Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 396 Absurd! Absurd!!

Tao's eyes flickered slightly, sensing that the time had come.

Her and Lou Suyi's goal was to lure Consort Ning over. If Murong helped her improve the environment of the Cold Palace, and if Consort Ning was the real culprit, she would definitely come to the Cold Palace to find out the truth.

Seeing that Tao's expression had softened, Murong continued to threaten, "If you don't talk, I'll take your life right now!"

Tao pretended to think for a moment before replying, "Actually, it's not that I can't say it, but Her Majesty the Empress might be shy and asked me not to tell His Majesty..."

Murong interrupted her impatiently: "Get to the point!"

Tao blurted out, "Your Majesty came here only to ask this sinful woman what His Majesty did when he visited the Cold Palace the last few times. In this sinful woman's opinion, Your Majesty may be concerned about His Majesty, or perhaps she is jealous."

Murong frowned upon hearing this: "You're not lying?"

He and Su Yi did have a disagreement about visiting the Cold Palace. At the time, he wanted to use Tao Shi to test Su Yi's reaction, but he did not tell Su Yi why he came to find Tao Shi.

Su Yi made a special trip to the Cold Palace because of this matter. Is it because she has started to care about him?

"This guilty concubine dares not." Tao lowered her head, not daring to look at Murong, for fear that the emperor would see through her guilty conscience.

She and Lou Suyi are conspiring to take advantage of His Majesty.

But since things have come to this, we can only grit our teeth and see it through.

"And how did you answer?" Murong asked in a deep voice.

"This humble woman didn't dare tell the truth. She only said that His Majesty came here to ask her some questions. Her Majesty the Empress didn't seem to believe her, but she didn't press the matter. Before leaving, Her Majesty the Empress also said not to let His Majesty know that she had been to the Cold Palace, and this humble woman agreed," Tao Shi replied cautiously.

Her concern was that Murong might go back on his word and fail to lure Consort Ning into the trap, so she pressed, "Your Majesty promised this sinner, you won't break your promise, will you?"

Murong's eyes flickered slightly. If Su Yi cared about his visit to the Cold Palace, could he take this opportunity to test Su Yi again?
Having made up his mind, he calmly said, "I am the ruler of a country, and naturally I will not break my promise."

Not long after Murong left the Cold Palace, someone sent her many good things.

The commotion was so great that the entire harem knew the Cold Palace had become lively. Rumors even began to circulate that Empress Tao might be reinstated.

This matter naturally reached Lou Suying's ears as well.

Everything was just her speculation; she wanted to know if her probing would catch the fish.

On the very day the Cold Palace was being improved, Murong arrived at Xianfu Palace.

To make the performance more realistic, Lou Suyi took the initiative to ask about this matter.

Murong naturally hoped that Lou Suying would be jealous, but seeing that she was only curious and not jealous, he was somewhat disappointed.

Since she doesn't care about him, why should she care what he's doing in the Cold Palace?
"After all, she is the child raised by my elder sister. I don't want to go too far." Murong couldn't quite describe the feelings in his heart.

Lou Suyi breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought His Majesty had really taken a liking to the Tao family."

Now that we've come to this point, let's leave this topic behind.

On the contrary, the rumors in the harem were getting worse. Consort De, who loved watching the drama, went to the Cold Palace to find Lady Tao as soon as possible.

Tao's ambiguous response, without giving her an answer, only fueled her curiosity.

Before leaving, she said to Tao, "Just wait, Consort Ning will definitely come to you to ask what happened."

Tao smiled noncommittally: "Consort Ning is not what Consort De thinks. You don't need to sow discord between this criminal and Consort Ning." Consort De sneered: "That's true. You've been sent to the Cold Palace, so you won't be of any use anymore."

Next, Lady Tao was waiting for Consort Ning to come to the Cold Palace, and Lou Suying was also waiting for Consort Ning to go to the Cold Palace.

But as the days went by, Consort Ning made no move.

Over time, Tao realized that everyone, including Lou Suyi, had misjudged her; Consort Ning was not using her as they thought.

Not to mention that Tao Shi gradually lowered her guard against Consort Ning, Lou Suyi was also wondering if she had chosen the wrong person to suspect, and that the real mastermind was not Consort Ning.

And so, the rumors in the harem gradually disappeared with the passage of time, and in the blink of an eye, it was July.

The environment in the Cold Palace had improved considerably, and there were even books for Tao to pass the time. Just then, Consort Ning, who had not appeared for a long time, suddenly showed up.

Upon seeing Consort Ning, Lady Tao's expression was somewhat bewildered. It turned out that Consort Ning wasn't refusing to come, but rather waiting until the situation had calmed down; this was Consort Ning's cautious nature.

Seeing her like this, Consort Ning teased, "It's been a while since I've seen you, little sister. Don't you recognize me?"

Then she had someone bring over some daily necessities.

Tao then realized what was happening and exclaimed with delight, "Your Majesty has arrived?"

Consort Ning looked at the environment of the Cold Palace and found that it was indeed much better than before: "Yes, I thought it had been a while since I had seen my sister, so I came to see if there was anything she needed. But seeing how comfortable she is, it seems that I have gone to unnecessary trouble."

"No way! I will remember Your Majesty's kindness to this humble woman for the rest of my life. In the harem, it's common to kick someone when they're down, but it's rare to receive help in times of need." Tao's face clearly showed her happiness.

Consort Ning observed Tao's expression: "Did something happy happen to you, little sister?"

Tao quickly composed herself, suppressing her smile: "Seeing Your Majesty is the happiest thing. However..."

Seeing the smile fade from her face, Consort Ning asked in confusion, "What is the relationship between you and me, sister? You might as well speak your mind."

Tao hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "It's nothing, perhaps this sinner is just overthinking things."

Seeing her conflicted expression, Consort Ning asked seriously, "Sister, please speak frankly with me. In this palace, the only person I value most is you."

Tao was still conflicted, shaking her head and saying, "Let this sinner think about it some more. Perhaps it's just that this sinner is overthinking things."

Seeing that she was still unwilling to speak, Consort Ning took her hand and said earnestly, "Does my sister treat me like an outsider? My sister is the one I trust the most, and I hope that my sister will not hide anything from me."

Tao and Consort Ning exchanged sincere and warm glances. After hesitating for a long time, Tao finally said, "Actually, this matter is just my guess. Perhaps I'm just overthinking it..."

Under Consort Ning's earnest gaze, she finally spoke: "This sinner suspects that His Majesty desires to be with the Empress for life, and His Majesty... may disband the harem."

Upon hearing this, Consort Ning's pupils constricted, and her expression changed instantly.

This was also the first time that Tao had seen such a clear change in emotion on Consort Ning's face.

Therefore, Lou Suying truly had Ning Fei's Achilles' heel. Even the supposedly serene and composed Ning Fei had moments of utter disarray.

Previously, she didn't understand why Lou Suyi wanted her to deliberately reveal this matter to Consort Ning, but now she understood that this was the best way to break Consort Ning's defenses.

Consort Ning must care about Murong, otherwise she wouldn't have lost her composure like this.

“Absurd! Absurd!!” Consort Ning’s lips trembled slightly, her voice unsteady.