Recalling the scene she once encountered at the hot springs villa, Rong Rong immediately thought of Xie Yuanchu’s feelings for Zhen Zhen.

She whispered, “Did the Young Master succeed?”

Zhen Zhen’s face turned red, and she shook her head with a smile.

There was a fleeting, indescribable emotion in her eyes, and her voice was hard to read for any joy or sadness.

“No, he didn’t.”

“That’s good. As long as he didn’t succeed, Zhen Zhen still has a chance to change things.” Rong Rong sighed in relief and asked, “But why aren’t you happy?”

“I… I made him unhappy.”

“You!” Rong Rong felt helpless and annoyed with Zhen Zhen.

She lightly poked Zhen Zhen’s forehead.

Zhen Zhen wasn’t officially recognized by Xie Yuanchu yet—she wasn’t even a concubine, let alone a proper wife.

If Xie Yuan Chu was unhappy, it wasn’t fair for Zhen Zhen to feel bad about it.

Even when Rongrong was with the Crown Prince, she had an official position.

Zhenzhen had no such standing, so why should she care if Xie Yuan Chu was upset?

It was frustrating that Zhen Zhen was upset over this.

Rong Rong said, “He should be unhappy! If he wants to be happy, he should have given you a proper status earlier. If you make him happy now, you’ll be the one crying later.”

Rong Rong had explained the stakes clearly to Zhen Zhen before.

Unfortunately, Zhen Zhen only understood part of it.

Despite following her advice, Zhen Zhen was still confused.

This girl not only wanted to become a concubine but had also developed real feelings for Xie Yuanchu, which made things complicated.

Listening to Rongrong’s advice, Zhenzhen kept silent, her lips pressed together.

After a while, she said, “Rong Rong, do you remember Luomei from Aunt Han’s house?”

“Yes, I remember. Why? Is she not behaving?”

Zhen Zhen nodded and smiled wryly. “I can’t say Luomei is misbehaving. Anyone would have such thoughts being around the Young Master.

Last night, he asked me for something, but I refused. This morning, when I went to attend him, I noticed something off between him and Luomei.”

Indeed, both Zhenzhen and Rongrong wanted to become concubines for Xie Yuan Chu, and Luomei was just another person in the same situation.

Seeing Zhenzhen’s sad expression, Rongrong felt a pang of sympathy.

She was stuck in the East Palace with no way out, while Zhenzhen was eager to enter.

People’s desires differ, and she couldn’t force it.

“Has the Young Master and Luomei become involved?”

“No, not really. It’s just that recently, since I’ve been rejecting him, he has been a bit close with Luomei.” Zhenzhen looked even more dejected, as if she might cry.

Seeing her so downcast, Rongrong quickly took her hand and comforted her. “If you’re worried that the Young Master might favor Luomei, you don’t need to. Don’t you know what kind of woman he likes?”

Although Luomei was not bad-looking, she was not the type to attract Xie Yuanchu’s attention.

“Right now, he doesn’t seem interested. But when Luomei first came to the study, the Young Master didn’t let her serve him closely, and now she has been allowed. Even if Luomei isn’t as good as us, she’s still a beauty.”

“Has the Young Master said anything to you?” Rong Rong asked.

“What did he say?”

“Did he mention when he might make you a concubine, or talk about anything like that?”

Zhen Zhen sighed, “If he had said anything like that, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Moreover, he’s been busy with state affairs recently, and the three young ladies in his household have been causing a commotion. He doesn’t have time to think about this.”

Hearing this, Rong Rong felt quite emotional.

In dramatic stories, there are characters like Dong Yong and the Seven Fairies, or Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.

But do men in the real world really stay as devoted as those in the stories?

Most men, like Xie Yuan Chu and Liu Zhen, are different.

Rongrong suddenly thought that maybe she could write a story where Xie Yuanchu and Liu Zhen are very devoted, and both Zhenzhen and she end up with happy endings.

“Rong Rong, what are you thinking about?” Zhenzhen asked after noticing Rongrong had been silent and lost in thought.

Rongrong snapped back to reality and decided to voice something she had been holding in since her rebirth. “Zhenzhen, have you ever thought about not becoming Xie Yuanchu’s concubine?”

Xie Yuanchu isn’t worth it.

Zhen Zhen was taken aback and stared at Rongrong with her mouth open, unable to close it.

It took her a while to come back to her senses.

“But I…” Zhenzhen bit her lip and said gloomily, “I know you look down on me now.”

Her best chance was to become a concubine to Xie Yuanchu, which was a far cry from Rongrong, who was favored in the East Palace.

Rongrong was annoyed by these words but knew it wasn’t Zhen Zhen’s fault.

She said, “What are you talking about? We’re both maidservants. How could I look down on you? I just think maybe you’d be more comfortable living differently.”

“How so?” Zhen Zhen asked with a bitter smile.

“Buy your freedom.”

“Buy my freedom?” Zhen Zhen’s smile turned even more bitter. “You know I can’t afford the money for that.”

“Just tell me if you want to buy your freedom or not,” Rong Rong insisted, looking directly at Zhen Zhen, refusing to let her avoid the question. “I’m not asking about anything else, just if you want it or not.”

Zhen Zhen looked confused. “I don’t have any family. If I buy my freedom, where would I go?”

In her past life, Jing Rong lived alone without family, experiencing a cold and indifferent palace life.

Now, having been reborn into Xue Rongrong’s body, she had experienced family warmth with Grandmother Xue, so she understood Zhen Zhen’s desire for support.

“But you have me. We can support each other. Isn’t that like having family? You helped me buy my freedom before. Now that I’m free, I can help you buy yours.

My grandmother and adopted brother have moved from the countryside to a house in Wutong Alley, not far from Huaihua Alley.

If you buy your freedom, you can come live with us. My grandmother is a kind person, and she will treat you as well as she treats me.”

Zhen Zhen couldn’t help but smile at Rong Rong’s kind offer, but it was clear that she wasn’t ready to make a decision today.

Zhen Zhen still had feelings for Xie Yuanchu.

“You don’t need to rush. Whenever you decide, just go to Wutong Alley and let my family know. Remember, there’s no need to be so formal between us.”

“Okay, let me think about it some more.” Zhen Zhen still couldn’t make up her mind.

Rong Rong knew that talking more wouldn’t help; Zhen Zhen needed to figure it out on her own.

She nodded and personally saw Zhen Zhen out of the East Palace.

Because of the assassination case yesterday, the guards at the East Palace’s back door were much stricter than usual.

However, since it was Rong Rong, the guards didn’t question them and let Zhen Zhen leave.

After sending Zhen Zhen off, Rong Rong went to the grass field but found it deserted.

The lively scene earlier was now empty.

She hurriedly asked a young eunuch who was cleaning the field and learned that someone from the palace had come, and Yuanbao had gone with them.

Earlier, Yuan Bao had mentioned that the Empress would send An Ru to the East Palace, so the palace visitor was likely An Ru.

Rongrong didn’t want to meet An Ru, so she decided to skip going to Yuhua Palace and went straight to the kitchen.

Feeling joyful about finding her son, she was full of energy and focused on cooking.

She even insisted on preparing the meal herself and made lunch for Yuan Bao.

Just as she was about to serve it, Wang An informed her that An Ru had taken Yuan Bao directly to the palace.

Rong Rong had to give up and enjoyed the meal on her own.

……

When Yuan Bao’s sedan chair arrived at Kun Ning Palace, it was just noon.

The Empress had been sitting in Kun Ning Palace for a long time.

When she saw An Ru bringing Yuan Bao in, she, usually calm and composed, immediately got down from her throne and hugged Yuan Bao tightly, saying, “You mischievous child, how could you still be upset with your grandmother?”

Yuan Bao hugged the Empress’s face and gave her a kiss, saying, “I was a little upset, but seeing you now, I’m no longer upset at all!”

“That’s good, that’s good,” the Empress was very happy to be kissed by Yuan Bao.

She carried him inside, saying, “I’ve prepared lots of delicious food for you. If you like it, I’ll have more brought out.”

The meal in Kun Ning Palace was quite elaborate.

There were ten main dishes, not to mention the cold dishes, soups, and fruit plates.

The Empress helped Yuan Bao with the food, and seeing him eat happily, her face was filled with joy.

When Yuan Bao had eaten most of the food, the Empress served him a bowl of ginseng and abalone chicken soup that had been simmering since the morning.

Yuan Bao ate slowly, spooning the soup into his mouth one bite at a time.

“Yuanbao, do you know where your father has gone?” The Empress asked with a smile while Yuanbao was focused on drinking his soup.

Yuanbao shook his head with the spoon in his mouth.

After finishing his soup, he said, “I know Father is busy catching assassins and won’t be back at the East Palace for a while.”

“Not coming back to the East Palace? How can he do that? How will you sleep at night without him?” The Empress was angry.

After learning that someone had tried to assassinate the Crown Prince, she went to the East Palace to offer comfort but found no one there.

Only Yuanbao was home.

After asking around and finding no one who knew the whereabouts of the Crown Prince or the assassin, she returned to the palace to discuss it with the Emperor.

She thought the Crown Prince would return to stay with Yuanbao at night, so she decided to send people to secretly follow him to find the assassin.

Yuanbao seemed indifferent. “I sleep with Aunt Rongrong at night.”

“Aunt Rongrong?” The Empress raised her eyebrows. “Can you sleep well with her?”

“Yes,” Yuanbao nodded vigorously. “I really like Aunt Rongrong. I sleep very well beside her. Father knows this, so he can be at ease catching assassins.”

The Empress’s gaze changed as she looked at Yuanbao.

She wanted to laugh but couldn’t.

When the Crown Prince agreed to start the courtship again, his only condition was that Yuanbao liked the person.

It was expected that Yuanbao liked Xue Rongrong, but what was surprising was that Yuanbao said he only liked Xue Rongrong.

“Did Aunt Rongrong teach you to say this?” The Empress asked, holding Yuanbao’s hand in a seemingly casual manner.

Yuanbao grinned. “Grandmother, guess?”

“You child, why are you being so indirect with your grandmother? If you don’t want to say, I won’t be angry.”

Yuanbao looked down, as if hesitating for a long time.

After a while, when the Empress was almost impatient, Yuanbao put down his spoon, stood up from his chair, and whispered in the Empress’s ear, “Grandmother, it’s Father who taught me to say this.”

The Empress’s eyes widened in surprise, unsure whether Yuanbao’s words were true or false.

She used to think she couldn’t understand her son, but now she realized she might not understand her grandson either!