of palace maids and eunuchs.

Sitting on the noble golden dragon-carved chair, he listened to the officials coming forward one by one to talk about important and unimportant matters. His expression was calm, without any sign of fatigue.

Perhaps these officials all knew that the third prince had passed away, but they did not make any noise. They said everything they should have said and did not say any unnecessary nonsense.

After the court session, the officials left in twos and threes, each of them stretched their ears to try to hear some news from others, while pretending to be confused and ignorant on their faces.

Now in the court, the Zhao family, Su family, Ye family, Zhuang family, Jiang family, and Xu family all have daughters in the harem, and they are all valued by the emperor. I think these people should know something about it.

However, seeing these adults looking more confused than each other, the others felt resentful but helpless, as they were all a bunch of old foxes.

Feng Jin listened to the eunuch Yushan reading out the lunch menu. After ordering a few dishes, Feng Jin waved the eunuch away expressionlessly and opened the memorial in front of him.

Not long after the eunuch Yushan left, the eunuch from the Eunuch Department came again, holding a tray with the names of the concubines. He sighed impatiently, glanced at the tray, and was about to ask the eunuch to leave, but in the end, he thought of something and turned over one of the cards.

The eunuch of the Internal Affairs Bureau took a look and saw that it was another sign of Zhao Chongyi.

The lotus pond outside Xihe Palace was in full bloom with pink and white lotus flowers. After paying her respects to the Empress, Zhuang Yuyan was about to return to Xihe Palace via this road. However, today she saw a figure that looked somewhat familiar.

This person was none other than the Empress's cousin, Sun Ronghua. Today, Sun Ronghua was wearing a lotus-colored silk dress and standing next to the rockery. She did not look like someone who had come here specifically to admire the lotus.

"I have seen Zhao Chongyi before." Sun Ronghua looked more haggard than last time, and even her complexion was duller than when she saw him a few days ago. Zhuang Luoyan sat on the sedan chair, exempted Sun Ronghua from the formalities, and nodded slightly, saying, "Sun Ronghua, are you here to appreciate the lotus?"

A few days ago, Sun Ronghua was punished by Concubine Rou to kneel for half an hour because of her reckless words, and was slapped in the face for bumping into Su Xiuyi. Neither the Emperor nor the Empress responded to these two incidents, making Sun Ronghua's life in the harem even more difficult.

Zhuang Yuyan remembered that not long ago this young girl had teased her beside the lotus pond. It seemed that in less than half a month, the young girl had become sad.

"The lotus flowers are in full bloom, so I just came to take a look," Sun Ronghua stared at the lotus pond with an indescribable strange expression on his face, "but I don't want to disturb Zhao Chongyi."

"Why bother? This lotus pond originally belongs to the palace. Every master can see it." Zhuang Luyan gave Tingzhu a look. Tingzhu asked the eunuch Dali to put down the sedan chair. Zhuang Luyan supported her hand and walked to Sun Ronghua. "Since Sun Ronghua likes it, it is a blessing for these lotus flowers."

After hearing this, Sun Ronghua shifted his gaze from the lotus to Zhuang Yuyan, but he still looked stunned, "You have changed a lot."

Zhuang Yuyan smiled upon hearing this, not at all afraid of Sun Ronghua's eyes that were looking at her like a monster.

Sun Ronghua took a step closer, only half a step away from Zhuang Luoyan. Her voice was very low, but it was inexplicably mysterious. "I have never understood how a person can change so much in just a few days. Is it really God who opened your mind?"

After saying this, Sun Ronghua suddenly staggered and fell into the lotus pond.

"Sun Ronghua, what are you going to do?!"

As servants, the palace maids and eunuchs present could not look directly at their masters' faces. After hearing Zhao Chongyi's scream, they looked up and saw the splashes of water when Zhao Chongyi and Sun Ronghua both fell into the lotus pond.

Tingzhu and Yunxi were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they hurriedly asked people to go down and rescue their two masters.

Zhuang Yuyan was very thankful that the water in the lotus pond was very clean. She deliberately let herself sink a little deeper. It was difficult to see things in the water, but she still saw Sun Ronghua being picked up. She couldn't help but sneer. This method was overused in the harem dramas in the previous life, and this Sun Ronghua had the nerve to use it. It seemed that the queen really didn't teach this sister what the harem was.

Seeing someone swimming towards her, Zhuang Yuyan hardened her heart, loosened her tightly closed mouth, and let the water rush into her nose and throat. The feeling of being drowned was very bad. She pretended to struggle but looked like she was not good at swimming. Zhuang Yuyan made a note of this.

"Master!" Tingzhu and Yunxi saw that Zhuang Yuyan had already fainted when she was rescued, and immediately sent someone to summon the imperial physician. They glanced at Sun Ronghua, who had no other problems except coughing up water, and endured it, and hurriedly gave Zhuang Yuyan simple treatment.

Sun Ronghua coughed until tears were about to come out. When she recovered her breath, she looked at the unconscious Zhuang Yuyan with hatred. She didn't have to suffer this torture. Who would have thought that this woman actually pried open her mouth and nose when she jumped down, and made her drink several sips of water, and now she fainted.

Suddenly thinking of something, Sun Ronghua's face turned pale, "It's not me, it's her, not me!" She wanted to frame Zhuang Yuyan. Even if she failed, she could at least make Zhuang Yuyan be labeled as a concubine of a low status. But she had no idea that Zhuang Yuyan would be so shocked and could react in such a short moment.

She knew that this method was not very clever, but she also knew that people would not react so quickly when they were caught off guard, and she only needed the moment when Zhuang Yuyan was stunned.

But Zhuang Yuyan didn't even give her such a moment. Instead, he took advantage of her and made it impossible for her to explain herself. Now, no matter whether she was right or wrong, the emperor would not forgive her.

"Empress, something has happened," He Yu said with a trace of anxiety. Seeing the Empress and Consort Xian sitting together, she bowed and resumed her proper demeanor. "Zhao Chongyi was pushed into the lotus pond by Sun Ronghua. The imperial physician has gone to Xihe Palace. Zhao Chongyi has not woken up yet."

The Queen's face changed slightly. Sun Ronghua was her cousin. If something really happened to Zhao Chongyi, she would lose face in front of the Emperor.

Upon hearing this, Concubine Xian frowned, "Sun Ronghua and Zhao Chongyi have no grudges against each other, why did Sun Ronghua do such a thing?"

He Yu told everything she had heard, and Concubine Xian and the Queen looked unhappy. They were afraid that this was a play that Sun Ronghua wanted to frame Zhao Chongyi, but he was outwitted or something went wrong in the process.

The Queen's face became even uglier. Her cousin was really capable of such a stupid idea. Even if they entered the palace on the same day and Zhao Chongyi was more favored than her, she shouldn't have done such a thing out of jealousy.

It's simply... unreasonable!

"Go to Xihe Palace!" The queen squeezed out these words from between her teeth. She knew that today's events would not end well. The emperor had just turned over the sign of Xihe Palace, and the owner of Xihe Palace was pushed into the lotus pond by her cousin. If she didn't handle it properly, she would not even be able to get rid of the name of jealousy.