The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

After Ruofu finished speaking, he waited for a long time without receiving a rebuttal from the other person. Looking up with a puzzled expression, he realized that the other person's eyes were practically glued to his face. He couldn't help but frown: "If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you glaring at me like that?"

Hongli suddenly snapped out of his daze and realized that he had been staring at her absentmindedly. He immediately felt a little uncomfortable, but when he heard her words, he was so angry that he turned his head away angrily, but he still refused to back down: "You are not her. How would you know what she is thinking?"

Ruofu was immediately displeased: "I am also a mother, how could I not know? Let me tell you this, if she truly loves you and values ​​you more than her own life, then she will definitely think this way! If she regrets that these honors and riches of the Empress Dowager did not fall into her hands, and she is concerned that you could not give her these empty titles and honors, then she does not love you. You are just a stepping stone for her, not even a son! You choose for yourself."

Hongli opened his mouth, then fell silent.

He'd lost count of how many times he'd been rendered speechless tonight. After a long pause, he finally leaned back resignedly and said irritably, "Fine, fine, you win, you win. You're the only one in the world who understands a mother's heart best. What you said makes the most sense, okay?"

Ruof hummed softly, "That's how it is."

The couple finally calmed down.

It was very late at night, and it was quiet outside. Ruofu had just had a long sleep, but now he wasn't sleepy. He just felt an emptiness in his stomach, which must have been caused by the egg yolk that whetted his appetite.

She touched her belly and called out, "Zhaoying!"

Someone outside quickly responded.

Ruo Fu said, "Go and tell the kitchen to make a bowl of vegetarian noodles, something light."

Hongli said irritably, "I'm sitting right here, can't you see me? Why do you want a whole bowl?"

Before Ruofu could speak, he rushed outside and said, "Zhaoying, another bowl of shredded chicken noodles!"

Before he could finish speaking, with a thud, half a completely cold egg white landed squarely on Hongli's forehead.

Hongli: ...

"Chicken noodles?"

Before Hongli could react, Ruofu looked at him as if he'd seen a ghost: "You and your Qing Consort truly are childhood sweethearts. One of you dared to bring ham and chicken soup to the Empress Dowager in broad daylight while the late Emperor's body was still warm, and the other dared to specifically request chicken noodles in the middle of the night during the national mourning period. What, are you two afraid that the old man passed away too peacefully, and you have to wake him up from the underworld with the smell of meat?"

Hongli was about to get angry, but upon hearing this, he suddenly froze.

Ruofu continued his taunts: "Aren't you afraid that in the middle of the night, the old man will suddenly appear in your dream to test your knowledge, asking why you, his son, are already thinking about chicken after only a few days since he left? Or, if he's unhappy, he might just drag you down with him and say, 'Son, since you're so filial, come down and continue serving me!'"

Hongli felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had just woken up from a dream.

Good heavens, he's completely forgotten about it!

However, his guilty conscience only lasted a moment before he retorted decisively, "It was your wife's responsibility to oversee the serving of delicacies by the women. She was being inconsiderate; why didn't you stop her?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the other half of the egg white flew over and hit him squarely on the forehead.

Ruofu glared at me: "You still have the nerve to ask me! Can't you see how busy I've been these days? Funerals first, then the ladies of the court, hundreds of people in the palace asking me about eight hundred things a day! I have to stretch my tongue out to make sure I can speak properly! Asking her to cook a dish, am I supposed to rush over and peek inside to see if it's just greens and radishes or ham and chicken? Who knew asking her to deliver a bowl of soup would cause such a huge mess!"

She just forgot about that, so what?

It's wrong to serve meat, but no one died afterward, right? Compared to the Cinnabar Bureau or stillbirths, what's wrong with her forgetting this little thing? When she flipped through that scroll, she didn't see anyone specifically picking out that bowl of ham and chicken soup for Qingying to eat first.

Or, as Ruofu himself guessed, it was the ensuing death of Empress Ulanara that overshadowed this matter.

Either the people in the palace don't really take the rules seriously, they talk a lot about ancestral rules and etiquette, but when it comes to actually doing things, they're all more unruly than the last.

Or perhaps both!

Or... well, if you have too many lice, you won't be afraid of being bitten!

Anyway, Qingying did a lot of things that were against the rules, like she was going crazy. Once or twice, everyone was surprised, but after a while, they got used to it and just let her be.

If Fu begins to wander into the heavens.

Hongli could only say sullenly, "Alright, I was just saying it casually."

He then instructed Zhao Ying, who had come in, "We don't want the chicken noodles anymore; we'll replace them with vegetarian ones."

Zhao Ying suppressed a laugh and replied, "Yes."

Wang Qin had been standing hunched over by the side. Seeing the two pieces of egg white fall to the ground one after the other, he quickly squatted down to pick them up. The cold touch reminded him of the news that had come from Qingzhi Courtyard.

It is said that when Qingzhu was serving that bowl of ham and chicken soup today, the Empress Dowager deliberately made things difficult for her, so she kept holding the hot soup, and her fingers were scalded with blisters.

He originally intended to find an opportunity to say something, after all, the Emperor had shown Qingzhu some kindness over the years.

But now...

Wang Qin glanced at Hongli's forehead, then at Ruofu who was holding a teacup, and silently gathered the two pieces of egg white into his handkerchief.

Enough, enough, let's not cause any more trouble for the Emperor.

-

The next morning, in the Imperial Study.

The Empress Dowager leaned against the kang (a heated brick bed), sitting opposite Hongli across a small table.

"Does the Emperor know about Jingren Palace's passing?"

Hongli remained calm: "I understand. Qingying sent someone to report last night that Her Majesty the Empress died suddenly from grief and resentment."

"Died suddenly from grief and resentment..."

The Empress Dowager slowly repeated those four words, her eyes revealing no emotion: "Then, how does the Emperor intend to handle her funeral?"

Just as Hongli was about to reply, footsteps suddenly came from outside, followed by Wang Qin entering to report: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, Minister Zhang Tingyu requests an audience, saying he has important matters to report."

Hongli was silent for a moment, then said, "Summon."

Zhang Tingyu quickly entered, and after paying his respects according to protocol, he didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Your Majesty, the ceremony of bestowing the title of consort has just taken place, and that very night, Consort Jingren of the Palace suddenly died. The twists and turns of the matter cannot but cause much speculation. I implore Your Majesty to investigate the cause of death carefully to set the record straight."

The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes, a cold smile creeping across her face. Just as she was about to speak, Hongli's voice rang out from beside her:

"What twists and turns could there be?"

The Empress Dowager was taken aback.

Zhang Tingyu was also taken aback.

Hongli's expression was cold: "Back then, Father Emperor personally decreed that Ulanara be imprisoned in Jingren Palace, saying that they would never see each other again. She has been confined in the palace for all these years. Why didn't you, my beloved ministers, investigate and ask Father Emperor why he did this? Now that Father Emperor has only been gone for a few days, you all suddenly remember she is the Empress and can't wait to bring her out and honor her. What, now that Father Emperor is gone, all his words are no longer valid?"