From the moment she was selected to enter the palace, the path had never been right: She hadn’t even submitted her name, yet was selected into the palace, undoubtedly making people suspect she had backing. Not only did she attract attention, but she also drew resentment. Once in the palace, she thought she could hide her abilities during the selection process and fail, but couldn’t withstand the fact that too many people wanted her to enter the palace. This instead made people feel she didn’t deserve her position, making her a thorn in everyone’s side. Now that she had truly entered the palace, others already had preconceptions about her, which eliminated any possibility of her blending in with them.

Tearing off the façade with Chen Shuyi really wasn’t much of anything…

It merely brought the undercurrents beneath the surface up into the open.

After returning to her room and thinking things through, Jiang Xuening clearly realized the predicament she currently faced: She still had to stay in the palace for half a year. Though Grand Princess Leyang certainly liked her, the palace was so vast—who knew what might happen in the future?

One must know that within these layered palace walls, harming someone was the simplest thing imaginable.

Conflict had already occurred.

Though she certainly had no intention of harming others, how could she know whether others harbored intentions to harm her?

In this life, though she originally hadn’t planned to get involved in palace struggles, only waiting for the half year to pass so she could pack up and flee far away—fleeing far away also had a prerequisite, which was: “At that time, I at least need to be alive…”

Closing the door and throwing herself onto the bed to lie flat, her eyes calmly watching the light and shadow cast from the window onto the embroidered canopy above, Jiang Xuening felt she had to do something.

First, compared to these people who didn’t particularly like her, did she have any advantages?

Family background?

She could only be considered middling, neither high nor low.

The favor of important people?

Though she had Shen Zhiyi, Shen Zhiyi wasn’t the only one in the palace who had a say.

Intelligence and talent?

She understood how to read expressions and act accordingly, conducting herself much more properly than in her previous life. However, compared to people with great wisdom, she could only be considered quick-witted and clever, not surpassing others by much.

Therefore, her true, greatest advantage was actually only one thing: rebirth, foreknowledge.

She knew many things others didn’t know, and she also knew many things that hadn’t yet happened. She even knew many people she hadn’t yet met in this present time.

This meant she possessed more opportunities than others.

To seek benefit and avoid harm, to recognize and discern people, to seize the initiative!

Then, from what she knew from her previous life, in the current palace, what matters, what people, could be used to her advantage?

Jiang Xuening began counting on her fingers: “The future third-place imperial examination graduate Wei Liang should still be studying in Yangzhou now. Xiao Dingfei, that lecherous fake young master—who knows in which corner he’s currently plotting the timing of his appearance. Superintendent Sun is indeed a trustworthy good person, but where was she at this time in my previous life?”

The Bureau of Palace Attendants?

Or perhaps in the palace of some unfavored consort?

Calculating and recalculating, she actually felt somewhat bewildered. For a moment, she simply couldn’t think of who exactly could be used to her advantage during this period. Human memory was inherently chaotic and disorderly. Being reborn didn’t necessarily mean remembering every detail from the previous life. She always felt she had missed something important, but ultimately had no leads and felt somewhat dizzy and muddled.

Since it was already afternoon, Jiang Xuening simply closed her eyes and took a nap.

When the first quarter of the wei hour arrived, a palace servant outside gently knocked on the door and called to her: “Second Miss Jiang, it’s time to go pay respects to the Empress Dowager and the Empress.”

She immediately awakened from her dream and sat up.

The former court was ruled by the Emperor.

The rear palace was naturally ruled by the Empress.

According to custom, the study companions should have gone to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and Empress on their first day entering the palace. However, during the last palace entry, things were arranged too tightly and no one insisted. This time they entered the palace yesterday afternoon and evening, and had to go to Fengchen Hall early the next morning, so paying respects was postponed until this afternoon.

After washing and grooming in her room, when Jiang Xuening arrived in the hall, the others had also gradually emerged. However, because of those impolite remarks she had exchanged with Chen Shuyi earlier, everyone looked at her with somewhat strange expressions, and no one came forward to actively chat with her.

Only Fang Miao, when no one was looking, winked and made faces at her.

You Yue pulled Yao Xi along to talk with the others, deliberately not giving anyone else a chance to speak with Jiang Xuening, clearly intending to deliberately exclude her. After finishing her grooming, Chen Shuyi came out and was even more hostile toward her. Though she didn’t speak, her confrontational stance was already quite obvious.

Even the palace servant who came to guide them to pay respects sensed the awkward atmosphere. Not daring to raise their head to look at them, they spoke in soft, gentle tones: “The Empress Dowager has caught a cold these past two days. Right now, the Empress is attending to her illness at Cining Palace, so you can go directly to Cining Palace to pay respects. This conveniently saves you study companions from making two trips. Please follow this servant.”

Yangzhi Pavilion’s location was closer to the outer court, but Cining Palace was deep within the inner palace. Walking there meant traversing almost half of the rear palace, with the Eastern and Western Six Palaces behind the high palace walls along the way.

Kunning Palace was behind Qianqing Palace, also on the central axis of the entire imperial palace.

Among the eight study companions, Fang Miao, You Yue, and Yao Rongrong had basically never entered the palace before. Even during their last visit, they hadn’t dared to walk around, so they were still unfamiliar with the palace. Though Jiang Xuening outwardly hadn’t entered the palace, her rebirth meant that despite the vast imperial palace’s complexity, she could navigate it with her eyes closed without taking a wrong turn, so she wasn’t curious.

You Yue, however, lowered her voice and curiously asked Yao Xi, who happened to be walking beside her: “Sister Yao Xi, is that Kunning Palace ahead?”

After glancing in the direction she pointed, Yao Xi said: “That’s correct. Throughout this dynasty, successive empresses have all resided in Kunning Palace. The current Empress comes from the Zheng clan of Henan and was His Majesty’s original wife when he was still a prince. However, she usually keeps to herself. In the past when we entered the palace to pay respects, she would excuse us, only telling us to visit the Empress Dowager more often, saying the Empress Dowager enjoyed liveliness more.”

You Yue nodded: “I see.”

Walking at the very back, her pace neither fast nor slow, when Jiang Xuening heard these words from Yao Xi, she raised an eyebrow and sneered coldly in her heart.

Enjoyed liveliness?

That old hag couldn’t wait for the entire imperial palace to revolve around her.

The late Emperor died too early. Before she’d had enough of being Empress, she had to move out of Kunning Palace to that quiet and remote Cining Palace. How could she be willing?

The old hag came from the Xiao clan, originally the younger sister of Duke Dingguo Xiao Yuan, which made her Xiao Shu’s aunt. With a powerful maternal family, she had always had a say in the rear palace. Even after the late Emperor passed and she became Empress Dowager, she had never relaxed her control over the rear palace.

In her previous life, after Shen Lang’s death, the imperial throne passed to his younger brother Shen Jie.

As the wife of Prince Linzi, Jiang Xuening should naturally have been made Empress. However, the old hag interfered, saying: “The Jiang clan is unworthy of her position, improper in conduct, lacking the bearing to be mother of the nation. The Emperor should leave the Empress position vacant and confer upon her one of the four consort ranks.”

When she heard this news at the time, she nearly died of anger.

Fortunately, the veteran ministers of the former court were sensible.

Where in the world was there precedent for an heir ascending to the imperial throne yet not making his original wife Empress? If this were done, wouldn’t it invite ridicule from posterity? It also didn’t conform to ritual propriety and regulations.

So they all submitted memorials in remonstration.

Moreover, in her previous life, she had adopted a white lotus act—having committed no wrongs and appearing pitifully vulnerable. The more she was bullied, the more it aroused people’s protective instincts. Shen Jie was at least a man—how could he let her suffer such bullying?

So ultimately, she was still allowed to ascend to the Empress position.

However, this incident during the empress investiture meant she and Empress Dowager Xiao had become enemies.

Even the imperial family had their domestic disputes.

Empress Dowager Xiao, as her mother-in-law, constantly found fault with her, readily using filial piety to suppress her, making her life quite unpleasant.

It wasn’t until later when Xiao Shu entered the palace and was made Noble Consort, with an investiture ceremony more grand than her own, that Jiang Xuening finally understood: The old hag wanted to support her maternal family’s younger generation and make her own niece Xiao Shu the Empress.

The rear palace thus became a battleground.

Jiang Xuening’s foundation had been thin to begin with. In order not to be brought down by this aunt-niece pair, she could only accept anyone who came. Whoever was willing to pledge loyalty, she promised benefits. Relying on her ability to read expressions and please people, she gathered a faction of power and barely managed to stabilize her position.

But using people indiscriminately without distinguishing loyal from treacherous naturally led to a mixed bag.

In the eyes of outsiders and upright court officials, she undoubtedly formed cliques for private gain, like a malignant tumor in the court, even accused of interfering in court politics from the rear palace.

Later, when she was placed under house arrest in the palace by the rebel faction of Xie Wei, Yan Lin and others, memorials from former court ministers pressuring her to die in martyrdom for Shen Jie had long been flying like snowflakes. So her final miserable end was, to some extent, reaping what she had sown.

Therefore, it could be said that in her previous life, Jiang Xuening’s hatred for Empress Dowager Xiao far exceeded her hatred for Xiao Shu.

Now, reborn and still having to pay respects to this old hag…

Just thinking about it made Jiang Xuening feel her molars itching. She had to clench them tightly to restrain the impulse to curse aloud.

Yao Xi walking ahead didn’t know someone behind harbored such deep hatred. She merely directed the conversation toward Xiao Shu, saying with a smile: “I also had the fortune to accompany my father and mother into the palace during the Lantern Festival two years ago, and paid respects to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. Going to see her again this time makes me somewhat nervous. Sister Ashu, you must help me then. You’re the Empress Dowager’s most beloved niece. If our etiquette is somehow inadequate and displeases her, we’ll have to rely on you to speak for us.”

The smile at the corners of Xiao Shu’s lips faded somewhat. She glanced at Yao Xi and merely said: “Now we’re all just study companions to Her Highness the Grand Princess. The Empress Dowager has always been fond of Sister Axi as well. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Jiang Xuening could tell immediately that Xiao Shu understood well the principle that tall trees attract the wind.

Though she was indeed the Empress Dowager’s own niece and could even be considered Shen Zhiyi’s cousin, she wasn’t high-profile. Having been in the palace this long, she had never mentioned her relationship with the Empress Dowager, presumably not wanting to become too much of a target for others’ attention.

However…

How could such matters be kept low-profile?

Sure enough, as soon as Yao Xi spoke and Xiao Shu responded, everyone’s expressions showed some changes.

As they conversed, before long they had drawn closer and closer to Kunning Palace. At the same time, several strange sounds gradually entered everyone’s ears, becoming clearer.

Slap, slap.

One after another, crisp and sharp.

The others curiously raised their eyes to look toward the source of the sound. However, Jiang Xuening, who had spent several years in the palace in her previous life, immediately recognized this as the sound of palms slapping someone’s face, and the blows were extremely heavy and solid!

Just as they turned around a palace wall, Chen Shuyi, walking in front, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Yao Rongrong, who had seen the scene ahead, even let out a low exclamation: “Ah.”

Having cried out, she realized it was improper and hastily covered her lips.

Beside the palace gate of Kunning Palace, a eunuch was actually kneeling. The hat on his head had already fallen askew to the ground, with only a simple wooden hairpin inserted. At this moment, he was raising his hand, forcefully slapping himself across the face, one blow after another.

Not holding back any strength at all!

Even against himself, he struck with deadly force.

What had originally been a fairly clean face was now crisscrossed with finger marks, even his mouth corner was split open, with several threads of blood seeping out.

The study companions who had just entered the palace—where had they seen such a scene?

For a moment, none dared continue walking forward.

All footsteps stopped.

Jiang Xuening’s gaze passed over the people in front and fell upon that young eunuch. She could only see his profile. Yet in this instant, she actually felt it looked somewhat familiar. Her mind suddenly flashed like lightning, and finally, a resolute and heroic face accompanied by splattered fresh blood completely filled her entire consciousness.

Zheng Bao!

Zheng Bao, who later served at Shen Jie’s side as the Directorate of Ceremonial’s supervising eunuch—in her previous life, utterly loyal to Shen Jie. Though a rootless person, his temperament was extremely fierce. When Shen Jie was poisoned to death by Yan Lin and Xie Wei, he pointed at their noses and cursed them as rebellious traitors. After three loud laughs, unwilling to serve under them, he directly drew his sword and slit his own throat, dying in martyrdom for Shen Jie!

At the time, some mocked that among all the civil and military officials, there were no real men—instead, a rootless eunuch had the most backbone.

Jiang Xuening finally remembered what she had missed when calculating earlier who could be used to her advantage—

She had missed Zheng Bao.

If she remembered correctly, Zheng Bao was currently ostensibly a young eunuch serving in Kunning Palace, but had actually already been noticed by the current Seal-Holding Eunuch Wang Xinyi, who wanted to take him as a disciple. The reason he eventually followed Shen Jie was precisely because one year, while kneeling outside Kunning Palace being punished, he was seen by Shen Jie passing by, who pleaded for him and got the Empress to spare him. From then on, he was utterly loyal only to Shen Jie, until the very end when all was lost, never betraying him…

What if, in this life, it wasn’t Shen Jie but she who saved Zheng Bao?

But a problem arose—

Shen Jie was Prince Linzi, whose words carried weight. She was currently just a study companion. How could she save him?