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

Lu Zhiyuan was half asleep when she felt a hand reach into the bed curtains. Without even opening her eyes, she grabbed the hand and twisted it behind her back.

A scream of agony followed by curses rang out: "You wretched slut of unknown origin, have you gone mad?"

Lu Zhiyuan suddenly opened her eyes and saw a slightly familiar face, a face contorted with pain and anger. In the dim moonlight streaming through the window, she could see the dagger lying on the quilt. The dagger was dark, not reflective, suggesting it had been coated with something.

"Are you that palace maid?"

As she let go, she gave the man a push, and he staggered to the ground, cursing, "You're the palace maid! My name is Soya, and I'm a palace lady."

"A female official?" Lu Zhiyuan pulled back the bed curtains and got up: "Isn't that still a palace maid? Oh, I forgot, for a nighttime assassination, you're a female criminal."

"You bitch!" Soya got up from the ground, trying to strangle Lu Zhiyuan.

Before his hand could even touch Lu Zhiyuan's neck, a "whoosh" was heard, and an arrow pierced through her right shoulder. The force was just right, without harming Lu Zhiyuan in the slightest. As the candles in the room were lit, Suoya could clearly see who had shot her with the arrow.

"Your Majesty, Soya is not an assassin. Soya only overheard your guest talking to a man, and Soya was worried, so he... Your Majesty, Soya doesn't blame you for accidentally injuring Soya. You were also deceived by this woman!"

Xiao Yebai lowered his eyes: "Not an assassin? Where did the dagger come from?"

“It’s hers!” Soya pointed at Lu Zhiyuan: “She wanted to kill me to silence me after I discovered her secret!”

At this moment, Soya was extremely grateful for the princess's decision. The dagger she gave her was indeed very ordinary, so ordinary that it could be used to frame anyone.

Xiao Yebai smiled, exuding a deadly, ghostly aura. No matter how many times she saw that face, Suoya was still captivated by him. In a daze, she seemed to forget the pain in her shoulder.

"My lord, Soya is in so much pain!"

"It hurts?" Soya gripped the arrow and thrust it in hard, convulsing in pain. "Do you think I'm a fool? Even if Miss had secrets, they're none of your business. Kill you to silence you? Are you even worthy of Miss's attention?"

“Miss…?” Soya was stunned. “Your Majesty, why do you call her Miss? You are the supreme king of Southern Chu, and she…”

"Do I need to explain to you?" He gripped the arrow again. "I'll give you one last chance. I can leave you with a whole corpse."

Soya broke down, shouting, "Why doesn't the king believe me? I've been by your side for so many years, loyal to you. She's just a woman you brought back. Why does the king believe her and not me?"

"You... are you truly loyal to me?" Xiao Yebai drew the arrow; the arrowhead had barbs that hooked into her skin, causing Suoya almost to faint from the pain. She forced herself to stay upright, looking at Xiao Yebai with resentment. Seeing that he wouldn't even spare her a glance, she turned to Lu Zhiyuan, gritting her teeth and saying, "The Princess is right, you are a vixen."

"So it was Princess Chang who wanted to kill me. You should have said so earlier, then I wouldn't have had to suffer like this." Lu Zhiyuan took out a bottle of wound medicine from under her pillow: "Why would a perfectly good young lady like you be used as a pawn?"

Soya gritted his teeth: "What did you say?"

"Don't you understand?" Lu Zhiyuan twisted open the medicine bottle and sprinkled the powder evenly on her wound. "To put it another way, chess piece. Do you understand, chess piece?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I am not a pawn. Don't even think about using me to harm the princess or sow discord between my king and the princess."

"How naive you are! Do you know why your king doesn't believe that dagger is mine? Because I never use that kind of trash." His fingertips traced down Soya's cheek, pinching his jawline sharply. "Also, I never give my victims a chance to speak."

Soya's eyes widened. "You're lying to me! You're just a little girl!"

“Little girl? I like that title.” Lu Zhiyuan looked into her eyes: “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you! I’ll trouble you to go and tell your princess that Ye Bai knows you’re one of her people, and ask her to send someone capable.”

Soya shook his head.

She knew the princess's methods; she would rather die at the king's hands.

Lu Zhiyuan feigned ignorance: "Ye Bai, what does it mean that she shook her head? Look at me, I'm injured and can't walk. Come on, take this Miss Suoya to the Princess's residence in a carriage."

Soya struggled; she didn't want to go to the princess's residence.

The guards ignored her pleas and carried her outside. Soya panicked and cried out, "The dagger was given to me by the Princess. She said this woman is a fox spirit, a spy from Northern Liang, who intends to harm my king and Southern Chu. Soya is doing this for the king's sake. Soya is not lying; Soya is willing to die for the king; Soya is loyal to the king."

Lu Zhiyuan beckoned, and the guards put Suoya back where he was.

Soya clutched her shoulder and told Lu Zhiyuan and Xiao Yebai that she was originally a palace maid serving the Empress Dowager, but was later assigned to Xiao Yebai's side. She wasn't the Empress Dowager's spy; she was only assigned there because she was ostracized. She fell in love with her king at first sight, but as a palace maid, she knew she had no right to stand by his side. She worked hard, she was diligent, she did everything meticulously and wholeheartedly, and finally managed to become a lady-in-waiting.

A year ago, the eldest princess found her and gave her something. It was her mother's accessory, and she and her mother had been separated for many years. If it weren't for the eldest princess, she might never have seen her mother again in her life.

She wasn't the princess's person; she was just repaying a debt of gratitude and had only promised to do three things for the princess.

The first thing was to place something in the Empress Dowager's bedroom.

The second thing was to bring the king and the young princess together.

The third thing was to use that dagger to assassinate Lu Zhiyuan.

"Suoya, you have truly impressed me." Xiao Yebai walked up to her and said, "At the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, you accompanied me as a lady-in-waiting to deliver gifts. That night, the Empress Dowager vomited blood and was diagnosed with poisoning. Because of this incident, the Empress Dowager and I developed a grudge, which almost ruined my important plans."

“It was Soya’s fault. Soya never expected things to turn out this way. Soya made amends.” Soya explained, “Soya killed that palace maid. Soya did it cleanly, leaving no clues. Soya not only cleared the King of suspicion, but also made the Queen Mother feel guilty towards the King because of this, and assisted the King in accomplishing great things. Soya has done a good job. Soya has not let the King down.”

"What's going on in your head?!" Lu Zhiyuan couldn't help but poke her forehead twice. "You didn't do anything wrong to him? If you hadn't poisoned the Empress Dowager behind his back, would the Empress Dowager have suspected him? You even killed someone and framed the poisoning incident for him. How could you be so vicious?"

“No!” Soya shook his head, his eyes wide with resentment. “She deserves to die. She was originally the eldest princess’s person. Otherwise, do you think I could have so easily put that thing under the Empress Dowager’s pillow?”

"And the second thing?" Lu Zhiyuan tilted her head, looking curious. "How did you bring Ye Bai and the little princess together?"

"Drug her!" With an unpleasant voice, Lu Zhiyuan was pulled up from the ground: "Because Miss gave me the Hundred Poison Pill, that medicine didn't work on me, so I kicked Yue Li out."

This is really… Lu Zhiyuan clicked her tongue twice, but didn’t say what was on her mind.