Early in the morning, an unexpected guest arrived at the princess hall where Jiang Ruan resided.

Lu Zhu lifted the curtain and looked at Jiang Ruan, who had just finished her morning grooming and was getting up, saying: “Miss, Lady Wang has come to deliver the clothing for tomorrow’s ritual ceremony at the Imperial Observatory.”

For the Imperial Observatory’s ritual ceremony, the female family members of the palace were also required to attend, and the clothing was quite particular. However, these were usually delivered by people from the Clothing Department. Having an emperor’s consort personally deliver them was a first. While it didn’t violate any rules, this attitude seemed rather overly enthusiastic.

Lu Zhu clearly thought the same, saying: “This servant remembers that Miss has no particular relationship with this Lady Wang.”

Jiang Ruan brushed aside the small blanket beside her and asked: “What do you think of Lady Wang?”

“She seems quite amiable and speaks quite straightforwardly.” Lu Zhu thought for a moment: “However, showing excessive courtesy without reason means either treachery or theft. Miss should be more careful.”

Jiang Ruan smiled faintly: “It’s good that you know.”

Although Lu Zhu was clever, her nature was fundamentally kind, and she ultimately didn’t know what kind of place the palace truly was. If the Jiang residence was a wolf’s den, then this imperial palace was like a tiger’s lair. How could lambs reside in a tiger’s lair? Take this Lady Wang, for instance—she slowly curved her lips into a smile. After being separated for years, she wondered what kind of scene their reunion would present now.

“Come, let’s go meet this Lady Wang.”

Just as they reached the front hall, they heard an enthusiastic and somewhat cheerful voice: “Princess Hong’an.”

Jiang Ruan raised her eyes to look and indeed saw palace maids attending to a young woman wearing a gold and silver thread sliding silk brocade skirt, with her hair arranged in a tasseled chignon. It was neither overly elaborate nor too plain. Her beautiful face appeared bright and carefree, with a smile as genuine as fire itself.

This appearance easily made people feel favorable toward her, thinking this person had clear thoughts and was refreshingly straightforward. That woman looked at Jiang Ruan, stood up to perform a courtesy, and said with a smile: “I had long known that the Princess possessed unparalleled beauty. Earlier I was thinking that these ritual ceremony clothes were too plain, but seeing the Princess’s such graceful bearing, I now think perhaps even the Princess could make plain clothing appear as splendid as formal attire.”

Any woman would love to hear praise of her appearance. If it were someone else, hearing such words would probably develop a sense of closeness to this woman. But Jiang Ruan merely glanced at her lightly and smiled warmly: “Lady Wang need not be so formal.”

She completely deflected the conversation, as if she hadn’t heard those overly enthusiastic compliments.

Lady Wang was stunned, not expecting Jiang Ruan to have such a reaction. Her brow furrowed briefly before quickly smoothing out again.

Jiang Ruan sat down on the soft couch, and Lady Wang also sat down. She instructed her palace maid to bring over the small wooden box containing the clothing, saying: “These are the clothes sent from the Clothing Hall. When this humble consort was returning, I happened to pass by here, so I brought them along for the Princess. The Princess won’t blame this humble consort for meddling, will she?”

Lu Zhu’s eyes flashed with disdain. Coming from common folk, she was quite familiar with directions, and after just a few days in the palace, she had figured out which masters lived in various places. This Lady Wang’s residence was separated from here by thousands of miles—passing by? What nonsense.

“Lady Wang shows such thoughtfulness, how could I blame you?” Jiang Ruan said indifferently.

Seemingly not expecting Jiang Ruan to be such a difficult person, neither soft nor hard approaches working, Lady Wang thought that if it were anyone else, they wouldn’t be so distant and aloof. She couldn’t think of anything she had done to offend this Princess, and assumed it must be Jiang Ruan’s own temperament. She paused and smiled: “Why be so formal? This humble consort is a few years older than the Princess. If the Princess doesn’t mind, may this humble consort call you Princess Sister? The Princess really looks just like my little sister back home.”

Jiang Ruan looked at her with a half-smile: “Lady Wang, propriety cannot be abandoned.” She took the tea Lu Zhu handed her and sipped it, having seen enough of the wonderful expressions on Lady Wang’s face before saying: “This Princess only has one older brother, but no older sister.”

Lady Wang clenched her fists tightly, smiling with great difficulty: “This humble consort was presumptuous…”

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly and said nothing, making Lady Wang feel even more at a loss. Everyone in the palace said she had a straightforward and sincere nature, and even most consorts were on good terms with her. She was also considerate and thoughtful, never expecting to hit such a snag with Jiang Ruan today. Looking at Jiang Ruan’s beautiful face, a flash of jealousy quickly passed through her eyes.

Lu Zhu also felt somewhat puzzled. Although Jiang Ruan was usually cold and distant with people, she wouldn’t normally show it so obviously on her face, always leaving some room. Facing a strange consort with such a cold expression like today was indeed a first.

Jiang Ruan placed the cup lid back on the cup rim, memories from her previous life floating up in her mind.

This Lady Wang was considered quite capable in the palace. Among all the beautiful women, her looks could only be considered average, and she had no particular influence, yet she had managed to achieve the position of Lady based on her pleasing personality. When she was originally granted the title of Lady Ruan, this Lady Wang had specifically come to congratulate her. Later, when she fell into disfavor and other consorts came to step on her, only Lady Wang came daily to comfort her. She had once considered Lady Wang someone she could trust, until one day when Pei’er fell seriously ill. She went to request a permit to have an imperial physician treat her, but inadvertently overheard Lady Wang instructing the Imperial Medical Bureau not to bother with it.

It turned out Lady Wang, seeing her beauty, feared that one day she might compete for favor. Palace people were accustomed to stepping on the low and lifting up the high, showing one face in front and another behind. Lady Wang acted like a caring sister on the surface but didn’t hesitate to stab her in the back.

She just didn’t know what Lady Wang’s fate had been in her previous life. But now, seeing this person she once thought trustworthy, she found every gesture and movement to be clumsy acting. Just looking at her made her feel disgusted, without even the inclination to play along.

Lady Wang was considered a figure in the palace after all. When had she ever received such inexplicable cold treatment? Seeing Jiang Ruan maintaining her indifferent manner throughout, she felt secretly resentful but didn’t continue to humiliate herself. She stood up and said: “Now that I’ve delivered the clothing, the Princess should at least take a look. If there’s anything inappropriate, I’ll have the Clothing Hall people alter it.”

“No need,” Jiang Ruan smiled: “I trust the clothing that Lady Wang has personally handled.”

These words seemed normal enough, but Lady Wang felt there was some special meaning in them. She instinctively looked at Jiang Ruan and met her bright eyes. There seemed to be some subtle mocking understanding in that gaze, which startled Lady Wang. She quickly turned her head away and said hurriedly: “In that case, this humble consort will take her leave first.”

Jiang Ruan glanced at her lightly and didn’t rise to see her off, only instructing Lu Zhu: “Lu Zhu, see Lady Wang out.”

After Lady Wang left, Jiang Ruan opened the small wooden box on the table and pulled out a palace satin plain snow silk dress. During the Imperial Observatory ritual ceremony, clothing was divided into several grades according to rank, and none could be made too bright. This one was indeed plain. If Jiang Susu saw it, she would surely love it very much, as it would make this little white flower appear even more pitiful and beautiful, pure and transcendent. As for Jiang Ruan…

She tossed the clothing to Tianzhu: “Is there anything wrong with it?”

Tianzhu held the clothing under her nose and sniffed, frowning slightly. After thinking for a moment, she walked to one side, picked up an oil lamp, and lit it with a fire stick. Then she held the clothing over the oil lamp to smoke it. After a moment, they could see red gradually appearing on the snow-white clothing.

More and more red appeared, like blood seeping from within the fabric. The more they looked, the more alarming it became. Jiang Ruan wasn’t surprised and only asked: “What is this?”

“Biluo fragrance—it turns red when heated,” Tianzhu said coldly.

Jiang Ruan nodded in understanding. During the Imperial Observatory ritual ceremony, incense would inevitably be burned. When the blue incense was lit in the great hall, her clothing would show this blood-red color, and she would definitely be treated as a demon and imprisoned. The outcome was predictable. It had to be said, this was an extremely vicious act. The Emperor always took such matters seriously, and if this incident were used as an excuse, it could indeed put her to death.

Without someone like Tianzhu by her side, she definitely wouldn’t have discovered the problem. Tianzhu asked: “Master, should we go change to another outfit?”

“Why alert them?” Jiang Ruan said indifferently: “This clothing is so precious, it shouldn’t be wasted. Since someone sent such a wonderful gift, we should naturally reciprocate.” She smiled coldly: “I also want to see, in this ritual ceremony, who will ultimately prevail.”

…

After leaving, Lady Wang first returned to her own small residence, rested for a moment, then casually strolled to Simeng Hall.

The palace maids of Simeng Hall welcomed her in. Lady Wang entered the hall to find Consort Chen reclining on a wool soft couch, making a net bag. Lady Wang had always wondered why Consort Chen, holding such a high position, still made net bags like an ordinary woman. Now she seemed to somewhat understand why the Emperor exclusively favored the Consort. It was because any man entering Simeng Hall would see a woman like an ordinary young wife gently making a net bag, as if all worries and troubles had disappeared, leaving only the tranquility and elegance of this Jiangnan corner.

However, a flash of mockery passed through Lady Wang’s eyes. The woman in a man’s eyes and the woman in a woman’s eyes were naturally different. The Emperor saw Consort Chen as gentle, elegant, graceful, and unworldly, while in her eyes, Consort Chen was ambitious and terrifyingly formidable.

“You’re here, please sit.” Consort Chen smiled and pointed to a seat beside her, appearing very affectionate.

“This humble consort dare not.” Lady Wang also smiled, only saying: “The clothing has been delivered.”

“Oh,” Consort Chen didn’t raise her head, still seriously making her net bag, her ten fingers dancing through the silk threads: “What do you think of Princess Hong’an?”

“She’s not easy to get close to,” Lady Wang considered for a moment: “This humble consort tried to become more familiar with her, but the Princess gave me cold looks. So I took my leave early—the Princess’s expression was quite frightening.”

After hearing Lady Wang’s words, Consort Chen actually raised her head from her net bag and looked at Lady Wang with some surprise, smiling: “How strange. That Princess Hong’an has always been a gentle and soft person who never easily shows cold faces to others. She’s always been well-mannered, so how could she treat sister in such a way? Perhaps sister did something wrong somewhere that made our Princess unhappy.”

Lady Wang smiled: “Perhaps that’s so. This humble consort was dull-witted.” In her heart, she thought that if Princess Hong’an was supposedly a superficially gentle person, the one before her was the real smiling tiger. She usually appeared gentle and harmless, but many women in this rear palace had fallen at her hands.

Consort Chen smiled with satisfaction: “In that case, sister has worked hard this time. Sister works diligently in the palace every day. When I see His Majesty next time, I will also speak well of sister.”

“This humble consort thanks elder sister.” Lady Wang smiled and chatted with Consort Chen for a while longer, her words lively yet respectful, and indeed soon had Consort Chen quite delighted. It wasn’t until dark that Lady Wang rose to leave.

After Lady Wang left, Eunuch Chen walked up to Consort Chen and asked: “Your Ladyship, this servant has inquired—the clothing was taken by Princess Hong’an and put away. She discovered nothing.”

“Good.” Consort Chen raised her hand, looking at her fingers white and tender as scallions, painted with bright red nail color: “I want to see who can save her this time.”

“The Zhao family might cause trouble in the future,” Eunuch Chen reminded.

“There’s that fool Wang Yi,” Consort Chen said indifferently: “It has nothing to do with us anyway.”

…

That night, many in the palace were sleepless again, but Jiang Ruan went to bed early. Nanny Yang from the Empress Dowager’s side came once to explain the precautions for the Imperial Observatory ritual ceremony. Jiang Ruan acknowledged, and Nanny Yang carefully instructed Tianzhu and Lu Zhu before returning to Cining Palace.

The Imperial Observatory observed celestial phenomena and determined fortunes and misfortunes. This year was the first time they were conducting nighttime star observation rituals, governing the year’s fortunes and misfortunes. The Emperor took this matter extremely seriously, so all palace family members had to participate.

Regardless of what others did, Jiang Ruan spent this day the same as usual, except that Lu Zhu often quarreled with Jin Er, who had been transferred by Xiao Shao. Otherwise, it was quite peaceful.

In the evening, when it was time for the ritual ceremony, Jiang Ruan changed into the clothing from the Clothing Hall that Lady Wang had delivered the previous night. After Lu Zhu helped her with her grooming, she followed the leading little eunuch to the star observation platform.

Jiang Ruan followed behind the palace family members. Although her relationship with the Empress Dowager was now quite close, the palace women still somewhat isolated her. However, Princess Rongya, born to Prince Yong, and Princess Heyi, born to Consort Shu, were held in high regard, surrounded by many consorts talking with them, quite like treasured pearls.

Walking at the very front of the women’s seats were Empress Dowager Yide, the Empress, followed by Consort Chen, Consort De, Consort Shu, and Consort Xian. The men’s seats had the princes and imperial princes, with the Emperor sitting in the highest position.

Empress Dowager Yide saw that Jiang Ruan was alone, thrown to the back by the palace family members, and frowned slightly, saying coldly: “Hong’an, come to me.”

Jiang Ruan complied and stepped forward. Princess Rongya and Princess Heyi both flashed jealousy in their eyes simultaneously, while the men’s side seemed to notice Jiang Ruan for the first time. When Jiang Ruan walked up to Empress Dowager Yide, the Empress Dowager extended her hand to take hers. This intimate gesture, falling in everyone’s eyes, was another shock. Although they knew Jiang Ruan was favored, Empress Dowager Yide had a cold and aloof nature. Such intimate behavior was rarely granted even to the former Princess Yuanrong.

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly, her gaze falling on a familiar figure in the men’s section. She couldn’t help but be slightly stunned—black robes and brocade, it was clearly Xiao Shao. Imperial Observatory ritual ceremonies were only for imperial relatives, so why would Xiao Shao be there too?

Xiao Shao was also stunned to see Jiang Ruan. Jiang Ruan wore a palace satin plain snow silk dress, her black hair simply arranged in a gourd-shaped chignon with only a white jade hairpin, no ornaments at all, and no makeup. Jiang Ruan always preferred bright red clothing and usually presented herself in brilliant and charming appearances. Now dressed so plainly, she seemed to have washed away all artifice. Unlike Jiang Susu’s pure and transcendent, pitiful and touching beauty, Jiang Ruan in this white dress actually made her gentle smile appear somewhat cold, with the slightly upturned corners of her eyes seeming to contain a sharp mockery. If the red-clothed Jiang Ruan was a fire fox, the white-clothed Jiang Ruan was like a spirit snake. She couldn’t be associated with pitifulness; instead, she had a heart-stopping coldness.

A blood-red plum blossom had suddenly become a snow-white pear flower. Many people’s gazes had already turned to look at her, and Xuan Li was no exception. Looking at Jiang Ruan with somewhat dazed eyes, he felt this woman was born so transcendent, different from other women, making one’s heart unable to resist wanting to possess her. To see that indifferent gaze become infatuated for oneself would surely be a beautiful thing.

A flash of amazement also passed through the Emperor’s eyes, though Jiang Ruan was still too young, and overly cold. Men always preferred gentler temperaments. The Emperor had never particularly liked Jiang Ruan, but Consort Chen, looking at Jiang Ruan, revealed a faint smile.

Lady Wang also watched Jiang Ruan from afar. For some reason, her heart was beating very hard tonight, as if she had some ominous premonition. Seeing that Jiang Ruan was indeed wearing that palace satin plain snow silk dress, she relaxed again. As long as she wore this dress, and the Clothing Hall hadn’t made any other dresses, today’s matter would be foolproof.

Jiang Ruan slightly raised the corners of her lips. Seeing the Emperor announce the beginning of the ceremony, the Imperial Observatory officials burned incense and washed their hands, with all divination tools properly arranged. Huge incense burners slowly released curling smoke. Hui Jue, dressed in monk’s robes, stood beside the Director, with a kind and benevolent expression, silently reciting scriptures.

The Spiritual Platform Officer was reading the star formations when suddenly there was a “dong” sound—the huge tortoise shell placed at the very front suddenly split slowly down the middle, with an abrupt crack appearing on the shell.

“Great misfortune…” The Director widened his eyes. He was about to say something more when his voice was interrupted: “Something’s wrong, sir!” It was the Registrar who kept records, running from the star observation platform with a panicked face, saying: “Double stars flanking the moon! Double stars flanking the moon! Great misfortune!”

The Emperor stood up and said in a low voice: “What has happened?”

The Registrar immediately fell to his knees, kowtowing continuously: “Your Majesty, double stars flanking the moon is an omen of great misfortune!”

“What?” The Emperor frowned tightly. In all the years the Imperial Observatory had conducted ritual ceremonies since he ascended the throne, this was the first time he had encountered such an ominous phenomenon. Steadying himself, he said: “Explain clearly to me—what is this double stars flanking the moon?”

The Director seemed to recover from his shock and knelt down: “In reply to Your Majesty, double stars flanking the moon is an omen of great misfortune. The country has a demon star—it’s the disaster of national destruction.”

“Demon star?” It was Consort Chen who spoke. She turned her head in confusion: “What demon star?”

“One who brings chaos to the court and disaster to the country.” The Director wiped his sweat: “This person is the reincarnation of a demon star. Double stars flanking the moon is heaven’s warning—it’s an omen of national destruction!”

“Then where is this demon star?” Consort Chen seemed somewhat nervous.

“This… Heaven is merciful and will send down warnings. This minister… this minister is willing to burn a stick of supplication incense to ask heaven’s will.”

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly. Finally… she had waited for this moment.