The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

The main hall of Cining Palace.

The Empress Dowager sat at the head of the table, her expression revealing neither joy nor anger.

Hongli sat on the left, having completely suppressed the anger he had accumulated in Yanxi Palace, leaving only a deep, cold look in his eyes.

Ruo Fu sat on the right. Because she was pregnant, she had two thick, soft pillows behind her. Her clothes were more formal than usual, but she still looked unhurried.

The three most prominent masters of the Forbidden City have all arrived today.

When Ruyi, kneeling at the lower end, raised her head, this was the first thing she saw.

The Empress Dowager remained calm, Hongli watched coldly, and Lady Fucha, with her slightly protruding belly, sat there upright. Her face showed no fear as a defendant, but rather a hint of anticipation for a good show.

Ruyi's heart sank.

Rong Pei was kneeling beside her, her hair was disheveled, one cheek was high and swollen, and the palm print was very obvious.

Next to her was Hailan, whose appearance was no less striking than Rong Pei's. Her clothes were even rumpled in one place, indicating that the two had clearly had a fierce fight before arriving here.

Yuan Xin knelt a little further away, her face pale, but her hands were obediently placed in front of her knees, and she didn't dare to raise her head.

The Empress Dowager glanced at everyone and slowly spoke, "I summoned the Emperor and Empress here today because someone from Consort Xian's entourage came to me, claiming that someone is plotting to harm the imperial heir, and that the mastermind is pointing directly at the Empress. Empress, do you have anything to say about this?"

Ruofu said quite frankly, "Your Majesty, I naturally cannot admit to something I did not do. But since someone dares to pin such a serious crime on me, they must have some witnesses and evidence. I have nothing to fear, so Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly in front of all of us today, so that this matter is not swept under the rug and then brought up again in two months, saying that I used my pregnancy and clever words to cover up the truth, even managing to get away with the serious crime of plotting against the imperial heir. How can I then sit in the Empress's Palace and gain the trust of the six palaces?"

The Empress Dowager smiled with satisfaction and nodded, saying, "As expected of the Empress, she has extraordinary bearing and far-sighted vision."

After praising her, the Empress Dowager's gaze fell on Ruyi below, and her eyes turned colder: "Since Consort Xian has come to me, I will give her this opportunity. Today, no matter how much evidence you have, present it all. If the Princess has truly committed the crime of harming the imperial heir, I will not tolerate her. But if the investigation turns out to be nothing more than baseless accusations and fabricated charges... then no one will bear the blame for your crime of falsely accusing the Empress."

Ruyi pursed her lips.

Hongli then spoke calmly, "This concerns the Empress's reputation, so we must be cautious. I will trouble Your Majesty today."

After saying this, she turned to Rong Pei and said, "Just now you kept saying in front of me that the person was caught red-handed and the evidence was conclusive. Now that everyone who should be here has arrived, you can start from the beginning."

Rong Pei had been waiting for these words, so she immediately straightened her back and pointed to Yuan Xin not far away, saying, "Your Majesty, this servant must accuse the Empress of instructing Yuan Xin to secretly replace my mistress's fertility-enhancing medicine with contraceptive medicine, causing my mistress to be unable to conceive for so long. Today, Yuan Xin secretly took the problematic medicine to the Imperial Hospital and met with Aunt Hailan, who serves the Empress, which this servant witnessed with my own eyes. There is both witness testimony and physical evidence; this is not a baseless accusation!"

As she spoke, she picked up a handkerchief containing medicinal herbs.

Fu Jia personally accepted it and presented it to the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager glanced at it only once before saying, "Qi Ru, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, has been waiting outside for a long time. Summon him."

Qi Ru quickly entered, and after bowing, she was led by Fu Jia to a table to the side.

The packet of medicinal herbs, along with the prescription, was laid out on the table. He examined them one by one, then picked up a few herbs and smelled them carefully before turning back to report:

"Your Majesty, the Emperor, and Your Majesty the Empress, the ingredients in this prescription are mostly mild and nourishing. Some women in the common folk who are weak and have difficulty conceiving use this to regulate their qi and blood in order to conceive, hence it is commonly known as the 'pregnancy-supporting prescription.' However, it is not a magic medicine that can guarantee pregnancy. As for the herbs that were sent today, I have examined them. Except for one herb which is of slightly inferior quality, there are no ingredients that can prevent pregnancy or harm the body."

Rong Pei immediately said, "But what if the order of decoction is changed? If someone deliberately decocts one or two ingredients first or last, or decocts them for a longer or shorter time, wouldn't that turn this medicine for promoting pregnancy into a medicine for preventing childbirth?"

Qi Ru laughed and said, "Aunt, that's absolutely impossible! Ordinary medicines naturally have different order of decocting and cooking time. If the decoction is not done properly, it will indeed reduce the efficacy of the medicine. For some medicines with special properties, the wrong order may also change the effect. However, the herbs in this prescription are mainly for warming and nourishing, and their properties are mild. Even if the cooking time is slightly off, at most the efficacy of the medicine will be reduced, and it will not achieve the expected warming and nourishing effect. There is absolutely no reason why a warming and nourishing prescription could suddenly become a medicine that prevents pregnancy and harms the body just by changing the order of ingredients."

Rong Pei's confident expression suddenly froze.

Qi Ru thought for a moment, then added, "I'm afraid the old woman has heard too many strange and unusual stories."

Ruofu finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Rong Pei's face flushed crimson instantly, and she abruptly sat up straight: "Nonsense! What Imperial Physician? I think you're clearly a quack! Either you're not skilled enough to tell, or you've been bribed by someone! Your Majesty, I request that another imperial physician be summoned to examine her. This Qi Ru is clearly—"

As she spoke, she glared fiercely at Ruof, but before she could finish her sentence, her shoulder suddenly felt heavy.

Before anyone could even see what happened, there was a dull thud, and Rong Pei was pulled back to the ground by Hai Lan, forced to kneel down, and her forehead slammed heavily against the floor tiles!

Hailan pressed one hand on her shoulder and the other on the back of her neck. Her usually gentle face was now devoid of any smile: "The Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress are all seated above. You, a mere servant, dare to point your finger at the head of the Imperial Medical Academy and curse him, and even dare to glare at the Empress like that. You truly are the most unruly person from Yanxi Palace! You can't produce any evidence, yet you resort to tantrums!"

This sudden turn of events left everyone in the hall stunned.

For some reason, Hongli's eyelid twitched violently, and he inexplicably recalled some old events, and his forehead seemed to ache faintly.

Fu Jia was the first to come to his senses and hurriedly said, "Hailan, one must not be rude in front of the Empress Dowager."

Hailan then released her grip, knelt down again, and bowed her head to plead guilty: "This servant was afraid that she would harm Her Majesty the Empress, and in a moment of panic, I disturbed the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress. Please punish me, my masters."

The Empress Dowager didn't get angry. She just glanced at her and said, "Alright, although you were a bit reckless, you know how to protect your master. Kneel back down."

After saying that, he turned to Fu Jia and said, "Since she doesn't believe Qi Ru's one-sided story, then go and invite the two imperial physicians again."

Fuga accepted the order and left.

Rong Pei was already seeing stars from Hai Lan's earlier fall, and now, upon hearing these words, her eyes were filled with even more resentment, yet she dared not get up and act recklessly again.

The Empress Dowager showed no intention of keeping everyone waiting idly. Her gaze shifted and landed on Yuanxin: "The imperial physician won't be here for a while, so I'll ask you first. Rongpei said you were instructed by the Empress to secretly switch Consort Xian's medicine. Do you admit it?"

Yuanxin immediately bowed and kowtowed, replying quickly, "Your Majesty, this servant does not admit it! This servant has served you since childhood. Although I only formally entered the palace with you later, I know the principle that if you are good, I am good. If you are not good, what benefit can a servant like me gain? If I really harm you and prevent you from having children for the rest of your life, even if Your Majesty the Empress promises me mountains of gold and silver, I must be alive to spend them."

The Empress Dowager neither confirmed nor denied, but only asked, "And what's the matter with this packet of medicine today?"

Yuanxin took a deep breath: "Yesterday, I personally went to the Imperial Hospital to collect this batch of medicine. According to the rules, it was inspected in front of the imperial physician and the pharmacy attendant. After signing and sealing the document, it was brought back to Yanxi Palace. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it at the time. Today, when it was time to brew the medicine, I took out the herbs and found that one of them was the wrong color. After I informed Aunt Rongpei, she instructed me to quickly send it back to the Imperial Hospital to be replaced. That's why I brought the medicine out."

I happened to run into Aunt Hailan on the way. Following palace custom, I bowed to her, but after only exchanging a few words, Aunt Rongpei suddenly rushed out with her men, accusing me of having an affair with Aunt Hailan, and without further ado, she bound me.

Hailan scoffed and said, "It's not just you, she's going to tie me up too."

After speaking, Hailan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, according to palace rules, I must go to the Imperial Hospital every ten days to check the medicine requisition registers for the six palaces. Today, I met Yuanxin because of this, and it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision or a hasty meeting. I was accompanied by Granny Zhuang and Chunying from the Imperial Household Department at the time, and they can testify for me."

After hearing this, the Empress Dowager looked at Qi Ru and asked, "Does Hailan check the registers every ten days?"

Qi Ru bowed and said, "Your Majesty, yes, this rule is known to everyone in the Imperial Medical Academy."

Just then, Fu Jia led in two imperial physicians, one over sixty years old and the other Jiang Yubin.

After the two examined the medicinal herbs and prescription, the Empress Dowager did not allow them to elaborate, but only asked, "Is what you saw the same as what Qi Ru saw?"

The old imperial physician and Jiang Yubin exchanged a glance and bowed in unison: "Your Majesty, what we have seen is no different from that of Imperial Physician Qi. Although the efficacy of this prescription can be diminished due to improper decoction, there is absolutely no way that changing the order of the heat can turn it from a tonifying prescription into a contraceptive medicine."

Rong Pei's face instantly turned pale.