I'm a humble concubine. My acting skills are off the charts. You can check my performance.

After receiving Meng Yanzhen's reminder, Zhao Fangyu paid extra attention to his daily travels and usually went on duty with Hongzhu.

Before eating or drinking, they would test the food with a silver hairpin. Even incense was rarely used. Gradually, the smell in the Sutra Hall was replaced by the fragrance of books and ink.

Zhao Fangyu doesn’t like to walk around on weekdays. What he likes to do most is to find a place to have a good sleep after a busy day. He wishes he could make up for all the sleep he lost due to studying hard in the past years.

But now that the eldest prince has happened, I can't even sleep well. During the day, I'm afraid that someone will secretly suffocate me while I'm sleeping. At night, I have to hang several bells in front of the door and windows to wake up and check at the slightest movement.

Since the dagger that injured the person could not be brought in, Zhao Fangyu sharpened the hairpin on her head so that it could be useful at the critical moment.

Even though he felt sleepy during the day, he did not rest. He made a pot of strong tea and sorted the books in the Sutra Hall with Hongzhu.

There are many books in the Sutra Hall, and it took a long time to organize them.

Nothing happened for half a month, and today happened to be dinner time. The two of them finished the dinner brought by the imperial kitchen, got off work, and strolled back to their own residence.

The Sutra Hall and the duty room are not far apart, so you have to walk around the entire Sutra Hall and pass by the surrounding lotus pond.

The fence around the lotus pond was not built high, and it was mainly used to block the young princes and princesses.

As Hongzhu was walking, she suddenly looked troubled, held her stomach and cried out.

"Sister Runyi, my stomach hurts."

Zhao Fangyu and Hongzhu had dinner together. While Zhao Fangyu accompanied her to the toilet, he asked her if she had eaten anything else today besides the meal brought by the imperial kitchen.

Hongzhu thought about it and said no.

"Maybe I didn't sleep well last night and the quilt wasn't covered tightly."

Zhao Fangyu did not comment. He stood on the path not far from the toilet, admiring the flowers and waiting for the red beads in the toilet.

On the left are lotus leaves reaching the sky, and on the right are sparse flowers and trees. The flowers in the imperial garden are naturally much more valuable than those in the Zhao family's home. Zhao Fangyu is used to making perfumed dew, and when he sees these blooming flowers, he can't help but want to destroy them and exchange them for silver.

Before Zhao Fangyu could sigh a little more about the difficulties in the world and the hardship in making money, a little palace maid walking with her head down came towards him. Zhao Fangyu didn't see her appearance clearly, but unexpectedly a figure quickly jumped out from behind him and punched Zhao Fangyu in the temple!

The force was strong, the speed was fast, and the blow hit the vital points. In an instant, Zhao Fangyu's eyes went black, he felt dizzy, and he couldn't react even when he was carried up!

She had no strength in her hands and feet, and tried several times to pull out the hairpin on her head, but failed. She was carried to the water's edge by two maids, one in front and one behind. With a splash, countless cold lake water rushed in and filled her mouth and nose.

The lake water came in all directions like an overwhelming force, and her eyes, ears, mouth and nose were all hit by the sudden water. Zhao Fangyu instinctively struggled in the water. Her limbs were weak and she managed to emerge from the water with difficulty. She was then hit several times by the people above with sticks. With two gurgles, she sank again.

Gradually, there was no movement on the water surface.

There was a person waiting upstairs. When Hongzhu came out of the toilet, she didn't see Zhao Fangyu waiting for her outside. She ran to ask the little palace maid standing by the lotus pond admiring the flowers: "Sister, there was a female official wearing a silver hairpin and an indigo round-necked robe standing by the toilet just now. Did you see her?"

The maid didn't say anything, just shook her head.

Hongzhu thought that Zhao Fangyu had gone back for some reason, so she jumped back to rest. The palace maid who was standing by the lotus pond stayed there until nightfall and then left quietly.

The moon is at its zenith, and His Majesty is visiting Yanyun Palace tonight. Pei Yan was on patrol and passed by the Sutra Hall. He heard some unusual noises and came to check it out.

Under the moonlight, an extremely cold and white hand slowly stretched out from the water, grabbed the stone pillar on the shore, and climbed up little by little. Gradually, a person with disheveled hair gradually emerged from the water. Pei Yan could see clearly that the person who looked like a female ghost was actually Zhao Fangyu!

Pei Yan wanted to rush forward to save him, but he was concerned about Zhao Fangyu's reputation. After thinking for a while, he took off his cloak and threw one end to Zhao Fangyu, asking Zhao Fangyu to wrap it around his hand so that he could drag him out of the water.

Zhao Fangyu hid in the lake for a long time using a hollow silver hairpin. Fortunately, it was not cold today, otherwise he would have frozen to death by soaking in this cold lake water.

Zhao Fangyu's facial features were extremely outstanding. When she climbed out of the water, the beautiful moonlight was spread over her body. Behind her were green lotus leaves, and in front of her were pale jade fingers. The clear water and moonlight had coated her body with a hidden layer of mysterious silver film, making her look like a ghost that had just been bred in the water, emitting a pearl-like luster, and was extremely beautiful from birth.

Pei Yan didn't dare to look at Zhao Fangyu's appearance at this time. He closed his eyes and used his cloak to drag Zhao Fangyu out of the water before asking her what was going on.

Zhao Fangyu's teeth were chattering from the cold, but Pei Yan couldn't let her go back alone, so he put a cloak on Zhao Fangyu's shoulders, asked his colleagues to look after her for a quarter of an hour, and then went to the Yanyun Palace in front to call Lan Ye to come and take care of Zhao Fangyu.

Lan Ye was shocked to see Zhao Fangyu soaked all over and asked what had happened.

The hot soup in Yanyun Hall was ready. Lan Ye asked Zhao Fangyu to sleep in her room. Thinking that the Emperor and Meng Yanzhen would not need water so soon, she added some hot water to feed Zhao Fangyu into the hot water bottle to keep him warm.

"We are welcoming the emperor now. It is not convenient to wash in the palace. Please don't be disgusted. Drink some hot tea to warm your body. I have added shredded ginger, brown sugar, longan and red dates. You should drink it while it is hot."

Zhao Fangyu drank the medicine in a daze and came to Yanyun Palace, where she could at least have a good sleep.

If she went back to her own room, she might not be able to sleep well tonight.

Lan Ye took care of Zhao Fangyu all night, and when the emperor left the next day, she went to the Sutra Hall to ask for leave for Zhao Fangyu.

Zhao Fangyu had not been getting enough rest these days, and the fall into the water brought out all the hard work he had endured in the past few days. He developed a fever that night. He secretly asked the imperial physician to take his pulse, and only then was Zhao Fangyu's condition stabilized.

Seeing that Zhao Fangyu was being closely watched by the eldest prince, Meng Yanzhen simply asked Lan Ye to pick up Zhao Fangyu and bring him to live in Yanyun Palace every day.

Most of the Yanyun Palace was vacant, with no concubine in the main position. Once Meng Yanzhen became pregnant with a child, the main position in the Yanyun Palace would be hers. Everyone could see clearly that the old emperor loved Meng Yanzhen, so he specially allocated a Yanyun Palace to her.

Although she now lives in a side hall, she is the only master in the entire Yanyun Hall, and the status of the side halls and the main halls is not much different.

Even the eldest prince was not allowed to reach into his stepmother's courtyard. For a moment, the situation was at a stalemate.

Zhao Fangyu reported the matter to the Shangyi Bureau, and as expected, it ended in nothing.

Zhang Yingying was still as arrogant and domineering as ever, and the eldest prince was still aiding and abetting the tyrant. There was no witness or physical evidence that this female official with an honorary title fell into the water, so it was simply nonsense to try to blame the prince. Even if anyone with a brain could guess that it was the eldest prince, no one could do anything about him.

He was born to be the emperor's son, and he was also the eldest son.

If nothing unexpected happens and a crown prince is not appointed, the eldest prince will be the best candidate to ascend the throne.

Zhao Fangyu watched, silently spread out the paper, picked up the pen, and slowly wrote something down.