“Put her on the bed. Go and fetch the imperial physician, have him take a look.” Hua Qiuying relaxed after hearing Ao Chenyi’s voice next to her ears. Under such circumstances, one would have to fetch the physician while the other stayed behind; and naturally, the one fetching the physician couldn’t be Ao Chenyi himself.

Therefore, it was for certain that Ao Chenyi would stay here and take care of her while the eunuch looked for a physician. Everything was going according to her second sister’s plan.

Though she couldn’t open her eyes, she could feel that everything was within her grasp. She perked up her ears and listened carefully to the movement around her. She wished she could see what he was doing. Was he just staring at her quietly? This thought turned her face even redder.

She immediately shut her eyelids tightly. She mustn’t let him know that she was just faking unconsciousness.

She had no idea how much time passed—perhaps a long time, perhaps a little while—before she felt someone lying down beside her. The masculine scent excited her so much that her soul nearly escaped her body. He… He laid down beside her! He really did lay down next to her.

The strong stench of alcohol, however, made Hua Qiuying frown. He didn’t look like he had consumed any wine earlier, so where did such a strong smell come from? Upon second thought, she might have missed it because she was too excited earlier. It was likely that he had some wine with the Emperor in the study earlier. This explanation made her relax once again.

The man beside her subconsciously extended his hand. When he touched her, he reached out and held her tightly in his arms. Her face was pressed against his chest. She dared not move for fear of disturbing him.

Shortly after, she heard voices outside, seemingly that of a large group of women. The women were heading into the room amid chatter and laughter. Hua Qiuying had been waiting quietly all along. When the voices got closer, she raised her head as if she had been awakened and nudged the man beside her. “Brother Yi,” she said eagerly. “Brother Yi, hurry up. People are coming. Hurry up and hide.”

The voices were right outside the door but Ao Chenyi was tipsy. Even if he heard the noise, he couldn’t have reacted so quickly. She mustn’t let him notice that she had designed this trap for him, so she had to pretend like she didn’t want to implicate him and “wake up” promptly.

“What is it? Let’s sleep in a little longer,” murmured a dazed voice. The man reached out and pulled Hua Qiuying back into his arms.

Looking at the enlarged, unfamiliar face in front of him, Hua Qiuying couldn’t help but scream, “Ahh! Who… Who are you?”

The door fell with a hard kick, revealing a crowd outside, staring at the man and woman embracing each other in the bed in shock.

Ning Xueyan didn’t meet Honored Consort Xia because she ran into Ao Chenyi on her way there.

“Your Highness.” Her glistening eyes blinked as she stood still. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Yan Zhen who had been walking in front of her. Yan Zhen was so shocked that she forgot to salute. It was clear that she was a sharp-witted one, judging from the way she dealt with the married women earlier, but she was beyond horrified now.

Could it be that Ao Chenyi shouldn’t be here at this time?

“Yan’er, where are you going? The banquet is about to start.” Ao Chenyi gave the palace maid in front of him a cold glance. Yan Zhen shivered after receiving his cold, murderous gaze and immediately recovered her senses. She knelt and saluted him, but after the first glance, Ao Chenyi never looked at her again.

“Honored Consort Xia sent me an invitation. I wanted to wait for you but she’s been waiting for me, so I left in a rush,” Ning Xueyan explained softly.

“Well, come back soon.” Ao Chenyi nodded indifferently before walking away with Eunuch Zhu.

Ning Xueyan stepped aside. It wasn’t until Ao Chenyi and Eunuch Zhu were some distance away that Yan Zhen stood up. Without another word, she led Ning Xueyan down the path with rushed steps. She would speak to Ning Xueyan now and then earlier, but it seemed that she had lost all interest now. There was even a deathly stern expression on her face.

Sure enough, they were up to something. Under her long lashes, Ning Xueyan’s eyes flickered with a trace of coldness.

They took the same hidden path into the empty peach blossom forest from before. The peach blossom flowers had all withered, leaving behind lush greenness that gave a sense of serenity. This was indeed a nice recreational place. Without a lead, one would be hard-pressed to stumble into this place.

Honored Consort Xia picked up the teapot at hand and affectionately poured a cup of tea for Ning Xueyan. She pushed it to Ning Xueyan with a touch of gentleness on her beautiful face. She was elegant and lovely, like the most serene lady captured in a Jiangnan painting.

Yan Zhen had regained her calm by now. She stood beside Xinmei with a composed expression, ready to serve her master.

“Princess Ning, please enjoy it. I made the tea myself, so I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste.”

Ning Xueyan picked up the cup, sniffed it, and then took a sip. She couldn’t help but praise, “This is a great tea. Your tea is as wonderful as I imagined, Your Highness.”

“The water is collected from the snowflakes on the plum blossoms above before being buried in the ground, but I grew and took care of the tea leaves myself. I put some peach blossom petals inside, all of which had to be plucked before dawn. I chose the one carrying dew because it’s said that they’ll have a purer taste that way.”

Honored Consort Xia took a sip of the tea while looking at the peach blossom tree in front of her. She had a blank expression that carried a touch of sadness.

“You’re so dedicated, Your Highness. I didn’t think you would make your own tea. It’s rare indeed.” Ning Xueyan complimented her.

“I can’t claim credit for it. This was a method that an old friend of mine came up with. Back then, she was so clever, ingenious, and beautiful. She had such a good fiance too, and both were in love with each other. Who would have thought they would be separated by death? The dead were gone, but the living was the pitiful one!”

Honored Consort Xia seemed gloomy as if she was full of sorrow that she couldn’t vent. She would sigh now and then mid-conversation and her delicate brows were caught in a persistent frown.

“You mean…” Her words were meant to draw follow-up questions and naturally, Ning Xueyan played along with a curious expression.

“I’m referring to Second Young Lady Hua.” Honored Consort Xia looked as if she had just noticed that Ning Xueyan was Princess Yi after she finished talking. Her smile turned a little awkward. “I’m sorry, Princess Ning. I was thinking about an old friend and accidentally mentioned something so rude. Please don’t mind it. She isn’t here anymore, so it doesn’t matter how much Prince Yi still thinks about her. You’re his princess now.”

She sounded like she was comforting Ning Xueyan but she might as well have said nothing at all. She made it seem as though Second Young Lady Hua was the one that Ao Chenyi could never forget while Ning Xueyan was just a replacement that he casually married. There was even a faint implication that Ning Xueyan would be nothing at all if Second Young Lady Hua was still alive.

It was a very unpleasant feeling.

“You knew Second Young Lady Hua, Your Highness?”

Ning Xueyan seemed unhappy and her smile appeared stiff, too. Although she was still smiling, she seemed to be forcing it. No woman would be happy to know that her husband yearned for another woman, especially when this woman had every right to occupy his heart.

Ning Xueyan’s reaction was only to be expected.

“I do know her. Second Young Lady Hua was such a gentle lady. All she wanted was to marry Prince Yi, and both of them were in love with each other. I thought she would be the happiest woman in the world, being able to marry someone she loved, but who would have thought? Fate never goes according to one’s wishes. A union as wonderful as theirs was broken just like that. No matter where both of them were, their hearts were broken.”

Honored Consort Xia told Ning Xueyan not to mind it, but kept emphasizing what a match made in heaven Ao Chenyi and Second Young Lady Hua were. Her final remark, in particular, was peculiar to Ning Xueyan. What did she mean, no matter where the both of them were? Where else could they be? One was alive, the other was dead.

Honored Consort Xia kept saying to her face that Ao Chenyi’s true love was another woman and that they had no choice but to separate. As Ao Chenyi’s legal wife, Ning Xueyan felt deeply uncomfortable and so uncomfortable that she didn’t even have to fake it. There was even a look of displeasure on her face.

“Honored Consort Xia, did you invite me here to talk about Second Young Lady Hua?” The smile on Ning Xueyan’s face faded until it was barely there.

“I’m so sorry, Princess Ning. I only thought about her because you mentioned tea. I’m sorry to make you uncomfortable. But don’t you worry. Prince Yi only thinks about you now. He’d never consider anyone else. It’s been so long, after all. His feelings have likely faded. I’m sure you can win over someone who is no longer here!”

Honored Consort Xia looked like she had just realized what she had been saying and regretted it. She stood up and poured more tea into Ning Xueyan’s cup as an apology. Naturally, she was trying to put her words more nicely.

However, for some reason, her words tend to make people think deeper about it. Second Young Lady Hua might be dead, but if she had truly entered Ao Chenyi’s heart, she would be a tougher opponent than a living woman. Ning Xueyan could snatch Ao Chenyi’s heart from a living person, but how should she do that with a dead woman? A dead person was invincible in that sense.

This was especially true for Ning Xueyan’s circumstances. She was a consort-turned-princess, and her promotion was completely inexplicable. It could be said that she had no place at all in Ao Chenyi’s heart. Knowing Ao Chenyi’s temper, he could easily demote her the moment he was dissatisfied with her. It didn’t matter that their marriage was granted by the Emperor. After all, Commandery Princess Xianyun’s hand in marriage was also granted by the Emperor but she still ended up like that.

Thus, if Ning Xueyan wanted to keep her position as the princess, she would have to win Ao Chenyi’s heart. How she should do to get that? Naturally, she would have to act according to his preferences, such as Second Young Lady Hua.

Thus, Honored Consort Xia seemed unperturbed even in the face of Ning Xueyan’s anger. She looked at Ning Xueyan with a smile. She didn’t believe that a woman, who was desperate to win her husband’s favor, wouldn’t try to find out more about Second Young Lady Hua. After all, she had been emphasizing Ao Chenyi’s deep love for Hua Yueying.

Ning Xueyan’s anger was just a pretense to reach her goal. Although she couldn’t let Ning Xueyan see her and Ao Chenyi together, she could plant a seed of doubt in Ning Xueyan. This was also a way to constantly remind Ao Chenyi of her so that when the time was right, she could…

Sure enough, the slight anger on Ning Xueyan’s expression disappeared. She frowned and asked, rather reluctantly, “Your Highness, can you tell me more about Second Young Lady Hua?”