The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Hongli nearly choked on his tea.

If Fu still argued vehemently, "Could it be that this blessing is too great for the palace to contain, and therefore some must be given away to other families?"

Hongli coughed, forcing down the tea he almost spat out, before frowning and saying, "After all, Jin is a tribute woman sent by the Yu family. She comes from a small country and has only been in the Qing Dynasty for a few years. It's understandable that she might not know our dynasty's rules and customs. If she believed a few rumors from the countryside, it wouldn't be fair..."

"She didn't know, and neither did Ruyi?"

Ruofu interrupted him bluntly: "Didn't you always say that Ruyi was well-read and exceptionally talented? How come now, with people like Jin Yuyan who can't even finish reading a thousand-character classic and spouts nonsense, you're believing even the claim that she's a son of great nobility?"

Hongli opened his mouth.

Ruo Fu became even more self-righteous: "Either you've wasted your time studying, or you already wanted to believe it, and what others said hit the nail on the head, so you don't even need to use your brain."

Hongli: ...

When Ruof saw that he didn't speak, he snorted and took the paper back from his hand.

People in the imperial harem and inner quarters always love to beat around the bush, splitting a single sentence into three layers. They might secretly wish the other person dead, yet verbally address them as "sister" or "brother," as if they'd go to great lengths for them.

She had learned this lesson the hard way in her past life, but she could never stand it and was too lazy to learn from it.

Is it right just because it's always been this way?

She insists on saying what she thinks and asking questions whenever she has something to say!

She is the Empress!

Managing the six palaces was her job. She could explicitly forbid the concubines from bribing palace servants, winning people's hearts, or spying on each other's whereabouts, and she couldn't allow anyone to use these methods to compete for favor or harm others. But that didn't mean she herself couldn't know what was happening in the six palaces.

She is the Empress!

Her people and informants were already clearly scattered throughout the palace.

They may not all be close confidants, nor do they necessarily need to eavesdrop on their masters' private conversations in bed. It's just a matter of which palace suddenly received extra medicinal herbs, which master called someone out at night, or which palace maid has been going out too often lately. These things should be kept under surveillance.

Especially Yanxi Palace and Qixiang Palace.

She will arrange things the same way for any new people who come in in the future.

With such a large harem and so many people, even if she knew what would happen in the next twenty or thirty years, she wouldn't dare to think she was truly invincible.

These women are not to be trifled with; if you miss a glance today, someone could lose their life tomorrow!

She not only had to keep an eye on things herself, but she also had to inform Hongli!

It's true that she was in charge of the six palaces, but these women were Emperor Hongli's women!

At least let him know whether the person lying next to his pillow every night is a human or a ghost, right?

However, this approach was utterly novel to Hongli.

Even when he was a prince, he knew that while the concubines appeared gentle and charming in front of their father, the emperor, they were secretly scheming and manipulative.

But Lady Fucha still surprised him.

She had people all over the palace, yet she didn't even bother to hide them.

Sometimes Hongli even found it absurd.

What empress could so openly and legitimately plant spies within herself to guard against the concubines in the six palaces?

But after the absurdity, I inexplicably felt...warmth.

She guarded against everyone, but not him.

She investigated everyone, but kept nothing from him.

Instead, she told him frankly that he was not the only one who wanted harmony in the palace. She was his empress and his legal wife, and he was the emperor and her husband. The Forbidden City was not just a deep palace, but also their home. How could the head of the family not know about the shady dealings and intrigues within the family?

They were confident and assertive, yet they held nothing back.

His empress was indeed different from others—

"That viper Jin Yuyan is just trying to stir up trouble in the palace! She might even be trying to pull me down from the Empress's throne so she can take it for herself!"

Ruofu was completely oblivious to the sudden change in Hongli's expression and the instant disappearance of warmth in his eyes. He continued, "This talk of a precious son is foolish, but it's also incredibly poisonous. If she were to actually make this a reality, it wouldn't just be Baige'er who would be affected in the future."