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

The old woman bowed her head respectfully and said, “Miss Lu, one must always live with a clear conscience. I know I cannot stay in this palace forever. The princess is growing up day by day, and I am growing old day by day. Sooner or later, I will have to leave. Therefore, I have done some things I shouldn’t have done and taken some money I shouldn’t have taken. I could harm anyone in this palace, except for the Seventh Princess. In my heart, she is the same as my own daughter.”

"What a worthless wretch!" Seeing the old woman turn around, Lu Jinyao muttered to herself, took off the hairpin from her hair, gripped it tightly, and stabbed it into the old woman's back.

This hairpin of hers was modified, making it more lethal than ordinary hairpins. It was a weapon she prepared for herself to use for self-defense after her mother and Wei Linglan disappeared.

The old woman winced in pain and touched the back of her hand. Seeing this, Lu Jinyao poked it again.

"I told you, as long as you obey, I will guarantee your safety and wealth. It's a pity you're a fool, actually disobeying me for a stupid princess who isn't even listed in the royal genealogy. In that case, you can wait for her on the Bridge of Helplessness in the underworld."

Before the hairpin could even be inserted into her body, the lights in the front yard came on. Upon seeing this, Lu Jinyao immediately grabbed the old woman by the neck and warned her not to reveal what had happened that night, or not only she would die, but her family would too.

The old woman endured the pain and nodded.

Lu Jinyao knew she wouldn't tell anyone; simply letting her in was a capital offense, and if she were to reveal the poisoning, she and her family would surely die.

Lu Jinyao hid the hairpin, opened the back door, and hurriedly fled without looking left or right.

Lu Yun arrived carrying his sword, followed closely by Xiao Yebai. Compared to Lu Yun, who was fully clothed and clearly hadn't slept much, Xiao Yebai looked more like someone who had been startled awake and had come out to investigate. His hair was disheveled, he wore loose black silk pajamas, shoes, and carried a lantern, which illuminated his face, making it appear as pale as snow.

From a distance, it looked like a ghost following behind Lu Yun.

"Prince Xiao, aren't you being a bit too deliberate?"

"Did Young Master Lu not sleep all night?" Xiao Yebai walked past him, carrying a lantern. "Yebai is different from Young Master Lu. Yebai only got up when he heard a noise outside the palace. Unlike Young Master Lu, who kept watch all night, as if he knew someone had broken in. Indeed, Young Master Lu is different from Yebai. Yebai is a hostage who has been confined to the deep palace for a long time and has no strength to even kill a chicken, while Young Master Lu is Yuan'er's guard, with responsibilities on his shoulders, and cannot be negligent."

“You—” Lu Yun clenched his fist: “I say one sentence, you say ten. You truly deserve to be called the hostage of Southern Chu. You have more tricks up your sleeve than a hornet’s nest, and your drama is more exciting than a storybook.”

Xiao Yebai turned his head: "Thank you, Young Master Lu. Please take these words as a compliment."

Lu Yun rolled her eyes, took a few quick steps, and came to the old woman's side.

The old woman struggled to her feet and said to Lu Yun, "Young Master Lu, there are thieves, they went that way."

The old woman pointed in the opposite direction, urging Lu Yun to give chase, but Lu Yun remained motionless, clutching his sword. The old woman panicked and lowered her head to ask Lu Yun, "Young Master Lu, aren't you going to catch the culprit? I think she's heading straight for our palace; I'm afraid she's going to harm Miss Lu."

Lu Yun asked, "Did you get a clear look at the assassin, Granny?"

"Judging from his build, he was a man, dressed in black, and his face was covered, so I couldn't see his face clearly."

"A man?" Lu Yun pointed to the old woman's wound: "What did he use to injure her?"

The old woman shook her head: "I didn't see it clearly, it should be some kind of hidden weapon."

Xiao Yebai lifted the things in his hand: "Young Master Lu was giving Granny a chance, but Granny lied to him again and again. Let me remind Granny, Young Master Lu is A Yuan's personal bodyguard. A Yuan is not only skilled in medicine, but also in examining injuries and performing autopsies. Young Master Lu can see through Granny's injuries without A Yuan's help."

The old woman panicked, her face turning deathly pale, but she still stubbornly insisted, "This servant didn't see clearly, this servant was just guessing, this servant knows nothing."

"Don't know?" Lu Yun used his sword to lift the old woman's chin: "Why are you here in the middle of the night, old woman?"

“I…” The old woman looked up and met the murderous intent in Lu Yun’s eyes, and trembled: “I was hungry and wanted to find something to eat. I heard a noise in the backyard and came to check. I didn’t expect to encounter thieves.”

Lu Yun smiled faintly, his eyes filled with even more murderous intent: "According to what you said, you came to the backyard after hearing the noise. Let me ask you, where did that thief come from? Did he climb over the wall? Which wall did he climb over? Or did he come in through this back door? But I don't see any signs of the lock being pried open on this back door."

“I opened the door myself,” the old woman said hurriedly. “I heard a noise in the backyard and came to check, but I didn’t find anyone. When I was about to leave, I heard someone knocking on the door, and I instinctively opened it. The thief stabbed me and then fled in. He originally intended to continue his attack, but when he saw the light in front, he hurriedly ran away. I guess he must be someone from the palace, perhaps related to what happened before.”

"Still trying to deny it?" Lu Yun grabbed the old woman by the neck: "The thief didn't stab you in your vital areas, but instead stabbed you in these two places. How stupid must the thief be? The wounds are downward, which means that the thief has limited strength and is short. He's a man, either a guard or a eunuch. As far as I know, the palace hasn't taken in any eunuchs for several years."

"She was probably a palace maid. It was dark, and I didn't see her clearly."

“Didn’t see clearly, alright.” Lu Yun nodded, disregarding the nanny’s injury, and dragged her to the small kitchen. When she saw the small wooden bowl, the nanny was completely flustered. What was even more terrifying was that Xiao Yebai, holding a lantern in one hand and a ladle in the other, scooped half a spoonful of water from the water vat and poured it into the small wooden bowl, while Lu Yun brought the small wooden bowl to her lips: “Nanny has been talking for so long, you must be thirsty.”

The old woman shook her head and knocked over the bowl of water.

No, I won't drink it.

"Is the reason you won't drink it because the water is poisoned?"

"No! There's no poison in the water!" the nanny exclaimed anxiously. "This is the Seventh Princess's bowl; I cannot use it."

"It's alright, you can have this bowl. I'll carve another one for the Seventh Princess before dawn." Xiao Yebai picked up the small wooden bowl that had fallen to the ground. "There's still some water left, so don't waste it, Granny."

Before the old woman could refuse, Lu Yun had already placed a sword against her neck: "Three choices: either confess honestly, drink the water in the small wooden bowl, or be killed by me. Oh, I remember now, you have a son who works as an accountant in the Xie family's shop. Your home is in Ebony Lane, and there's a black locust tree in front of your house that was struck by lightning. Your husband is paralyzed in bed, and your mother-in-law escaped the strange people in the city because she was taking care of your husband, but she was poisoned because she received free rice and was saved by our young lady."

"It's Lu Jinyao!" The old woman said through gritted teeth, her eyes tightly closed. "My father-in-law received a favor from Grand Tutor Wei, and I entered the palace as a wet nurse with the help of the Wei family. I only helped Lu Jinyao to repay that favor."

The old woman knelt down, clutching her wound: "I deserve to die, but my mistakes have nothing to do with my family. I swear on the lives of my entire family and clan, I only opened the back door to let her in. I had no idea what she was going to do, let alone that she intended to harm the Seventh Princess. I refused, and if it weren't for Young Master Lu and His Highness Xiao arriving in time, I would have been silenced long ago. Everything I have said is the truth."

“You certainly didn’t intend to harm the Seventh Princess.” Lu Zhiyuan stepped in, half-asleep. “But you did intend to harm me.”