In ancient times, she gave birth to seven daughters and was divorced by her husband's family.

Bai Lu slept soundly at home and woke up the next day when the sun was already high in the sky.

When she stood up, she vaguely saw a person sitting in front of her bed. The figure was blocked by the bed curtains, and she couldn't see the figure clearly.

She reached out and pushed aside the deep crimson brocade bed curtains adorned with pearls, and saw the Queen Mother sitting there looking at her with a smile on her face.

"Empress Dowager?!" Bai Lu called out in surprise.

The Queen Mother also returned with them.

However, she did not attend the Double Ninth Festival banquet with the emperor and others.

She first went back to the Huguo Temple to pray, and then went to find the retired emperor. The two of them spent several days together in a sweet and affectionate manner before slowly returning to the palace.

After the Queen Mother returned to the palace, she went to visit the Queen first, intending to express her condolences.

The Queen is so frail, I'm afraid she'll die before me, an old man. The pain of seeing someone die young is truly heartbreaking...

But she didn't expect that the Queen would arrange Bai Lu's marriage so hastily.

When the Queen Mother heard the news, her face turned pale and she could no longer sit still in the Queen's Palace.

The queen is seriously ill and it is not easy for him to be rude to her.

But... she ignored him, and he was very angry in his heart. He didn't know what to say for a moment, so the Queen Mother went straight back.

Seeing Bai Lu was safe and sound, she breathed a sigh of relief and said to Bai Lu with emotion: "You have had such a rough life. Fortunately, this marriage didn't trap you."

"If marriage really gets in your way, I, an old woman, will crash into my body in front of the palace!"

Hearing this, Bai Lu smiled and stretched.

She felt a little sleepy and yawned. She said to the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty, please don't overthink it. How could someone like me be bound by marriage?"

"You are old, so you should take care of yourself."

After hearing this, the Queen Mother smiled at Bai Lu and said, "Okay, okay, I know you're okay, and I'm relieved."

"Now, let me tell you something more important."

Her expression suddenly became serious.

Bai Lu was stunned and asked hurriedly, "What happened?"

She had never seen the Queen Mother look so serious.

The Queen Mother then slowly said, "Do you still remember Xu Xian who came back with you earlier?"

"Remember." Bai Lu's heart skipped a beat.

She had been busy recently, so she handed Xu Xian over to Gu Liang and the others, asking them to take Xu Xian out for some fun.

Xu Xian also agreed, and said happily that he could finally see the mountains and rivers of the human world.

Gu Liang and the others asked Xu Xian to stay in Qingzhou temporarily and did not let her go to Kyoto. I don’t know...what happened to Xu Xian?

Then the Queen Mother said in a deep voice, "I have brought Xu Xian to Kyoto."

"Why?" Bai Lu was a little surprised.

Then the Queen Mother said, "Because I know the old woman Xu Xian is guarding! Why not bring Xu Xian to Kyoto and let her guard this old woman?"

"Guess who she is?"

"..."

Bai Lu fell into deep thought. This was really hard to guess.

If the Queen Mother knew her, she most likely lived in Kyoto.

If he has a deep hatred for me, and he always follows the Bai brothers and sisters... then he must be someone who has a grudge against the Bai family.

Bai Lu stared into the Queen Mother's eyes and said, "Could it be the Bai family's old enemy?"

"...She's not the Bai family's sworn enemy." The Queen Mother was silent for a moment, then shook her head at Bai Lu and said, "She was a maidservant who once served your mother."

"???"

"!!!"

When Bai Lu heard this, she shuddered and sat up suddenly, saying in shock, "What? She's actually the maidservant who served my mother!"

The news was so shocking that she couldn't calm down for a long time.

"Yes." The Queen Mother sighed and continued to say to Bai Lu, "I didn't recognize her at first, but after looking at her carefully, I found out who she was. It really surprised me for a long time."

"Later, when I tried to get her to talk, she pretended not to know me."

"After asking carefully, I found out that she was indeed your mother's maid, Shen Lanhua..."

The Queen Mother also said, "After your mother passed away, the four maids around her either left or disappeared. None of them stayed in the Bai family, so we don't know their current situation, and there is no way to contact them. We just put it aside."

"I didn't expect to meet you at a time like this."

Bai Lu frowned and asked, "Didn't they stay with my three brothers?"

"No." The Queen Mother shook her head and said, "I originally wanted to keep her, but I don't know what they said to your brother, so I didn't stay."

"You can ask your three brothers later why they didn't stay in the Bai family, but went their separate ways..."

Bai Lu looked stern.

Seeing that she had taken all these words to heart, the Queen Mother sighed and asked Bai Lu, "Do you want to meet Shen Lanhua?"

"......" Bai Lu was silent for a while, nodded and said: "Yes, I need to find out the situation."

She never thought that she would meet Shen Lanhua, one of the four maids around her mother, and the situation was quite strange.

Why did Shen Lanhua, a maidservant beside my mother, attack me?

Could it be that Shen Lanhua and her mother have a blood feud?

But if there was, the Queen Mother should have said it just now.

Instead of looking confused.

There must be something they don't know.

Moreover, will Shen Lanhua's appearance bring them some new news?

Bai Lu always had a feeling that her mother Zhao Bingyu seemed to still be alive in this world...and that grave might also be empty.

Bai Lu fell into a long silence.

Seeing her solemn expression, the Queen Mother said, "Okay, let's wash up and change our clothes before we go see Xu Xian and Shen Lanhua."

"Okay." Bai Lu replied softly.

Now she is no longer an ordinary little girl. She is the mother of seven children and has many people to rely on, so she must remain calm no matter when and where.

"My three brothers...don't tell them yet." Bai Lu said to the Queen Mother, "Queen Mother, if I tell my three brothers about this, they will probably be very upset now."

"After all, they have accepted their mother's death and adapted to life without her."

If Shen Lanhua suddenly appeared, it would definitely remind the third son of the Bai family of Zhao Bingyu, and he would probably be in a bad mood.

"These are turbulent times. They have to deal with disputes in the court, Pei Huizhou is always making things difficult for them, and they have to prepare for their wedding. I don't want them to be distracted."

The Queen Mother nodded and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I know... That's why I deliberately didn't tell them. You and I will handle the whole process."

"If there's anything we need to let them know, we'll tell them then."

Bai Lu nodded and was about to wash up when the empress dowager suddenly raised her hand and called a maid.

The maid immediately prepared the washing tools and helped Bai Lu to wash and comb her hair.

Bai Lu frowned, looked at the gilded lacquer box, and said to the maid, "I'll do it myself."

Accustomed to being busy on the front line, she naturally worried that others would do bad things to her in her daily life.

After hearing this, the maid retreated.

The Queen Mother looked at Bai Lu with a complicated expression and heartache.

Bai Lu stretched out her bare hand and pushed open the gilded lacquer box. She picked up a plain silk handkerchief, dipped it in warm water, and wiped her face carefully, tucking the loose hair behind her ears.

A gilded bronze mirror reflected her elegant eyebrows and eyes, which were extremely beautiful and elegant. Without any embellishment, they looked more lively than ordinary makeup.

The Queen Mother watched the girl wash and dress, the kindness in her eyes becoming more and more obvious. She stood up, walked to the carved hanger, and took off the palace dress.

The outer shirt was made of light pink soft satin, with lotus patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs and outlined with silver thread. It was lined with a moon-white fine cotton tube top, and the hem was decorated with tiny pearls, which made a faint sound when she walked.

The water-green palace belt hung down, with a small jade pendant hanging at the end, which was warm, smooth and white.

The Queen Mother nodded with great satisfaction and said to Bai Lu, "The person who sent you the clothes must be the dressmaker in the Queen's palace. Look... these clothes are very elegant and beautiful, and very tasteful."

"The Queen likes to wear this kind of simple and tasteful clothes. I made it for you very well."

Bai Lu smiled and nodded.

She knew in her heart that the Queen Mother was not just talking about the clothes, but also about the Queen's appreciation for her. The Queen Mother also wanted to mediate the relationship between her and the Queen.

Now she couldn't care about these things. When she thought of the task that the queen had given her before, Bai Lu was filled with melancholy.

At this time, she didn't know what to do. If she agreed to the Queen, the Queen Mother and others would be upset, and how could she explain to the Prince and the Queen's sons?

If I don’t agree to the Queen, how can I explain to her?

Forget it, let's talk about it later, now is not the time...

Bai Lu changed her clothes, casually put on a hairpin, looking simple, elegant and beautiful, and went out to the main hall.

Xu Xian was already waiting there.

When Master Xi saw Bai Lu coming over, he raised his eyebrows at her.

Xu Xian jumped towards Bai Lu and hugged her waist: "I missed you so much!"

She hugged Bai Lu's waist and said in surprise: "Oh, why do I feel that your waist has become thinner? It's even thinner than when I hugged you to sleep before!"

"Why are you in such poor health? Can you eat more meat?"

“???” The Queen Mother almost choked on her water when she heard these words.

Oh my god, this girl can really talk!

The Queen Mother twitched her lips and said cheerfully to the cute little girl, "You...are Xu Xian?"

The Queen Mother had only met Xu Xian briefly, and she really didn't know that Xu Xian was such a cute and interesting girl.

She couldn't help but smile, and said to the waiter outside, "Serve Miss Xu Xian two plates of milk cakes, add some fresh goat's milk, honey and sugar, it will taste better and sweeter this way."

"Yes."

The maidservants below brought a lot of cakes and fruits, and Xu Xian tasted them.

Actually, the taste was just average, but I still nodded politely and said, "Delicious."

Young Master Xi also tasted a few bites and put it down. He said bluntly, "Shen Lanhua is tied up behind the screen."

As they clapped their hands, they saw an old woman being thrown into the main hall.

No one knew what the rope on her body was made of, and the old woman couldn't get free no matter how hard she struggled.

Shen Lanhua's face was filled with horror as she looked at Bai Lu with her cloudy eyes, which were full of fear.

She was whimpering and twisting on the ground like a maggot, but no matter how she twisted, she couldn't make a sound... because there was a big cloth bag stuffed in her mouth.

Bai Lu looked at her like this and her expression gradually turned cold.

Xu Xian took the cloth bag off her mouth and let her speak.

Unexpectedly, after the old woman took off the cloth bag, she closed her eyes and stopped talking.

"Why are you silent? Weren't you howling and calling for your mother and scolding me before?"

"Now that the real culprit is here, you're silent. What's wrong with you?" Xu Xian was speechless and couldn't help but retort to her.

Even though she had a good temper, she couldn't help but complain to Bai Lu: "This old woman is so fierce. She kept scolding me before."

She felt aggrieved.

Bai Lu smiled and gave her a piece of dried plum: "Don't be angry, I will teach her a lesson."

Xu Xian crossed his arms and became happy when he saw Bai Lu looking at him.

However, at this time, Master Xi felt something was wrong.

He and Xu Xian suddenly looked at each other, their pupils shrank, and they exclaimed at the same time: "Not good!"

Bai Lu and the others were stunned to see that the old woman had closed her eyes. It turned out that she was not unwilling to speak, but had fainted - the old woman had bitten her tongue to commit suicide.

If they hadn't noticed that the old woman's vital signs were extremely low, they probably wouldn't have noticed it.

In just a short while, she actually bit off her tongue.

Fortunately, the system exists. If it weren’t for the system, the old woman would probably have died.

Bai Lu frowned, sighed, and poured the whole bottle of hemostatic powder into her mouth helplessly.

The hemostatic powder was very bitter. The old lady was almost dying, but after swallowing the medicine, she felt stimulated and came back to life.

She suddenly opened her eyes and felt her tongue was so bitter... as if it was not her own.

Bai Lu stuffed a few more pieces of gauze into her mouth to stop the bleeding.

After about half an hour, Bai Lu listed a few questions on a piece of paper and handed it to Master Xi with an expressionless face.

Young Master Xi picked up the paper.

When the old woman saw this, her heart was pounding.

She thought that if they untied her later and let her write the answers with a brush, then maybe she could escape.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard Master Xi start to read out: "Is my mother Zhao Bingyu dead or not?"

"A. Dead; B. Not dead; C. You don't know either."

"Nod once if you choose A, nod twice if you choose B, and nod three times if you choose C!"

"We're watching you closely. If you choose blindly, don't blame us for being rude. You might lose one of your ten fingers!"

Their eyes were serious, and the old woman's face gradually turned darker as she listened.

After a long time, Shen Lanhua nodded twice, which means she chose option B.

not dead.

Zhao Bingyu is still alive.

Mr. Xi looked at Shen Lanhua carefully, nodded and said, "This person is not lying."

Bai Lu and the Queen Mother looked at each other, their hearts beating wildly.

They also felt that Zhao Bingyu was not dead.

But now that Shen Lanhua has admitted it herself, the feeling is different...