After her luck was taken away, she fell in love with the woman who traveled through time.

Liang Tan frowned and was about to ask what was going on when a woman suddenly rushed to the door like crazy, banging on it and wailing in pain: "I know I was wrong! I will never imitate the former queen again, let me out! I really know I was wrong!"

Liang Tan looked at her in a daze, feeling that something was not right.

"Why are you crying? Since you chose to take the risk, you should have expected this outcome." A woman with eyes like hers spoke coldly.

Liang Tan swallowed his saliva and leaned over to ask, "What will happen?"

"It's a dead end." The woman had no expression on her face, but her pale face still revealed her panic.

Liang Tan was stunned: "Why?"

"Because this is the rule set by the Master Seal. Anyone who imitates the late queen to deceive the emperor will be poisoned to death," the woman said, looking at her mockingly, "You have been locked up here, and you dare to say that you don't know this rule?"

Liang Tan knew that the palm print she was talking about was Cui Ling's. Thinking that he was still thinking about him after he had been dead for nine years, he was immediately moved. Then he became more puzzled: "Since you knew it, why did you still imitate it?"

"Of course it's because the emperor likes me. The last person who escaped the screening of the Master of Seals and saw the emperor is now a concubine. Who would be willing to give up such an opportunity to rise to the top in one step?" The woman said, gritting her teeth and looking at the high wall. "As long as I can escape from here, as long as I can see the emperor, I will be the next concubine. No... I want to be the queen. I want to tell the emperor that I am the reincarnation of Concubine Chen..."

Seeing her crazy eyes, Liang Tan quickly took a few steps back and looked at the closed courtyard with a complicated expression.

A quarter of an hour ago, she was still thinking about meeting Cui Ling as soon as possible and explaining to him her rebirth, but now... forget it. She has been "dead" for nine years and there are still so many fakes. There must have been more in the previous years. Cui Ling has seen so many copies of Chen Fei that he must have established a defense mechanism long ago. If she appears in front of him now, she will probably die faster.

What's more important now is to escape from this yard.

Liang Tan pursed his lips and walked around the yard, but found in despair that there was nowhere to escape.

On the other side, the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

Cui Ling sat at the table and read quietly, and did not turn to the next page for a long time.

After a while, a palace servant came outside the door and handed over a list respectfully: "Sir, this is the list of people who pretended to be the queen in this selection. They have all been locked up in the courtyard and are waiting for your disposal."

"Follow the rules." Cui Ling lowered his eyes and turned the page of the book in his hand.

The palace maid responded and turned to leave, and the room became quiet again.

Cui Ling stared at the page for a long time, and finally glanced at the list next to it, only to see the three words "Liang Tan" written on the last line.

In the nine years since she left, there have been countless imitators and imposters, but no one has ever dared to be so blatant and use her name directly.

It was completely dark. After crying and making a fuss, the women in the courtyard all huddled together with pale faces, until the sound of the locked door rang, and then they ran around in fear.

Liang Tan was affected by the crowd and started to panic. When he heard the door open, he looked around and finally ran to the door and stood against the wall. After the door was pushed inward, he took the opportunity to block himself with the door panel.

She looked through the crack in the door and saw twenty or thirty palace servants coming in. More than a dozen of them were holding medicine in their hands, while the others were responsible for catching the women running around.

The scene was extremely chaotic for a moment. Liang Tan knew that if she continued to hide, she would be discovered soon. If she wanted to survive, she had to take a chance now, otherwise, once the situation was under control, she would not be able to escape.

Thinking of this, she took a deep breath, and relying on her thin body, she slipped out from behind the door. When she was about to run out, a sharp-eyed eunuch saw her and immediately shouted, "Stop."

Liang Tan certainly wouldn't stand still, and immediately ran away after hearing that, and the eunuchs immediately came out to chase her. Liang Tan's heart was almost frightened, and she ran forward with all her might, and her pink gauze skirt fluttered like butterfly wings.

She had lived in the palace for five years and was very familiar with every path here, and soon left those people behind. But she was still worried, and looked back while running forward. The last time she looked back, she was too serious, and ended up running into a wall of people.

When her forehead hit the other person's chest, she immediately fell to the ground due to inertia, and her eyes were filled with physiological tears.

Liang Tan groaned, covered his forehead and looked up, but was completely stunned when he met a pair of black eyes.

She... encountered a wolf right after leaving its den?

Cui Ling hated those who imitated Concubine Chen so much. What would he do if he saw her now? Kill her? Torture her? Or destroy her appearance and break her neck?

Liang Tan felt that based on the original male protagonist's personality, he could do all of this, and based on her five years of experience knowing Cui Ling...well, he could indeed do it.

Liang Tan was suddenly filled with despair. Just as she was thinking about how to survive, Cui Ling, who had been staring at her, suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice: "My Lady..."

Liang Tan was shocked and looked at him in astonishment: "You... recognized me?"

Cui Ling leaned over and helped her up. When he spoke again, his eyes were red: "Even if your Majesty turned into ashes, I would recognize her."

Liang Tan stared at him blankly. She felt relieved after a day of worry. She smiled suddenly, but also a little sad: "Why are you so sure? You have met so many liars, aren't you afraid that I am also a liar? Aren't you afraid that I am an imposter? Besides, don't you find it strange that I am back now when I was clearly dead?"

Cui Ling restrained himself and used his eyes to describe her eyebrows and eyes, and raised the corners of his lips for a long time: "My queen is a fairy above the nine heavens, a compassionate bodhisattva, with wisdom and spirituality. How can life and death stop you?"

Liang Tan suddenly didn't know what to say. He stared at him for a long time and then laughed: "Yes, I'm back."

Cui Ling's Adam's apple moved, and after a long time he raised his hand and held her in his arms.

Liang Tan was stunned at first, and then gave him a hug as if they were a family reunion after a long separation.

When following Cui Ling back to his residence, Liang Tan thought of the women who were running around, and quickly pulled Cui Ling's sleeve: "Cui Ling."

Cui Ling looked back at her and understood: "I will order them to keep their lives and expel them from the palace."

"Then hurry up, or they will die." Liang Tan frowned. It was just imitating her and trying to take a shortcut, which was not a big mistake.

Seeing her anxious, Cui Ling whispered to comfort her: "It's not too late. There are many rules for poisoning in the palace. It will take at least half an hour before the execution. You can go back with me first, and I will ask someone to rescue them."

Upon hearing this, Liang Tan hurriedly followed him.

Cui Ling raised his lips, lowered his eyes and took her back to his residence. As soon as he stepped into the yard, he called a little eunuch.

"Give the order to spare the lives of those counterfeiters and expel them from the palace." He spoke slowly.

The young eunuch was stunned. When he looked up and met Cui Ling's calm eyes, he made up his mind: "Yes."

The young eunuch agreed and left in a hurry. Cui Ling then looked at Liang Tan and said, "It's been solved."

Upon hearing this, Liang Tan stopped worrying and looked around his room.

Cui Ling was the only eunuch in the palace who had not been castrated. His bedroom was a confidential place, carrying his greatest secrets day and night, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. When someone accidentally broke in, he was still executed in front of everyone even though there were no loopholes in the room.

However, now, Liang Tan can walk around and touch and look around curiously, but he is like a wild animal whose fur is stroked, just following him with his eyes, without any vigilance at all.

"Your room is really big," Liang Tan smiled and turned around, just in time to meet his gaze, "It looks bigger than the master bedroom of Fengxi Palace."

Cui Ling raised his lips: "The people below are good at flattering us. They combined two side-by-side houses into one, which makes it look bigger."

"It's good for decoration, everything is good." Liang Tan said, picking up a jade ornament to play with.

Cui Ling walked forward and glanced at her slender fingers: "If your majesty likes it, you can stay here for a while."

"Me? Live here?" Liang Tan opened his eyes wide, "How can that be possible? I am a concubine, and living here with you will cause you trouble."

"No, I can handle it." Cui Ling looked at her steadily.

Liang Tan laughed: "Is Cui Ling so powerful now?"

Cui Ling couldn't laugh: "At least I can protect the queen."

Knowing that he still cares about the assassination attempt, Liang Tan sighed and patted his arm: "I will be careful in the future and will not let this happen again."

Cui Ling lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Liang Tan smiled to liven up the atmosphere: "Also, don't call me Madam, and don't call yourself a slave in front of me. I am just a little showgirl now, it would be bad if others heard it."

"Your Majesty will always be my master." Cui Ling said seriously.

Liang Tan was helpless: "Cui Ling."

"...Okay." As soon as she called his name, he just wanted to obey her.

The two of them fell silent for a moment, and Liang Tan then looked at him twice more.

At the age of twenty-seven, he looked much more mature, his features became more distinct, his eyes more steadier, and his face was as delicate as porcelain. He was obviously a normal man, but he didn't even have stubble, and his face was as clean as a peeled egg.

Her heart moved, and she couldn't help but reach out and touch his chin.

Cui Ling's Adam's apple moved for a moment, but his face didn't show it at all: "Is there any problem?"

"I just think your skin is very good, but what medicine did you use?" Liang Tan withdrew his hand.

Cui Ling raised the corner of his lips: "Well, I took some medicine, it's no harm to my body."

"Bring the medicine here for me to see." Liang Tan was still worried.

Cui Ling finally smiled this time: "Give the medicine to the queen... Here, do you understand?"

"You have to read it even if you don't understand it." Liang Tan glared at him unhappily.

Cui Ling had no choice but to turn around and walk to the wall, open a secret compartment in front of her, and take out a small porcelain bottle.

"It's hidden so tightly." Liang Tan joked.

"It's better to be cautious." Cui Ling said, handing her the porcelain bottle.

Liang Tan opened it and sniffed it, and even poured out a little to observe it like him, looking serious as if she really understood it. Cui Ling kept looking at her with a smile, until she suddenly poured the medicine in her palm into her mouth, and then she frowned instantly: "My queen!"

"Everyone said don't call me queen... bitter!" Liang Tan's face changed.

Cui Ling quickly poured her a cup of tea. Because no one dared to enter his room, the tea on the table was always cold, which was convenient for Liang Tan to rinse her mouth.

Seeing her rinse her mouth several times before stopping, Cui Ling felt helpless: "Why do you eat everything?"

"If you don't try it, how do you know if this medicine is harmful to your body?" Liang Tan was also confident. She really didn't understand herbal medicine, but she knew that if this medicine was harmful, Cui Ling would never let her take it. Even if she took it, he would immediately take her to see the imperial physician, instead of just letting her rinse her mouth.

"You know I can't do anything to you." Cui Ling naturally knew why she wanted to taste it.

Liang Tan smiled and walked around the room again. Cui Ling followed her and spoke after a long silence: "My queen, do you want to leave the palace?"

Liang Tan was stunned.

Cui Ling's throat was tight and she could hardly speak, but she still spoke with difficulty: "I will have someone cross out your name. You stay here and I will send you out of the palace in a few days."

Liang Tan stopped walking and asked: "Why do you want to leave the palace?"

"You don't like it here." Cui Ling answered confidently, a fact he had already seen many years ago.

Liang Tan paused: "But you are here."

Cui Ling was slightly stunned.

"Where can I go when you are here?" Liang Tan looked at him helplessly.

Cui Ling stared at her for a long time, and his heart suddenly fell: "Then stay, I will protect you."

Liang Tan smiled, thought for a moment and then said, "I don't want to be a concubine or queen anymore. Can you let me be a palace maid? It would be best if I don't have to worry about anything and just stay by your side."

After all, she had been the mistress of the harem, had raised children herself, and now she held great power in the government. She felt that she could still make this request.

As expected, Cui Ling nodded: "Of course I can, but it will be unfair to you."

"It would be unfair to deal with that old man again," Liang Tan said with a sigh, "I don't have the protection of time now, so I can't be sure whether he will have any evil intentions towards me."

Cui Ling looked at her smooth face after hearing this, and nodded after a moment of silence: "Got it."

Cui Ling was extremely efficient. After he finished speaking, he asked Liang Tan to wait in the room while he went to the nanny who was in charge of the files of the concubines.

Half an hour later, everything was done, and he hurried to his residence with the new clothes he had asked for from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This was the first time he had shown his eagerness outside since Liang Tan's death, but he didn't care at all, and only wanted to go to the palace.

"I'm back." He couldn't help but speak as soon as he stepped into the door.

But no one answered.

Cui Ling's face changed and he rushed into the room. The next moment he saw her lying on her bed, sleeping soundly with a frown on her face.

Cui Ling suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, as if all the strength in his body had been drained away. He stood alone for a long time before silently walking forward and carefully covering her with the quilt.

The room was silent, with expensive spices costing ten gold coins per inch lit.

He stood by the bed, using his eyes to describe her features in a calming atmosphere. Nine years had passed before he knew it. They had not seen each other for nine years. He had been walking alone in the storm all these years. It seemed that he did not miss her much. But every time he closed his eyes, he would always think of her lying in a pool of blood, and the pair of cold eyes he had accidentally met before he stepped out of Fengxi Palace.

Cui Ling stared at Liang Tan's face, finally leaned forward, raised his fingers and lightly touched her slightly wrinkled brows.