Crown Princess Lady Lu always presented herself as dignified, gentle, and pitiably weak in public—like a white lotus flower in a summer pond.

However, the former Crown Princess had died due to poor health from difficult childbirth, the legitimate eldest son Zhu Xiongying had died at age eight, and the legitimate second son Zhu Yunting was rumored to have been brain-damaged from being stuck too long in the birth canal during difficult labor, causing this most rightful legitimate son to miss out on the Crown Prince position.

One incident might be coincidence, but three such incidents inevitably made people suspect that behind Crown Princess Lady Lu’s rise lay Eastern Palace storms—who knows how many corpses she had stepped over to reach her current Crown Princess position.

Suspicions remained suspicions, ultimately ending like Baoqin’s death—without evidence. Moreover, Crown Prince Yiwen and Lady Lu were deeply in love as husband and wife. The Eastern Palace had no other concubines. Lady Lu bore six children, all intelligent and clever, especially eldest son Zhu Yunwen, who was called a child prodigy and was Emperor Hongwu’s favorite. Various factors led people to stop investigating those Eastern Palace mysteries.

Furthermore, the former Crown Princess Lady Chang’s maternal family, Duke Zhenguo’s residence, had already been wiped out by Emperor Hongwu under fabricated charges. Only one grandson had escaped with whereabouts unknown. Uncle Lan Yu had even been flayed. No one dared question whether Crown Princess Lady Lu’s past was clean—even beating a dog requires considering its master. The Crown Prince was the designated heir, and the Crown Princess was his mother.

The Crown Princess had grown accustomed to using such despicable, vicious methods and had generally achieved her goals—only Crown Prince Yiwen’s death was beyond her expectations.

Now the Crown Princess’s position in the Eastern Palace was consolidated. After Emperor Hongwu’s ruthless purge, her son’s Crown Prince position was unshakeable. The Crown Princess had washed her feet and come ashore. She should have washed her hands of it all and become a good Crown Princess, eventually taking over Cining Palace as Empress Dowager—the ultimate palace intrigue winner.

But the Crown Princess, having lost control over her Crown Prince son, took her anger out on Hu Shanwei. Actually, the mother-son discord had existed long before—it just erupted over Hu Shanwei.

Having climbed up smoothly to become the Eastern Palace’s palace intrigue champion, the Crown Princess’s greatest experience was: the bold eat until they burst, the timid starve to death.

You must dare to think and dare to act. As long as no one catches obvious evidence against you, go ahead boldly. So what if you suspect me? Without evidence, you can’t do anything to me!

This was indeed the case. Sometimes palace intrigue winners didn’t need great strategies, just like Queen Cersei in “Game of Thrones”—ordinary schemes but ruthless methods, daring to think and act. As a result, she could destroy various intelligent, powerful opponents and sit on the Iron Throne, becoming Queen Cersei.

The Crown Princess’s status was rising, but her character and methods hadn’t changed. She used her customary methods against Hu Shanwei, making Baoqin a scapegoat. Since it couldn’t be traced back to her, conversely, learning of Baoqin’s suicide and confession letter, the Crown Princess was heartbroken, disappointed, and guilt-ridden, falling “ill.”

When competing for favor with the former Crown Princess, Lady Lu often used this trick. Former Crown Princess Lady Chang was a tiger daughter from a military family—her father was Chang Yuchun, known as the “Killing General” who had massacred half of Suzhou. Hu Shanwei’s mother died in the riots during that massacre, trampled to death by refugees.

Crown Prince Yiwen valued literature over military affairs. Imaginably, when the former Crown Princess and Lady Lu “fought,” one side was a legitimate wife with威严 in her eyes, the other a delicate, frightened secondary consort who fell ill—which side would he support?

However, Hu Shanwei wasn’t Crown Prince Yiwen. Her only bit of tender feelings toward women went to the beautiful Ji Gang.

Hu Shanwei was ruthlessly cold toward the Crown Princess, like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves.

Before seeing the Crown Princess, Hu Shanwei whispered a few words to Director Fan.

Director Fan raised an eyebrow: “You really want to do this? She’s still the Crown Prince’s biological mother, the future Empress Dowager.”

Hu Shanwei snorted coldly: “As a female official in the palace, corrupting the court is a capital offense. She destroyed my reputation, equivalent to wanting my life. I’m not the patient, good-natured Crown Princess Yiwen who had to consider her husband’s attitude. Her methods are so despicably filthy. This time it’s Ji Gang, next time it’ll be Ji ‘Iron.'”

“This time she pushed out Baoqin as a scapegoat, next time she’ll frame some Baoqi. Again and again, buzzing in my ear like flies. If I let this slide lightly, who knows what dirty tricks await me in future? Anyway, after the beauty selection, I’m leaving the palace. What can the Empress Dowager do to me? The Crown Prince isn’t soft-eared.”

When Hu Shanwei first entered the palace as merely an eighth-rank archivist, she dared directly confront Noble Consort Hu, who was at the height of her power.

Director Fan stared at Hu Shanwei. After fifteen years, she was still the passionate female official who never avoided problems. This was the talent she had personally discovered—she hadn’t misjudged.

“Alright, I’ll do as you instruct and go find Shen Qionglian at the Court Bureau of Rites for help,” Director Fan was infected by Hu Shanwei. “If they dare fabricate charges against even you as Palace Supervisor, there’ll be no place for female officials in the harem in future. Being female officials would be boring—the Zhu family might as well use a bunch of servants who can be beaten and killed at will.”

Director Fan directed the Palace Justice Department to carry away Baoqin’s corpse. A group of Eastern Palace people immediately came to clean up—this place had long been completely under the Crown Princess’s control.

Soon, Director Fan urgently had people deliver items obtained from Shen Qionglian at the Court Bureau of Rites. Hu Shanwei opened them for a quick glance and smiled slightly.

To clear herself, the Crown Princess initially feigned illness, refusing to see Hu Shanwei. But when Hu Shanwei threatened “if she won’t see me, then I can only say these words to someone else,” the Crown Princess had to drag her sick body out of bed for the meeting.

The Crown Princess’s bedchamber was decorated quite elegantly, befitting a widow’s status while maintaining imperial wealth and grandeur. The Crown Princess had a headband around her forehead, wore no makeup, presenting a pitiful Xi Shi holding her heart appearance, too weak to bear clothes.

The Crown Princess wiped tears: “That girl Baoqin… she used to be so good. Entered the palace at seven as a maid, intelligent and clever, could read and write. I specially selected her to serve the Crown Prince. Later when the Crown Prince moved to live separately in the Crown Prince’s Palace, as his mother I worried about his health and often called Baoqin to ask about the Crown Prince’s daily life—what he ate, how many night watches he slept, such everyday small matters.”

The distance between control and caring concern was only paper-thin, yet worlds apart. This move by the Crown Princess was truly brilliant—both clearing herself and explaining why Baoqin informed on her.

As for what exactly Baoqin told the Crown Princess, well, a dead person couldn’t speak in defense.

Hu Shanwei watched the Crown Princess’s performance, her gaze growing colder. This woman was too frightening—bold and black-hearted. In the Eastern Palace’s small territory, having won through Crown Prince Yiwen’s favor, she used these same methods outside. Those who followed her flourished, those who opposed her perished. Wouldn’t the harem be stirred into chaos by her in future?

The Crown Princess continued crying: “…Never expected that as she grew up, her ambitions grew too. She had thoughts of using the Crown Prince to climb higher. When the Crown Prince asked her to serve me in the Eastern Palace, she was unwilling but didn’t dare disobey, deeply resenting Palace Supervisor Hu. For revenge, she actually created rumors about Palace Supervisor Hu and Master Ji. Though it was her fault, I also bear responsibility for poor supervision and oversight. Therefore, feeling too ashamed to face Palace Supervisor Hu, I wasn’t deliberately avoiding the meeting.”

Look at this sharp tongue—Hu Shanwei felt inferior. In just a few sentences, she transformed from defendant to plaintiff, also becoming a victim, more innocent than white lotus flowers.

Suppressing her anger while maintaining surface calm, Hu Shanwei said: “That’s right. Some things aren’t afraid of being exposed, just afraid of misunderstandings that can’t be explained clearly, creating unnecessary enmity. When the Crown Princess previously refused to see me, I thought she was reluctant to part with Baoqin, thinking I had indirectly forced her to death, so didn’t want to see me.”

The Crown Princess shook her head repeatedly: “No, impossible, how could that be? Palace Supervisor Hu handles countless daily affairs—how could you bother with a palace maid like Baoqin? She spread rumors slandering Palace Supervisor Hu, deserved her punishment, seeking her own destruction. How could it be Palace Supervisor Hu’s fault?”

“Exactly,” Hu Shanwei said. “The communication problem between the Crown Princess and Crown Prince—surely that’s not my fault? What do you say, Crown Princess?”

The Crown Princess’s pupils contracted, but her face maintained the pitiful Xi Shi appearance: “Palace Supervisor Hu, what do you mean? You must not listen to outsiders with ulterior motives. The rumors were spread by Baoqin and have nothing to do with me.”

The Crown Princess gritted her teeth refusing to admit anything. The Palace Justice Department and Brocade Guards wouldn’t dare torture her, right? Not to mention lacking evidence—even with evidence… there was still the Crown Prince! His Majesty had conducted a great purge at court, finally consolidating the Crown Prince’s position. If Crown Princess rumors came out, wouldn’t it damage the Crown Prince’s reputation too?

To kill mice while breaking precious vases wasn’t worth it. The Crown Princess was therefore fearless.

Hu Shanwei didn’t believe these ghost stories and asked: “Reputation is life to me. The consequences of corrupting the court are clear to the Crown Princess, I’m sure. Either way it’s death. Even if I die, I’ll be a knowing ghost, can’t be foolishly schemed against. Concerning life and property, so Crown Princess, don’t blame me for overthinking. I’ve seen Baoqin’s suicide note—the handwriting is indeed hers. Her body showed no wounds, clothes intact, no signs of fighting or struggling. It does appear to be suicide.”

“But suicide means exterminating the entire family. Baoqin’s family was prosperous with both parents alive. If she chose to confess to the Palace Justice Department, she couldn’t escape death but wouldn’t implicate her family.”

The Crown Princess quickly said: “That girl Baoqin was narrow-minded, always trying to climb higher. Palace Supervisor Hu cut off her path to success, so she fabricated such vicious rumors. Once someone takes the wrong path, they keep making mistakes without turning back, thinking only of themselves. How would she consider others or her family’s lives?”

The Crown Princess was silver-tongued. If Hu Shanwei hadn’t coldly observed Eastern Palace affairs for years, especially how the Crown Princess only called her biological son Zhu Yunwen to Qianqing Palace for Crown Prince Yiwen’s final farewell, she might have been deceived by the Crown Princess’s words.

The Crown Princess looked wronged on the surface but was secretly pleased: I love seeing you clearly suspect me but lack evidence and have to swallow this loss.

“But…” Hu Shanwei took out a small booklet. “This is correspondence records between Baoqin and her family over the years, copied from the Court Bureau of Rites by Director Shen. The palace strictly forbids transmitting information outside, but doesn’t restrict daily greeting letters. All letters are reviewed by the Court Bureau of Rites before entering or leaving and recorded. Female historians also copy portions of letter contents. This Baoqin frequently contacted her Wuxi hometown, greeting her parents during holidays. The family was originally poor, but she was a very filial daughter, converting her monthly wages and rewards to silver for home. The family’s improved circumstances these years were all due to Baoqin’s contributions.”

As Palace Supervisor commanding harem female officials, obtaining Baoqin’s correspondence from the Court Bureau of Rites was easy for Hu Shanwei.

Hu Shanwei pushed the booklet to the Crown Princess: “Such a family-caring daughter would rather confess than commit suicide implicating her family, unless—”

The Crown Princess’s heart tightened. She instinctively avoided looking at the booklet: “Unless what?”

Hu Shanwei looked into the Crown Princess’s eyes: “Unless someone used both carrot and stick. I don’t know what method that person used to force her to write a suicide note and take the blame—perhaps promising to save her family, or something else.”

The Crown Princess, a fox spirit cultivated for many years, withstood Hu Shanwei’s pressure without blinking. Not only that, she opened the Palace Supervisor Bureau’s copied booklet to examine it: “Palace Supervisor Hu’s suspicions aren’t unreasonable. From past correspondence records, Baoqin was indeed a family-caring girl. Suddenly disregarding her family’s lives for suicide is truly suspicious. If someone really forced her, who could it be? I’m shallow in experience, usually staying in the Eastern Palace, rarely going out. Palace Supervisor Hu is intelligent and has traveled widely with broad knowledge. In Palace Supervisor Hu’s view, who is most suspicious?”

Even now, the Crown Princess maintained an innocent, sincere appearance.

Hu Shanwei sneered inwardly but showed slight emotion on her face: “Baoqin was formerly the Crown Prince’s person, now the Crown Princess’s. When servants commit crimes, masters generally can’t escape responsibility. Moreover, at this critical beauty selection time, creating scandals about poor supervision would first damage the Crown Princess and Crown Prince’s face, second sow discord between me and the Crown Princess and Crown Prince, making us mutual enemies. I think this mastermind might be unwilling to give up on the heir position, wanting to frame the Crown Prince.”

Hearing this, the Crown Princess was secretly delighted. So what if you’re Palace Supervisor? Weren’t you still brushed off by me? She quickly agreed: “Some people never give up fighting for the heir position, wanting to harm me and the Crown Prince, so they used Baoqin to create rumors.”

“Actually, anything done leaves traces. To prevent discovery, one must not act. Sometimes even dead people can speak. Crown Princess, please look…” Hu Shanwei turned to the booklet’s last page:

“I’ve already discovered clues about the mastermind. Five days ago, when rumors just began spreading, Baoqin wrote home saying she’d been worried about her parents’ health lately, unable to sleep well at night, tossing and turning. She got sleeping medicine from a palace physician and finally slept. Knowing her parents also had insomnia, she copied the physician’s prescription, attached it to the letter’s end, asking her parents to definitely get medicine according to the prescription to try it.”

The Crown Princess looked closely and indeed found this to be true. Above were the date of Baoqin’s outgoing letter, the seal of a specific female historian at the Court Bureau of Rites who examined letters, and the letter’s general content extracted by the historian—exactly what Hu Shanwei had just recited.

The Crown Princess immediately said: “This letter is iron proof of Baoqin’s guilty conscience. She spread rumors slandering Palace Supervisor Hu, fearing discovery, naturally couldn’t eat or sleep well—but what does this have to do with the mastermind?”

“The key lies in the words ‘medicine prescription,'” Hu Shanwei pointed to these characters in the booklet. “In a short two-page family letter, ‘medicine prescription’ appears repeatedly with repeated emphasis no less than eight times. Female historians generally only extract letter contents without copying prescriptions. I just had Director Fan go to the Imperial Food Service to ask Supervisor Liu whether any physician treated Baoqin that day and wrote prescriptions. All physician visits and prescriptions in the palace are recorded—who was seen, what illness, what medicine taken from the pharmacy, all kept on file. Crown Princess, guess how Supervisor Liu answered?”

The Crown Princess’s heart suspended, her expression unchanged: “Could it be… Baoqin never requested a physician to treat her insomnia?”

“Crown Princess is so clever, guessing right immediately!” Hu Shanwei praised. “Supervisor Liu said there were no records of Baoqin. All physicians questioned said they never treated Baoqin, let alone prescribed medicine. So I suspect Baoqin was already guarded against the mastermind. To protect her entire family’s lives in future, she used a hidden character method to insert the mastermind’s name or background into medicine names and sent it to Wuxi. If something happened to her in future and I investigated, following the family letter information to discover contradictions—if the mastermind could be found through the letter’s medicine names, her family might earn merit through this, protecting their lives.”

Hu Shanwei’s words made the Crown Princess break out in cold sweat!

Hu Shanwei carefully put away the booklet like a treasure: “Since entering the palace, I’ve never suffered such humiliation, being pointed at behind my back with damaged reputation. I will definitely investigate thoroughly to clear my name. Though Baoqin is dead, I have ways to make this dead person speak. My fifteen years in the palace weren’t wasted. I’ll now have Master Ji of the Brocade Guards send people to Wuxi to get family letters from Baoqin’s family. When we expose the mastermind, not only will I and Master Ji be cleared, but the Crown Princess and Crown Prince will also regain their innocence.”

Hu Shanwei left the Eastern Palace, leaving the Crown Princess alternating between anxiety and contemplation in her bedchamber.

Back at the Palace Supervisor Bureau, Haitang couldn’t help asking: “This time the Palace Supervisor Bureau, Palace Justice Department, Court Bureau of Rites, and Imperial Food Service jointly created this fake booklet from nothing. Will the Crown Princess really fall for it?”

Hu Shanwei smiled: “Don’t know. Let’s wait and see. ‘Whoever engages in palace intrigue, I’ll take them down’ isn’t just talk.”