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Shen Chuwei had just instructed the little rabbit to carry the ladder over when she heard Wu Tan’s inquiry; she gave a puzzled look, "Why do you ask?"

Wu Tan said, "This poor monk has some knowledge of face reading; seeing Lady Shen’s features, hence the question."

Upon hearing this, Shen Chuwei revealed an admiring look, "You can also read faces? Are you as skilled as Lord Lu?"

Wu Tan chuckled lightly, "I know but the rudiments. Lady Shen, have you ever lost your memory?"

"I did forget some things, but those aren’t important; what’s most important is being happy now." She had fallen and hit her head when she was ten, forgetting some things.

The matron said it was a good thing to forget.

That must mean the memories before she was ten were not good.

At this moment, Little Rabbit brought the ladder over and leaned it against the two-meter-high courtyard wall.

"The poor monk will take his leave now; do take care of yourself, Lady Shen." Wu Tan looked deeply at Shen Chuwei, then climbed up the ladder.

Shen Chuwei remembered how he had fallen and been injured that morning, all because he was bringing her something tasty.

"Wu Tan, be careful; let me get you a rope," she said, asking Little Rabbit to fetch a rope.

True to the name Little Rabbit, he was quick on his feet and fetched a rope in no time.

Before Little Rabbit could hand up the rope, Shen Chuwei saw Wu Tan’s body fall like a plummeting onion.

There was a loud "bang."

Shen Chuwei covered her heart, almost leaping from fright; once she regained her composure, she steadied the ladder with both hands to climb up but was held back by Little Rabbit, "Mistress, climbing a ladder is too dangerous."

"It’s okay, I just want to see how Wu Tan is after his fall." Shen Chuwei climbed the ladder to the top of the wall and saw Wu Tan struggling to his feet from the ground before turning to smile at her and walking away with a limp.

She couldn’t help but raise her thumb again, "The monk indeed endures well, without uttering a sound!"

Little Rabbit down below was frantic, "Mistress, please come down quickly, it’s too dangerous."

"Coming down, no rush."

As soon as Shen Chuwei came down, Chun Xi approached with Yuan Gungun in tow, indignantly saying, "Mistress, Yuan Gungun is too gluttonous; it ate the seeds in the ground."

With its big dark eyes, Yuan Gungun looked at Shen Chuwei with a pitiful expression; if it could talk, it would say, the vegetable garden had no fence...

Shen Chuwei poked Yuan Gungun’s nose with her finger, "If you steal food again, you’ll go without food for a day."

Yuan Gungun shrank its neck, not daring to protest.

It took three days, and a brand-new vegetable garden was created.

The flower seeds also germinated and were growing at thrice the normal rate.

Shen Chuwei went back to her salted fish life of eating, sleeping, and snacking.

Chun Xi had picked a plate of fresh cherries, cleaned them, and placed them on the low table in front of Shen Chuwei, before bringing some more appetizing pastries.

When she came back, she found the plate of cherries gone, with only some pastries left.

"Mistress, why have you taken a fancy to sour foods these past two days?"

"Perhaps it’s the summer heat." Shen Chuwei wiped her sweat and picked up a pastry to continue eating.

"It would be nice to have ice." Chun Xi saw Shen Chuwei sweating profusely and started to feel concerned.

After dark, the mosquitos also began to proliferate.

With mosquitos, one couldn’t sleep well at night.

Everyone was fanning with plantain leaves to drive the mosquitos away.

Chun Xi was using a plantain leaf to fan mosquitos away from Shen Chuwei.

The next day, Shen Chuwei locked herself in her room to research mosquito coils, which were actually already prepared; she had plenty stored in her space.

Before she crossed over, she had impulsively stocked up on a myriad of items, spending all her savings.

She was thinking of a way to take out the mosquito coils and make their appearance seem logical.

After much thought, she decided to break the mosquito coils.

When the long thin incense was brought out, though Chun Xi and the others were curious, they didn’t ask any more questions.

After lighting it in the evening, there were significantly fewer mosquitoes.

Shen Chuwei slept beautifully that night, and Chun Xi didn’t have to use a banana leaf fan to ward off the mosquitoes anymore.

The next day, a small eunuch from the Imperial Kitchen came to deliver the meal.

Since Shen Chuwei had been confined to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, the quality of the food regressed to a less civilized era, almost unbearable to witness.

Shen Chuwei didn’t stop the delivery from the Imperial Kitchen, as it could be used to feed the chickens and ducks.

They ate the meals made by Chun Xi instead.

Like usual, the small eunuch took out the food from the box and arranged it on the dining table.

After setting everything up, he didn’t hurry to leave, but kept peering inside.

When Shen Chuwei came out, she saw a slim eunuch standing in the dining hall, dressed in eunuch attire.

Usually, a skinny little eunuch delivered the meals, what happened today to have such a tall one...

With curiosity, Shen Chuwei approached and noticed the small eunuch looking up at her with a strange expression.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked.

"This is my first time delivering food, please don’t think badly of me," the small eunuch explained, actually disguised as a man in black.

Chun Xi asked skeptically, "Why don’t you refer to yourself as a servant?"

Realizing his mistake, the man in black quickly admitted his error, "This servant is on duty for the first day and hasn’t gotten used to it yet."

Upon learning that the eunuch was new, Chun Xi kindly warned, "Then you should be more careful. If someone catches you making a mistake, be careful of your head."

"Thank you for the reminder, miss," the man in black replied, discovering that the inner court of the Imperial Palace was not as devoid of humanity as he had imagined.

Shen Chuwei thought the eunuch should have left by now, but just as she sat down, she noticed he was still intently staring at her.

She couldn’t help but ask, "Why do you keep staring at me?"

"The young miss looks a lot like my sister," the man in black explained. "I have not seen her for many years and couldn’t help but take a few extra glances."

Shen Chuwei showed understanding. It wasn’t uncommon for people to resemble one another in this world, even without any blood relation.

The man in black watched Shen Chuwei for a while before looking away and left the Xiaoxiang Pavilion with the food container.

At night, the man in black visited Yixiang Hall once again. Unexpectedly, Consort Xu was taking a bath when he barged in, witnessing such an alluring scene.

Consort Xu was stretching her arms, gently wiping them with a towel.

The man in black spotted a cinnabar mole on Consort Xu’s arm, which appeared striking on her pale skin.

He paused at the sight, staring at the bright red mole for a while.

Women who entered the palace as imperial maids were marked with cinnabar moles, as were the Crown Prince’s women.

A visible mole meant one hadn’t slept with the Crown Prince.

The man in black withdrew quietly.

Consort Xu did not expect the man in black to come looking for her at this hour, nor did she know that she had been seen by him.

*

In the still of the night,

Xiao Jinyan used his kung fu skills to evade the Imperial Guard’s patrols and watchmen and made his way to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

As he climbed through the window, he discovered the bed was empty. He searched around and then saw by the cupboard, a huddled dark figure munching and munching, reminiscent of a large nocturnal rat foraging at night.

He approached with curiosity and stopped beside the figure.

As martial artists are used to concealing the sound of their footsteps, the figure was unaware anyone had approached.

"Chuwei, what are you doing?" he asked.

Shen Chuwei stopped her munching and, lifting her head, she saw a towering figure standing behind her in the dim moonlight.