The next day, Xiaoying went for a stroll in the Imperial Garden.

She happened to see Consort Yi chatting with her grandmother in a pavilion in the Imperial Garden.

During this period, since Consort Shang couldn’t show her face, the management of palace affairs had fallen to Consort Yi.

In a few days, it will be Consort Yi’s birthday. Such minor birthdays were generally not celebrated extravagantly—usually, the imperial consorts would just invite noble ladies from various households for a small gathering.

But the Tang family now wanted to restore their prestige. How could they miss such an opportunity?

So the wife of Duke Jing personally entered the palace to persuade Consort Yi, wanting to host a grand celebration.

After Consort Yi politely declined, the Duchess of Jing looked at her granddaughter with displeasure. After dismissing the attendants, she said gravely, “It’s not that I’m trying to teach you how to conduct yourself. But now that you’re the most favored consort, you should show some capability. Being so small-minded, how can you compare to the grandeur of Consort Shang’s birthday celebration last year?”

Consort Yi lowered her eyes and said, “As you mentioned, my rank is not that of a Noble Consort, so why should I compete with her? The Wei Country delegation is still here, and His Majesty’s attention is on state affairs. Why bother with such extravagance…”

Hearing this, the Duchess of Jing didn’t insist further, but said with slight dissatisfaction: “You may make decisions about these palace matters, but when it comes to court affairs, you cannot be careless. Let me ask you, have you spoken with the Crown Prince?”

The Crown Prince’s return had been unexpected for the Tang family, who had received information that the Crown Prince wouldn’t live long.

Now that he had returned completely intact, it truly seemed heaven hadn’t abandoned the Tang family. Unfortunately, the Crown Prince was even harder to meet than Consort Yi. Duke Jing had requested an audience several times, but the Crown Prince had avoided seeing him.

Yet just days ago, that previously unthreatening Grand Prince had suddenly made a grand appearance at the capital’s martial arts platform. Not only had he killed Master Chen Xifan from Wei Country with one strike, but he had also spoken passionately on the platform, exposing the insincerity of Wei Country’s peace talks. His eloquence had the common people singing his praises.

Some even made comparisons about his appearance, saying he resembled the late emperor, and if he inherited the throne, he would certainly be much stronger than the weak Crown Prince.

Hearing these things, Duke Jing felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He could only send his wife to the palace to ask Consort Yi to pass on a message, wondering what the Crown Prince thought of this situation. He had heard that the Crown Prince had been getting close to the Grand Prince recently—had he been bewitched and was being used as a stepping stone by the Grand Prince?

Consort Yi didn’t want to agree. She was also full of worries, as Consort Shang from the Western Palace had somehow heard rumors that she had planned to elope with someone before entering the palace. She had sent someone to threaten her, and though troubled, Consort Yi was isolated and didn’t know whom to turn to for help.

After all, the Tang family only knew that she had been close to a scholar from Wei Country, but they didn’t know that scholar’s current identity.

These days, that Prince of Fu was also being restless, always trying to send her messages. Their broken relationship was like spoiled food, yet he still persisted in trying to feed it to her, unaware that her current predicament was entirely due to him.

Now, listening to her grandmother’s nagging like a tightening headband spell, she was worn down and had no choice but to remain silent, emptying her gaze toward the high wall at the end of the Imperial Garden.

Just at this moment, the Crown Prince unexpectedly came strolling down the small path in the Imperial Garden.

As soon as the Duchess of Jing saw this, she immediately stood up and greeted the Crown Prince loudly.

The young Crown Prince smiled as she walked over, glancing at the snacks laid out on the pavilion table: “Did the Duchess of Jing bring these from outside the palace? The style looks different from what we have in the palace…”

As she spoke, she eagerly picked up a piece and put it in her mouth.

The Duchess of Jing smiled stiffly at the Crown Prince, with some disdain in her eyes—after all, this was someone raised by a concubine. Even with the status of an imperial son, there was no proper etiquette in his behavior.

She was, after all, his nominal grandmother. How could he not pay his respects to her before eating?

But since it was rare to encounter the Crown Prince, the Duchess of Jing didn’t bother establishing protocol. She quickly dismissed the surrounding palace maids and conveyed Duke Jing’s concerns to the Crown Prince.

Xiaoying casually nibbled on the pastry, eating two pieces before asking: “If my elder brother, the Grand Prince, is virtuous, what would be wrong with him becoming Crown Prince? Duchess, you have overstepped.”

The Duchess of Jing was startled, hardly believing what she heard: “Your Highness, Duke Jing and I are only concerned for your well-being. Do you truly not understand the consequences if you lose your position as heir? Throughout history, how many deposed Crown Princes have escaped unscathed?”

Xiaoying knew that with such a self-important old creature, she needed to speak plainly to avoid future nagging.

The Tang family’s self-interest was too strong; they always wanted Tang women to control the phoenix throne. Little did they know this was the very path that would harm their daughter and the family’s prospects!

Moving forward was easy for anyone, but stopping to look back at the road traveled—that was the difficult thing to do in this world.

For Consort Yi’s sake, she would give one final warning. Whether they would listen or not depended on their fortune.

“With no one else present, I’ll call you Grandmother just this once. Let’s talk as grandmother and grandchild. Let me ask you, is my Imperial Father confused and incompetent, an old man with clouded vision?”

The Duchess of Jing was startled and quickly replied: “His Majesty is brave, helped the late emperor establish the empire, and is naturally wise and brilliant. Why would Your Highness say such a thing?”

“Since you know my Father is in his prime, wise and brilliant, why would you and my grandfather overstep and worry about succession matters? Is the Tang family’s wealth and glory not prominent enough in this capital? For generations of noble families, producing one empress is a blessing from ancestral virtue. But a phoenix-attracting parasol tree that stays permanently in the courtyard, unwilling to move elsewhere, will invite jealousy. His Majesty must maintain relations with many noble families, not just the Tang family. If you can help lighten His Majesty’s burdens, you should understand the meaning behind this. Don’t exhaust your good fortune too early, causing future generations to live in lonely misery…”

Hearing these words, Consort Yi quickly raised her head to look at the Crown Prince, her eyes showing slight shock.

Xiaoying knew that ever since this lady had entered the palace with a dead heart, no longer valuing emotions, she had been aiming for the empress position.

So she probably didn’t like hearing such truths.

But this was the reality. Even if Emperor Chunde favored Consort Yi greatly, he would not allow the next empress to be a Tang, just as he would eventually depose Feng Qiyuan.

If Consort Yi could recognize this point, she would understand how to protect herself, rather than being dragged down by the Tang family, wasting her energy pursuing a goal that would never be realized.

The Duchess of Jing obviously couldn’t accept this, merely suppressing her anger as she said: “My noble Tang family has the merit of following the dragon. When your father lost his wife years ago, he actively sought to marry my Tang family’s daughter. Our entire family supported him without reservation, leading to the current prosperity of Dafeng. The Crown Prince is still young—how could you understand the hardship of maintaining a family?”

Seeing the topic shifting to the Tang family’s glorious history of supporting two emperors, Xiaoying promptly interjected, gently inquiring about Consort Yi’s daily life in the Tang household and the whereabouts of her maids and old nurses.

The Duchess of Jing was confused but answered reluctantly. Consort Yi, however, looked up and glanced at the Crown Prince several times.

When the Duchess of Jing finally couldn’t bear it anymore and rose to take her leave, the Crown Prince, as it was on the way back to the Eastern Palace, walked a stretch with Consort Yi.

After a moment of silence, Consort Yi looked at the Crown Prince and asked: “I never had the opportunity to speak at length with Your Highness before. Meeting you today reminds me of an old acquaintance.”

Xiaoying smiled and said, “My appearance is not unusual; many people look like me.”

Consort Yi said softly, “If you have any difficulties, you can tell me. I will do my best to help you. This is not a place to stay for long. A good person once told me that if you stay too long, you can’t leave.”

Perhaps due to a woman’s natural intuition, Consort Yi didn’t need to probe; she immediately recognized that the Crown Prince before her was her lifesaver, Yan Xiaoying.

And Consort Yi didn’t ask why Xiaoying was impersonating the Crown Prince; she only asked if she wanted to escape, saying she was willing to help Lady Yan.

This lady was unfortunately born into a noble family. If she had wandered the jianghu, she would have been a courageous heroine!

Xiaoying smiled and looked back at the palace maids following at a distance. Without denying anything, she said softly: “I’m not in a hurry at the moment. But you need to solve the trouble from the Western Palace first. From what I gathered from the Duchess’s meaning earlier, among the people who served you, some suddenly left the capital due to family matters. I fear these people have been bought and controlled by the Western Palace. If you don’t want to submit to the Western Palace, you should make plans early. I’ll find a way to investigate and deal with the movements of Consort Shang’s people outside the palace. But you need to come up with a sound explanation for your past with that person from Wei. His Majesty is deeply suspicious and won’t tolerate any ambiguity.”

Tang Ru now understood why Lady Yan had asked the Duchess about the daily life in the Tang household earlier—it was for this reason. She gratefully thanked Xiaoying for the warning.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but ask Xiaoying why she had entered the palace as the Crown Prince.

At this point, Xiaoying briefly explained what Tang Ru’s aunt, the Empress, had boldly done.

Tang Ru listened with widening eyes and took some time to steady herself.

Just as Xiaoying was about to turn and leave, Tang Ru stopped her and whispered: “Someone went to the Empress’s Cold Palace…”

Xiaoying’s heart dropped. She raised an eyebrow and asked: “When?”

“On the day you were visiting Prince Ruixiang’s mansion. A female official from the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards named Chenghong entered the Empress’s chambers with a warrant for an important case.”

If Tang Ru hadn’t been leading palace maids in the garden searching for her beloved cat that day, she wouldn’t have witnessed this scene.

The Dragon Scale Shadow Guards with warrants could go anywhere unimpeded, and since the warrant bearer was a woman, no one stopped her.

So when Tang Ru saw this, she didn’t think much of it, assuming it was related to the old case of Tang Mingquan.

The Tang family should naturally avoid involvement, as Duke Jing had long since severed ties with the Empress Tang, not wanting to be implicated.

But now that Tang Ru knew about her aunt’s audacious scheme and recognized Xiaoying, she immediately connected these events and mentioned it to Xiaoying.

Xiaoying’s heart sank as she immediately guessed this was Mu Shi’s doing.

Yesterday, when she and Feng Yuan had reviewed the situation, they had just detected something amiss with the Duke Ding, only to find that he had already noticed them and immediately moved to question the Tang family.

She was now almost certain that this Duke Ding had an unusual relationship with Xiaoyin Mountain Villa. If he was the “master” who was so skilled at manipulating people’s hearts, the fact that he suddenly sent someone to the Cold Palace meant he must have detected something suspicious about her and went to verify with the Empress…

As for extracting information from the Empress, who had gone mad since her imprisonment, it probably wasn’t difficult…

Xiaoying knew the situation was precarious. After thinking for a moment, she asked Tang Ru softly: “Can you find a way to send a message to the Grand Prince for me?”

Tang Ru nodded. Her life had been saved by Xiaoying—otherwise, she would have long since become a ghost under three feet of white silk. For the lady’s sake, she would certainly do her part.

After Xiaoying finished speaking, Tang Ru cautioned: “Be careful.”

With that, they parted ways. Xiaoying led her attendants and eunuchs back toward the Eastern Palace.

Along the way, she suddenly noticed that there seemed to be many unfamiliar faces among the guards.

Xiaoying sent Jin Zhong to inquire and learned that the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards had notified the Imperial Guards, saying they had received intelligence that assassins were plotting against the Eastern Palace, so they had specifically increased the guard around the Eastern Palace…

However, back inside the Eastern Palace, the palace guards and servants showed no particular change.

Xiaoying beckoned Jian Hu and Jin Zhong over, examining them carefully from head to toe.

That intense gaze made Jin Zhong somewhat fearful: “Your Highness, why are you looking at us this way?”

“These past two days, has anyone asked you about me?”

Jin Zhong thought for a moment and cautiously replied: “…No…”

But Jian Hu said, “That’s not right. The Second Prince’s eunuch Fulu did speak with you for quite a while today.”

Seeing he couldn’t conceal it, Jin Zhong smiled apologetically: “That Fulu saw that the Western Palace was losing influence and approached this servant to arrange a transfer to serve in the Eastern Palace. But I thought that since he came from the Western Palace, he couldn’t be trusted, so I haven’t agreed yet!”

Xiaoying smiled and asked: “How much silver did he offer you? Be honest, you know I never block your income.”

“He offered a hundred taels… it was quite a lot, so this servant was tempted. Although I didn’t immediately agree, I did teach him many of your rules, hoping he would be clever enough to catch your eye.”

Xiaoying continued to smile, leaning forward slightly: “What rules did you teach him?”

Jin Zhong didn’t dare deceive the Crown Prince and honestly replied: “Just that you don’t like eunuchs to enter your inner chambers to serve you at bedtime, and that only Jian Hu is allowed to help you dress, things like that…”

Xiaoying sighed helplessly and turned to look at Jian Hu. Jian Hu’s face was as white as paper, staring at Jin Zhong: “How dare you tell such confidential matters to the Second Prince’s people!”

With that, Jian Hu reached out and grabbed Jin Zhong’s throat, shaking him violently.

After all, between these two, only Jian Hu knew the critical point. The daily habits Jin Zhong had revealed—didn’t they expose Xiaoying’s female identity?

Seeing Jin Zhong about to roll his eyes from the choking, Xiaoying finally waved for Jian Hu to stop.

She comforted Jin Zhong with a few kind words and sent him out. Then Jian Hu, thinking of Xiaoying’s unusual behavior today, asked with trembling lips: “What’s wrong? Has someone discovered your secret?”

Xiaoying looked at Jian Hu and said after a moment’s thought: “I’ll try to find a way to leave the palace quickly. As long as I haven’t been exposed, you won’t be implicated. But if anyone questions you, you must deny everything. You must never reveal the truth—once revealed, there will be no hope for survival.”

Jian Hu naturally understood. With trembling lips, she asked: “My lady, do you still have that poison you used to give people? Leave some for me. If I’m captured, I don’t want to suffer torture.”

No matter what, from the day the Empress had sent her, she had already embarked on a path of no return. Once Xiaoying’s female identity was discovered, she would have only one path—death.

Xiaoying patted her shoulder: “We haven’t reached that final step yet. Don’t frighten yourself.”

But after nightfall, Xiaoying surveyed the surroundings and abandoned her plans to leave that night. The area around the Eastern Palace had been reinforced with guards; all of Xiaoying’s usual escape routes had been sealed off. She couldn’t even leave the Eastern Palace.

It seemed someone had made the first move, surrounding the Eastern Palace so tightly that not even water could seep through.

Xiaoying didn’t know if Consort Yi could deliver the message in time or how Feng Yuan would find a way to help her escape.

She only thought about Duke Ding.

This man loved to plant seeds of control and lay traps; his ulterior motives couldn’t be as simple as just seizing power.

If he knew her secret identity, he wouldn’t rush to expose it to the Emperor. That wouldn’t fit his character.

It seemed likely he would come to seek her out, to test if she could be useful to him.

Thinking of this, Xiaoying calmed down, waiting to see how the situation would develop the next day.

Although the palace had increased security, everything else remained normal. As dawn approached, servants from all palace gates began to rise and move about—boiling water, fetching water, and emptying chamber pots—accompanied by the chirping of birds flying overhead, beginning a new day.

Xiaoying had not slept well that night. After getting up and washing, she soon heard that Duke Ding had sent a card requesting an audience.

Xiaoying put on her headpiece and had Jian Hu invite Duke Ding into the Eastern Palace.

Duke Ding, Mu Shi, was as always thin and refined, with a friendly smile on his face as he bowed and greeted the Crown Prince.

If there was any difference from before, it was that the gaze with which he observed Xiaoying was keener than usual.

“What brings Duke Ding here today? Is there something important?”

Duke Ding replied gently: “Since returning to the capital, I’ve been busy with mundane affairs and haven’t had a chance to speak properly with Your Highness. Today I’ve made time to come and visit. I hope Your Highness doesn’t find it bothersome?”

“How could you say that? As the commander of the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards, handling state secrets, you are His Majesty’s right-hand man. Your condescension to visit the Eastern Palace is an honor for me, the heir.”

Xiaoying smiled, ready to engage.

“Speaking of secrets, I heard an interesting one. I heard that the Empress used to love watching opera, especially ‘Lady Su’s Second Marriage’ performed by Hong Yu.”

Hong Yu was Xiaoying’s mother, and her performance of “Lady Su’s Second Marriage” had once been famous throughout the capital.

Xiaoying laughed coldly inside. So Tang had indeed been questioned by Mu Shi.

She must be determined to end her own life, seeking revenge and willing to drag down this impostor along with the entire Tang clan as collateral damage.

But Xiaoying knew what Mu Shi wanted to see. She immediately changed her expression, putting on a show of panic and distress, her eyes widening slightly as she said: “This… I truly don’t know about Mother Empress’s former preferences.”

Seeing her change of expression, Mu Shi’s smile deepened: “That actress not only performed well but was also fertile, giving birth to a pair of outstanding twins.”

Xiaoying reached for the teacup, but as she drank, one could faintly hear her teeth chattering against the cup. The water spilled slightly due to the excessive trembling.

Mu Shi was quite satisfied with her terror. As he was about to continue, he saw the Crown Prince proactively dismiss all the palace servants at the door, then look at him and say softly, “Duke Ding, what exactly do you want to say?”

Duke Ding looked at her intently and said, “You… are you the brother or the sister from those twins?”

Xiaoying seemed frozen, her entire body stiffening as she said: “I don’t understand what you mean!”

Duke Ding, certain of victory, calmly said: “This is all due to the Tang family’s private scheme. Given the situation, if you tell me the truth early, I can better arrange some solutions for you.”

Xiaoying put down the teacup, fell to her knees with a thud, and said tearfully: “Save me, Duke!”

Mu Shi reached out to help her up, his manner gentle as he said: “I’ve only heard the Empress’s side of the story. For the details, I still need you to explain carefully. First, tell me, what is your relationship with the Grand Prince?”

Xiaoying answered with difficulty: “The Grand Prince discovered my secret and forced me to promise myself to him. And because he didn’t want to marry a noble family’s daughter, he made me fill in. I thought that by following him, I could at least gain some wealth and glory. I didn’t expect that after barely earning any silver, he would make me enter the palace as a stand-in. This is like working two jobs, unable to sleep peacefully each day—how can anyone endure it?”