“Have Huang Xia come and check if there’s any problem with this Floating Light Brocade,” Ning Wanwan ordered.
“Yes.”
Huang Xia looked to be about sixteen or seventeen. She had a cool, aloof personality and a pure, beautiful face, both delicate and pretty. What impressed Ning Wanwan even more was that she possessed such incredible medical skills at such a young age; it was truly remarkable.
“Reporting to Niangniang, there is nothing wrong with the fabric,” Huang Xia reported faintly.
Seeing this, Niangniang had the item put away.
“Lüqiu, what was that you were saying about Consort Li last time?” Ning Wanwan asked, curious.
Lüqiu had been halfway through her story when Pei Jinxu arrived.
“Are you referring to Consort Li and Chan Meiren?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I was on the roof at the time and heard Chan Meiren telling Consort Li that her pregnancy was induced by medicine and was a stillbirth. She said it would be best to miscarry as soon as possible, otherwise it would definitely be discovered later. Originally, Chan Meiren wanted Consort Li to frame you, Niangniang, but it just so happened that you and His Majesty went on an outing outside the palace, so she shifted her target to Consort Qing.”
Hearing this, a fire of rage ignited in Ning Wanwan’s heart. She was genuinely furious now. So everyone wanted a piece of her worthless life, did they?
Fine, fine, Chan Meiren, you just wait!
“Speaking of Consort Qing—oh no, she should be called Zhong Cairen now—she was truly wronged. All because of a flower. Consort Li deliberately provoked her, and she immediately fell into the trap,” Lüqiu said, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice.
“Let’s go to Zhong Qing’s place,” Ning Wanwan said, standing up and walking with a swagger.
“Niangniang, why are you going to that Cold Palace?” Lüqiu found the idea unlucky.
“What Cold Palace? Zhong Qing isn’t in the Cold Palace, is she?” Ning Wanwan was confused. Wasn’t Zhong Qing just confined for a year? Pei Jinxu never said he was sending her to the Cold Palace.
“What’s the difference between her place and the Cold Palace?” Lüqiu said.
Ever since being confined, Zhong Qing had become somewhat unhinged. Lüqiu said she was like the old Ning Wanwan.
After getting familiar with the current Ning Wanwan, Lüqiu had grown much bolder and even dared to joke with her.
“I’m not joking, Niangniang. You really were quite similar to her before. Actually, the original you was more like you are now, but you changed after entering the palace. You became irritable and short-tempered. It was honestly quite scary,” Lüqiu said, a lingering fear still visible on her face. Thank goodness she was better now.
Now it was Ning Wanwan’s turn to be bewildered. So what was she really like before? There seemed to be all sorts of different accounts. Some said she was arrogant and domineering, others that she was dazzling and flamboyant. Even in her dreams, she was a completely different person from who she was now.
Could it be that the original owner of this body, like Pei Jinxu, had multiple personalities?
As if struck by a thought, Ning Wanwan shook her head violently, a wave of fear washing over her.
“We’re here.” Lüqiu and Ning Wanwan stood before a desolate palace gate.
Ning Wanwan was panting from the walk, dragging the magnificent and heavy robes of a Guifei.
“These clothes are too ornate and cumbersome. Don’t make me wear this kind of thing again,” Ning Wanwan complained with a frown.
“This is a symbol of your status. So many people wish they could wear it but aren’t worthy. How could you be like this?” Lüqiu chuckled.
“Guifei Niangniang arrives—!” a eunuch announced in a sharp, high-pitched voice, making Ning Wanwan feel incredibly grand.
“What are you doing here?” Zhong Qing was still very proud. Even now, demoted and punished, she had not lost the air of a lady from a great house.
Speaking of which, aside from Ning Wanwan, Zhong Qing had the best family background in the palace. For the legitimate daughter raised by a major family to be brought to such a state by another’s vile schemes, how could one not sigh in lament?
“I came to see you. What, am I not allowed to look?” Ning Wanwan’s tone was flippant. Her stunningly beautiful face and luxurious, dazzling attire made her seem like a goddess from on high, unspeakably noble.
Even someone like Zhong Qing was so dazzled by her radiance that she dared not look directly at her.
“You’re here to laugh at me, aren’t you?” Zhong Qing sneered, her pale, pretty face full of mockery.
“Not entirely,” Ning Wanwan smiled, tucking the bewitchingly vibrant flower in her hand into Zhong Qing’s hair.
Having been framed and brought to this point over a flower, Zhong Qing now felt a sense of revulsion toward such beautiful blossoms.
Ning Wanwan hadn’t been present, but when she heard that this whole farce was over a flower, she immediately felt that such a palace struggle was far too theatrical, not even on par with what was shown in television dramas.
No matter how furious or unwilling Zhong Qing was, she didn’t dare to turn on Ning Wanwan. With her level of imperial favor and family background, she was not someone Zhong Qing could afford to provoke.
“Do you want to get out?” Lüqiu asked.
“Hey, why did you steal my line?” Ning Wanwan huffed.
Lüqiu: “Oh.”
“Of course I do. I want revenge,” Zhong Qing said, her eyes filled with a dark haze, her face twisting slightly.
Ning Wanwan had no desire to get caught up in endless schemes. That kind of life was simply too exhausting. When Pei Jinxu wasn’t around, she much preferred to study new cuisines with Lüqiu and the others.
Perhaps this way of thinking was naive and cowardly, but it truly brought her happiness. Besides, with the Ning Family’s current power and status, there was no need for her to fight for favor.
“It would only take a single word from our Niangniang, and you could get out immediately,” Lüqiu said.
Hearing this, Ning Wanwan herself was stunned. She quietly asked Lüqiu where no one else could hear:
“Am I that powerful?”
She received Lüqiu’s affirmative reply: “Of course. His Majesty loves you that much.”