The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

An Lingrong saw the plant at Wei Lin's place.

That day, she went to the Imperial Hospital to get some medicine pills to aid digestion and strengthen the spleen for Princess Ningshou, and also to get some medicinal materials for making incense for herself.

Unexpectedly, Wen Shichu was called away from the front, leaving Wei Lin in the duty room to sort through a batch of newly sorted old medicines.

Wei Lin has made great progress in the past two years under Wen Shichu's guidance, and has become more mature. When he saw her arrive, he quickly stood up to greet her and then smiled and asked her to sit down for a while.

The withered grass was right next to Wei Lin. He had just picked it up and smelled it. When he stood up to bow, the faint medicinal fragrance wafted towards her again with his movement.

An Lingrong recognized it instantly.

That was the last trace of the Lingtai Fangcun incense, the most difficult to distinguish at the end.

She didn't show it on her face, and casually asked, "What's this?"

Wei Lin followed her gaze and smiled, "This? It's a Spirit Void Grass."

An Lingrong feigned realization and couldn't help but chuckle, "No wonder the smell seemed familiar. But most of the ones I see are ground into fine powder; it's rare to see them in their original form."

As she spoke, she reached out and picked up two more plants, examining them closely. She seemed quite satisfied with their appearance: "Give them to me. Sister Mei has been having trouble sleeping lately, and I was just thinking of making a calming incense for her. Since it's Lingxu Grass, it's perfect for her."

Wei Lin had no suspicions.

The medicine had just been taken from an old chest in the storeroom. There wasn't much of it, and it didn't look like anything precious. Besides, everyone in the palace knew about the relationship between Aunt Shen and her master. So she simply handed over the small wooden box along with the herbs inside, saying, "Aunt An, please take it."

An Lingrong smiled and thanked her, took the item, and without lingering, asked for other things before leaving.

She had just left when Wen Shichu returned from the front.

As soon as he entered, he casually rummaged through the things on the table, then, as if suddenly remembering something, asked Wei Lin, "Where's that old medicine I found in the storeroom a few days ago?"

Wei Lin was taken aback, then honestly replied, "Aunt An just took it."

Wen Shichu looked up at him: "Why did you give it away?"

Wei Lin was even more stunned, his face still showing some confusion: "But didn't you say that although the medicine still has some effect, it will spoil if it's not used soon? We've worked hard for half a month to organize the warehouse, just to bring those medicinal herbs that have been stored for many years but still have some efficacy back to the light of day, so that they won't be wasted?"

He added earnestly, "Especially these old medicines, which can be traced back to the time of the late emperor, should be used sooner rather than later."

Wen Shichu was speechless for a moment, because what he had just said was indeed his original statement.

For some reason, ever since he found that bundle of grass in the storeroom, he had felt a strange unease about it.

Its appearance and aroma look just like Lingxu Grass, but upon closer inspection, something seems a little off.

He originally intended to wait until he was finished with his work before pondering it carefully.

But just as this thought crossed his mind, someone came to invite him, saying that several young eunuchs had recently arrived at the west clinic, one of whom was suffering from severe abdominal pain and the other had developed a high fever, and they were waiting for someone to come and see them.

Wen Shichu had no choice but to swallow back the words he was about to say.

These days, the Imperial Medical Academy is no longer the leisurely place it once was.

Because of his two previous merits—one being the deduction of a prescription during the rampant epidemic two years ago, and the other being the discovery by Meizhuang that women around twenty years old are more suitable for marriage and childbearing—he was specially promoted by the Empress to the position of Vice President of the Imperial Medical Academy.

Although he is called the deputy head of the academy, everyone in the academy knows him. It's just that the head of the academy is highly respected and he is too young and inexperienced to suddenly take the top position.

Nevertheless, his current real power and prestige in the Imperial Medical Academy are not far from those of the Prime Minister.

Even the health checks of the Empress and the two young masters were specifically assigned to him.

But Wen Shichu was not satisfied with just that.

With Shen Meizhuang's help, he obtained an imperial decree from the Empress, requesting that a special outpatient clinic be set up in the Imperial Hospital for palace maids and eunuchs, ostensibly to explore more illnesses and improve medical skills.

From then on, palace maids and eunuchs no longer had to endure headaches and fevers; they could all go to the Imperial Hospital for treatment on their own.

For minor ailments, he would use his monthly allowance to buy medicine; but for difficult or complicated cases, he would use the money to give to the young doctors in the hospital to practice and broaden their knowledge.

As a result, the Imperial Hospital became busier day by day.

Even if Wen Shichu wanted to, he could only put aside the matter of that box of old medicine for now, and hurriedly led Wei Lin back into the chaos.

-

After An Lingrong brought the wooden box back to Yuqing Palace, she did not immediately hide away to examine it closely.

As usual, she placed all her things on the table in her room without even bothering to conceal them, and then immediately got up to continue with her work.

With the arrival of spring, the emperor and empress will travel to the south of the Yangtze River.

The Empress Dowager and Princess Ningshou will also go together, but the eldest prince Hongwei will stay in the capital to supervise the country and train with his two imperial uncles.

In this way, the clothes, sachets, medicines, and toys that Princess Ningshou wanted to take away had to be carefully packed and packed.

The entire palace was so busy that their feet barely touched the ground.

An Lingrong was even more like this; there were many things she needed to do herself to feel at ease.

That's why no one noticed that Lingdang had secretly sneaked into her room.

She came in very quickly, glanced around, first rummaged through the wooden box on the table, then through the several sachet boxes next to the dressing table, and then opened the box to look at the few small packets of spices pressed underneath.

But no matter how you look at it, all you see are the most common calming incense ingredients: Lingxu grass, spikenard, agarwood powder, mimosa flowers, and Poria cocos, which are all commonly used ingredients for calming the mind and soothing sleep. There is nothing special about them.

The bells gradually lost their appeal.

She had hoped that An Lingrong could find some new insights in those books, but after looking at them, she found only the most ordinary things.

She scoffed inwardly as she put the things back as they were as possible before quietly slipping away.

It seems it's time to tell the Fourteenth Prince that this storyline can be abandoned.

After all these years, so many masters of incense and famous imperial physicians have failed to find the answer. Could it really be that a nanny who came from a humble background could sense something strange?

-

At night, An Lingrong, as usual, bathed and changed clothes under the care of Baojuan.

The hot water dispelled the chill from her body, and a faint look of weariness appeared on her face.

Baojuan dried her hair and noticed that her eyelids seemed heavy. She felt sorry for her and said softly, "Auntie, you've been working so hard these past few days. Please rest early. Tomorrow morning, I'll have the kitchen make you a pot of almond tea. It's your favorite, and it'll help soothe you."

An Lingrong leaned against the soft pillows and gently hummed in agreement.

Her response was indistinct, as if she were really very sleepy. After a while, her breathing gradually became even, as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Baojuan tucked the blanket around her, blew out the two lamps outside, and then quietly slipped out.

The door closed, and everything became completely quiet.

About fifteen minutes later, An Lingrong, whose breathing had been steady, slowly opened her eyes.

She didn't say anything, but sat up, put on a thin robe, got out of bed, and walked barefoot across the thick carpet. She quietly walked to the table and picked out the herb from a pile of spices.

In the dim light, she held the plant to her nose, closed her eyes, and smelled it carefully, again and again.

It is not the Spirit Void Grass.

Although the plants and their scents are extremely similar, almost identical.

She was so convinced that if she hadn't had an extraordinary sense of smell, she probably would have been fooled by it too.

No matter how similar they are, they are still just similar.

The aroma of Lingxu grass is soft and lingering, sweet with a warm note, and clean in the base.

This plant is different.

Beneath that almost indistinguishable warm and sweet aroma lies a faint, subtle, and almost imperceptible bitterness.

Ordinary people would never notice it.

But An Lingrong happened to smell it.

She held the blade of grass, her brow furrowing slightly.

What exactly is it?

She thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't come up with an answer.

In the end, he had no choice but to put his things away again, go back to bed, lie down, and stare at the top of the tent until the east began to lighten. Only then did he doze off for a while, half asleep.

The next morning, she got up as usual, dressed, washed, and ate breakfast without delay.

Several third-class palace maids took turns coming in to serve her, but An Lingrong didn't even look at them. Instead, in front of them, she instructed Baojuan to put away the spices and wooden boxes on the table, her voice very calm: "Put all of these back in the box for now. We can sort them out in detail when the princess leaves and has more free time."

Baojuan agreed and indeed put those things away one by one.

And so the days passed by.

As the weather gradually warms up, the ice in the Imperial Garden melts away, and the willow branches slowly sprout tender green leaves.

The day for the Emperor and Empress to travel to the south of the Yangtze River has finally arrived.

This time, the Emperor and Empress took almost all the women and young children of the Nian family with them.

Ever since Nian Gengyao changed his former arrogance, voluntarily relinquished his military power, dismissed several of his most sycophantic and troublemaking subordinates, obediently guarded the city gates for a month, personally handed over a memorial of apology to the emperor, and later staged a scene in the Golden Palace that left the entire court dumbfounded—

After the drama of "there was no discord between the ruler and his subjects, but a petty person stirred up trouble. Now the misunderstanding has been cleared up and trust is even stronger than before."

Not only was Nian Gengyao reinstated to his original position, but the emperor and empress also treated the Nian family with even greater favor than before.

This time, when the emperor and empress left the capital, they even left Nian Gengyao behind, giving him control of the capital's military camp.

Anyone with eyes can see that this clearly means that the three most important responsibilities—protecting the palace, the capital, and the country—have been handed over to him.