Mu Qing cried heart-wrenchingly as if she was venting all of the grievances she had felt these past years. She wiped at her tears hard and the rough fabric of her clothes rubbed her face red.

  “Your Majesty?” Court Lady Qiu saw that the veins on Ning Shu’s head were bulging and even the veins on her face were very conspicuous. She couldn’t help but ask, “Your Majesty, are you alright?”


  Ning Shu closed her eyes. Ever since she saw Mu Qing, she had been considering handing the throne over to this girl. However, now that she thought about things again, she had been thinking about things too simply. Mu Qing had grown up in the cold palace so there were a lot of things that she didn’t understand.

  She didn’t possess the characteristics that the monarch of a nation should possess. In this case, it’d be better to just hand the throne over to the mediocre second prince.

  Mu Qing wiped at her tears, then looked at Ning Shu as she said, “Why are you looking for me? There’s no way you would’ve thought of me if you hadn’t been after something. Everyone’s trying to make use of me.”


  “Everyone?” repeated Ning Shu.

  Mu Qing’s face filled with her usual scorn again. “The phoenix empress wanted me to live with him and said that I was a noble daughter of the heavenly clan, that I should be living an extravagant life.”


  Ning Shu furrowed her brows. “You know the phoenix empress?”


  “How could I possibly know such an aloof and remote person? If someone gives you sudden eager attention, they’re either a traitor or a bandit. Two of the most important figures of the palace are suddenly paying attention to me, so what exactly is the value that I possess?” said Mu Qing with a scoff.

  Ning Shu rubbed her forehead. The intense headache made it so that she couldn’t think. Mu Qing was someone without any value, so why would Liu Changqing set his sights on her?

  Or was it that Liu Changqing knew Mu Qing?

  However, Mu Qing hadn’t appeared in the original storyline at all so Mu Nichang had no memories of her. When she encountered Liu Changqing earlier today though, he seemed quite familiar with Mu Qing.

  Mu Nichang had thrown Liu Changqing into the cold palace. Since they were both in the cold palace, Liu Changqing and Mu Qing should’ve met.

  Then… Liu Changqing either possessed his memories from his last lifetime, or he could’ve been reborn.

  On the other hand, Liu Changqing was in charge of the entire inner palace, so it was quite normal for him to be aware that there was a child in the cold palace.

  However, Liu Changqing had never mentioned this child in front of Mu Nichang.

  Ning Shu’s headache was so bad she felt like her head was about to explode. She had a faint feeling that Liu Changqing had probably gone through a rebirth.

  It was unbelievable. How was messy enough to describe it? Mu Xue was likely a task-taker, Liu Changqing had probably gone through a rebirth, and it looked like both of them wanted to take revenge on her.

  Ning Shu suddenly felt that she had ended up taking the fall for Mu Nichang. Originally it had only been the question of a successor, but things had ended up this complicated.

  In particular, Liu Changqing’s seemingly caring and also unconcerned attitude made it impossible for her to figure out what exactly he was thinking.

  Mu Nichang had caused him and his daughter to end up with such miserable fates, so if Liu Changqing had been reborn with those past memories, he’d definitely do something in revenge.

  There was a need to speed things up. Ning Shu asked Mu Qing, “Do you recognize characters?”


  “How could a person like me who’s just doing all they can to fend off starvation recognize characters?” replied Mu Qing scornfully.

  Ning Shu’s expression turned cold. “Talk properly. Do you recognize characters?”


  Mu Qing bit her lips, her expression indignant. “I know a little.”


  “Come over here and read the memorial,” said Ning Shu.

  Mu Qing’s expression was shocked and confusion flashed across her face, but in the end, she obediently picked up the memorial and started reading. She stumbled over the words a lot and as she held the memorial, her forehead gradually became covered with sweat. After she finally finished reading with great difficulty, she closed the memorial and placed it on the desk.

  Ning Shu rubbed her forehead like her life depended on it. “What did the memorial say?”


  Mu Qing curled her lips in disdain. “This is a memorial a local official wrote to apologize for not having handed over the tax yet.”


  Ning Shu glanced at Mu Qing, then asked, “How do you think it should be resolved?”