The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Zhao Ying quickly lowered her head, pretending not to hear.

After washing and dressing, and having breakfast, Hailan came over as usual to report on palace affairs.

The rules are now mostly in place, and there aren't many things that truly require her personal attention each day. After Hailan finished speaking about the important matters, she dealt with them one by one. Suddenly, a young eunuch came in and reported, "Your Majesty, Xiao Luzi, who serves the First Prince, requests an audience. He says the First Prince has something to give to Your Majesty."

"Bring them in."

Xiao Luzi quickly entered the hall with his head bowed, performed the proper greetings, took out a tightly sealed brocade pouch from his bosom, and presented it with both hands: "The eldest prince instructed this servant to personally deliver it to Her Majesty."

Ruof was amused when he saw this.

"Look." She took the brocade pouch and waved it in her hand: "She doesn't trust me, she's afraid I'll mess things up again, so she's sent me this brilliant plan."

Several close friends in the hall couldn't help but laugh.

Ruo Fu opened the brocade pouch, took out the folded paper, and after reading only a few lines, clicked his tongue.

After reading it all, she handed the paper to Hailan and couldn't help but say, "I think nine out of ten of my cunning in this life has been given to this kid. I barely managed to keep the remaining ten percent for myself, but Hua'er and Ru'er didn't get a single bit of it."

Hailan took it and scanned it carefully, a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes.

"Fine, fine, let's do as he says." Ruofa added, "The sooner the better, to avoid dragging it out any longer. In two months my belly will be big, and I'll be too tired to even walk a few steps. Who will have the patience to fight with them every day?"

Hailan refolded the paper and smiled, "Your Majesty is too modest. How come I heard Consort Wan say that the First Prince's intelligence and quick wit clearly come from Your Majesty?"

Upon hearing this, Ruofu was overjoyed, but mindful of his status, he couldn't show it too obviously. After fidgeting for a moment, Ruofu laughed and scolded, "You think you're so smart!"

She couldn't help but smile, and her brows were full of smugness.

Hailan saw it all and found it amusing, but she pretended not to notice.

When she came out of Changchun Palace, she happened to run into Lianxin, who had already eaten breakfast and was preparing to go back to rest after her shift.

The two met face to face, and as usual, Lianxin greeted, "Sister Hailan."

Hailan responded and was about to walk over when her gaze fell on the woman's face, and she suddenly stopped in her tracks: "What's wrong? You look so pale?"

Lianxin was taken aback and subconsciously touched her eyes: "Maybe it's because I've been on duty all night, I'm a little tired."

Hailan looked at her for a while, not wanting to point it out on the spot, and simply said, "Since you're tired, rest today. I'll tell Zhaoying, and someone can take your place for a day or two."

Lianxin shook her head, opened her mouth, but hesitated to speak.

Hailan didn't urge her, but waited quietly. After a while, Lianxin's eyes suddenly reddened. She quickly lowered her head to wipe them, then gently pulled Hailan's sleeve and led her to a secluded corridor where no one passed by.

Lianxin then lowered her head and recounted in broken sentences what Wang Qin had said the night before.

Hailan's face slowly darkened, but she didn't immediately react. Instead, she looked at Lianxin and asked, "Are you really unwilling?"

Lianxin, who had been holding back, burst into tears upon hearing this: "Sister Hailan, let me be honest with you, I wouldn't even serve the Emperor, let alone him!"

Hailan was stunned for a moment, not expecting Lianxin to speak so bluntly.

But after a moment, her eyes softened even more: "Alright, if you don't want to, then you don't want to."

Lianxin couldn't help but look at her with anticipation.

Hailan said, "Don't be afraid, I have a plan. You were on duty all night, so go back and get a good night's sleep. Don't think about anything. Later, I'll have someone send you some things, and you'll understand when you see them."

She paused, her tone growing even more somber: "No matter what you choose, don't forget, we belong to the Empress. What is he? Does he even deserve to covet you?"

The heavy weight that had been pressing on Lianxin's chest all night seemed to lift instantly, and she quickly nodded with tears in her eyes, "By the way, Sister Hailan, he said last night that you probably won't be able to hold onto your position as aunt for long, and that I can't always rely on you. What does that mean? Could it be that someone is trying to harm you?"

A strange glint flashed in Hailan's eyes, but she remained nonchalant: "Regardless of what it means, since Her Majesty the Empress personally assigned me this task, as long as Her Majesty doesn't think I'm incompetent and doesn't want to replace me, then what others say doesn't matter."

Upon hearing this, Lianxin immediately nodded.

Only then did she truly feel at ease, bid farewell to Hailan, and return to her own room.

The palace maid had already prepared water for her. After a quick wash, Lianxin changed into a soft and clean nightgown. Just as she loosened her hair and was about to go to bed, there were two knocks on the door.

It was a young palace maid who had returned, carrying a long cloth bundle in her hands: "Aunt Hailan asked me to bring this."

"So fast?"

Lianxin took the pastries with a puzzled look, then gave the little palace maid a portion of pastries and sent her away.

Once she was alone in the room, Lianxin opened the cloth bag, and the first thing she saw was a silver hairpin.

The style was very ordinary, but the tip of the hairpin seemed to have been carefully re-polished, making it much sharper than ordinary hairpins. When held up by the window, the tip even emitted a cold light.

She paused for a moment, then looked at the second item.

"...A feather duster?"

Lianxin hesitated for a long time before suspiciously reaching out to take it.

His wrist suddenly dropped downwards.

Lianxin almost slipped out of her grasp, but quickly caught it with both hands, her eyes wide with surprise.

Good weight!

Unconvinced, she weighed it a couple more times and finally realized that this seemingly ordinary feather duster was actually stuffed with something inside the handle, making it heavy and substantial!

Lianxin looked at the unusually sharp silver hairpin in her left hand, then at the feather duster in her right hand, which was heavy enough to kill a chicken. Her expression gradually changed from bewilderment to realization.

What Sister Hailan meant...

Could it be?

(So ​​many lines, they all need to be laid.)