Zhao Xu made a sound of agreement, left his clothes in the hands of the maid, and took his leave.

  As soon as he left, Consort Zhuang released a long sigh and patted her heart in relief. She turned her head, puzzled, and asked, “And that fragrant sachet?”


  “Don’t worry about it,” Ning Shu said indifferently.

  “That Noble Lady Zhou…” Consort Zhuang still couldn’t figure out why Noble Lady Zhou would poison Zhao Xu. “Well, there’s no need for concern now. If His Majesty says that she’s an assassin, then she is.”


  Ning Shu looked at Consort Zhuang. “Perhaps Noble Lady Zhou truly did have an elixir.”


  “What?” Consort Zhuang was bewildered.

  Ning Shu left the Jade Court. It seemed as though she wouldn’t get much sleep tonight.

  She had originally planned to make a move-to make the rumor of Noble Lady Zhou being a fox spirit sound more credible.

  She just didn’t expect Zhao Xu to make a move first.

  Ning Shu suspected that Zhao Xu desired the supposed elixir of immortality and eternal youth.

  Never underestimate an ancient emperor’s fanatical pursuit of immortality. Qin Shihuang, the first emperor, made his court necromancer, Xu Fu, look for an elixir as well. Many emperors took pills, though they ended up dying earlier instead.

  The more beautiful Noble Lady Zhou became, the more she seemed like a celestial being. Anyone with eyes would notice the changes.

  When you love someone dearly, their oddities would be subconsciously overlooked: the faults of a lover ignored. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

  But the current Zhao Xu wasn’t in love with Noble Lady Zhou. The women in the inner palace were all the same to him. Even if Noble Lady Zhou was special, Zhao Xu could discard her and switch over to other women, if it benefited him. There was no difference.

  The inner palace wasn’t a harmonious place. Not only did people of the same sex fight, but so did those of opposite sexes. When clinging on to the emperor, one must also outwit the emperor himself.

  When Ning Shu returned to the Palace of Prolonged Autumn, she stretched her neck as she said to Qiu Ling, “Remove all these things from my head.”


  “Yes…”


  Meanwhile, Noble Lady Zhou found herself escorted to a dark room by the imperial bodyguards. This room had a single window barely large enough to fit a head through, and oil lamps that spilled dim light across it.

  Whatever was inside was obscured.

  “Get in.” Noble Lady Zhou was thrown into the room.

  She grabbed the metal bars and started shouting. “Release me! I want to see His Majesty! I was wrongly accused!”


  Noble Lady Zhou shouted with all her might but received only her own echoes in response. The acoustics made her surroundings seem even more gloomy and frightening.

  Noble Lady Zhou’s complexion was deathly pale and her expression was one of terror. “What should I do? What should I do…?”


  “System! System! Please say something! Tell me what to do…” Noble Lady Zhou crouched down, her head in her hands.

  The favored concubine system said, “You’re simply useless.”


  “You must save me! We’re in the same boat. If something happens to me, you’ll have gained nothing from this either.” With her face twisted into a mask of fright, Noble Lady Zhou shouted, “Quick! Think of a way out!”


  “Who says we’re in the same boat? If I squander a bit of my energy, I can break away from a useless person like you. I’ve seen so many hosts but you were the most brainless. Sure enough, modern people are different from the ancients,” The favored concubine system grimly said.

  Noble Lady Zhou was completely dumbfounded. The system wanted to abandon her? How could it? If the system abandoned her then what should she do?

  “No, no! You can’t-you can’t leave me!” Noble Lady Zhou held her head and half-shouted, “I’m begging you, don’t abandon me… I’ll do whatever you want! I’m begging you.”


  The favored concubine system didn’t respond. Noble Lady Zhou’s terrified heart shrank. “If you abandon me, I’ll reveal your secret.”


  Translator: Kiara