Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

Before leaving, Qi Ning was threatened by Liang Yuewu again.

In addition, Liang Yuewu also assigned Qi Ning the task of monitoring Feng Ke's every move and reporting back to her at any time.

Qi Ning outwardly cooperated fully, agreeing to everything and even pledging his loyalty, before Liang Yuewu released him and he went to Xiyuan Palace with Feng Ke.

The following day, the emperor officially issued an edict announcing that the second prince, Feng Ke, would be handed over to the empress for upbringing.

The Empress suddenly had a son, and the Second Prince Feng Ke went from being a prince born out of wedlock to being the legitimate son in name only.

When the women in the harem heard the news, they were all shocked and puzzled.

Just a few days ago, the Second Prince said he didn't want to go to any of the concubines' palaces. I don't understand what methods the Empress used to make the Second Prince willing to be raised by her.

Although Qiao Wenyu was still in her postpartum period, she had heard the news.

She was originally happy about giving birth to the fourth prince safely and being named a Noble Consort, but she didn't expect to receive this news from the Empress.

Holding the fourth prince in her arms, she said sarcastically, "The Empress has quite the methods. I just gave birth to the fourth prince, and she already pulled the second prince over. His Majesty even agreed."

"Your Majesty, the Second Prince is the son of Consort Shu. Consort Shu was sentenced to death for poisoning you, so he must harbor resentment towards you. Now that the Second Prince has become the legitimate heir, he may threaten our Fourth Prince," said Yi Hui, Qiao Wenyu's personal maid, with concern.

But Qiao Wenyu said, "I have never had any grudges against Consort Shu, and she doesn't seem like the kind of vicious person. Do you really think that Consort Shu was the one who poisoned me?"

"Your Majesty, could it be that you suspect the Empress did this?" Yi Hui covered her mouth in shock.

"It's not impossible."

Qiao Wenyu had no evidence, but her intuition told her that the Empress must have orchestrated this.

"The Empress used Consort Shu to poison you, causing Consort Shu's death, and she even stole the Second Prince's custody?"

"Yes."

Qiao Wenyu chuckled and said, "Don't spread this news for now. Let the Empress be smug for a while. When the crucial moment comes, tell the Second Prince the news. At that time, the relationship between the mother and son will naturally fall apart."

"Your Majesty is truly wise," Yi Hui exclaimed. "Then we can wait and see what the show is all about."

During this period, the Empress was indeed enjoying immense prestige. First, she had a son, the Second Prince, and then, half a month later, news came from the court that her elder brother had defeated the Japanese pirates and made great contributions.

With good news coming from both the imperial court and the harem, the Empress's position naturally became more secure, far surpassing even that of Consort Chen, who had just given birth to the fourth prince.

Meanwhile, Qi Ning had been living in Xiyuan Palace with Feng Ke during this time.

However, although Feng Ke kept his promise and brought Qi Ning back from the Empress's palace, he still did not trust her and was full of suspicion towards her.

Feng Ke didn't need Qi Ning to serve him much on a daily basis, and he ignored her, basically leaving her hanging.

Qi Ning wasn't in a hurry. She knew Feng Ke wouldn't trust her anytime soon, since she had previously been a palace maid in the Empress's palace.

Since Feng Ke is ignoring her, she'll just have to find some sense of presence herself.

During this period, Qi Ning was not idle either. Following the Empress's instructions, she kept an eye on Feng Ke's every move and reported back to the Empress.

That day, Qi Ning had just returned from Jingyang Palace when Feng Ke summoned her over.

"Your Highness, are you looking for me?"

"You went to Jingyang Palace again to report my news to the Empress?"

Qi Ning did not deny it: "Your Highness, so you knew."

Feng Ke, with a stern face, said, "You actually dare to admit that you came here to help me, or that the Empress sent you to spy on me. All those excuses about saving your life were just made up, weren't they?"

"Your Highness, you have wronged me."

Qi Ning showed a hint of grievance on her face.

"Injustice?"

"Yes, Your Highness, this servant admits that Her Majesty the Empress did indeed instruct this servant to monitor Your Highness, and she did indeed instruct this servant to report Your Highness's whereabouts."

"So you really reported the truth, how could this be considered a false accusation?"

"This servant did report the truth, but it was something I had no choice but to do."

Qi Ning glanced outside and, seeing no one, lowered her voice and said, "Your Highness, you should know that the Empress does not completely trust me. Besides having me keep an eye on you, she must have arranged for others as well. If I lie, the Empress will surely find out."

"I am doing this now to dispel the Empress's suspicions. Once she finds that the information I reported is correct, she will lower her guard. At that time, if I send false information, it will not arouse her suspicion."

"Really?" Feng Ke remained skeptical.

"Of course." Qi Ning raised her hand, making a vow-like gesture. "This servant swears to heaven that there is not a single lie in her words."

"Besides, the information I'm reporting is all about Your Highness's daily life, nothing else, so you can rest assured."

"If Your Highness still does not trust me, I can show you every message I have reported during this period. In the future, all messages I report will be reviewed by you first, and then sent over only after you have given your approval."

Hearing Qi Ning say this, Feng Ke's expression gradually softened.

He coughed lightly: "Then, then I misunderstood you."

Qi Ning sighed softly: "Actually, I wanted to discuss this matter with you a few days ago, but Your Highness has always disliked me, and I don't know how to bring it up."

Feng Ke's expression clearly revealed a hint of guilt.

He said softly, "I don't dislike you."

Looking at Feng Ke's appearance, Qi Ning thought to herself that children are so easy to coax, and Feng Ke is quite innocent and cute.

But she didn't forget to push her luck, seizing the opportunity to ask, "Then may this servant serve Your Highness personally from now on?"

Feng Ke subconsciously replied, "There's nothing here that you need to serve me. Ji Qing has taken care of everything else."

At this point, he glanced at Qi Ning, and seeing her disappointed expression, he changed his words: "However, you can come if you want, and you can manage the other palace servants with Ji Qing."

Having achieved his goal, Qi Ning smiled and said, "Yes, thank you, Your Highness."

With Feng Ke's permission, Qi Ning was no longer excluded by him as before, and truly participated in the management of Xiyuan Palace.

After all, she was originally a palace maid in the Empress's palace, and the Empress arranged for her to take care of the Second Prince. The other palace maids already respected her, and with Feng Ke's high regard for her, Qi Ning naturally became the first-class head palace maid in Xiyuan Palace.

Even Eunuch Ji Qing, who had taken care of Feng Ke since childhood, showed much more respect for Qi Ning after hearing Feng Ke's instructions.

Qi Ning would still send messages about Feng Ke to the Empress every few days, but she would always let Feng Ke see the messages before sending them.

The Empress had indeed arranged for others to keep an eye on Qi Ning to prevent her from betraying the Empress, but since the messages Qi Ning sent were always accurate, she gradually lowered her guard and stopped having others keep an eye on her.

In addition, Feng Ke's life was exceptionally simple. He spent his days studying the Four Books and Five Classics and practicing horseback riding and archery. His reports were always similar, so the Empress found them uninteresting and stopped asking about them often.

Qi Ning flattered Feng Ke, saying, "Your Highness, you see, I didn't lie to you. What I did earlier really made the Empress lower her guard, and now she's not watching so closely anymore."

Feng Ke hummed in agreement, his gaze towards Qi Ning now showing a hint of trust.

During this period, Feng Ke had been observing Qi Ning and found nothing unusual about her. Not only had the Empress lowered her guard against Qi Ning, but he had also lowered his guard against her as well.

Qi Ning is now taking care of Feng Ke personally, arranging his daily life, accompanying him in his studies, and sometimes keeping watch over him at night.

That day, Qi Ning had just come out of the palace and looked up at the horizon when he noticed that the sky was somewhat gloomy.

"Looking at the sky, it looks like it's going to rain."

"That's right, host, it's going to rain heavily."

Qi Ning suddenly remembered that in the original story, on the day Consort Shu was ordered to commit suicide, there was thunder and lightning, and it was pouring rain.

When Feng Ke received the news and rushed over from the Imperial Study, he only saw Consort Shu's corpse.

Qi Ning looked up at the sky, then turned to find the palace maid on night watch: "I will take Your Highness's place tonight, you don't need to come."

The young palace maid curtsied and said, "Yes, Sister Ning'er, I understand."

That night, Qi Ning slept on the small couch in Feng Ke's bedroom, listening intently to the sounds outside.

Sure enough, around midnight, a heavy rain started outside, accompanied by thunder and lightning, with the sound of rain pouring down.

Feng Ke, who was sleeping in the inner palace, was having a dream. He dreamt of his childhood, of his mother playing with him.

The sudden sound of thunder and rain entered his dream, and what was originally a beautiful dream instantly turned into the scene of the day his mother was ordered to commit suicide.

In his dream, Feng Ke overheard a servant's message that Consort Shu had poisoned Consort Chen, and that His Majesty had given her poisoned wine in return.

He threw down the book in his hand and left the study, running towards Yonghe Palace in the pouring rain.

When he arrived at Yonghe Palace, soaking wet, he only saw a circle of palace maids and eunuchs surrounding him, while his mother was lying on the ground with bright red blood at the corner of her mouth.

Feng Ke stumbled and rushed over, only to touch his mother's cold corpse.

"Mother concubine!"

Feng Ke suddenly woke up from his dream. He looked out the window at the lightning and thunder, and felt the cool air brought in by the rain. He turned pale and huddled in the corner of the bed.

Just then, Qi Ning walked in carrying an oil lamp.

"Your Highness, are you okay?"

Feng Ke saw the dim light and shadows through the curtain. His throat tightened, and he called out, "Ning'er?"

"Your Highness, this servant is Ning'er."

Qi Ning went to the window and closed it, which had been blown open by the wind, shutting out the sound of rain and thunder outside. Then she went to light the lamps in the hall.

After doing all this, she walked to the bedside, lifted the bed curtains, and looked at Feng Ke.

"Your Highness, are you okay?"

Feng Ke was wearing a white nightgown, his face was as white as paper, he was covered in sweat, and his expression was fearful and uneasy.

The moment he saw Qi Ning, his wildly beating heart finally calmed down a little.

"I'm fine," he said stubbornly.

"Why are you sweating so much if nothing's wrong?"

Qi Ning sat down by the bed and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Feng Ke's forehead.

Feng Ke's body stiffened slightly for a moment, then relaxed.

He didn't dodge and let Qi Ning wipe him.

But he simply said, "It was just a dream."

"What dream?" Qi Ning asked knowingly.

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

Feng Ke clearly didn't want to talk about his mother anymore, and his tone was very stiff.

Feng Ke's reaction was just a subconscious one; he couldn't control his tone and only realized his attitude was a bit inappropriate after he finished speaking.

Qi Ning put away her handkerchief and lowered her eyes: "Yes, Your Highness, I was too talkative. You may continue to rest. I will take my leave now."

"Hey, wait."

Feng Ke grabbed Qi Ning's sleeve: "I... I was just woken up and I was in a bad mood. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

Qi Ning smiled and looked up at Feng Ke: "Your Highness, why are you explaining this to me?"

Feng Ke loosened his grip on Qi Ning's sleeve and said somewhat awkwardly, "It's nothing."

"Now that Your Highness is alright, then..."

"I have something to do," Feng Ke said quickly, noticing that Qi Ning wanted to leave.

"Ok?"

Feng Ke looked away from the bed curtains and said, "I can't sleep. Why don't you keep me company and chat with me?"

"Okay."

Qi Ning agreed, sat on the edge of the bed, and fanned herself with a round fan intermittently.

"What would Your Highness like to discuss?"

Feng Ke felt the cool breeze from Qi Ning's fan, which made him feel much more comfortable, and the restlessness in his heart dissipated.

"How were you doing in the Queen's palace?" he asked.

“In the Empress’s palace, I am just a lowly palace maid. I am often bullied by those aunts and nannies. If Her Majesty the Empress is in a bad mood, I may lose my life at any time. Of course, it is better to serve the Second Prince in Xiyuan Palace.”

"We're all serving others, why make such a difference?"

“Of course.” Qi Ning blinked. “At least here with Your Highness, I don’t have to do any rough work, and I don’t have to worry about losing my life at any time.”

Feng Ke could tell from her constant references to her life that she had lived in constant fear in the Empress's palace.

"If being a servant is so bad, why did you even enter the palace in the first place?"

"My family had too many children, and my parents couldn't afford to raise them all, so they sent me to the palace to be a maid," Qi Ning replied, based on the original owner's family circumstances.

Feng Ke frowned: "What kind of parents would push their own daughter into a fire pit?"

"Your Highness was born a prince, so of course you don't know how hard life is for ordinary people. Parents just send their servants to the palace to work, and some families even sell their daughters for money."

"In broad daylight, in this prosperous age, how can ordinary people still have to sell their children to make a living?"

"Your Highness is currently studying the classics. You will understand once Your Highness leaves the palace to see for yourself."

"Mm." Feng Ke nodded.

As the two chatted back and forth, Feng Ke gradually became sleepy and fell asleep.

The next morning, when Feng Ke woke up, Qi Ning was naturally gone.

Hearing the noise, Ji Qing came over and lifted the bed curtains: "Your Highness, you're awake. This servant will help you change your clothes."

Feng Ke got off the bed and looked around as if he was looking for something.

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