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Just now, this woman intended to corrupt his Little Concubine, which greatly displeased him, and he did not hold back in his response to her.

At this moment, hearing that she seemed to be speaking on behalf of his Little Concubine, his tone softened slightly, "Her affairs are none of your concern, just mind yourself."

Others heard his voice, yet it still sounded very cold, unwelcoming to strangers.

Concubine Fang quickly lowered her head, trembling with fear, suspecting from his tone that His Majesty was perhaps not ready to forgive Sister Lian.

Her mind was somewhat troubled, but she had done her best and dared not say more...

With a hint of helplessness, she responded submissively, "Yes."

She bowed her head as she retreated, tears forming in her eyes, unsure whether she was sad about just having met a kindred spirit whom she could no longer seek out, or sad because Lian Hua might now be punished.

Behind the Emperor, Lian Hua was playing with the Emperor’s ink-black, long hair. His Majesty prevented her from peeking out by intentionally blocking her, so she decided to braid his hair and played with it in defiance.

She had just braided a third of his hair when the conversation between the two seemed amiss.

She let go of the Emperor’s hair and, grabbing his arm, stepped sideways to look with her head tilted.

This time, the Emperor did not stop her.

She walked a few steps towards the doorway where Concubine Fang was retreating and called, "Consort, I’m fine, what’s wrong with you?"

Previously, she had been pretending to be sad, so why was she truly sad this time? It was odd.

With moist eyes, Concubine Fang turned back and saw Lian Hua standing charmingly by the Emperor’s side. Lian Hua looked at her with a puzzled expression filled with concern.

Her heart warmed, and she could not help but reveal a sincere smile, shaking her head, "I’m fine..."

Having worn a mask in the palace for so long, she had almost lost herself.

Seeing the Emperor looking fondly at Lian Hua, her heart relaxed, knowing she had overthought it and felt somewhat embarrassed.

Indeed, she had been meddling too much. His Majesty obviously adored Sister Lian, who was even pregnant now, and it wasn’t her place to worry...

Lian Hua was especially sensitive to whether someone was friendly or hostile. She sensed that something was different about Concubine Fang from when she had arrived.

After some thought, she walked forward a few steps and cheerfully said, "Consort, I’ve almost learned what you taught me; next time, I’ll learn something else from you," and she winked, a meaningful light passing through her eyes.

In an instant, Concubine Fang understood and smiled gently, her usual grace returning, as she said to Lian Hua, "Hmm, it’s all up to Sister Lian."

Saying so, she swayed delicately as she walked away.

Having left the Side Hall, Xiao Jizi hurriedly dispatched Xiao Linzi to guard the gate, instructing him to keep a close eye on Xia Liu’s return and to take note of everything she brought back.

He himself walked towards the back of the courtyard to see if the person had returned, and surprisingly, they had not yet returned.

Xiao Jizi scoffed internally, questioning why it took so long to fetch some Bird’s Nest Soup, musing that even moving half of the Imperial Kitchen in one Shichen would be enough.

He grew even more convinced that the Palace Maid was up to something suspicious while Nanny Qi was away.

A moment ago, the master had called an idiot into the room, and with Concubine Fang present, he couldn’t speak out nor did he want to alarm his master.

With Concubine Fang’s unclear intentions, he dared not leave, as the master was of utmost importance and he couldn’t risk being away even for a moment.

He had been watching vigilantly, wanting to see what exactly Concubine Fang Pin was up to. He eventually found it unbearably distressing as Concubine Fang Pin was truly no ordinary person—he feared the master might be led astray.

Fortunately, although it was unclear what Concubine Fang Pin intended to do, she seemed to pose no harm to the master, which was a relief.

Now that he had a moment to himself, he could attend to the matter of the palace maid. Since the palace maid had not yet returned, he decided to wait for her return.

He spoke to Zhang Qing, saying he would go to the main gate to see if Nanny Qi had returned, as he was worried about her absence. Zhang Qing, forewarned, agreed.

In the Side Hall, only the Emperor and Lian Hua remained.

The Emperor felt uneasy; his Little Concubine had apparently been exchanging some sort of riddle with Concubine Fang Pin. Could she be learning ways to fool him? Ah, such a little rascal!

Once Concubine Fang Pin had left, Lian Hua could not resist sweetening up to the Emperor, "Brother Zhao, why have you come back? I missed you so much. Are you thirsty? Let me pour you some tea."

As she spoke, she pulled the Emperor to sit down.

The Emperor glanced at her and, sweeping his robes aside, sat down smoothly.

With a playful giggle, Lian Hua leaned in and kissed his cheek. The Emperor was pleased, a faint smile curling at the corners of his mouth, almost imperceptible unless looked at closely.

After kissing the Emperor, Lian Hua busied herself attending to him, and the Emperor was even more pleased; his Little Concubine bustling around for him was what he enjoyed most.

Lian Hua picked up a small plain teapot, felt it, and realizing the water was somewhat cool, called out, "Xiao Jizi, come in and brew some piping hot tea."

No sooner had she spoken than Zhang Qing walked in cheerfully, bowing, "Master Lian, let your servant handle it."

"Ah, it’s Chief Steward Zhang," Lian Hua smiled upon seeing Zhang Qing, and while handing him the teapot, she casually asked, "Where’s Nanny?"

The Emperor raised an eyebrow, surprised. As far as he knew, the events in the harem were kept from her. Surely, Nanny Qi’s visit to the harem was in secret too. What was that little rascal trying to glean from Zhang Qing?

An instinctive sense of wrongness struck him, and he suddenly noticed a strange smile on his Little Concubine’s face, her eyes showing a hint of slyness. What was this expression?

Zhang Qing took the teapot over, his face alight with a smile, and smoothly continued, "Nanny Qi, oh, she hasn’t..." returned, she’s still in Huaying Hall.

The Emperor reacted swiftly, understanding the mystery in an instant. He clenched his fist on his chin and coughed forcefully, cutting off what Zhang Qing was about to reveal.

He glanced at Zhang Qing in passing.

Zhang Qing promptly got the hint, holding back the latter half of his sentence. Oh, his mother! That was close, he almost slipped; Master Lian was tricking him!

His quick reaction turned the situation around, his mouth twisting slyly, transforming his statement into a question: "Has she not taken her noon rest yet? Or is she still in her room? I just came with His Majesty and didn’t see her. I was about to look for her, shall I go check?"

As he spoke, he made a motion to leave and check.

Lian Hua gave him a suspicious glance, but his explanation seemed to hold no faults.

Ever since she encountered Chief Steward Zhang and Nanny Qi whispering to each other earlier that day, she felt something was off.

Although Nanny Qi had acted as if everything was normal afterward, she still sensed something strange but couldn’t find any evidence.

Now, having failed to glean anything from the conversation, she felt somewhat disappointed, wondering if perhaps she was overthinking things.

After taking a nap, her first thought was to find Nanny Qi and see what she was up to.

But as soon as she opened the door, she saw Concubine Fang Pin, and then she had to host Concubine Fang Pin, followed by a session of cursing Huang Zude, which was quite relieving.

After the cursing, she still worried—perhaps Nanny Qi was hiding in some corner, listening, ready to glare at her once she turned around.