An Lingrong is reborn to live for herself.

As it turns out, you really shouldn't wander around on narrow paths on snowy days.

As An Lingrong and Shuangxue walked back along the path, whether they stepped on pebbles or the snow had turned to ice underneath, An Lingrong lost her footing and fell into a heap with Shuangxue.

The fall was very solid, and both of them were completely disoriented.

An Lingrong felt a sharp pain in her right arm. In the instant she fell, An Lingrong instinctively braced herself with her right elbow, but unexpectedly, she and Shuangxue fell together, and their weight pressed down on that one arm, causing her excruciating pain and bringing tears to her eyes.

Upon seeing that her mistress was injured, Shuangxue disregarded her own pain and immediately tried to help An Lingrong up.

An Lingrong was about to stand up when she felt pain in her legs. She could only grit her teeth and say, "There's probably no one else in this courtyard. Quickly go back to Suiyu Pavilion and find a eunuch to carry me back. If others see this, I don't know what they'll say."

Shuangxue looked around and realized that there was no one to be found in Yimei Garden today, so she helped An Lingrong lean against a slightly thick plum tree to rest for a while. She ignored her own pain and hurriedly ran towards Suiyu Pavilion.

The fall was quite hard. An Lingrong leaned against a tree and rested for a while. She had heard Zhen Huan mention that there was a pavilion on the west side of Yimei Garden where one could rest. Thinking of the place she had passed by when she arrived, the pavilion should be nearby. So she slowly moved towards the pavilion.

An Lingrong leaned against the plum tree and moved slowly, taking her time. Looking around, all she could see were white snow and brown plum trees. The frost and snow had described them as buds, but they were just newly sprouting buds; she would have to wait and see them bloom.

He inwardly mocked Shuangxue again, wondering what kind of people this little girl knew in private, and how she could have such outrageous information.

On second thought, since the emperor had always been indifferent to her, even if she broke her arm or leg again today, it wouldn't affect anything. It would just take some more time to recover.

Then she comforted herself, thankfully there was no one around when she fell, otherwise, as a long-suffering and neglected concubine, she would have had another thing remembered—long-suffering and neglected and falling flat on her back in the snow.

Thinking about it made me laugh, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

But the next second, her smile vanished. Someone was standing behind her, and a cold sensation had somehow appeared against her neck. A side glance revealed a sharp dagger pressed against her neck, its gleaming blade perfectly matching the weather.

A deep male voice came from behind, "If you don't want to lose your life, you'd better not make any rash moves."

An Lingrong was momentarily confused about the man's intentions. She could imagine the intrigues and treachery in the harem, the secret mockery and sarcasm, but she never imagined that she would be assassinated in the depths of the palace.

The other person spoke in a deep voice, unlike a eunuch, but An Lingrong couldn't guess who it was.

"Who are you?" An Lingrong asked in a trembling voice.

"You don't need to know who I am. You only need to answer a few questions. As long as you answer truthfully, I will not harm you in the slightest," the person behind said coldly.

An Lingrong didn't believe this. Judging from the man's tone, she knew he harbored immense hatred for her. She wondered who he had offended these past few days. Could it be someone from the Xia family? But she had only tampered with Xia's handkerchief years ago; it hadn't affected Xia's later favor with the emperor. Even though she had been sentenced to death, her guilt was clear, and the emperor himself had issued the decree.

But then the man said, "Does Your Excellency know Lady Miaoyin of Zhongcui Palace?"

"The Yuan family?" An Lingrong asked in surprise.

“Yes, it’s her,” the man replied.

"I know her, and I even received kindness from Lady Miaoyin," An Lingrong answered truthfully.

"Then may I ask why you, Consort An, repay kindness with enmity and force Lady Miaoyin to her death?" The man finally lost his temper and said fiercely, pressing the short knife against his neck even tighter.

An Lingrong was shocked. She had no idea how she had repaid kindness with enmity and how she had driven Miaoyin Niangzi to her death.

--------

Broken Yuxuan.

At that time, Shuangxue hurriedly ran back to Suiyuxuan to call for help, and just then she met Zhen Huan, who was returning from Cunjutang with Huanbi, Liuzhu and Xiaoyunzi.

Seeing Shuangxue's disheveled state, Zhen Huan briefly inquired about her condition and then quickly instructed Xiao Yunzi and Shuangxue to go to Yimei Garden again to carry An Lingrong back. She also promptly summoned Wen Shichu to come and take a look.

Only after Wen Shichu examined it carefully did Zhen Huan feel relieved.

An Lingrong's right elbow was slightly dislocated due to the force of the fall. After Wen Shichu's treatment, she only needed a few days of rest to regain her mobility.

Although An Lingrong and her servant fell hard in the Yimei Garden, fortunately the snow on the road was quite thick, so neither of them fell directly onto the road and therefore did not break any bones, although they were inevitably covered in bruises.

After seeing Wen Shichu off, Zhen Huan dismissed all the servants and asked softly, "Lingrong, is the injury on your neck really from a branch in the Plum Garden?"

Because An Lingrong was carried back on her own, looking pale and disheveled, and the palace maids and eunuchs in the room were all in a panic, with a lot of people coming and going, An Lingrong never had the chance to tell Zhen Huan about her experience in Yimei Garden.

Now that there's no one around, and even Shuangxue and Liuzhu have been sent away, it's a good time to discuss things with Zhen Huan.

An Lingrong sighed softly and said, "Sister Wan, I'm afraid I've fallen into someone's trap again today."

He then recounted the entire incident of the attack in Yimei Garden, and Zhen Huan's expression changed drastically upon hearing it.

"You said you suspect this person is Lady Miaoyin's cousin?" Zhen Huan asked in surprise.

An Lingrong nodded and said, "That's right. He asked me why I framed Lady Miaoyin and why I repaid kindness with enmity." She then fell into her memories again.

“Some time ago, my aunt sent a message through someone saying that my father had encountered some trouble and needed money to bribe people, so I thought I would make some embroidery to take out of the palace to exchange for some money.”

At that time, I lived in Yanxi Palace and was not favored. Not only was I harassed and ridiculed by Xia Shi, but even the eunuch in charge of the gate tried to exploit the money I earned from embroidery.

Later, I happened to be seen by Lady Miaoyin, and she helped me out of the predicament. She said she had her cousin help her take me out, and she gave me all the money she received in exchange, without keeping a single penny. That time she truly helped me a great deal.”

Zhen Huan nodded and listened. An Lingrong had mentioned this matter before, but at that time she always thought that since An Lingrong did not speak to her, she must be very proud, so she did not ask her in detail.

The fact that this matter was brought up again today made her pay attention to the details of the matter once more.

"Have you ever met this cousin?" Zhen Huan asked, puzzled.

An Lingrong shook her head, "I've never seen him. It was Lady Miaoyin who took it herself, and she also handed the silver to me herself. I didn't have any contact with her cousin in between."

Moreover, I was timid at the time, afraid that if this got out, I would be punished, so I never asked Lady Miaoyin for help again.

After a moment's thought, An Lingrong continued,

"However, I suspect that since Lady Miaoyin is in the same harem as us, she doesn't have many opportunities to come into contact with men outside the palace."

The person who was threatening me spoke in a deep voice, unlike the high-pitched voices of palace eunuchs, so he was clearly not a palace eunuch. Therefore, he probably wasn't one of the palace servants who had served Lady Miaoyin in the past.

"But this is the inner palace after all. Those who have the opportunity to move around in the inner palace are most likely the palace guards," An Lingrong continued.

Zhen Huan nodded; this speculation wasn't wrong. Lady Miaoyin was originally a palace maid, so it made sense that she had been taken care of by her cousin, a guard.

"This man even asked me harshly why I tricked Lady Miaoyin into going to Qianli Pond," An Lingrong continued.

"So someone tricked Lady Miaoyin into coming to Qianli Pond?" Zhen Huan frowned and pondered. "Qianli Pond and Zhongcui Palace are not in the same direction. On that day, someone asked why Lady Yuan would come to Qianli Pond to enjoy the scenery. Even the Emperor had some suspicions at the time and even checked the guards' shifts, but I heard that nothing was found that day. In this light, Lady Miaoyin's death was indeed not an accident."

An Lingrong nodded gently.

But he quickly shook his head, "But why is the death of Lady Miaoyin related to me?"

So much has happened in the palace. Both Lady Miaoyin and Lady Fucha have received great favor from the Emperor. But I have barely even seen the Emperor's face a few times. How could this be…”

Zhen Huan pondered for a moment, then said with a grave expression, "Perhaps it's because my sister once lived in Yanxi Palace..."

An Lingrong asked in confusion, "Does this mean that all the concubines who once lived in Yanxi Palace will be implicated? Or is it as the Emperor said, that Yanxi Palace is not peaceful?"

Zhen Huan chuckled and said, "His Majesty was just saying that on a whim. If there is anything wrong with Yanxi Palace, it is because someone deliberately did it."

Perhaps something happened in Yanxi Palace that the younger sister was unaware of, but that the person behind the scenes cared a great deal about.

The person behind this probably schemed for a long time, but they didn't anticipate that their sister would move to Suiyu Pavilion. Suiyu Pavilion is not as easy to attack as Yanxi Palace, so this person behind it must have been in a hurry to frame their sister.

An Lingrong thought to herself, "That makes sense, but what exactly is it?"

The two pondered for a long time, but neither could grasp any key point.

This long period of contemplation led An Lingrong to make up her mind on another idea.

Having been given a second chance to live in the palace, she hoped that Zhen Huan in this life would suffer less hardship, but she never knew how to bring it up properly. Now that things have come to this point, it's only natural to say it.

An Lingrong then made a slight adjustment and slowly said, "Sister Wan, there may be another reason behind all these troubles, and that is because of the imperial heir."

An Lingrong noticed a slight change in Zhen Huan's expression but said nothing, presumably because Zhen Huan had also considered this.

So she continued, "Although Lady Xia is not pregnant, she is beautiful and favored by the Emperor. Despite her repeated mistakes, the Emperor simply laughs them off. In addition, Lady Xia is young and healthy, and with repeated favor, it's hard to guarantee that she won't become pregnant someday. Therefore, the person behind this is probably not only jealous of the new concubine's favor, but also wary of the concubines in the harem becoming pregnant!"

Zhen Huan remained silent for a long time before nodding and saying, "To be honest, this is also what I'm worried about."