"Mother!"

  "I did want to work with the Empress, but she didn't seem to want me to know more about her." Xu Ronghua gritted his teeth and said: "The Empress took the evidence of Rong Fei's crime to Lin Zhi Palace, and then Rong Fei was demoted. But the Empress doesn't seem to be happy about it... There must be something fishy going on here... I thought I could get some information out of Hui Guizi, but she's like this, and I'm also unclear about her thoughts. Is she deliberately avoiding me knowing the truth, or is she really clueless as you said?"

  "Don't worry, Princess. She's just a concubine and won't have much power to know those things..." Yingyue said, but her own heart was getting more and more anxious, she whispered: "If Rui Gui Concubine finds out, wouldn't it be very disadvantageous for you? If she doesn't know, where can we investigate the truth... Abandoning the Shen family to rely on the Empress, did we really do the right thing?"

  "Shut up!" Xu Ronghua, who usually relied on this trusted palace maid, was enraged by her words: "This princess has never relied on anyone! In the past, I did things for Shen Yunrong only because I had just entered the palace and my foundation was shallow, and I wanted to survive. If I wanted to climb to a high position, which one of the empress and Shen Yunrong would be easier to deal with? I'm afraid they would only block my way. As for relying on the empress... you didn't see the outcome of Bai Shi, did you?"

  Ying Yue's shoulders suddenly shrunk back, and she didn't dare speak again.

  Bai Rongji was really miserable, one corpse and two lives were lost.

  However, the master of the house, although waving an uncertain flag, wants to take advantage of the gap between the Queen, Rong Fei, and Xiang Fei, but the Queen is probably not easy to fool. The master helped the Queen secretly this time, but it's unknown how the Queen will treat the master... Maybe she'll grasp him from now on?

  This is really a risky move.

  Xu Ronghua took another deep breath and calmed down: "Let's return to the palace. Shen Yunrong hasn't fallen yet, we can't reveal our hand."

  ***

  Lin Wan quickly returned to the palace.

  She took out the osmanthus flowers she had dried a few days ago and made steamed rice cakes with the first snow to send to Jianzhang Palace.

  The servants in the small kitchen had all been dismissed. The first snow asked her with a smile: "Your Majesty is not always bold, just now Xu Ronghua was sent to the door, why don't we take advantage of the situation and get some information out of her mouth."

  Lin Yan smiled and said: "No need to pretend. Do you think she knows much? The empress would never tell her everything."

  Compared to the truth about Linji Palace, Lin Wan didn't have time to care who secretly helped the Empress and stabbed Shen Yunrong in the back. But looking at Xu Ronghua's appearance today, there was no need to investigate, she had already exposed herself.

  Hurriedly, she was dragged into the palace by the eunuchs without a word. Anyone would be infuriated by the order to "go serve in the Jianzhang Palace", but Xu Ronghua endured it. Was it really just for the sake of pulling her in? It couldn't be that simple.

  How dare you come and try to probe me, Lin Yuan? Who's probing who, I wonder.

  "But Master..." Chuxue said with some doubt: "The matter in the Linzhi Palace, after investigating to the end, still couldn't find out who harmed Xiangfei."

  "Right, can't find out."

  It can't be found, it doesn't matter, the emperor has already wiped out this matter. Lin Yuandare not to disobey Tuoba Hong's order, at most just secretly told Chu Xue a mouthful.

  Xiang Fei did not leave the palace gates for several days in a row, and everyone thought she was just taking care of her pregnancy.

  The only thing that can be confirmed now is that the Queen and Xu Ronghua are involved. But what exactly did the Queen do? What did Shen Yunrong do? Neither Xu Ronghua nor Lin Yu could see through the whole situation.

  Lin Yan felt quite worried.

  Is the matter of Xiang Fei's poisoning just going to be dropped like this? The news is being tightly sealed, and Shen Yunrong has also been cleared.

  Could it be that this matter really has nothing to do with Shen Yunrong? The large package of medicine bottles the Empress brought over that day, didn't one of them contain "One Inch of Thought"?

  The outcome of this matter is also reasonable. Shen Yunrong not only demoted two ranks, but also lost her most cherished good reputation. A person without virtue has no qualification to be a role model for the world. From today on, Shen Yunrong will never have the possibility of taking the throne again.

  The queen has earned enough.

  However, according to the Empress's appetite, this may be far from achieving her original goal.

  While chatting with Chu Xue, Lin Yuan's Osmanthus cake was steamed.

  Taking advantage of the timing, she packed a meal box and headed towards Jianzhang Palace.

  ***

  In Jianzhang Palace, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei was still attending to government affairs.

  He was not in the study of the Jian Zhang Front Hall reviewing documents, but had gone to the Tong Ming Hall in the north to summon his ministers.

  Lin Wan waited for a while in a pavilion in front of the main palace gate. Until an elderly man with coral top embroidered brocade and white hair walked out, Lin Wan was able to follow the small eunuch into the grand hall.

  This was Lin Wan's first meeting with the Emperor since her return from Lin Qi Palace. The Emperor's mood wasn't good, and at this moment, he stood alone in the empty Tongming Hall, looking up at the calligraphy on the wall, lost in thought.

  Lin Wan stepped forward and paid her respects, presenting a steamed cake with both hands: "Your Majesty works day and night, please don't overexert yourself. Osmanthus flowers have the effect of activating blood and reducing fire, Your Majesty can use more of them."

  These days, Tuoba Hong was indeed very hardworking. The matter of Linji Palace had already made him quite annoyed, and the affairs of the court were also troublesome. He turned his face to look at what Lin Yuen was holding in her hand, and a hint of pleasure appeared on his originally gloomy face. He picked up a small piece and tasted it, then nodded and said: "You're considerate."

  The emperor did not greatly praise the delicious food, but only acknowledged Lin's hard work. Lin was considered to be skilled in cooking, but unfortunately, her level was not top-notch, and compared to Zhao Shuyu and Xu Ronghua, she was still far behind.

  However, whether a man is satisfied or not does not solely depend on one's skills. Lin Yuanyin carefully poured a cup of tea and handed it to the Emperor, saying: "The concubine still doesn't do well enough, I heard that Wang Yiniang from the Imperial Kitchen is skilled at steaming cakes, the concubine must learn from her." She smiled again: "As the Emperor's woman, preparing meals for the Emperor is the concubine's duty. In the palace, there are fine clothes and food, but the concubine can't be lazy and not cook in the kitchen, normally she should also make more pastries to serve the Emperor."

  Tuoba Hong listened to her soft and gentle voice, savoring the delicate pastry in his hand, feeling a lot more at ease. He looked down again and saw that there were still white dots on her fingers, and he couldn't help but be surprised - it turned out she had even made the dough herself. No wonder the flavor was only mediocre.

  Since she can get along with Wang's wife, she can ask Wang's wife to do it and just lend a hand on the side. When sending it to Jianzhang Palace, it can also be counted as her own hands-on work. Don't all the concubines in this palace do so? A noble lady avoids the kitchen, and women of high birth are fond of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and disdain cooking. She is indeed sincere...

  As he thought of the summer days, she had painstakingly made that lotus porridge, from boiling water to washing rice, all by herself... Taizong Hu thought about these things and couldn't help but pull up Lin Yuan's hand, wiping off the white powder on her fingers, and said warmly: "Yuan'er has worked hard, come sit by my side."

  "The Emperor's worry for the country and people is truly laborious, while consorts are just serving the Emperor, what hardship can there be?" Lin Yu slightly lowered her head but didn't sit: "The Emperor has been busy these past few days, it's not good for consorts to disturb him, nor is it good to linger in Jianzhang Palace." She said as she was about to take her leave.

  The imperial consorts who came to the Jianzhang Palace to offer tea and pastries were all trying to curry favor with the emperor, of course they would stay as long as possible. Who would be like Lin Yu, delivering things and then leaving? Taizong felt that Lin Yu was very considerate, always putting him first and not thinking about gaining benefits from him, wholeheartedly serving him without causing any trouble. At this moment, he didn't know why, but despite the huge pile of government affairs to deal with, he still held Lin Yu's hand tightly: "You just stay here and serve me."

  Lin Wan did not decline and sat down beside the emperor.

  Thinking about the subtle relationship between herself and the emperor. On that day in Linji Palace, Lin Yanni keenly felt that it was a turning point.

  That day's events were only qualified for the Empress and Consort Sheng to attend. However, the Emperor ordered her to stay behind.

  At first, she was still very afraid because she didn't know what the emperor would use her for. Was it to spread rumors or be a scapegoat for the empress? But the generous rewards bestowed later showed that the emperor had only supportive intentions towards her.

  The emperor let her stay, because of trust - this was something that Lin Wan did not dare to hope for at first.

  The most precious things in the palace are the emperor's love and trust. Of course, this varies from person to person, and some emperors will never give out the first one for a lifetime.

  Lin Yan felt that it was probably when she poured a packet of alum powder into her mouth that Tuoba Hong had a kind of intimate feeling towards her.

  He felt that this woman had deeply fallen in love with him, regarding him as more important than her own life, and was willing to give up everything for him without any threat, and do anything good for him without seeking a return. Lin Yuen gave him such a feeling.

  Lin Wan looked at Tuoba Hong's gentle face and secretly smiled in her heart. It turned out that she could also become a "deeply emotional" good woman.

  "Yuan'er, what do you think we should do about Bai's funeral?" Tuoba Hong casually stroked Lin Yuan's hair knot, his mind elsewhere.

  Lin Yan pouted, it had already been three days, and she just remembered Bai Xiuyi.

  The adult who just went out is the Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel, Bai Xiuzhen's grandfather. Looking at the old man's eyebrows and eyes, they are a bit like hers... If he hadn't come to the palace to plead, the Emperor might not have pardoned Bai Xiuzhen so lightly, after all, her miscarriage was also her own fault.

  Bai Xiuyi's bones must be very cold.

  But Lin Wan won't sympathize with Bai Xiuyi. Now all she needs to do is avoid ending up the same way herself.

  She looked at Tuoba Hong's face and said: "Bai Shi has angered the emperor, and it is already a blessing that the emperor did not punish him."

  "Yes, that's the reason. As I see it, let's just bury her according to her original status." Tuoba Hong said with a look of disgust: "If it weren't for the fact that the White family has been loyal to me all these years, I wouldn't even want her to enter the imperial mausoleum. She can't even protect my heir, she's really useless."

  Tuoba Hong had finished speaking with Bai Xiuyi, and Lin Yu got up to take her leave. Outside the palace hall, there were still several ministers waiting in the shadows of their sleeves, all of whom were seeking an audience with the Emperor.

  This time, Tuoba Hong also didn't want to keep her, so he ordered Yao Fusheng to send Lin Yuan out from the side door.