The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Ruofu waited a moment, but still received no response. He looked up and couldn't help but frown slightly.

Gao Xiyue, who had been drinking tea with her head down, couldn't help but raise her eyes now.

Fucha Zhuying sat the furthest away, still with her head down, but she also sensed that something was wrong.

Everyone followed Ruof's gaze.

Qingying sat in the chair, looking somewhat dazed, staring blankly at Ruofu, lost in thought.

A'Ruo's expression changed slightly, and she quickly and secretly tugged at her sleeve.

Qingying then came to her senses.

She paused for a moment, then said calmly, "I have Aruo, that's enough. I've been going to the palace often since I was a child, and I know all the rules there by heart. I don't think the rules in this Prince's mansion are much different, so there's no need for you to worry about it, Madam."

There was a moment of silence in the hall.

"Really?"

Ruofu didn't immediately lose his temper, but calmly said, "Let me make this clear from the start. In this mansion, the front courtyard is where the Prince conducts business and receives guests, and I won't interfere. But since the back courtyard has been handed over to me, it must be run by my rules. I'm generally a soft-hearted person, but I absolutely cannot tolerate those who lack respect for hierarchy and act insubordination. These rules, once set, are meant to be followed. Anyone who dares to knowingly violate them will not be spared!"

Qingying paused slightly.

Before she could speak, A'Ruo couldn't help but interject, "Our mistress has been in the palace since childhood. What rules hasn't she seen? Even the palace matrons can't find fault with our mistress, so why would she need anyone else—"

"Slap him in the face."

Ruof didn't even lift an eyelid.

The hall fell silent suddenly. Before anyone could realize what had happened, Zhaoying had already stepped forward.

"Snapped!"

Aruo covered her face and turned her head away, her eyes blurry with tears.

"Madam!"

Qingying immediately stood up and shielded Aruo behind her: "Madam, Aruo was just eager to protect her mistress and spoke a little too quickly. She did not mean to offend you."

Ruof finally looked up at her: "She just said in front of everyone in this room that the person I sent wasn't qualified to teach you manners. Isn't that offensive?"

Qingying pursed her lips: "That's not what she meant."

That's not what she meant, and that's not what you meant either.

Ruof suddenly chuckled, but the laughter didn't reach his eyes: "Why is it that the words spoken by you masters and servants never truly reflect what you mean?"

Qingying's face was a little pale, but she still stood straight.

She shielded A'Ruo behind her, her eyes filled with a restrained yet resolute expression, as if she were not protecting a maid who had spoken out against her mistress, but rather making a crucial sacrifice that she had to make.

"If Aruo is wrong, I will go back and teach her myself."

Qingying said in a low voice, "If the Princess Consort has any grievances, just come at me. There's no need to use a servant girl to establish your authority."

Ruof was taken aback at first, then laughed in exasperation: "I'm not happy?"

She leaned forward slightly and asked with interest, "How come you guessed what I was thinking without me even knowing what I was thinking? Then tell me, what's bothering me?"

Qingying lowered her eyes and said softly, "Some things are better left unsaid, as it's best to keep them to ourselves. It's not a pleasant sight for anyone to say them out loud. I only have one piece of advice for you, Consort: the past is the past. Now that you are the primary consort, I have never thought of competing with you, nor do I wish to put Brother Hongli in a difficult position."

After a pause, Qingying added, after careful consideration, "You really don't need to use those methods that disregard Brother Hongli's health to compete with me."

The hall fell silent instantly, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Gao Xiyue's eyes gradually widened.

She glanced at Qingying, then at Ruofu, and silently raised her teacup slightly, obscuring half of her face.

Ruo Fu was stunned for a full two breaths before asking incredulously, "You mean, I'm deliberately targeting you because of what happened during the talent show?"

Qingying frowned slightly: "I didn't say that."

"Then explain it clearly!"

Ruof's voice suddenly rose: "Has half your tongue been ripped out, or has someone hit half your head? Your speech is so hesitant and unclear; it's infuriating!"

"You just said that I was unhappy but couldn't confront you, so I could only use your maid to establish my authority, is that right?"

She slammed her hand on the table.

"Alright! Someone, prepare the paddle!"

Ruo Fu stared coldly at Qing Ying: "If you can't give me a clear explanation today, I'm really going to teach this girl a lesson, and I'm determined to establish my authority!"

Qingying's eyes gradually reddened, but she turned her face away and refused to say anything more.

His stubborn and silent demeanor suggested that he had been forced into a state of unspeakable suffering.

Ruofu, enraged, immediately pointed at Aruo and shouted, "Drag her out and give her ten strokes of the cane!"

Zhao Ying immediately turned around and called for help.

A'Ruo's face turned deathly pale. She knelt down with a thud and grabbed Qingying's hem, crying, "Master!"

Qingying finally grew anxious: "Why is Your Highness so aggressive? I've said it before, I never intended to compete with you. The Prince and I have only known each other since childhood, and this bond has always been there. It doesn't cease to exist just because I don't mention it. What belongs to Your Highness is naturally yours, and I have never thought of taking it away. But what belongs to me is not something that others can take away as they please."

Qingying's voice trailed off as she continued, "So it's best if you avoid using methods like those from yesterday, Your Highness. Brother Hongli's health is ultimately the most important thing..."

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound echoed throughout the main hall.

Qingying's face suddenly turned to one side.

Aruo screamed, "Master!"

Ruo Fu withdrew his hand, his chest heaving slightly, and coldly looked at Qing Ying: "The prince hasn't even entered your tent yet, but he's already broken at your doorstep. You have the nerve to use such favor to stab me?"

Gao Xiyue's teacup trembled violently, and the tea nearly spilled on her.

She pressed her lips tightly together to keep from choking out.

Qingying slowly raised her hand to cover her face, her eyes empty and blank, and a large tear fell down.

"You just wait and see!"

Ruof said with a cold laugh, "No matter what kind of relationship you had with him in the past, you have to consider your status before me."

"You are a concubine, and I am the primary wife. Just one word difference makes me inferior!"

If you continue to use the prince's favor towards you to say things like "it belongs to you" or "no one else can take it away" in front of me, your primary wife, that's insubordination!

"I sent people to your courtyard to fill the vacancy with a head maid according to the rules of the manor, not to plant someone to monitor you. Both Consort Gao and Consort Fucha brought their people, but you were the only one who said you didn't need them."

"What, are you the only one who's different?"

"Your servant publicly offended your mistress, saying that the person I sent was not qualified to teach you manners. Instead of restraining her, you accused me of using this opportunity to establish my authority and settle personal scores."

Ruo Fu sneered.

"That's right, you do understand the rules."

"You feel that you have a special relationship with the prince, so the rules of this manor don't apply to you."

Qingying's voice trembled: "I never thought of it that way."

Ruof slammed his hand on the table again: "I don't care what you think, I only care about what you did and what you said!"

"If you truly remember the rules of the palace, you should know even more clearly what a crime it is for a concubine to allow a servant to talk back in front of the primary wife!"

Qingying bit her lip and didn't say anything more.

Ruo Fu rolled her eyes at her and said to herself, "You'll have to take her back eventually. Since she's the head maid I assigned to you according to the rules of the Prince's Palace, she'll be in charge of the accounts, income and expenses in your courtyard from now on. If you don't use her, that's your own business, but she deserves her status, monthly allowance, and dignity, and no one can be deprived of that."

She then looked at Aruo: "Aruo has publicly offended the mistress of the house. She is to be fined three months' salary and kneel in the main courtyard corridor for one hour. If this happens again, she will not be spared!"

Qingying took a deep breath: "A'ruo misspoke because of me, and I am willing to take the punishment for her."

"It's her fault, she has to bear the consequences herself."

Ruof coldly replied, "You have your own fate to bear."

Qingying's eyelashes trembled slightly.

Ruofu continued, "As a secondary consort, you indulged your servants' insubordination and even used the Prince's name to suppress me in the main hall, speaking rudely and showing no respect for hierarchy. You are to be punished with a month's allowance and sent back to copy the manor rules ten times. You may come to pay your respects again only when you have fully understood them."