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

(This chapter contains some rather disturbing descriptions; please do not read it during mealtimes if you are sensitive to them.)

While Ye Xin was in a coma, she kept having the same dream.

In her dream, her legs no longer hurt, and she could stand up. The surrounding scenery seemed to be the interior of a palace.

Palace maids and eunuchs went in and out with solemn expressions. The screams of women echoed through the hall, along with the strong smell of blood. The entire palace was filled with a tense and anxious atmosphere.

It seems that a concubine in the palace gave birth, and the delivery process was not smooth.

Then, she saw another version of herself walk into a palace.

The other self seemed completely unaffected by the atmosphere in the hall, entering the courtyard with a smile and calling out, "Consort Ling? Consort Ling?"

Consort Ling? When did this consort ever exist in the palace?

Just as Ye Xin was wondering what was going on, Jin Zhong, the imperial eunuch, stepped forward with a smile and said, "Sister Ye Xin, what brings you here?" Seeing that she was walking without stopping, he said urgently, "You can't go in!"

The other self replied with a forced smile, "Wrong, the delivery room is bloody. I can go in, but you can't. You'll have to wait here!"

He pointed at Jinzhong with his finger and went straight inside.

She placed her hand on her cheek and said loudly, "Your Highness Consort Ling! This servant greets you! This servant has come to report to you that Lady Wei has died, and Zuo Lu has been exiled to the frontier. Alas, how pitiful! A perfectly healthy old lady, she died without anyone to see her off, lying all alone in the mansion! Moreover, it is unknown whether Zuo Lu will survive! Your Highness Consort Ling, did you hear me!"

At that moment, the curtain was flung open, and a palace maid rushed out, shouting angrily, "What are you yelling about! Get out, get out of here!"

The other self revealed a mocking smile and said, "Then this servant will take her leave first. Consort Ling, please take your time giving birth!"

Ye Xin was horrified. Although she had never witnessed this scene before, she felt as if she had seen it before. But what was she doing! If Lady Wei and Zuo Lu were relatives of this empress, then wasn't she... wasn't she intentionally provoking this empress during childbirth?!

This act is utterly immoral, and if this empress suffers a difficult childbirth due to shock, she will be committing the heinous crime of murdering the imperial heir!

Just as she was about to rush down to stop herself, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder.

She turned around and saw a girl staring intently at her. The girl's hair was disheveled, and the hairpin she used to hold it up was deeply embedded in her neck.

Ye Xin recognized her and screamed, "Xiangyun!"

Xiangyun said, "Sister Yexin still remembers me."

Ye Xin thought she had seen a vengeful ghost and fell to the ground in fright, stammering, "Xiangyun, please let me go, I haven't hurt you, I..."

Xiangyun squatted down and said, "Sister Yexin, don't be afraid. The image you see of me is just a manifestation of the impression I left on you in my previous life, not a vengeful ghost. You always took care of me and taught me. Even if you sometimes disciplined me, it was because I was in the wrong first. How could I hold a grudge against you?"

Seeing that she seemed to have no ill intentions, Ye Xin gradually calmed down.

Xiangyun then said, "To be honest, it was I who harmed my sister. If I hadn't caused her to catch a cold twice at Xianfu Palace, she wouldn't have damaged her health, and she wouldn't have almost not survived this punishment."

Upon hearing these words, Ye Xin's anger instantly replaced her remaining fear, and she sneered, "My punishment and expulsion are all thanks to Noble Hai."

Xiangyun said, "What if I said that what Sister Yexin is seeing now is also thanks to Noble Hai?"

Ye Xin asked in surprise, "Although she has always disregarded the lives of her subordinates, she is timid by nature and always obsequious to the other concubines. How could she have such audacity to plot against the imperial heir?"

Xiangyun said, "If I were to say it was for the sake of the Ulanara clan..."

Ye Xin smiled bitterly, "She has always valued Consort Xian more than anyone else, even more than herself. She almost took half my life for Consort Xian, so it's not impossible for her to make me do such a rebellious thing."

Xiangyun said, "Sister Yexin will know once she takes a look."

He then stretched out his hand and made a hand seal.

Everyone in the hall immediately stopped what they were doing.

Xiangyun clapped her hands and sang: "The sun sets in the west, darkness falls, every household closes its doors. Magpies and swans fly over the mountains, sparrows and pigeons fly to the eaves. Nine out of ten houses are locked, but one door is still open. I stand before the hall to summon the immortals. Though there is no drum or whip, I humbly beg the old immortal, Hu Immortal, to hear my words. The immortals are skilled in illusion, I humbly request Hu Immortal to grant me the Heavenly Eye. Heavenly Eye, help me break through the illusion, and make that evil spirit reveal its true face!"

The chanting was extremely fast, and the clapping had a strange rhythm. Every phrase seemed to be poured directly into her brain. In a daze, Ye Xin felt a furry beast leap up behind her, its eyes covered by a pair of claws.

The claws moved away, and the other Ye Xin in front of me was no longer the same as before.

A pale body crawled on its hands and feet, kneeling on the ground. A flesh-colored tube, like an umbilical cord, was attached to the back of the body, extending to an unknown destination. Instead of a human head, a cylindrical head protruded straight from the neck, dripping with slippery mucus. Thick, long hair was matted together with the mucus, draped over the body like seaweed. A pair of enormous eyes darted wildly, and a wide, round mouth was open, with sharp teeth arranged in spirals.

Suddenly, sharp teeth grew out wildly, gleaming coldly like sharp blades, abruptly protruding from that cylindrical mouth.

Ye Xin even forgot to scream; she just stared wide-eyed in terror.

Is this... me?

Xiangyun seemed to read her mind and said firmly, "It's not like that now."

Then suddenly a burst of light swept along the fleshy tube, almost instantly engulfing the monster.

The monster howled like a wild beast amidst the flames, frantically spewing burning blades from its mouth.

At the same time, flames also ignited on Ye Xin's body, and the burning pain she had experienced before spread throughout her body once again.

But then a cool sensation swept over his head, and a snake's head appeared before him, its tongue flicking at Ye Xin's forehead, and the flames immediately dissipated.

Xiangyun took Yexin's hand and followed the fleshy tube, chasing after the flames.

They chased him all the way to Yanxi Palace.

The other end of the pipe was connected to another monster on the bed. That monster had six wings, many eyes, and its body was covered in flames.

Ye Xin looked around: "This is the residence of Hai Guiren, could it be...? And Xiangyun, what exactly happened to you..."

Xiangyun took off the hairpin from her neck and put it into Yexin's hand, saying, "All phenomena are illusions. All of this is nothing but a false illusion, a distorted cause and effect, just a fleeting dream."

Ye Xin wanted to ask more, but Xiang Yun suddenly shoved her, and she fell backward, passing through the floor tiles and falling into a void.

"Ah!" Ye Xin exclaimed in surprise, opening her eyes.

As her vision gradually cleared, she heard the old woman in the flower room say, "Amitabha, you're finally awake!"

Ye Xin vaguely remembered that this nanny was a talkative but very kind person. Once, when Steward Qin assigned her to move flowers, she argued with Steward Qin because of her leg injury. Although she couldn't win against Steward Qin in the end, she was still very grateful to this nanny.

She had little recollection of what happened afterward, only a vague memory that she seemed to have encountered the Empress...

"I told Eunuch Qin a long time ago that your leg injury was serious and you had a fever, so I shouldn't ask you to do any heavy work. Look what happened to him! He didn't listen to me. He fainted in the greenhouse!"

Luckily, Her Majesty the Empress happened to be there that day! Her Majesty is kind-hearted; she found you a royal physician, and Aunt Mingyu, who serves Her Majesty, stayed to look after you for quite some time. Oh dear, she told me not to tell you, but I let it slip in my excitement!

The imperial physician said that your illness had become serious and extremely dangerous due to the lack of timely treatment. Thankfully, thanks to Buddha's blessing, you pulled through... Ah, the old woman said so much, I've forgotten everything. Wait a moment, I'll go find Physician Bao."

After the nanny left, Ye Xin pulled her hand out of the blanket.

In her left hand, she held a hairpin that palace maids often wore.

Doctor Bao arrived, and Da Niu followed him in.

After examining her pulse, Physician Bao said, "Miss Ye Xin is mostly recovered, but she's still a bit weak and needs to rest for the next few days. The injuries to her back and knees need to be treated regularly. But your legs..."

The young woman asked anxiously, "How's your leg?"

Physician Bao said, "I'm afraid your knees will develop a chronic condition. They will ache whenever it's damp, cold, or rainy. You should be careful to keep them warm."

Everyone was somewhat dejected, but Ye Xin remained calm: "It's already good enough that I've survived. Thank you, Physician Bao."

Physician Bao said, "Actually, you should thank the Empress, as well as the former Miss Su Xin and Physician Jiang in your palace, and Eunuch Shuang Xi in the Cold Palace."

After Doctor Bao left, Da Niu made Ye Xin lie down and applied medicine to the cane wound on her back.

As she applied the ointment, she complained, "Eunuch Wufu didn't know how to go easy on you! You have a scar the size of a teacup on your back! But would a board really leave such a round scar?"

Ye Xin thought of the tube on the monster's back in her dream, and her heart stirred. She still said, "Wu Fu just dared not disobey Lord Hai's orders. He was already very careful. Otherwise, after twenty strokes of the cane, I might have become a cripple."

Da Niu laughed and said, "Sister Ye Xin needs to change her address. What 'noble person'? She's been demoted to 'madam'!"

Ye Xin asked in surprise, "What's going on now?"

Da Niu said "Alright," draped a robe over Ye Xin, and while applying medicine to her knees, whispered, "That day, when Her Majesty the Empress saw Hai Consort punish you so severely, she said that palace maids were from the Eight Banners and could not be punished so arbitrarily, and she wanted to investigate the matter thoroughly. Since Her Majesty the Empress has made the decision, Er Niu, Eunuch Wu Fu, and I told her everything that happened that day, including how Hai Consort spoke disrespectfully to the Empress and how Ze Zhi stirred things up."

Ye Xin said anxiously, "You are doing this for me, of course, but in doing so, wouldn't you be offending your master? What will you do then?"

Da Niu said nonchalantly, "So what if I offended her? I didn't want to follow her anymore. She herself is out of favor, she has nothing to eat or wear, and even we servants who serve her are very poor. She is also ungrateful. She can't see the Empress's kindness or your loyalty, she only values ​​Consort Xian more than anything! She even values ​​the servants she sent, letting her harm you!"

Do you know what the accountants joked about after the audit? They privately gossiped, "Following the Sea Lord, you'll go hungry nine times out of three days, and if things go wrong, you'll get a beating!"

Ye Xin thought that according to the dream, the food might include not only the torture rod but also the ghost head knife, but she still said, "Alright, talking about the master is a serious crime. You are not allowed to go out and say such things, do you hear me!"

Da Niu continued, "I understand, I understand, please let me continue. That Ze Zhi, she's just as arrogant as Sister Aruo here, but she's actually a complete fool. After joining the Accounting Department, she accidentally revealed that Consort Xian had secretly gone to see Hai Ying while she was attending to the Empress in Shou Kang Palace, as well as some disrespectful things the two of them said to the Empress in Shou Kang Palace. As a result, this matter alarmed the Emperor."

The Emperor said that Consort Hai had disrespected the Empress, and while the Empress didn't hold it against her, he couldn't tolerate it. Adding this to the previous incident, he retaliated, demoting Consort Hai and confining her to her quarters. The Empress even replaced all the maids and eunuchs in Shou Kang Palace. And…”

Da Niu looked left and right before whispering, "I heard from Xiao Miao, who was recently transferred from Shou Kang Palace to Chang Chun Palace, that he overheard Sister A Ruo saying that the Emperor in the previous court punished Consort Xian's father because of an old case, saying that he was cruel and ruthless and unfit to be a Zuo Ling (military commander), and that he had been demoted to a fifth-rank Zuo Ling in charge of the Zuo Ling!"

Ye Xin was startled and whispered a reprimand to her, "You're not allowed to ask about these things from the previous dynasty anymore! Otherwise, you'll only bring trouble upon yourself!"

The girl stuck out her tongue and laughed, "I was wrong, I was really wrong!"

Then, still indignant, she said, "It's that Zezhi who caused such a commotion. We were all left in the Accounting Department to await orders, but the Emperor said that her reporting was an act of redemption, and she was even promoted to a palace maid. What kind of nonsense is this!"

Ye Xin angrily said, "Are you still going to say anything!" and reached out to cover her mouth, but the movement was too forceful, aggravating her wound and causing Ye Xin to gasp in pain. Da Niu panicked and dared not say another word.

Just then, the old woman brought over a bowl of porridge: "Alright, Miss Ye Xin, although I'm a bit of a nag, I'm hard of hearing and didn't hear anything. Your injuries haven't healed yet, so don't keep torturing yourself like this. Today is Laba Festival, and Her Majesty the Empress has bestowed Laba porridge upon all the servants in the palace as a token of her grace. I got you a bowl and warmed it up for you. You've only had some rice gruel these past two days while you were unconscious, so you should replenish yourself quickly!"

Ye Xin did feel hungry, so she thanked him and took the porridge to drink.

The old nanny started chattering again: "By the grace of Her Majesty the Empress, you have been transferred to the North Garden behind the flower room to raise crickets. It's much easier than planting and moving flowers in the flower room. It's just that the place is a bit remote and not many people come here, but it's quiet and leisurely, so it's a good job."

Ye Xin slowly sipped her Laba porridge. The porridge was generously filled with red beans and red dates.

is sweet.