Lianpin raised an eyebrow. Qin Shuying, this cunning fox!

Truly a woman with vicious methods and an iron heart!

Did she really think her sleight of hand had been so successful?

Actually, many people could see through it. How could Old Madam Liang be fake? She was completely real. Qin Shuying had deliberately made Old Madam Liang out to be fake in order to seize power in the Liang household!

Old Madam Liang, driven to desperation by Qin Shuying like a cornered dog, had blurted out Empress Wen’s secret in her desperation. To protect the Empress, Emperor Delong had no choice but to go along with Qin Shuying’s scheme and declare Old Madam Liang to be fake.

As long as Emperor Delong’s golden words declared Old Madam Liang to be fake, then she was fake, and no one could overturn that verdict.

Old Madam Liang had been noble and proud her entire life, yet died with such a reputation—she truly died with eyes that would not close in peace!

Qin Shuying had truly manipulated Old Madam Liang’s dignity to perfection, stripping away all of the old woman’s pride and making her die in the most wretched manner.

The more this was the case, the more curious Lianpin became about the secrets Qin Shuying knew.

“Shuying, you must know that in others’ eyes, you and I are family. No matter how well the Empress treats you, others will always consider you to be on this palace’s side. Don’t you agree?”

“Your Ladyship speaks truly.”

Lianpin smiled, her originally melodious voice becoming even more enchanting. “That’s right. This palace often says that Shuying understands the bigger picture and is sensible. The Prince says the same. It’s just that usually we don’t dare get too close to you, fearing it might cause others to misunderstand. You’re a smart person—you should understand the delicate nature of this, right?”

Qin Shuying smiled gently. “Your Ladyship is right. This subject’s wife understands.”

Seeing Qin Shuying being so agreeable, Lianpin’s previous anger and wariness toward her diminished somewhat. After saying a few kind words, she then asked: “Shuying, you’ve been to the Empress many times—have you noticed anything unusual?”

Qin Shuying shook her head: “The Empress simply doesn’t like seeing people and stays secluded. Other than that, this subject’s wife hasn’t noticed anything strange. Your Ladyship, this subject’s wife is only fifteen years old this year and has been in the capital for just over four years, and seldom enters the palace. For you to expect this subject’s wife to see something wrong after meeting the Empress a few times—what secrets would the Empress have left? There are countless sharp-eyed ladies with seven-aperture hearts throughout the capital. Who isn’t more perceptive than this subject’s wife?”

Lianpin thought this made some sense. Qin Shuying was clever, but to expect her to thoroughly understand Empress Wen’s secrets was still somewhat impossible.

Even she herself had only recently become aware of many things.

Looking at Imperial Concubine De, she probably wasn’t much better off than herself.

Such secrets—when Kangpin was around, she would still share bits and pieces with her, though half true and half false and full of traps, at least there were some clues.

After Kangpin was thrown into the cold palace, there wasn’t even anyone to discuss such secrets with, which really stifled Lianpin.

Having finally caught Qin Shuying, who might be in the know, and with this matter being of great importance, Lianpin was determined to extract useful information from Qin Shuying today.

She said: “Shuying, this palace actually knows some things. I’ll tell you, but you must remember not to tell others. This palace only tells you because I trust you. Look, I even sent the Princess Consort away.”

Qin Shuying nodded.

“This palace suspects that the real Empress Wen died long ago, and the current Empress Wen is actually the Late Emperor’s consort Lin Yuan.”

Qin Shuying responded indifferently: “Oh.”

Lianpin fell silent for a moment, then expressed great surprise: “You’re not curious? Not surprised?”

“That fake woman meant exactly this. What’s there to be surprised about?”

“…Aren’t you curious about how this deception was carried out?”

“As long as someone is determined to do it, what’s so difficult about it?”

Lianpin felt quite defeated. “Then what about the Wen family? Didn’t any of them question it?”

“Are the Wen family’s questions important?”

Lianpin was immediately speechless.

Yes, as long as Emperor Delong threatened the Wen family with their future, wouldn’t the Wen family obediently keep quiet?

“Then aren’t you curious why His Majesty would get entangled with the Late Emperor’s consort?”

Qin Shuying said indifferently: “This subject’s wife truly doesn’t understand such matters. However, this subject’s wife thinks Lin Yuan must have had extraordinary qualities. Otherwise, why would she become the Late Emperor’s consort at such a young age?”

“Lin Yuan indeed had qualities that surpassed ordinary people. She was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Lin family, of noble birth, and was said to be extremely beautiful and intelligent, with a very lively personality, quite different from ordinary boudoir ladies.”

The Lin family Lianpin spoke of was a prominent family from Jiangnan, very prestigious in scholarly circles, one of the three great families of Jiangnan.

Lianpin added: “The Lin family has produced many talents over the years, but few have come to the capital to serve as officials. Don’t be fooled by how the nobles in the capital show off their power—in reality, Lin family members are spread throughout important departments of Great Zhou, with flourishing branches and deep roots. Many nobles in the capital can’t compare.”

Qin Shuying nodded: “This subject’s wife has heard something about this.”

The Qin family suffered great damage from losing just one Qin Yongzhou, while the Lin family had countless talents like Qin Yongzhou—of course they deserved to be called a great family.

“So after Lin Yuan entered the palace, she quickly became the Late Emperor’s consort.”

Qin Shuying thought for a moment and asked: “Since the Lin family is so powerful, why would they let Lin Yuan enter the palace? Logically, Lin Yuan lived in Jiangnan, and the Late Emperor had never even seen her. Even if the Late Emperor specifically requested a Lin family daughter for the palace, they could have sent someone else.”

Such examples weren’t uncommon, which is why Qin Shuying asked. Some emperors, to form marriage alliances with great families and gain their support, would specifically request family daughters for the palace, but many families wouldn’t choose their eldest legitimate daughter.

Lianpin shook her head: “I don’t know about that.”

Qin Shuying sat quietly, unhurriedly sipping her tea, waiting for Lianpin to discover the strange aspects and key points of this matter.

With the past between Old Madam Liang and Prince Liang, figuring out the entanglement between Emperor Delong and Lin Yuan actually didn’t seem too difficult, haha. But did all the men of the Zhou family like other people’s wives?

And once they liked someone, it lasted for years until old age.

Liang Zhe later pondered why the letter Old Madam Liang left in the secret room hadn’t been taken away. If someone had come to take it, who would it have been? What method would they have used to take it away?

They had found answers to all these questions.

Prince Liang had left Old Madam Liang a group of men. At regular intervals, they would enter the large cave beneath the Marquis of Pingxi’s residence, reach the natural cavern next to the secret room through a hidden passage, and use special long tongs to extract letters through the cracks, acting according to Old Madam Liang’s instructions.

But Old Madam Liang had lived very comfortably these years and had no need to use that crack to pass messages. Those men, having nothing to do, had gradually disbanded in secret, so no one had taken away that letter.

And even if it had been sent out, probably no one would have executed the orders anyway.

After all, Prince Liang had been paralyzed by stroke for over five years!

However, Prince Liang’s feelings for Old Madam Liang were beyond what ordinary people could match.