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Hu Miaomiao quickly walked over to untie the Commander of the Imperial Guard’s horse and respectfully led it in front of the Emperor, waiting for him to mount.

The Commander of the Imperial Guard hurriedly offered the riding crop, "My Lord, please let your servant escort you back."

The Emperor’s expression was extremely cold as he mounted his horse and took the riding crop, "No need, Hu Miaomiao, let’s go."

With these words, he flicked the whip, and his horse charged ahead.

Hu Miaomiao, along with several Shadow Guards, immediately leapt onto their horses and left a message trailing behind, "Older Brother Zhang, Commander Han, I shall escort the Lord back first and take my leave."

In the blink of an eye, the group of seven or eight had vanished from sight, leaving only a few of the Imperial Guard’s horses behind.

Zhang Qing stomped his foot and gave a salute to Commander Han, "I shall also take my leave first. The Emperor is greatly concerned about the trials at Shanxue Square, I entrust it to Commander Han to take care of them."

Without waiting for a response from Commander Han, Zhang Qing rushed off with a few Young Eunuchs towards the spot where they had parked the carriages.

In an instant, only Commander Han—the Commander of the Imperial Guard—was left. He knew only that something had gone wrong inside the palace, but not what had transpired to leave the Emperor with such a dreadful look; it must have been a grave matter.

Inside Canglan Court.

"Summon the Imperial Physician, inform the Emperor, secure Canglan Court—no one is to move without orders, and search every inch of Canglan Court inside out."

Nanny Qi’s face was as cold as ice as she arranged everything. When she turned around, she saw Lian Hua and Xiao Qing curiously examining the shattered soup bowl and using a rattan to fiddle with the fragments.

She nearly lost her breath in shock and urgency, sternly saying, "Master Lian, what are you doing? Step away from there at once!"

"Ah?" Lian Hua turned her head and saw Nanny Qi fuming with anger. She quickly sat up properly, thought it still felt too close, stood up to move her stool, sat down again at the table, now further away from the pile of fragments.

Only then did she couldn’t help but exclaim in awe, "Nanny, I was just looking at this soup bowl, it’s designed so ingeniously!"

She was thoroughly impressed, having never seen anything like it before—it made her wonder why she hadn’t thought of it earlier.

The soup bowl’s two thick handles hid a clever mechanism, with a valve at the junction with the bowl’s body.

The valve integrated seamlessly with the bowl, normally invisible to the eye, and only when the steam from the soup expanded could it push open a slight gap, releasing something hidden inside.

Seeing Lian Hua unaware of the danger and even praising it, Nanny Qi couldn’t help but bitterly laugh.

She snapped angrily, "If it weren’t ingenious, how could it have been used to harm someone?"

How could it have nearly escaped their detection?!

Every item that entered Canglan Court was thoroughly inspected, even before use.

But this soup bowl was simple, unadorned, and ordinary-looking, a common sight in the palace; its handles were just thicker than usual but otherwise unremarkable, easily overlooked, which is why it had escaped their notice.

If Nanny Qi hadn’t been alert and noticed something off about those handles, vaguely recalling she had seen something similar during an incident in the Harem during the Late Emperor’s reign, they would have missed it completely.

The powder hidden inside the handles, she surmised, must be an abortifacient, and the intentions of the person behind this were undoubtedly malicious!

Fortunately, she had discovered it in time, and thanks to the young girl’s profound luck, she hadn’t eaten the Bird’s Nest Soup due to a mix-up.

The thought of how close danger had come under her watch made her shudder uncontrollably, her heart pounding, unable to calm down.

They had already used that batch of Bird’s Nest Soup once yesterday!

If the young girl hadn’t felt nauseous at the sight of the Bird’s Nest, it would have been consumed yesterday!

If it hadn’t been for her early return yesterday, without keeping an eye on the young lady, perhaps the young lady, out of consideration for others, would have forced herself to drink it!

If the young lady hadn’t let Xiao Qing take the blame in secrecy yesterday, and the signs hadn’t been delayed today, ultimately revealing that something was amiss, a real disaster would have occurred!

If anything in this process had gone awry, the child in the young lady’s belly would have...

Just thinking of this, Nanny Qi felt an unstoppable chill emanating from the depths of her heart, even though Canglan Court was now heavily guarded, it still wasn’t safe from those with ill intentions.

The person behind this is utterly wicked, profoundly versed in the intrigues of the harem, with methods of designing harm that surpass those rampant during the Late Emperor’s time!

The atmosphere in the hall was very solemn.

Lian Hua noticed that Nanny Qi’s complexion was off, much paler than usual, and quickly got up to approach her, taking her hand, only to find it extremely cold.

Lian Hua hurriedly warmed Nanny Qi’s hands with her own, comforting her, "Nanny, haven’t I come out of this unscathed? Don’t worry about me, I’m still fine."

She had also asked Xiao Qing, who was fine, just a stomachache after drinking the bird’s nest soup yesterday, and when Charcoal Head arrived, she would have him check if there was anything seriously wrong.

Nanny Qi’s heart warmed, but she immediately felt guilty and remorseful, "My dear girl, Nanny has failed to protect you..."

Her eyes drooped, and her wrinkles deepened, as if she had aged several years.

Lian Hua felt distressed and tucked Nanny Qi’s aged hand into her bosom to keep it warm, "Nanny, why say such things? If it weren’t for you, who knows how many times I would have fallen victim to such schemes.

You are truly the great hero here, you could even discern something was wrong with that soup bowl!

How does that saying go, ’There are only a thousand days to be a thief, there is no. .. no...’"

Xiao Jizi stepped into the side hall, interrupting, "There is no such thing as a thousand days to guard against a thief."

He had just completed a mission and was returning to report.

Aside from the people in the hall, those like Xia Liu who were under strong suspicion were all controlled now, and in the kitchen, apart from them, only Xia Liu and his cohort could have had access.

Xiao Linzi entered behind, carrying a bag of items, also having just finished his task and returned to report. Hearing Brother Ji’s interruption, he quickly nodded, aware of the answer to his master’s unfinished sentence.

"Right, that’s the logic," Lian Hua said approvingly to Xiao Jizi, giving him a meaningful glance. Xiao Jizi understood and immediately swallowed the news he was about to report, standing to one side with Xiao Linzi, both looking very solemn.

Lian Hua then turned to Nanny Qi, "So, Nanny, you needn’t blame yourself. Just now, when I was looking at that soup bowl, I thought of a good way to guard against thieves!"

Nanny Qi felt somewhat relieved, but still her brow remained heavy with concern.

Upon hearing this last sentence, she gripped tightly, somewhat expectantly, "What way?"

The others looked towards Lian Hua in unison.

Lian Hua cleared her throat and said solemnly, "Since we can’t guard against thieves every day, if we become the thieves, then we won’t need to guard, will we?"

"..."

Become thieves? Surely we aren’t to harm others, too!

There was a moment of speechlessness among the crowd...

Xiao Jizi and the rest were a bit torn between laughter and tears, and the original solemn atmosphere in the hall loosened a bit.

Xiao Jizi felt helplessly that his master was always so optimistic; despite the seriousness of the situation, she was still joking as if nothing had happened, even ready to take on a scandal?