The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

When the news of the Empress's deposition reached the Wang family, Wang Ruoyu was taken aback.

Immediately afterwards, as if she were on fire, she jumped up, lifted her skirt, and ran towards the Queen Mother's courtyard.

"Mother! Mother!"

She rushed in, her face beaming with an astonishingly bright expression.

"Has His Majesty truly deposed the Empress?"

When the Queen Mother saw her like this, she immediately understood. She raised her hand and tapped her forehead, ruthlessly shattering her delusions.

"She's been deposed, but it's not your turn yet."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruoyu immediately objected.

"Mother! What's wrong with your daughter?"

The Queen Mother glanced at her from head to toe, her tone indifferent.

"It's bad in every way."

"Mother!"

Wang Ruoyu became increasingly dissatisfied, her face turning red.

The Queen Mother looked at her, sighed softly, and said patiently, "An empress must be a model for the world, manage the harem, and advise the emperor. This cannot be achieved simply by relying on family background."

She had already put it very tactfully.

In her view, her eldest daughter was not entirely without merit; she was intelligent and her judgment was not necessarily bad. However, she was too sharp-tongued, prone to tantrums, and impatient, easily wearing her emotions on her sleeve.

Even becoming a mistress of an ordinary noble family requires several years of training, let alone someone in such an extremely prestigious position.

The best arrangement for her eldest daughter was to choose a promising man from among her husband's students—someone from a wealthy family, ambitious, but not of high social standing. Ideally, he should rely heavily on her family for his future. This way, her daughter would be respected after marriage, and with her personality, she could live a peaceful and dignified life.

A queen?

She dared not even think about it.

Moreover, if we really want to talk about it, the most important thing for a queen is virtue, a dignified and steady character that no one outside can find fault with.

Ideally... it should be the kind that's already well-known.

Thinking of this, the Queen Mother suddenly had a thought, and looked up to ask her mother beside her:

"Where is Third Sister?"

The mother hurriedly replied, "The third young lady left early this morning. Judging from her attire, she must have gone to the orphanage."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruoyu immediately scoffed, "Here we go again, always putting on an act."

The Queen Mother turned back to look at her, her eyes filled with disappointment: "If you were even half as composed as your sister, I might actually be able to fight for that prestigious position for you."

Wang Ruoyu felt the fire in her heart burn even brighter, and blurted out, "If Mother won't help me, then you mustn't help her either!"

The Queen Mother made a gesture as if to raise her hand to hit her.

"Who do you think your mother is? Even if she were the reincarnation of the Empress Dowager, she wouldn't dare claim to be worthy of this title again!"

Although she said that, she didn't give a definite answer like she definitely wouldn't help.

-

Inside the Chuigong Hall, Zhao Zhen looked up from the piles of government affairs, his expression one of habitual sullenness.

The empress is now useless.

The pent-up frustration that had been building up in my heart for years was finally released, and I could finally let go of a small part of it.

However, what followed was a series of serious memorials from the court officials urging him to choose another empress, saying things like the country cannot be without an empress for a day, and that leaving the empress's position vacant is not a long-term solution.

Zhao Zhen flipped through the documents one by one, finding them increasingly ridiculous.

Those names all suited their tastes perfectly.

But none of them had asked him what he thought.

So, when choosing an empress, should we choose a wife for him, or find him a prime minister who can be by his side day and night, advising and disciplining him at all times?

As he thought about it, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

But the more I felt this way, the more frustrated I became.

A moment later, he closed the folding book and stood up.

"Change my clothes, prepare the horse. I want to go for a walk outside the palace."

One hour later.

Zhao Zhen stood at the entrance of the orphanage and gave himself a bitter laugh.

By the time he turned twenty-three, he had left the palace very few times.

I was looking for a place to relax, but in the end, this was the only place I could find.

Isn't that absurd?

He originally intended to turn around.

Before they could even take a step, a familiar voice suddenly came from inside, carrying the bright and joyful tone unique to children.

"Brother Li Liu!"

Zhao Zhen turned around.

It was a gold ingot.

The child, panting from running, brightened up when he saw him, and became even happier when he saw Zhang Maoze beside him.

"I recognize you!"

He pointed at Zhang Maoze, his tone full of excitement.

"You were the one who came last time, bringing us so many things, including fabric!"

Zhang Maoze was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and quickly cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to him.

Yuanbao, however, had no time to talk to him. She reached out and tugged at Zhao Zhen's sleeve, her face beaming with joy.

"Brother, you've come at the right time. Sister Wang San is taking us to play outside the city today."

He tilted his head back, his eyes sparkling.

"Would you like to come along?"

Sister Wang San?

Zhao Zhen's heart stirred, and he looked up, only to meet Lang Hua's gaze.

The young lady was still dressed in very ordinary clothes, but this time she also wore a white gauze veil, covering herself completely.

But Zhao Zhen inexplicably recalled those clear and peerless eyes from their first meeting.

Langhua bowed, her voice soft and gentle even through her veil.

"I was just about to take the children for a walk in the countryside and pick some wildflowers to make sachets. Madam Chen and the other ladies have recently taken on some work and can't look after them all right now. If you'd like to come along, that's fine. If not, that's also no problem."

This statement couldn't be more proper, measured, and graceful; no one could find fault with it.

But Zhao Zhen felt a strange sensation.

For an unmarried young woman to directly invite a young man to a marriage proposal would, in principle, seem somewhat frivolous and presumptuous.

It seems like... seduction.

Despite her impeccable manners, she kept her face completely covered.

This only made him seem more thoughtful and cautious.

You're just being presumptuous.