Chapter 164:

When Emperor Jing left, Layue no longer felt like sleeping. After some contemplation, she got up.

This matter was clearly not as simple as it seemed.

However, since the Emperor had entrusted it to Fu Jin yan, she decided not to interfere further. She arranged for Fu Jinyan to be invited over and gave her the necessary instructions. As the Emperor had predicted, Fu Jinyan didn’t refuse.

After Fu Jinyan left, Layue gazed at her retreating figure and sighed.

“If I and the other maidens of our batch had entered the palace, I suppose we would never have had a chance,” she murmured.

Beside her, Xing’er naturally disagreed. In her heart, her mistress was the best.

“Please don’t belittle yourself, mistress,” she countered. “In my opinion, you are the finest. They are no match for you.”

Layue merely smiled faintly but said nothing.

Life was full of encounters. If it hadn’t been for her rebirth, how could things have changed so much?

In her previous life, these women had basked in the Emperor’s favor, scheming against each other.

This time around, things were very different. Bai Xiaodie, who hadn’t entered the palace before, had come in, and even Fu Jinyan, who hadn’t entered the palace in her previous life, had also come in.

But since she had gained an advantage, it must have been fate’s doing.

The news of the thorough investigation spread quickly. Within a day, the entire palace knew.

Leaving aside others, let’s focus on Consort Qi.

Although she was a person of strong will, this was her first time personally taking a life, which was fundamentally different from ordering someone else to kill.

She had thought that avenging herself would bring happiness, but now she saw that it had brought endless trouble.

She wasn’t afraid of others, not even Shen Layue. In the palace, if one had attachments, it was hard to succeed.

But this person happened to be Fu Jinyan. Compared to her elder sister Fu Jinyao, Fu Jinyan had more schemes, as expected.

After all, Fu Xiang was someone who had been entrenched in court for many years and remained standing. The concubine daughter he favored naturally was no ordinary person.

Consort Qi believed that when she killed Virtuous Consort De, there were no flaws, except for the so-called “accident” of Yan Jia, which had caused her to mobilize several people.

Now she was uneasy, suspecting that the secret had been exposed.

Moreover, Emperor Jing had already placed his men around Shen Guifei in Qing’an Palace, so it was uncertain whether her own place was completely safe.

Now everyone in the palace knew that Guo’er was a person arranged by Emperor Jing.

At the time of saving someone, if she were merely a small palace maid, who would believe it?

Even the Emperor allowing Yan Jia to get close to her indicated that she must be one of the secret guards.

In the palace, people might not speak of other groups, but there were two factions no one would doubt: one was the secret guards, and the other was the Imperial Guards led by Zhou Nan.

It seemed that everyone in the palace knew, but they simply pretended not to understand and refrained from speaking.

Since learning that Guo’er was Emperor Jing’s person, Consort Qi had become overly suspicious, seeing everyone as potentially the Emperor’s spy.

She thought that since Shen Layue entered the palace, the senior palace maids seemed loyal, but who could have guessed that Guo’er was the Emperor’s person?

Reflecting on her own situation, she realized that it would have been easy for Emperor Jing to place someone near her over the years.

At this moment, she felt very relieved that she had personally killed Virtuous Consort De without involving anyone else. However, she was still anxious about the “accident” involving Yan Jia.

Consort Qi was extremely anxious but tried to hide it, not wanting others to discover.

Meanwhile, Fu Jinyan was actively conducting her investigation.

Her actions didn’t bother others much, but they infuriated Fu Jinyao.

Now that she had become the Hui Consort, she was increasingly disrespected.

Fu Jinyao was such a person—impulsive and always confusing priorities. The people she liked, even with flaws, were always seen as perfect in her heart. Those she disliked were the most despicable in the world.

Fu Jinyan was such a presence.

Looking at her mistress constantly throwing tantrums and Yunque trying to soothe her, Yunlan curled her lips.

Since the last incident, she dared not say a word in Zhuxuan, fearing angering her mistress.

Whenever Emperor Jing showed any slight favor to the younger princes, her mistress would return and find an excuse to scold and beat her.

Now her mistress had completely forgotten that this pregnancy was never meant to be saved and that she had set up the situation herself. Now that she had lost the child, she blamed everything on Yunlan.

Yunlan rubbed her arm, still sore from her mistress’s anger not long ago.

“You stupid girl, what are you standing there for? Go and make me some tea immediately. Every day I see you just standing there, not as clever as the newly assigned palace maids.”

Yunque always had some affection for Yunlan.

She quickly tried to reason, “Mistress, please don’t be too hasty. Have you forgotten about the spy incident? Not to mention others, even Qing’an Palace has the Emperor’s people, so who knows about our palace? We must always be on high alert with others. We must be careful with the palace maids from the Internal Affairs Office.”

Actually, she didn’t need to say these things, as Fu Jinyao already knew. But at this moment, she was in a rage and naturally spoke without hesitation.

“This stupid girl might even be sent by Fu Jinyan.”

This accusation was getting more absurd.

Yunlan trembled as she knelt there, her heart cold.

“Please don’t wrongly accuse Yunlan, Mistress. We have followed you since childhood and are absolutely loyal. Please see the truth, Mistress.”

Yunque also knelt down.

Fu Jinyao took a breath and calmed slightly, “You took a blow for me, so I trust you. But this stupid girl caused the loss of my child, my child! If my child had been born that day, would there still be a place for Shen Layue?”

Yunlan and Yunque remained silent. In truth, everyone knew that even without that scheme, Hui Consort’s child could not have been born safely.

But at this moment, she no longer cared about those details, only blaming Yunlan for tripping her.

Not only Yunlan, but even Yunque had noticed that their mistress’s temperament was becoming increasingly irritable and quick to anger. At the slightest discomfort, she would fly into a rage.

Outside, she would restrain her temper, but once back in her sleeping quarters, she would become agitated and shout, even tormenting Yunlan over things that didn’t even exist.

“Reporting to the Mistress,” a maid at the door spoke up.

Fu Jinyao coldly asked, “What is it?”

“Fu Jinyan requests an audience.”

Fu Jinyao threw a teacup at the door, “Don’t see her. Don’t see her ever again.”

She thought, Fu Jinyan’s mother had competed with her mother for the Emperor’s affection, and now Fu Jinyan was coming to compete with her. Truly a detestable creature.

Upon hearing this, the maid at the door hurried to relay the message.

“I’ve been with the Emperor for so many years. Why does he favor her more? Even entrusting her with this investigation, it’s the second time now. He always entrusts important tasks to her. What’s so good about her?”

“Madam, this investigation into the murderer is naturally an offensive matter. Wouldn’t it be better for us to stay out of it?”

“If it pleases the Emperor, what does it matter if it offends others? Who could possibly outrank the Emperor? You maids truly lack foresight,” Fu Jinyao sighed in frustration.

Yunque sighed, unsure of what she was trying to persuade.

If the mistress couldn’t see such a simple truth, how could she compete with the many women in the palace?

Yunque was deeply worried.

But Yunlan’s eyes flickered with something.

Upon hearing that Fu Jinyao refused to see her, Fu Jinyan remained expressionless and continued smiling, “Since my elder sister is busy, I’ll come another day.”

Fu Jinyan had come with her own intentions. Seeing Fu Jinyao’s attitude, she felt she had indeed thought too much.

If it had truly been her sister, the Emperor might not have let her investigate. Yet she always wanted to try again. Seeing Fu Jinyao’s attitude, she naturally understood.

This matter had nothing to do with her.

Otherwise, she would never treat her like this.

Although the two were a few years apart, they had grown up together. Fu Jinyao wasn’t particularly clever, but Fu Jinyan, as a concubine’s daughter, thought deeply and was meticulous.

On her way back, Fu Jinyan saw Li Guiren approaching from a distance.

Fu Jinyan smiled.

Shen Layue was certainly not the murderer; otherwise, the Emperor wouldn’t have launched such a high-profile investigation. Her elder sister wasn’t the murderer either; otherwise, she wouldn’t be so confident and composed. The remaining two suspects were only Consort Qi and Li Guiren.

Unexpectedly, before she had done much, Li Guiren had come forward herself. On such a cold day, if she said she was just out for a walk, Fu Jinyan wouldn’t believe it.

“Guiren Li, you have quite the interest, strolling around outside on such a chilly day,” Fu Jinyan teased.

Li Yanran smiled gently, rubbing her hands, seemingly a bit cold.

“Oh no, Guiren Fu, you’re making fun of me. I don’t like wandering outside on such a cold day. The Empress Dowager isn’t feeling well, so the monthly visits on the first and fifteenth have been waived. Even so, I still think we shouldn’t slack off. To put it boldly, the Empress Dowager is like our mother. In a common household, one would even call her ‘mother.’ There are many servants in the palace, but it’s still good for us to occasionally go and keep her company with some conversation.”

Seeing Li Yanran speak this way, Fu Jinyan smiled, “Indeed! I suppose Guiren Li’s understanding and consideration must have pleased the Empress Dowager.”

Everyone knew the Empress Dowager didn’t favor the Fu sisters.

Fu Jinyan rarely went to the Empress Dowager to show off her attentiveness.

Li Yanran seemed to recall this point, offering a smile filled with apology, as if fearing she might feel sad about the topic, quickly changing the subject.

“I heard my elder sister has been quite busy lately.”

Fu Jinyan had already been waiting for her to bring up this topic and smiled, “It’s been okay. The Noble Consort has already given instructions, so I must do my best, right?”

Li Yanran walked alongside Fu Jinyan.

With a playful tilt of her head, she said, “Guiren Fu truly has a good disposition. Such matters, how could they be entrusted to the palace consorts to investigate? Does the Emperor keep those servants just for show?”

She appeared utterly innocent.

Fu Jinyan paused, “Since it’s the Emperor’s command, I naturally must give it my all.”

Li Yanran acted as if she had just realized, “Oh, I see! Indeed, I must have thought too much. I deserve a scolding!”