The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Since that encounter at the apricot grove, several subtle gazes have quietly appeared around the Zhen residence.

Of course, Seventeen was the first to make a move.

A young person's feelings cannot be hidden.

Besides, they all grew up in the deep palace, and everyone has the ability to read people's expressions. He had witnessed the first encounter between the fourth brother and the beauty that day. How could he not know that behind that absurd impersonation was a blatant covetousness?

Therefore, after he returned and learned that Zhen Huan was not yet betrothed, he immediately took action—

They bought the house to the left of the Zhen family's residence and had people guard the gate day and night.

Whenever Zhen Huan went out to offer incense, he would ride his horse and follow far behind.

If Zhen Huan went to the bookstore to look for books, he would sit by the window in the teahouse next door, taking the pretense of sipping tea to secretly glance at her, or instruct Ah Jin to buy the same book, which he would read all night without sleeping, write down a hundred words of his thoughts, and carefully put it in a box.

...His diligence was far greater than when he was vying for his father's attention in the Imperial Study.

Once the preparations were nearly complete, he boldly began to take it a step further!

One day, it was drizzling.

A light drizzle was falling, and Zhen Huan was in high spirits. In the pavilion of her own garden, she played the zither in the rain. The zither music was melodious and beautiful. Just as she finished half of the piece, a flute melody came from outside the wall, perfectly matching her tune.

The song ended, but the feeling of wanting more lingered.

Zhen Huan looked thoughtfully at the top of the wall, and Liu Zhu, seeing this, kindly volunteered to go and investigate.

She returned with a beaming smile: "Miss, it's that Prince Guo, and his personal attendant is currently sitting outside the side gate, against the wall!"

Zhen Huan was both annoyed and amused, but she couldn't help but smile.

One day, as she was writing by the window, a letter arrived uninvited and landed on her desk.

Upon opening it, she found it contained reviews of several articles. At first glance, the articles seemed familiar, but upon closer inspection, she realized they were from books she had been reading recently.

My first instinct was to let go of him and not fall for this lecherous man's tricks.

I felt a little reluctant to leave.

These insights, though superficial, are not without their novelty.

Although she inherited her father's love of reading, she was still a daughter, and there was a natural distance between her and her father.

The latter was also busy with official duties, so even if she gained some insights while studying, she couldn't easily ask her father for advice, and there was no one else she could share them with.

Looking at this letter now, it's hard not to feel a sense of novelty.

Even knowing that private exchanges would give others cause for gossip, I still couldn't help but read the letter from beginning to end.

When I see the last line, I would like to ask the young lady for her handwriting corrections.

Unable to contain his literary pride and desire to debate with others, he simply strolled to his desk, picked up his pen, and wrote a reply.

The next day, his reply arrived. Contrary to Zhen Huan's expectations, it was not full of praise and compliments. Instead, it was a much sharper critique, which refuted her two points one by one with numerous classical references.

Zhen Huan was not angry at all; instead, her eyes shone even brighter.

I wrote a second reply.

In this way, before they knew it, the two had become close friends who shared their love of literature.

Zhen Huan didn't say it, but she gradually began to make plans in her heart.

The man was handsome and of similar age to her. Although he spoke somewhat rashly, the sincerity in his words was undeniable.

Compared to...

That Prince Yong was much stronger.

Huanbi: "Miss, that old man... Prince Yong sent someone over with something—a fine flute, which looks quite extraordinary."

Zhen Huan said calmly, "I have no right to receive a reward without merit. Go back."

Regardless of age, Prince Yong had already married, with a principal wife, secondary wives, and likely many concubines and maids. Although she was not considered a lecherous person compared to others, she was ultimately unwilling to have such a relationship.

Put yourself in others' shoes.

She wants a devoted man, but what woman wouldn't want the same?

With so many men in the world, why should she seek out someone who is already the devoted husband of another?

Moreover...

She always felt that when they first met in the woods that day, when that person's gaze fell on her, it was as if he was looking at someone else.

-

Prince Yong's Mansion.

Yinzhen sat in his study, looking at the brocade box on the table in front of him, listening to Su Peisheng's report that the Seventeenth Prince and Lady Zhen had even started exchanging letters. His face was so gloomy it could drip water.

That's enough.

He gave a cold order, and Su Peisheng's report came to an abrupt halt.

The room was eerily quiet.

Suddenly, Yinzhen raised his hand, and the newly acquired tea set on the table fell to the ground with a crash, shattering into dust.

Su Peisheng was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.

Yinzhen stood up and strode out, heading towards the backyard, towards Yixiu's quarters.

-

"The Seventeenth Master played the flute outside the Zhen residence all night yesterday, saying it was to help Miss Zhen sleep."

"Miss Zhen had a bowl of throat-soothing soup sent out this morning."

Yan Zhi leaned back on the soft couch, a faint smile on his lips, and waved his hand, dismissing An Ying.

She would listen to the story about these three people every three to five days, just to pass the time.

As for Yinzhen...

There's no rush.

Spiders need to spin silk and weave webs before they can hunt.

Even if the prey is caught, you have to wait for it to struggle slowly.

The harder you struggle, the more it will hurt.

The suffocating feeling of impending death is all the more intense.

Besides, she had other things to do.

-

The Imperial Study.

Behind the screen, Yan Zhi sat upright at his desk, dipped his brush in ink, and copied down Zhang Tingyu's explanation of the way of being a ruler.

Outside the screen, Fifteen sat upright, listening attentively to the lecture.

Zhang Tingyu paced back and forth in front of his desk while explaining aloud.

Occasionally, when my gaze falls upon that screen, a complex mix of emotions arises in my heart.

Like him, the emperor was appointed to the throne during a time of crisis.

When the late emperor was alive, he never considered him, nor did he give him the necessary experience. Now that he has ascended the throne, if he does not make up for it, let alone become a wise ruler, he will have a hard time even becoming a qualified emperor.

Fortunately, the new emperor, though young, was ambitious and took the initiative to ask him and other Grand Secretaries to take turns teaching him, showing a sincere attitude of wanting to make up for all the lessons he had missed in the past.

He and his other courtiers were naturally pleased, for having such a studious and ambitious new emperor was a blessing for the country.

No matter what.

The new emperor may have a thousand advantages, but there is one thing he is not—

He insisted on dragging the Empress to the Imperial Study to attend classes with him, even if what they wanted to learn was the way of governing a country and being a ruler.

The court officials who knew about it had all vehemently opposed it, and he argued his case by citing classical texts and reasoning with them.

But the Emperor only replied to them with one sentence: "I am used to having the Empress accompany me when I study. With her by my side, I can achieve twice the results with half the effort."

He added, "If you refuse, then I will not learn it; I won't understand it anyway."

Zhang Tingyu was speechless.

He was one of only two regents, and the burden on his shoulders was extremely heavy.

Only by helping the emperor grow up as quickly as possible can we live up to the late emperor's entrustment.

Fine, let them listen if they want. What good will it do for a woman in the deep palace to hear it?

But over the past few days, he has gradually sensed something was amiss.

There were some things that, when explained the first day, the emperor clearly only had a vague understanding of and did not quite comprehend.

He had no choice but to go home and spend the whole night thinking about how to come up with a more profound and easy-to-understand explanation, which he planned to deliver the next day.

To everyone's surprise, when he returned the next day, the emperor had already grasped the essence of the text and could even offer some insightful observations that surprised him as well.

Once or twice, he simply assumed that the emperor was exceptionally intelligent and quick to understand.

But after a while, even someone as dense as him could see it—

The truly gifted and quick-witted ones are clearly someone else entirely.

Although a sense of apprehension arose,

But more than anything, it was a love for talent.

If such a woman can wholeheartedly assist the emperor, how can the country be unstable?

"That concludes today's lesson." Zhang Tingyu closed his book, bowed, and said, "Your subject takes his leave."

He nodded at fifteen, as if relieved.

Zhang Tingyu intended to turn around and walk out, but halfway through, he turned back.

He bowed respectfully to the screen.