After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Inside the imperial study, the Emperor took a sip of tea. Before the tea even reached his throat, he heard soft, suppressed sobs coming from outside the door. He ignored it and took another sip. The sobs grew louder. By the time he finished his tea, the outside was a chaotic mess of crying.

She frowned slightly and looked at the eunuch serving beside her.

The father-in-law quickly replied, "It is the Seventh Princess."

"My ears aren't deaf. Who else could make such an unpleasant sound but Yu Yin?" The Emperor slammed down his teacup. "Yu Yin is only three years old. If it weren't for the people around her instigating her, would she be crying like this outside the Imperial Study?"

The eunuch lowered his head and said, "They say that when the Seventh Princess woke up, she couldn't find Consort Yu and cried and made a fuss. Even the nannies around her couldn't calm her down."

The emperor felt annoyed whenever the topic of the seventh princess came up.

Three years ago, during the New Year's Eve palace banquet, the wind and snow continued unabated. He got drunk and, blinded by the snow, mistook Consort Yu for the Empress and pulled her into a side hall. A night of passion resulted in Consort Yu becoming pregnant.

Having a child in the palace is a joyous occasion. Although he disliked Consort Yu, he would still visit her palace for the sake of the child. Among the concubines in the harem, many were cunning, and Consort Yu was one of the most foolish of them all.

In order to keep him and his favor, she disregarded the child in her womb and applied perfume to her body to make him lose his mind, causing him to lose control again and again and have sex with her.

He wasn't the kind of ruler without self-control, yet he repeatedly acted absurdly in the presence of Consort Yu. It wasn't until Consort Yu gave birth prematurely, and until the imperial physician discovered something amiss with the child, that he realized Consort Yu had used extremely despicable methods to win his favor, which had also harmed the child.

I originally intended to banish her to the cold palace, but my heart softened when I saw the child.

Consort Yu bore a striking resemblance to the Empress, and her daughter looked even more like the Empress. Since he and the Empress had no daughter, he subconsciously assumed that this child was his and the Empress's.

Because of the medicine, the child's voice was hoarse, especially when she cried, it was extremely unpleasant. After much thought, he named her Yuyin. Originally, he planned to send her to the Empress's palace to be raised after she turned one year old. Firstly, Consort Yu was neither virtuous nor talented, and it was impossible for her to raise a princess well. Secondly, he utterly disliked Consort Yu and did not want any trouble to arise from visiting the child in the future.

As their child grew, they noticed that this child seemed different from other children. Besides crying loudly, the child also didn't learn to roll over or crawl at the appropriate age like other children.

After being diagnosed by several imperial physicians, his daughter was found to have been rendered mentally impaired by the medication.

Among the princes, there are crippled ones, sick ones, and ordinary ones. Now there's a fool. If word gets out, what will the common people outside say?

To silence public opinion, they announced that the seventh princess had died young.

Although the Seventh Princess was mentally challenged, she was extremely adorable. She was raised by Consort Yu and was known as the Seventh Princess to the public, while being listed as Consort Yu's niece and also registered in the Yu family genealogy.

Yu Yin was originally her name, but it later became her full name. Her name on the imperial genealogy was Xiao Yin, with the note that she died of illness before she was three months old.

An assassin appeared in the Empress Dowager's palace and was caught on the spot. Evidence related to him was found in Consort Yu's palace—a packet of drowsy powder, the same as the powder residue found in the candlelight in the Empress Dowager's palace.

Consort Yu, unable to defend herself, drank poison and died half an hour earlier. The assassin was taken to the Eastern Palace, where the Crown Prince was tasked with investigating her relationship with Prince Yong'an. Once the evidence was conclusive, they could take action against Prince Yong'an and eliminate this major threat.

Only he and the people in the Eastern Palace knew that Consort Yu had been sentenced to death; even the Empress was kept in the dark. The fact that she had been taken to the Eastern Palace was known only to those in the Eastern Palace and those keeping vigil in the Empress Dowager's palace. Who told the Seventh Princess? And who instigated her maid to bring her to the Imperial Study to cry and make a scene?

"The Imperial Study is a place for discussing state affairs; it's not suitable for a princess to cry and make a scene here. Go out and tell the nanny to take the princess to the Empress." After saying this, he frowned and added, "And don't disturb the Empress. Where is the daughter of the Marquis of Pingnan? I've heard she's a good doctor and knows how to soothe children. Send the Seventh Princess to her. Tell her it's my will, to have her take care of the Seventh Princess."

The eunuch was about to leave after receiving the decree when the emperor summoned him back.

"How many people did the Marquis of Pingnan's daughter bring with her when she entered the palace?"

"Your Majesty, there are two. One is a maidservant who serves you personally, and the other is a bodyguard who protects you. The maidservant is from the Xie family, thirteen years old, named Liuying. She is clever but doesn't know martial arts. The bodyguard is from Chaoyun Villa, hired by the steward from outside. He is seventeen years old, his real name is Afu, now Lu Yun, and he is very loyal to Miss Lu. He knows martial arts and has a good foundation, but he is not as good as the palace guards. He has a weapon called the Blood Droplet, which can take a person's head in an instant."

The Flying Guillotine sounds like a good thing. If the Imperial Guards could be equipped with them… He beckoned, drawing the eunuch closer, and whispered a few words in his ear. The eunuch looked astonished, quickly lowering his head when he met the Emperor's gaze.

The crying outside the door grew increasingly unbearable. The Emperor, annoyed by the sound, covered his ears forcefully. Only after the crying Seventh Princess was forcibly taken away by the nanny did he lower his hands and furrow his brow.

According to the assassin, she grew up under the care of Consort Rong. Based on her age, Consort Rong was already in the Cold Palace when she entered the palace. The Cold Palace differed from other places; it didn't have dedicated maids to serve it. Those who entered the Cold Palace were either maids brought by disgraced consorts or maids who had committed offenses and were banished there. Maids weren't consorts; minor offenses meant release from the palace, while serious offenses resulted in execution by beatings. Even if they had committed offenses, they couldn't have been so young.

Since the founding of the nation, the imperial harem has strictly limited the age of concubines and palace maids entering the palace. The youngest must be at least fourteen years old, and the oldest must not exceed eighteen years old.

The assassin was brought into the palace and sent to the Cold Palace to avoid detection. After Consort Rong's death, he went to Consort Yu's side. Who is this person? How could someone so powerfully extend their reach beyond the palace walls? Not only into his Cold Palace, but also to his bedside.

No matter who this person is, he will cut them into a thousand pieces.

She had been busy with the Crown Prince all night and only fell asleep as dawn was breaking. She didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky. After washing up, she groggily picked up a bowl of porridge. She had only taken half a mouthful when a round-faced, adorable little girl grabbed the rim of her bowl with her chubby little hands. Behind her, a chubby little boy was pulling hard on her clothes, muttering incoherently, "Give me back my candy! Sister Liuying gave it to me! You robber! I'll have my father kill you!"

After swallowing a spoonful of rice porridge with a "gulp," Lu Zhiyuan looked blankly at Liu Ying and A Luo, who were rushing over while lifting the hem of their skirts.

"Who is she? And this chubby boy, wasn't he supposed to be keeping vigil for the Empress Dowager? What's he doing at Ronghua Palace?"

Liu Ying said, "He is the young master of the Prince An's mansion. He came with the nanny and said that Miss promised to give him candy. I told him that Miss was still sleeping and that we should talk to her when she woke up. He wouldn't listen and insisted on making a scene here, so I had no choice but to give him a bag of candy. He was originally going to leave, but the Seventh Princess snatched it from him at the door."

A Luo continued, "She is the Seventh Princess, the child of Consort Yu and the Emperor. There are some things I don't know."

A Luo pointed to her head: "The Emperor sent this to you, Miss, to help soothe the child."

Lu Zhiyuan's lips twitched, and she felt like crying.

Heavens above! She, an assassin, was already transmigrated into the body of an eight-year-old cannon fodder character, and now she had to raise the royal family's children? How was she supposed to do that? Train them to be assassins?

Eh? Well, it's not impossible...