For several consecutive days, the Emperor had been summoning Zhen Huan.

Although Zhen Huan had advised him against it, the Emperor refused to listen, saying that even a brief separation felt like being apart for three autumns.

Zhen Huan knew that he was simply in a good mood, so she stopped trying to persuade him.

Aside from calling her to his bedchamber, the Emperor also frequently invited her to play chess or drink tea…

And all of this did not escape Hua Fei’s watchful eyes, which filled her heart with anger.

One day, as was customary, the concubines went to greet the Empress.

To provoke Hua Fei, the Empress purposely presented Zhen Huan with a blessed “Wanzi Fushou” quilt in front of everyone, saying it was for her to use while sleeping, hoping she would soon give birth to a prince.

Upon hearing this, Hua Fei couldn’t help but roll her eyes. However, instead of directly confronting the Empress, she steered the conversation to Qi Fei.

“Indeed,” Hua Fei said, “If she gives birth to a prince one day, she’ll catch up to Qi Fei.”

But before Qi Fei could respond, Li Pin, the oblivious one, brought up the Fourth Prince’s birth mother.

This caused the Empress to lose her temper, and she used the excuse of needing to pay respects to the Dowager Empress to dismiss everyone.

Zhen Huan did not inquire about Shen Meizhuang’s connection to the Fourth Prince’s birth mother this time, but she still encountered Li Pin and Hua Fei.

Li Pin, as usual, blurted out nonsense, commenting that serving the Emperor must be difficult, which made Hua Fei roll her eyes at her.

Zhen Huan watched everything but Li Pin remained unaware, continuing to chatter away.

Zhen Huan gave a few brief replies, fearing that Hua Fei might make Shen Meizhuang copy the “Nü Lunyu” again, so she quickly excused herself.

But Hua Fei intentionally made things difficult, not allowing them to leave so easily. After a few more words, she once again turned the conversation to the topic of copying books.

Now that Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang’s positions were vastly different, they could not refuse, so they could only agree.

Shen Meizhuang, undisturbed by Hua Fei’s provocation, remained calm.

She told Zhen Huan that if it weren’t for her, someone else would have come along, and if it were someone else, she’d still prefer it to be Zhen Huan.

The two sisters talked for a while before going their separate ways.

Since her rebirth, Zhen Huan had felt somewhat weak, so she had asked Wen Shichu to help her regulate her health with medicine.

One night, while Xiao Yunzi was patrolling the corridor, he suddenly saw Yu Ying’er, who was in charge of preparing medicine for Zhen Huan, acting suspiciously and digging a hole in the corner of the wall.

Because his young master had ordered him not to alarm the enemy, Xiao Yunzi made sure not to let Yu Ying’er notice him.

He waited until morning, planning to report the incident to his master and see how she would handle it.

Zhen Huan had just gotten up, and while Huan Bi and Liu Zhu were assisting her with her morning routine, Xiao Yunzi came in with urgent news.

After hearing Xiao Yunzi’s description, Zhen Huan asked, “She was digging a hole?”

Xiao Yunzi nodded and asked if she wanted him to immediately arrest Yu Ying’er.

Zhen Huan quickly began to recall the details of her past life concerning Yu Ying’er.

She remembered that in her past life, Yu Ying’er had been caught impersonating her, which led the Emperor to discover the truth, and she was subsequently sent to the cold palace.

Out of resentment, Yu Ying’er had, under Hua Fei’s orders, poisoned her medicine through a servant named Hua Sui.

But Zhen Huan had never allowed Huang Guiquan’s people to approach her food or medicine, right?

In such a short time, Yu Ying’er had risen from being a maid doing menial work to the one responsible for preparing her medicine, which suggested that Yu Ying’er had some skills.

However, Zhen Huan hadn’t felt any discomfort recently, and the medicine she had been taking seemed no different from usual. Xiao Yunzi had also been keeping a close eye on things, so it appeared that Yu Ying’er had just been about to act when she was caught.

Thinking this through, Zhen Huan told Xiao Yunzi to hold off on arresting anyone, pretending not to know anything for now. When Yu Ying’er made another move, they could catch her red-handed.

After Xiao Yunzi left, Jin Xi reminded her that Yu Ying’er had been sent by Huang Guiquan, who was a distant relative of Hua Fei, and so this matter must be linked to Yikun Palace.

Zhen Huan was well aware of this connection, but she also knew that even if things came to light and the mastermind was revealed, it wouldn’t necessarily be Hua Fei.

Even if it was Hua Fei, the Emperor would only punish her by restricting her movements and possibly demoting her. But after a few days, as soon as Ye Gengyao did something beneficial for the court, the Emperor would likely restore Hua Fei’s rewards.

Given this, Zhen Huan thought it would be better to make use of the people Hua Fei had sent her way.

But for several days, Xiao Yunzi had not noticed anything unusual about Yu Ying’er’s actions.

Just as he was about to doze off, he suddenly heard the sound of a cuckoo bird calling. Rubbing his eyes, he muttered, “Yu Ying’er!”

He saw Yu Ying’er holding a package, looking around, then hurriedly leaving.

The next day, Xiao Yunzi reported this to Zhen Huan.

Zhen Huan said the time had come.

So, when Yu Ying’er was preparing medicine with the lid of the pot, Xiao Yunzi immediately captured her.

When brought before Zhen Huan, Yu Ying’er defended herself, claiming she was innocent.

Zhen Huan called Wen Shichu, who tested the medicine on the lid and confirmed that it was poisoned.

Under the evidence and Liu Zhu’s intimidation, Yu Ying’er finally confessed everything. She revealed that Huang Guiquan, under Hua Fei’s orders, had sent her to Suì Yù Xuān. Now, she had been instructed to poison the medicine by soaking the lid in poison.

But she hadn’t had the chance to do it before being caught.

Just like Hua Sui in her past life, Yu Ying’er didn’t know who had sent the poison to her.

However, the signal for the meeting was the same: the other side would call twice like a cuckoo bird, and she would respond with two calls.

Liu Zhu, unable to hold back her anger, tested Yu Ying’er by using red-hot charcoal to find out if there were any accomplices. Yu Ying’er, terrified, insisted there was no one else, so Liu Zhu finally stopped.

Yu Ying’er was bound and locked in the storage room, waiting for the meeting day when they could catch the other person and deal with them together.

The developments in this life seemed to differ slightly from the last.

To prepare for any unforeseen issues, Zhen Huan had Huan Bi summon Shen Meizhuang and An Lingrong.

“Is this really happening?” Shen Meizhuang asked, looking at Zhen Huan with disbelief.

Although she knew the harem was dangerous, she never imagined it could be this treacherous.

An Lingrong, with a worried expression, looked at Zhen Huan and asked, “Guan Jie, are you alright?”

Zhen Huan shook her head.

“Huan’er, now that you’re deeply favored by the Emperor, why not speak to him directly and let him decide on your behalf?”

“Yes, Guan Jie, once the Emperor knows, he will surely punish the one who poisoned you,” An Lingrong agreed.

“I originally thought that too, but Meizhuang, Lingrong, think about it. With the Emperor’s favor toward the Ye family and Hua Fei, even if I speak up, it might not move Hua Fei at all. In fact, it would only make her more wary of us.”

“If she grows murderous thoughts, with our current positions, we cannot fight against her or the Ye family, and we will be at a disadvantage.”