The Changchun Palace team travels back in time to Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

Rongyin sat coldly in the hall, her fingers twirling prayer beads, while Hailan stood uneasily to the side. In the palace servants' quarters, the eunuchs from the Accounting Department ordered Wufu, Zezhi, and the others to take turns entering the side hall to answer questions, and assigned guards to watch over them, forbidding anyone from speaking.

Hailan was usually out of favor, and the palace servants who followed her lived a difficult life, so they were already quite dissatisfied. Now, seeing Hailan torture Ye Xin, the most loyal and capable head palace maid, after listening to a few words of instigation from a palace maid who had just been transferred from Consort Xian, and then immediately expelling her, they were even more chilled to the bone. They felt a sense of shared fate and fear, and seeing that the Empress had personally intervened and the Accounting Department had gotten involved, so no one wanted to, nor dared to, hide the matter.

After the questioning, the eunuch from the Accounting Department led everyone into the hall and reported to Rongyin, "Your Majesty, we have questioned all the palace maids and eunuchs who served Consort Hai." He then presented several prepared statements.

Rongyin stopped fiddling with her prayer beads, took the confession and looked at it. She then had Mingyu hand the confession to Hailan: "Noble Lady Hai, you originally had four palace maids by your side. This is the eunuch's testimony. Take a look and see if you have anything else to say."

Hailan knelt down in fear: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I only punished Ye Xin because she offended Consort Xian with her words. I did not expect Ye Xin to offend Your Majesty. Please forgive me!"

Wu Fu suddenly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, things are not as Consort Hai said, but as this servant just told the eunuch of the Accounting Department. Ye Xin did not offend Consort Xian with her words, but only said that the matter of Miss Bai happened suddenly and there might be something strange about it. She was worried that if Consort Hai went there, she would not only fail to prove Consort Xian's innocence, but would also get into trouble herself. That's why she stopped Consort Hai!"

Zezhi pushed Ye Xin to the ground and helped Consort Hai to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. After returning from the Hall of Mental Cultivation, when the servants were serving, Consort Hai said that Ye Xin had instigated her to ignore Consort Xian, and that Ye Xin had been easily bribed by the Empress. She ordered the servants to drag Ye Xin out and give her twenty strokes of the cane, and make her kneel in public for an hour. She also said that all the servants in the hall should watch, and that this was the consequence of being heartless and ungrateful.

Therefore, we servants have witnessed the entire affair. Before Her Majesty the Empress, we dare not utter a lie, nor allow any untrue words to deceive her!

Two young palace maids also knelt down and said, "We are willing to testify that everything Eunuch Wufu said is the truth!"

Hailan panicked and said, "Wufu, Daniu, Erniu, I have never mistreated you!"

Zezhi also angrily said, "You dog slaves dare to betray your master!"

Mingyu spoke up, her tone stern: "Zezhi, do you have the right to act arrogantly and lecture others in front of the Empress?"

Zezhi then lowered his head and remained silent.

Rongyin gave Hailan a deep look and said calmly, "I only ask you, did you severely punish Ye Xin and transfer her to the flower room because Ye Xin prevented you from going to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to defend Consort Xian?"

Hailan said tremblingly, "I did punish Ye Xin, but that was because... My servant and I lived in Yanxi Palace and received a lot of care from Consort Xian. On that day in Xianfu Palace, Consort Xian even stood up to protect me. But now that Consort Xian has been wronged, Ye Xin wants me to stand by and do nothing."

Although the Emperor and Empress have cleared my sister's name, Ye Xin's actions clearly intend to make me appear heartless and ungrateful. That's why I...

"This concubine had no intention of disrespecting Her Majesty the Empress! This matter was entirely due to a moment of confusion on my part, and has absolutely nothing to do with Consort Xian. I beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"

Rongyin sighed and shook her head.

Mingyu laughed angrily: "A moment of confusion? Consort Hai is downplaying the seriousness of the matter. Twenty strokes of the cane, kneeling in the wind on broken tiles for an hour, watched by everyone in the courtyard, and then thrown into the greenhouse without even half a bottle of medicine—do you know that Ye Xin's wound is now festering, she has a persistent high fever, and is still unconscious? The imperial physician says it's extremely dangerous. If it weren't for the Empress's presence, Ye Xin might already be dead!"

Your Majesty the Empress thought Ye Xin had committed some heinous crime, but it turns out she only stopped you from going to the Hall of Mental Cultivation that day! If it was truly a moment of confusion, an unintentional act, who knows how cruel and heartless she could be, even disregarding human life if she had the intention!

Rongyin said, "Mingyu, that's enough. Consort Hai, the most important thing now is that you, as a consort, punished the palace maid so ruthlessly, almost taking her life, without any mercy. Therefore, I must investigate this matter thoroughly. From today onwards, Consort Hai is confined to Yanxi Palace. All the palace maids who were questioned today should go to the Accounting Department to await further instructions. Consort Hai will be served by someone selected by the Imperial Household Department."

All testimonies given today must be carefully compiled to clarify the cause and effect of this matter. Combined with Ye Xin's examination results, these will be recorded by the Imperial Household Department for verification before any punishment is imposed.

Having said that, he rose and left. Wu Fu knelt down heavily and said loudly, "This servant respectfully sees off Her Majesty the Empress!"

The others also bowed deeply, saying, "This servant respectfully sees off Her Majesty the Empress!"

A cold wind blew into the palace, and Hailan couldn't help but shiver.

After Wu Fu and the palace maids and eunuchs paid their respects, they simply went to pack their belongings. No one closed the door, and no one draped a cloak over Hai Lan.

After leaving Yanxi Palace, Rongyin sighed deeply. She composed herself before saying, "Let's go back. We still need to take the three children to Yangxin Hall later."

Mingyu said, "Your Majesty, I think... if we were to inform the Emperor about what happened today, Yingluo's presence would allow us to cooperate better. However, we cannot rest assured that the flower room will be unattended. I will go to the flower room and have Yingluo accompany you to the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

Rongyin said, "I understand. Go ahead." She gently held Mingyu's hand: "Mingyu, don't push yourself too hard."

Mingyu felt a warmth in her heart and whispered, "I understand, Your Majesty."

Mingyu arrived at the flower room nanny's residence and saw Yingluo squatting outside the door, holding a clump of mud in one hand and wiping it onto the hem of Ruixin and A'ruo's clothes. Imperial Physician Jiang was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to stop her or not. Qin Li and Shuangxi, on the other hand, were enjoying the show.

Aruo shrieked, "These are clothes I just made!"

Yingluo said, "This is still the mud I just warmed for you! If you don't shut up, I'll have to shut you up again."

Mingyu stepped forward and asked, "What are you doing again, Yingluo?"

As Yingluo wiped her face, she said, "Help them make their lies believable."

Su Xin's legs stiffened, and she said timidly, "I'm sorry, Sister Aruo, it's all my fault for dragging you into this."

Aruo retorted angrily, "So you know you're the one who dragged me into this!"

Yingluo stood up and smeared the remaining mud on A'ruo's face: "Alright, when we get back, we'll say that you two weren't careful while walking and fell into the ditch. You fell quite hard, so we went to see Physician Jiang."

Aruo was smeared with graffiti like a little kitten, but she was afraid that Yingluo would physically shut her up again, so she dared not speak out.

Yingluo chuckled inwardly and said, "Alright, Miss A'ruo, now that I know you're a favored palace maid by Consort Xian's side, I'll send you an embroidery piece as an apology tomorrow, okay?"

A'Ruo snorted and said, "The palace maids of your Changchun Palace are the most cunning. I dare not accept your gift!"

Yingluo smiled and put her arm around A'ruo's shoulder, pulling her aside: "You're making your sister feel bad by saying that!" She leaned closer to A'ruo and whispered: "As for today's matter, Her Majesty the Empress has already dealt with it. Even if you go back now and report us all, it won't help. It will only give Consort Xian the impression that you are incompetent."

If you two cooperate and insist that today's incident was unintentional, Consort Xian probably won't hold it against you. Besides, you still have leverage over Sui Xin; what good thing could she possibly do without you in the future? Would she dare to steal your thunder in front of Consort Xian?

A'Ruo's expression finally brightened. As the two prepared to leave, Jiang Yubin said worriedly, "Su Xin, Miss A'Ruo, you must change your clothes as soon as you get back, because this mud has frozen and carries a chill."

Mingyu's eye twitched, and she said coolly, "Yingluo, you're still as hateful as ever." Then she explained her purpose.

Yingluo listened and remained silent for a while before patting Mingyu's shoulder and saying, "I understand. You go in first. Before I return to Changchun Palace, I have one more question to ask Eunuch Qin."

He then pulled Qin Li aside.

Yingluo: "In principle, the task of moving the flowers should have involved several eunuchs. Even if it involved palace maids, they wouldn't have chosen a newly arrived maid who was injured. Eunuch Qin, please tell me the truth: were you behind this incident in the flower room today?"

Qin Li: "Miss Yingluo is indeed incredibly intelligent. I've been organizing things these past few days and discovered that Yanxi Palace has been constantly embroiled in trouble lately. The result is often that others might benefit, but Consort Xian hasn't been overtly affected, yet she's showing signs of regaining favor. The Spring Grace Book has also suddenly added a treasonous statement: 'Consort Xian has a firm grip on the Emperor's heart. The Emperor doesn't outwardly favor Consort Xian, also to prevent her from becoming too favored and attracting envy and becoming a target.'"

But if you ask me, Consort Xian's behavior either shows her inability to explain or defend herself, indicating incompetence, or she has truly committed many evil deeds, demonstrating malice. The Emperor is busy with state affairs; if he dislikes Consort Xian, why would he favor such a person? But if the Emperor does care for Consort Xian, why does he never explicitly reprimand or discipline others, instead allowing Consort Xian to be embroiled in trouble while secretly bestowing favors upon her? It can't be as absurd as those words in the Spring Grace Book, can it? Therefore, there must be something strange about this.

I was thinking of using my old trick of testing the waters again, stirring up some trouble in Yanxi Palace. Just then, Consort Hai sent Ye Xin to the flower room, a perfect opportunity. However, my original plan was to send flowers to Yanxi Palace and then cause a scene, but the Empress's arrival changed everything.

Yingluo: "I knew there wouldn't be that many coincidences. But you're quite ruthless, didn't you even consider whether Ye Xin's body could handle it?"

Qin Li was somewhat dismissive: "Isn't it just a matter of everyone minding their own business in the palace? As long as you can take care of yourself, that's enough. Besides, didn't Her Majesty the Empress personally send someone to fetch the imperial physician to treat Ye Xin? Judging by actions rather than intentions, I actually helped her out. Not to mention, if I hadn't brought Shuangxi along, you might not have found him so quickly."

Yingluo reminded him, "I know life in the palace is tough, especially for you. But if you can leave a way out, then leave a way out, Eunuch Qin. Accumulate some merit; you never know when it might come in handy."

Speaking of Shuangxi, Yingluo suddenly remembered something: "Wait, you wrote about Shuangxi's family in the secret file, could it be that the silver rabbit hairpin incident was also your doing...?"

If that's the case, wouldn't Qin Li have been making plans from the very beginning when he was sending palace servants to various palaces?

Qin Li: "Oh, no, I just took money from Shuangxi. One hundred and twenty taels for the head eunuch of Xianfu Palace and ten taels for the maid of Yanxi Palace. Shuangxi used the money she had left over from selling herself as a deposit and signed a contract. She gives me money every month, with interest, and I haven't paid it all back yet."

Yingluo couldn't help but say, "You've even come up with deposits and interest! You're really something. It seems the Ministry of Justice can't tolerate you anymore; you'll have to go to the Ministry of Revenue! But you've explained these transactions so clearly; aren't you afraid I'll complain to the Empress?"

Qin Li said, "Not to mention that I trust you, Miss Yingluo, even if you were as quick-tongued as A'ruo and went back to tell others, even the Empress would have a hard time managing you. This kind of thing has long been common practice in the inner palace. From the Accounting Department of the Imperial Household Department to the managers of various palaces and departments, who hasn't shared the money? Those above get the money, and those below get their future. Everyone is willing, and no one wants to ruin the whole thing."

Furthermore, previous dynasties also had a system of purchasing official positions. During the reign of the late emperor, wasn't Lord Li Wei also promoted to his official position through purchasing?

Moreover, while I, Qin Li, may lack other merits, I always maintain a clear and fair price in matters like this, never cheating anyone, young or old, and never inflating prices or failing to deliver on my promises after receiving payment.

Yingluo's lips twitched, thinking to herself: No wonder everyone says, "A house with big trees and small paintings, the person must be from the Imperial Household Department."