Of course, rules are dead, but people are alive.

Things are not unchangeable.

For instance, if Lianpin wanted to invite people from the Qin household or those she valued into the palace to talk on her birthday or other important festivals, that would be acceptable.

Or if Imperial Consort De had great prestige, she might invite Madam Luo Shi from the Liang household into the palace several times within a year, and no one would dare say anything about it.

However, if Kangpin were to instruct Madam Liu to do something, that would be crossing a forbidden line.

To put it mildly, Kangpin didn’t understand the rules of palace consorts and didn’t consider her own status before casually speaking with the wives of court officials. To put it seriously, this would mean the prince (Seventh Prince) was colluding with court officials (Minister Yun) – what was this intended to accomplish?

Court officials were the Emperor’s subjects. If they became too close with palace consorts, princes, and princesses, were they planning to rebel?!

Even if it weren’t Kangpin and Madam Liu, if this matter involved Princess Fu’an instructing Yun Jingshu, it still wouldn’t be acceptable!

Although princesses were noble, daughters of court officials were daughters of the Emperor’s subjects, not daughters of some princess’s subjects. If people thought too much about this, it would become a huge problem.

Could it be that the daughter of a court official was to become a princess’s subject?

If this were brought up for discussion, it would carry the accusation of great treason.

When the late Emperor was alive, there was once a princess who instructed a court official’s daughter to do something that angered both heaven and people, and in the end, that princess was actually executed by being cut in half at the waist!

This had only happened a few decades ago – everyone still remembered and didn’t dare forget.

Of course, no matter how strict the laws and rules were, over time they would inevitably become lax. Therefore, Princess Fu’an privately instructing court officials’ daughters to do things had gradually become nothing unusual nowadays.

However, doing it in secret was one thing, while making it known to everyone was quite another matter.

Especially at such a sensitive time.

As a noble young lady, how could Yun Jingshu not understand such taboos? It was just that since everyone didn’t speak of it recently, she had become careless for a moment.

But when Qin Shuying deliberately brought it up and Princess Fu’an cared so much about it, she couldn’t help but feel both shocked and panicked. Not bothering to think about why Qin Shuying would know about her private agreement with Princess Fu’an, she hurriedly knelt down: “Your Highness, please forgive me! It was all this subject’s daughter speaking nonsense! It was all this subject’s daughter speaking nonsense!”

Princess Fu’an was almost mad with rage. Although she clearly knew this was Qin Shuying’s scheme to sow discord, that brainless fool Yun Jingshu had already caused her to lose face in front of Crown Prince Brother, and now she was saying such things again – she simply wanted to kill this brainless fool!

Was she afraid that others wouldn’t know the fake palace maid incident was something she had ordered?

Was she afraid that Mother Consort and Imperial Brother wouldn’t have anything to criticize?

Was she afraid that others wouldn’t know she was arrogant and willful?

Fool, fool!

Couldn’t that fool Yun Jingshu see that this was Qin Shuying’s trap? Yet she still threw herself right into it!

Liu Sujiang had been following anxiously behind Princess Fu’an all along. Seeing Yun Jingshu’s terrified expression, she felt much more at ease: Good thing she wasn’t the only one who had messed things up – there was someone else to share the blame.

Qin Shuying curved her lips upward.

Indeed, this matter was planned by Princess Fu’an and carried out with the participation of Yun Jingshu and Liu Sujiang.

It was just that before Yun Jingshu could play her role, the situation had spiraled beyond their control.

It seemed that in the original plan, Princess Fu’an had arranged tasks for her to do.

With such a major incident, it would be impossible for the Seventh Prince not to know about it.

Kangpin naturally knew about it too.

As for the Mu family members, did they know or not?

Mu Tianxiang’s expression had remained quite ordinary throughout, nothing special. She didn’t even crowd near Princess Fu’an, but instead stayed at a moderate distance, blending in with the group of noble ladies behind.

Luo Jinniang had been pulled along by Liang Qiong the whole time. Although her expression couldn’t hide her sarcasm, mockery, and anger, she ultimately said nothing.

Princess Fuping had been walking behind, but now she slowly stepped forward, walked to Princess Fu’an’s side, found a spot to sit down, and said unhurriedly: “Fu’an, with such an incident occurring, you’re naturally somewhat agitated. Rest assured, Minister Lü will handle this matter fairly. Miss Yun, please stand up.”

Yun Jingshu looked at Princess Fu’an, mumbled something, not daring to stand up. Instead, she cast her gaze toward Princess Fu’an, waiting for Princess Fu’an’s indication.

Princess Fu’an almost wanted to slap Yun Jingshu away with one strike!

She had seemed quite capable of handling situations in the past – was she deliberately trying to anger her to death today?

Fuping had given her a way out, yet she was still too stupid to take advantage of it, insisting on waiting for her own indication. Did she have to make herself appear narrow-minded and domineering?

Fuping, hmm?

Hmph!

She really knew how to win people’s hearts!

This way, she would appear quick to anger while Fuping seemed gentle and elegant, wouldn’t she?

This was truly infuriating – if they weren’t cunning, they were stupid, or they were using her to climb up!

…

Watching Princess Fu’an’s twisted expression, Nanny Cao also felt somewhat troubled. Princess Fuping’s behavior couldn’t help but make Her Highness overthink things. People both inside and outside the palace originally loved to compare the two princesses.

But she couldn’t reprimand Fuping, so she vented all her anger on Yun Jingshu instead, scolding: “Miss Yun, you are also a noble lady from a third-rank official’s family. You should think more before speaking in the future, and not lose your dignity. Her Highness is also doing this for your own good, to prevent you from bringing disaster upon yourself through careless words in the future. Although Her Highness is magnanimous, you cannot forget your mistakes. Go back and reflect on yourself properly!”

Yun Jingshu kowtowed, stood up, still somewhat dazed.

——She had truly been left mentally scattered by today’s series of unexpected developments. Why hadn’t Qin Shuying fallen into the trap? Should she still carry out the plan she had prepared earlier? If she didn’t carry it out, wouldn’t that be failing in her duties? Would Princess Fu’an forgive her?

Qin Shuying reminded her from the side: “Miss Yun, when Nanny Cao instructs you like this, it represents Princess Fu’an’s intentions. You should express your gratitude.”

Princess Fu’an’s chest heaved violently. She really couldn’t hold back and shot a deadly glare over – would she die if she didn’t speak?

At this moment, she was no longer afraid of whether Qin Shuying had poison hidden on her person.

With so many people here, plus the officials, she surely wouldn’t dare to try anything.

To think she had caused her to lose emotional control three or four times! Princess Fu’an gritted her teeth tightly – Qin Shuying, just you wait, I definitely won’t let you go!

Qin Shuying paid no attention to Princess Fu’an’s murderous gaze, curving her lips and lowering her eyes.

Yun Jingshu collected herself. That disaster Qin Shuying – if she hadn’t escaped Princess Fu’an’s scheme, how would she have become mentally scattered? If it weren’t for her instigation and temptation from the sidelines, how would she have received Princess Fu’an’s rebuke for no reason?

But now was not the time to settle accounts with her. With so many people watching, she absolutely could not lose her composure.

Yun Jingshu performed the proper courtesy and expressed her gratitude: “Jingshu has never encountered such a situation before, which is why I panicked earlier and made myself a laughingstock. Thank you for Your Highness’s guidance and consideration. Jingshu will definitely study proper etiquette well when I return home and reflect deeply on my mistakes.”

Princess Fu’an sat upright and accepted her courtesy, finally managing to suppress the distortion on her face with great difficulty, and reluctantly said: “It’s good that you can think this way.”

These two chapters are somewhat tedious, firstly because some background needs to be explained, and secondly because they involve Qin Yongzhou’s death, requiring some foreshadowing here, so there are more psychological descriptions.