The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Ma Qi didn't speak, he just listened quietly.

Fulton pondered for a moment: "His Majesty does have other sons. Although the Fifth Prince Hongzhou was born to a mother of low rank and has a wild and unruly nature, he was not favored by His Majesty in the past, just like the Fourth Prince. But he is still a prince. It's just that the Fourth Prince is luckier. He has the sudden rise of Consort Xi, who is deeply favored by the Emperor, but she has no sons. She went to great lengths to adopt the Fourth Prince and planned for him for many years, which is why he is where he is today."

"Now that the Third Prince has finally fallen, the Fourth Prince is the only candidate. But if we want to follow the same path and create a Fifth Prince, it will be as difficult as climbing to heaven."

First of all, it would be difficult to find a second concubine like Consort Xi, who could win the emperor's favor and dominate the harem, yet have no children.

Secondly, how could someone like Consort Xi stand idly by and watch others repeat her path, or even surpass her?

Furthermore, Hongzhou's temperament is too unrestrained, and he has a reputation for being dissolute. If we truly want to elevate him to the position of heir apparent, we must first cleanse him of this reputation in a short period of time. But reputation is something that is easy to ruin, but difficult to restore.

Ma Qi finally smiled slightly: "That's right, so what do you think we should do?"

Fulton narrowed his eyes.

"My son means to promote the Fifth Prince, but not truly to him; just to create a false impression. Without a whetstone, if everything goes smoothly, how will he ever understand the precious loyalty of our Fucha family?"

"Of course, we can't do this openly. If someone with such a narrow mind finds out that we're targeting him, he'll definitely hold a grudge and seek revenge."

"So you have to sabotage them secretly, and then help them openly."

"Give them a beating in the dark, then offer them a treat in the light."

"Make him understand in his heart that he can't get by without the Fucha family. But on the surface, make him feel that only we are loyal to him and are the relatives he should rely on the most."

Upon hearing this, Ma Qi finally nodded repeatedly.

He couldn't hide the joy in his eyes as he looked at his eldest son.

"Let's do it that way."

He slowly folded the note, placed it on the candle flame, and lit it, letting the flames devour it inch by inch.

"It's up to you now. Don't let me down."

Fulton cupped his hands in apology: "Yes."

-

The imperial decree for the marriage has been issued.

If nothing unexpected happens, Fu will be the primary consort of the Fourth Prince Hongli, while Qingying of the Ulanara clan will be the secondary consort, and Gao will be a princess.

When the imperial edict was delivered to the Fucha family, Lady Jue Luo almost burst into tears of joy.

Even though she knew the matter was mostly settled, she couldn't feel at ease until the imperial edict was issued. Now that the bright yellow imperial edict was in front of her and the people sent by the Imperial Household Department were in place, she finally felt a sense of relief.

The entire household was immediately bustling with activity: the dowry had to be checked, the clothes and jewelry had to be tried on, and the rules and etiquette had to be relearned.

People from the palace would come over to ask questions from time to time, and the Imperial Household Department staff would come in waves, keeping Lady Gioro extremely busy every day.

The months of wedding preparations were both agonizing and flew by.

August 1st arrived in the blink of an eye.

Under the joyful, tearful gaze of Lady Jue Luo, and amidst Fu Heng's wailing cries, Ruo Fu, dressed in full regalia according to her rank, holding an apple, boarded the bridal sedan chair and was carried into the Prince Bao's mansion with music and fanfare.

The wedding ceremony includes welcoming the bride at the door, stepping over a fire basin, bowing to heaven and earth, and escorting her to the bridal chamber.

The matchmaker spoke many auspicious words, the curtains were sprinkled, and the wedding scale was lifted by the bridal veil.

Suddenly, my eyes lit up.

If one did not look up, one would see Hongli.

Today, Emperor Hongli was dressed in a bright red wedding robe. His already handsome features were made even more striking by the candlelight, which made him appear even more noble.

He looked at her, and was visibly taken aback.

Empress Fucha was undoubtedly extremely beautiful, as radiant as a peach blossom, dignified yet bright, and with an irrepressible vivacity.

Hongli's heart skipped a beat, but the next moment, he remembered everything that had happened recently.

Ever since the imperial decree of marriage was issued, he almost always had to bow to the Fucha family whenever he was on official business. They were always humble and polite, treating him with great courtesy and handling everything perfectly. As long as he asked, they could handle anything without fail.

But every time he helps out, he has to say something like, "We're family, so let's not be formal. Just give my regards to the princess when you get back."

...as if he wouldn't deserve these things if he didn't marry this Fucha woman and become the Fucha family's son-in-law.

Sometimes, in the dead of night, he couldn't help but wonder whether it was he, a nobleman, who married the daughter of the Fucha family as his wife, or whether it was the precious daughter of the Fucha family who took him as her son-in-law.

For this reason, he sometimes really wanted to stay as far away from the Fucha family as possible!

But the current situation doesn't allow it!

The Third Prince has fallen, but recently, many people have been contacting Hongzhou, showing that they look down on him and want the Emperor to choose another heir.

The political climate in the court is constantly shifting, and the one he really can't afford to offend right now is the Fucha family.

However, the feeling of knowing he was being manipulated but having no choice but to endure it still caused most of the romantic feelings that had risen in Hongli's heart to dissipate.

When the matchmaker brought out the nuptial wine, and the two leaned in to drink, Hongli looked away, his face indifferent.

The matchmaker said a lot of auspicious words before leading everyone out. When only the two of them were left in the room, Hongli glanced at Ruofu.

"You've had a hard day, Madam."

His tone was relatively gentle, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "The guests are still here, I'll go and greet them first, and I'll come back later."

Ruofu didn't say anything, just quietly watched his receding figure.

The door opened and closed, leaving only candlelight in the room.

Ruof couldn't help but scoff.

"Photograph."

Zhaoying, who was waiting outside, immediately came in: "Princess... no, Madam."

Ruo Fu gave a wink in the direction of the incense burner.

Zhao Ying's face immediately turned red, but she still obediently took out a small paper packet from her bosom, walked to the incense burner, and her fingers trembled as the powder reluctantly fell to the ground.

"Put less."

A slow, leisurely voice came from behind.

Zhao Ying's hand trembled, and seeing that most of the powder was about to fall out, she quickly closed the paper package: "Yes, yes."

Ruofu instructed, "A fingernail's worth is about right. This is my first time getting married, so if you put in too much, I'll be the one who suffers later."

Zhao Ying's face turned almost blood red, and she responded in a low voice, "Oh, oh!"

Seeing her guilty look, Ruofu couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Silly girl, what's there to be afraid of? I didn't poison him."

She sat down at the dressing table and slowly removed the hairpins from her hair: "Speaking of which, this is a kind of fun between husband and wife. When you get married in the future, I will give you some more."

Zhao Ying nearly dropped the paper package in her hand into the incense burner.

"Madam!"

Ruofu was amused by her embarrassed and anxious call and laughed: "Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore."

She raised her hand to rub her neck, which ached from the weight of the phoenix crown: "Serve me while I bathe, and then remove the red dates and longans from the bed; they're uncomfortable."

Zhao Ying hurriedly agreed and fled as if she were escaping.

Before long, Shen Guang returned as well.

Her expression was also somewhat embarrassed. After entering the room, she bowed and said in a low voice, "Everything has been taken care of, Your Highness, please rest assured."

Ruo Fu nodded in satisfaction, smelling the sweet fragrance slowly spreading in the room, and got up to take a bath in a very good mood.

On their wedding night, he wanted to quit, using the excuse of being drunk to avoid the bridal chamber and look at his beloved wife's face, planning to go and fawn over her another day.

Let him dream big!