Peach Blossom.

In the palace room behind the stage, there were actors, singers, dancers, and musicians, all busying themselves with dressing and removing makeup, or coming in and out.

Tao Ye was feeling restless inside. She walked to the window and quietly looked out. From afar, she saw Si De pouring wine for Qing Xiu himself. Empress Dowager Zhou had an unhappy expression on her face, but the Grand Empress Dowager was smiling as she spoke, as if praising Qing Xiu.

This made Tao Ye even more frightened. The conflict between the two Empress Dowagers had lasted for many years and had long reached the point where they were incompatible. It could move from the dark to the light at any time. Tao Ye was afraid that Qing Xiu would become the fuse.

Caiwei knew what Taoye was worried about, so she walked to Taoye and whispered to comfort her, "People of our status can't control anything at all, so don't worry about it."

Tao Ye said nothing. The scene before her was obvious. She didn't even have the chance to enter the banquet, so how could she protect Qingxiu?

She thought silently: Shen Hui's rehearsal was really just a scam to trick Qingxiu...

Xue Yi saw Tao Ye and Cai Wei standing at the window, and came over curiously: "What are you looking at?"

"Just taking a look." Caiwei smiled slightly and pulled Taoye inside again.

Xueyi hurriedly moved closer to the window, stood where Taoye had just stood, and looked out. She also saw how kindly Si De treated Qingxiu. She couldn't help but reveal a trace of envy in the corner of her eyes, and muttered to herself: "Will Sister Qingxiu be canonized as a concubine soon?"

When Tao Ye heard this, she couldn't help but smile bitterly in her heart: The emperor might not be able to become the emperor anymore, so what's the point of talking about conferring a title on the concubine?

Just as I was anxiously thinking about it, a voice called out from outside the window: "Miss Tao."

The three of them looked in the direction of the voice and saw Wang Min appear under the eaves not far from the window, smiling politely at Tao Ye.

Tao Ye was very surprised: "Lord Zhongcheng?"

She felt a little sorry because she forgot to thank Wang Min and say goodbye when she left the Censorate last time. She stood up and walked out quickly, clasped her hands at her waist, and bowed to Wang Min: "Greetings, my Lord."

"Miss, thank you for your courtesy. May I have a word with you?" Wang Min pointed to the side of the palace, which was the alley leading to the south gate of Hualin Garden.

Tao Ye trusted Wang Min from the bottom of her heart, so she nodded and followed Wang Min.

After walking a short distance, Tao Ye saw that there was only one person in the long and narrow passage. That was Wang Jing, whom she was most familiar with.

Tao Ye immediately understood Wang Min's intention. He wanted to bring her to meet Wang Jing?

Wang Min coughed lightly, then turned around and walked back to keep watch at the other end of the alley.

When Wang Jing heard Wang Min coughing, he knew Tao Ye had arrived.

He was not far from Tao Ye, but his blurred vision made him dare not walk too fast. The crutch in his hand, which was originally a support tool to relieve foot pain, now also took on the burden of exploring the way.

Tao Ye looked at Wang Jing, standing quietly, without a sound.

After their farewell at the ferry, she must have been angry with Wang Jing. Wang Jing had told her not to bother him again that day, but today he made an appointment with her under the pretext of someone else. She felt that she should be disdainful of this. She even thought that she should give him a severe scolding, which would be in line with her temper.

However, when she saw that Wang Jing had become thinner than before and was walking so slowly and with difficulty, she seemed to have lost the ability to get angry.

Wang Jing finally walked in front of Tao Ye. His eyes were on Tao Ye, even though he couldn't see clearly. "Why did you come here today? Don't you know it's dangerous here today?"

Tao Ye almost said, "You knew it was dangerous, but you still came?"

On second thought, she shouldn't care about him. She should remain indifferent to avenge his past ruthlessness: "Whether I come or not is none of your business."

"If there is really danger, you should find an excuse to leave the palace as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late." Wang Jing spoke anxiously, and his tone sounded more like an order.

"You are so nosy. Who are you to me?" Tao Ye glared at Wang Jing. She certainly believed that Wang Jing really cared about her, but she just had a grudge in her heart that she couldn't swallow.

Wang Jing never answered in the way Tao Ye expected. He continued with his original purpose, and his words were filled with accusations: "I am not related to you, but what do you want by running here?"

Tao Ye got angry when she heard this: "What else can I want besides money? How dare you ask? I was sold by the princess because I was delivering a message for your family. Since then, I have been indebted to a huge debt for no apparent reason..."

Tao Ye felt even more sad when talking about debt. She was a pauper in her time. She worked hard to pay off the credit card debt of the previous month every month. She lived in such a difficult situation every day. Later, when she came here, she still couldn't avoid the fate of owing debts and paying them back.

"In order to pay back Mr. Shen as soon as possible, I play and sing all day long, and I welcome all kinds of customers..." Tao Ye looked at Wang Jing's face and couldn't help crying: "Do you know how disgusting some customers are to me? Do you know how much my fingers hurt every day? Do you know how late I go to bed every night?"

Unconsciously, Tao Ye actually imagined that Wang Jing would be moved by her words, would feel guilty, and would comfort her...

However, Wang Jing still looked serious and said, "If you return to where you belong, what can the debts here do to you?"

Tao Ye's crying suddenly stopped. Faced with Wang Jing's question, she was speechless?

"It's impossible for us now, why do you insist on staying?" Wang Jing's distracted gaze was still on Tao Ye, and he looked very serious.

But Tao Ye was so embarrassed by this that she refused to admit that she stayed for him. She blurted out, "Don't flatter me. Who would stay for you? I stayed for Chen Ji!"

Over there, Princess Si Yao suddenly shouted, "Get out of my way!"

It turned out that Si Yao had chased after him, but was stopped by Wang Min.

"Since I am standing here, it is impossible for me to let the princess pass." Although Wang Min called himself a subject, he obviously did not take Si Yao seriously.

Si Yao was really provoked and turned angry: "How dare you! Do you want me to ask the guards to throw you out?"

Wang Min smiled contemptuously. He regarded Princess Si Yao as nothing more than a clown: "A princess who is about to lose power still thinks she is the king of the world?"

Si Yao was stunned for a moment. She remembered that today was a special day. Her mother would have difficulty taking care of her, and the guards might not be able to be deployed at her will in the future.

She had no choice but to rush over on her own, but Wang Min blocked her there steadily, leaving her no chance at all.

At such a close distance, it was impossible for Wang Jing not to hear Si Yao's loud shouting, but he habitually ignored Si Yao's presence and continued with his own business.

When Tao Ye said "for Chen Ji", he was shocked and asked, "You did it for Chen Ji?"

"Yes, I came here today just for Chen Ji. I'm worried about him. I want to share life and death, and hardships with him!" Tao Ye smiled with her face raised, as if she was complacent about having found a way to strike Wang Jing.

Wang Jing couldn't see Tao Ye's expression, nor did he quite believe what she said. He even heard a hint of sadness in Tao Ye's weak laughter.

But he followed Tao Ye's words and lamented in a low voice: "If he really loved you, he would not allow you to "live and die together, share hardships together." "

Si Yao was furious when she saw Wang Jing speaking so gently to Tao Ye. However, Wang Min blocked her and she could not get close to him or stop him. She simply shouted at Wang Jing, "Wang Jing, you dare to have a secret meeting with this witch in the palace. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the people?"

Wang Jing acted as if he hadn't heard Si Yao's words and continued to persuade Tao Ye: "I told you that Chen Ji repeatedly expressed his love for you just to use your extraordinary magic to help him do things. He can't be sincere to you. You can blame me and hate me, but you can't disbelieve me."

Tao Ye did not respond to Wang Jing, but she remembered that Chen Ji had come to Meixiangxie several times to get closer to her after entering Beijing. He first asked her to use magic to save Mada's family, and then instigated her to introduce Qingxiu and promote cooperation with Shen Hui...

Wang Jing once again said earnestly: "Whether you are doing this for your lover or for your friends, I hope you remember to consider yourself first every time you do something, leave yourself a way out, and don't blindly help others, okay?"

Seeing that calling out to Wang Jing was useless, Si Yao started yelling at Tao Ye again: "You vixen, you seduced my man in broad daylight, do you still have any shame?"

The extremely humiliating words entered Tao Ye's ears like a thunderclap. Tao Ye looked up and saw Wang Min standing there at the other end of the narrow alley, standing there as steady as a rock. Si Yao could only jump in rage outside.

No matter what the truth is, Si Yao and Wang Jing are husband and wife in name only. How can she stay here and be a mistress?

With tears still in the corners of Tao Ye's eyes, she ran out from the other end of the alley like flying with a broken heart.

"Tao Ye..." Wang Jing noticed Tao Ye's departure, but as a half-lame and half-blind man, he had no ability to catch up with her. He just stood for a long time facing the direction Tao Ye left.

Tao Ye ran out of the south gate of Hualin Garden inadvertently, but found that he had nowhere to go.

Because Shen Hui did not explain in advance whether they could leave after the performance.

If she turned back to Hualin Garden, she was afraid that she would run into Wang Jing or Si Yao again. She thought it would be better for her to wait for a while before going back to find Caiwei and the others.

So she wandered around aimlessly, occasionally meeting one or two palace maids delivering things to Hualin Garden, or patrolling guards. She tried her best to avoid them to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

As she was walking, she saw a familiar figure. It was Xin'er, the personal maid of Empress Dowager Zhou. She tiptoed with a tray behind the rockery on the side of the road.

When Empress Dowager Zhou was still Concubine Zhou, Tao Ye had served her and was very familiar with Xin'er at that time, so she would not make a mistake even if she was standing far away.

Tao Ye remembered that Xin'er was Zhou's maid who came with her as a dowry, and she seldom left Zhou to act alone. How come she was doing the job of serving tea and water today, and was so sneaky about it?

Curiosity prompted Tao Ye to follow quietly, hiding behind the rockery. She peeked out and saw Xin'er had already placed the tray on the stone. Then she poured a paper bag of powder into the soup on the tray, stirred it, covered it with the lid, and picked up the tray to walk towards Hualin Garden.

Tao Ye immediately became alert: That must be poison!

She couldn't think too much for the moment, and quickly caught up with Xin'er. Like other palace maids coming and going in Hualin Garden, she walked with her head down, always keeping a distance from Xin'er.

After entering Hualin Garden, Tao Ye saw Xin'er walk into the banquet and place the soup on the table of Empress Dowager Meng.

Tao Ye seemed to understand: Zhou was probably trying to poison Meng...

She looked at the bowl of soup from afar, not knowing what to do. In the past, Mrs. Meng had treated her very badly in order to protect Si Yao. Was it necessary for her to tip off the court and save her rival's mother?

While she was thinking, she suddenly saw Meng turned her head and spoke to Si De and Qing Xiu with a smile, and the bowl of soup was picked up by the maid and placed in front of Qing Xiu.