The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Jia Yulan tiptoed into Zhang Bihua's room.

She has been here many times.

Zhang Bihua was young and had a charming and innocent personality. She loved to tell everyone about any new gadgets the palace gave her, any new embroidery patterns she learned, or even what kind of fruit she ate, whether it was good or bad.

She never felt anything was wrong when she entered this room, and even the little palace maids guarding the door would just smile and call her Instructor Jia when they saw her.

But today, every step she takes feels like walking on a knife's edge.

The room was empty. Under the window was a small table with needles, thread, scraps of cloth and colored thread scattered on it, as well as a little rabbit that was not yet finished.

The little rabbit was no bigger than the palm of my hand. Its body was already sewn up, but one of its ears was crooked, and one of its eyes was a black bead while the other was not yet sewn on. It looked clumsy yet cute.

When Jia Yulan reached out to pick it up, her fingertips paused for a moment.

Suddenly, the image of the little princess's innocent and carefree face appeared in her mind.

Jia Yulan's fingers trembled.

The packet of powder in his sleeve suddenly felt incredibly heavy.

But it only lasted a moment.

Soon, she remembered someone else.

Thinking back to the days when we were so close, to the marriage certificate that was almost finalized, and to the cruel twists of fate that led to a wasted life.

A lifetime... there should always be a way to stay together.

Jia Yulan closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, the hesitation in her eyes was gone.

She gritted her teeth, opened the not-yet-sealed opening on the back of the plush rabbit, took out the packet of powder from her sleeve, and gently sprinkled it inside.

Not many, really not many.

She told herself that.

Jia Yulan rearranged the doll, put the needles, thread, and scraps of cloth back in their original places, and carefully checked everything to make sure no traces were left before quietly preparing to leave the way she came.

But as soon as she turned around, she froze.

Zhang Bihua stood quietly at the door, her clear black and white eyes fixed on her.

His eyes were filled with disappointment.

-

The Kunning Palace was eerily quiet.

The imperial physician knelt to one side, carefully placing the disassembled plush rabbit on a tray, and then presented the examined powder.

Langhua sat upright at the head of the table.

"Your Majesty, this substance... is reed pollen."

Langhua's hand, which was resting on the armrest, suddenly tightened.

I couldn't help but think of my past life, that cloth tiger, and that quilt.

In this life, she doesn't know if her child still has the same frailty and illness as in the previous one. Perhaps yes, perhaps no. After all, Jingning, who died young in the previous life, is now the healthiest child, able to run and jump. Although he has had a few fevers, such as when he was teething or when the weather was unpredictable, he has always pulled through and is very strong.

Yonglian, whose name was changed to the first year, was only a month old.

She originally wanted to wait until the children were older so that she could personally take them to the back garden and help them identify the flowers, plants, and trees one by one.

It's best to figure out early on what you can and cannot touch.

But before that, she had already informed the entire palace of the name "reed flowers".

Under no circumstances shall you enter the Kunning Palace!

You must never appear near princes or princesses!

Even now, some people are still reaching out to her right under her nose.

Langhua slowly raised her eyes and looked at Jia Yulan kneeling below the steps, her gaze colder than ever before.

"Jia Yulan, what are you doing?"

Jia Yulan pressed her forehead to the ground, and her whole body trembled.

"Your Majesty, please understand. I was momentarily blinded by greed. I was just... I was jealous that Lady Zhang, who is younger than me, is favored by Your Majesty. I thought that if she made a mistake, Your Majesty might not value her as much anymore, and I would have a chance to take her place..."

She choked back a sob, as if filled with deep regret: "But this servant had absolutely no intention of harming the princess and the young prince! This servant spilled very little, truly very little, certainly not enough to take anyone's life. This servant was just confused, just momentarily jealous, please, Your Majesty, spare my life!"

Zhang Bihua stood to the side, her eyes already red.

Langhua sneered, "Even now, you're still trying to deny it to the death?"

Jia Yulan's body stiffened.

Langhua didn't look at her again, but turned to Zhang Bihua instead, her tone softening: "Bihua, get up. This matter has nothing to do with you, you don't need to kneel."

Zhang Bihua bit her lip and stood up with tears in her eyes.

Langhua then raised her hand.

Soon, Ah Chang brought in a young palace maid.

The young palace maid was about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a slender waist and still somewhat childish features; she was clearly a student of music and dance. Upon entering the hall, she turned pale with fright, knelt down with a thud, and didn't dare raise her head.

Langhua said calmly, "Tell me everything you know."

The young palace maid's voice trembled, but she dared not conceal the truth: "Your Majesty, every ten days when I leave the palace to return home, I help Instructor Jia pass messages to someone outside. I really don't know who that person is, and what I pass isn't a letter, just a few words."

She glanced at Jia Yulan furtively, then immediately lowered her head again.

"It's always the same thing, a few days later, at the same place, or at the same time. I thought it was just a few words, nothing like leaking information from the palace, so... that's why I helped."

She became increasingly flustered as she spoke, repeatedly kowtowing: "This servant only knows that every time Instructor Jia hears the news, he would request leave from the palace on that day. This has been the case for many years. It's only because Your Majesty later established a new rule forbidding palace servants from changing shifts or taking leave without reason that it has become less frequent. This servant truly doesn't know anything else, please, Your Majesty, spare my life!"

The hall was deathly silent.

The color drained from Jia Yulan's face little by little.

She opened her mouth, still trying to struggle: "Your Majesty, that was just an elder in my family. He was kind to me in the past, but now he's old and in poor health, needing to take his medicine on time. Sometimes when he doesn't have money to buy medicine, he'll send someone to tell me, and that's why I—"

Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud slap!

Ah Chang stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face.

"You shameless hussy, you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin! You call yourself a mistress, you say you're a mistress, you say you're passing messages out, and you even dare to fabricate some relatives or elders out of thin air to glorify yourself!"

"Filial piety? You, who have been a mistress to a married man for nearly ten years, don't deserve it!"

Jia Yulan suddenly looked up, her pupils contracting sharply.

The next moment, a booklet was thrown in front of her.

Jia Yulan only needed one glance to know that she was completely doomed.

She no longer cared about appearances, crawled forward on her knees, and kowtowed heavily.

"Your Majesty, spare my life!"

"It is all my fault, no matter how many mistakes I have made. I am willing to die to atone for my sins. I only beg Your Majesty to spare his life."

She kowtowed until her forehead bled, and her voice was filled with anguish.

Langhua simply watched quietly. After a long while, she softly said, "If I were just a woman, perhaps I would applaud your devotion. Perhaps I would sigh with pity for your persistence, and even shed a few tears."

"But I am also a mother. You disregard the lives of innocent children and the safety of my children for your own selfish reasons. I cannot tolerate you."

Jia Yulan's face was deathly pale.

Langhua continued, "I am still an empress. You are in the inner court, and he is in the imperial court. You have been scheming and colluding with each other, and you have even extended your reach to the imperial heir. This matter is no longer just a private affair, nor is it just a minor mistake in the inner court."

"This is an obstacle to the Song Dynasty's rule."

"I, the Empress, cannot tolerate this."

Langhua closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, there was no hesitation in them.

"Jia Yulan plotted to harm the imperial heir, had an affair with a foreign official, and leaked palace secrets."

"To be beaten to death."

"The entire family, including three clans, will be implicated."

"As for Xia Song, the matter will be decided by the Emperor."

Jia Yulan's vision went black, and she almost fainted.

Zhang Bihua suddenly stepped forward at this moment, her face still wet with tears, but her expression was surprisingly stubborn.

"Your Majesty, Bihua requests permission to oversee the execution."

Langhua hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

"allow."

The execution site was located in a secluded courtyard.

The palace servants came and went silently, and the canes and boards were already prepared.

When Jia Yulan was taken away, her legs were weak. It turns out that when death is imminent, it is really hard to be carefree.

She saw Zhang Bihua follow her in, and her lips trembled.

"Bihan".

Zhang Bihua stopped in front of her.

Jia Yulan looked at her and said softly, "I didn't want your life. I really didn't expect... that little bit of pollen wouldn't have put the little princess in any danger. At most, you'd just be scolded for not taking good care of her..."

Then he lost the Empress's favor.

What she really didn't expect was that her relationship with Xia Song would be discovered.

That's why she had to die.

Zhang Bihua looked at her quietly, then suddenly asked, "You've been encouraging me to seduce the Emperor and become a concubine, not for my own good, have you?"

The expressions on the faces of the palace servants around them all showed something unusual.

Zhang Bihua, however, only stared at Jia Yulan: "You want to raise me to be someone who can oppose the Empress, don't you?"

"Since I entered the palace, has all your kindness towards me been for this reason?"

Jia Yulan remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a soft sigh.

"Yes, and not entirely. I still hope you find a good future."

Zhang Bihua sneered, "Isn't that Xia Song a promising prospect? Why don't you marry him? Is it because he already has a wife? Does he love his wife like the Emperor loves the Empress? If not, why don't you marry him?"

Jia Yulan suddenly couldn't speak.

With tears welling in her eyes, Zhang Bihua continued coldly, "You yourself are a proud person, unwilling to lower yourself to be a concubine, unwilling to compete for that meager affection, yet you come to persuade me, insisting that I go between the deeply affectionate Emperor and Empress, and claim it's for my own good."

She took a step back.

The last vestige of intimacy in their eyes has finally shattered completely.

"How ridiculous!"

Zhang Bihua did not close her eyes when the cane fell.

She stared intently, her eyes wide open, even as tears blurred her vision.

She watched as Jia Yulan slowly lost her breath, and the gentle and reliable Granny Jia, whom she had even secretly called "Mother," also died away little by little.

She cried very hard.

But from beginning to end, he never uttered a single word of pleading for Jia Yulan.