After becoming pregnant, the cold-hearted nobles all went mad.

Although Granny Du's home was rather simple, the tea served was of the finest quality, Biluochun, with a sweet aftertaste.

"I left the palace to get married seven years ago. With the Empress Dowager's help, I managed to grow a few acres of meager land and my life was passable. But a year ago, something happened in my family and I was left all alone. Fortunately, the Empress Dowager still remembers me and occasionally sends people to the palace to help this old woman."

As she spoke, Granny Du opened the box, revealing a thick layer of gold leaves and a stack of silver notes.

No wonder Granny Du can still afford to live like this even though she's all alone.

Du Mama looked at her again and said, "Since you are favored by the Empress Dowager, I am naturally happy to help her."

Inside the Shou Kang Palace, the Empress Dowager rested her forehead on her hand and closed her eyes.

Rong Xin extinguished the incense in the incense burner to avoid the strong fragrance disturbing the mind, leaving only a faint smell of medicine in the hall. She bent down and said, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager didn't want the second daughter of the Shen family to enter the palace before, so why did you still promote her and send her to Granny Du's place?"

The Empress Dowager sighed and asked in return, "Did you hear anything from the Emperor's side yesterday?"

Rong Xin fell silent. Last night, Zichen Palace called for water three times. How could Shou Kang Palace, which was in the same palace, not hear it?

The Empress Dowager's dark circles under her eyes are likely due to lack of sleep.

Last night, she called Rong Xin to her side. The two of them couldn't understand why His Majesty would take a fancy to someone so much younger than himself. It wasn't that no one had been chosen for him. There were all sorts of women, from plump to slender, from good families and skilled in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Which one hadn't been sent to him?

He refused to take it, packed it up without even looking at it, and sent it home.

The Empress Dowager's head throbbed with pain at the thought, and she clutched her chest, asking, "Tell me, how did he come to take a liking to that young girl?"

Rongxin, the old nanny, thought to herself, "Your Majesty, if you ask me this, I dare not answer. Who in the entire palace would dare to gossip about His Majesty?"

The Empress Dowager waved her hand, ordering a palace maid to remove the medicine that had been brought out. Seeing that Rong Xin seemed hesitant to speak, she said, "It's an old ailment that won't be cured by medicine. What's the point of drinking it? Take it away, so my mouth doesn't taste bitter."

After everyone left, she added, "Even if I don't want her to enter the palace, the Emperor has already taken her. Can I just cover my ears and refuse to listen or my eyes and refuse to see?"

"Pei Heng is a good man. I know his temperament is not like what people say. It's rare to have someone to accompany him. I've come to terms with it."

Rong Xin quietly accompanied the Empress Dowager, and the palace was serene.

Granny Du is truly remarkable. Although she teaches etiquette in the palace, she knows a little about everything. Take tea brewing, for example; she knows exactly when to prepare the tea, the timing, and the technique.

Shen Lingyi felt she had learned a lot of clever ways to deal with people, and she subtly used herself as an example to ask: "If an elder is biased, and you know that person is a bad one, but she is really good at pretending, and everyone believes her, what would the nanny do?"

Du Mama glanced at her, not taking Shen Lingyi's little scheme to heart. Instead, she thought Shen Lingyi was quite perceptive. The Empress Dowager had sent her to find her, wasn't it because she wanted her to teach Shen Lingyi more?

She didn't hold back at the moment: "Then let's think of a way to let people see her true colors."

Shen Lingyi suddenly had an idea when she thought about the upcoming spring hunt.

She also subtly inquired about some palace gossip, especially about the one in the Cold Palace.

Previously, Granny Du had answered all questions without hesitation, but this time her expression changed, and she asked sternly, "Where did you get this information from?"

Shen Lingyi then recounted how she had accidentally encountered the mad concubine in the palace.

Du Mama's expression changed several times. After hesitating for a while, she finally said, "That is His Majesty's aunt. She is the sister of Empress Dowager Dexian, but she is a despicable person. There's nothing to say about her."

After saying that, she didn't want to talk about it anymore, and she also told Shen Lingyi to remember to stay far away from that person in the Cold Palace.

After returning home, Shen Lingyi asked someone to retrieve the cloak that Shen Tingjiao had lost. In fact, she had already retrieved it yesterday, but she couldn't see anything special about it, so she simply ignored it.

The mistress and servant were staring intently at the cloak. Peony felt like she was staring a hole through it, but still couldn't see anything. "Miss," she said, "is there something on this cloak that you have to stare at so intently?"

"I just feel that Shen Tingjiao's insistence on throwing away this cloak was too deliberate, and don't you think there's a strange smell about it?"

Peony lowered her head to sniff, and after a while, she raised her face blankly. She couldn't smell anything. She said, "Miss, please describe the smell."

Shen Lingyi couldn't quite describe it; it just felt very familiar, like she'd smelled it somewhere before, but she couldn't quite place it.

The two had no choice but to give up, carefully put away the cloak, and then discussed for a few more minutes what Granny Du had said.

In the end, Shen Lingyi gave up the idea of ​​going to the Cold Palace to find out what was going on. She was curious about the past events of the previous dynasty, but she didn't want to gamble with her life.

Moreover, this matter is clearly something that Pei Heng finds offensive.

The imperial examinations took place before the royal hunt, but this had nothing to do with Shen Lingyi; it was just a test held by the academy.

Her hard work over the past few days was not in vain, and she still secured the championship.

The grading had the greatest impact on the powerful and wealthy families. Those who were known for their talent were exposed as soon as they entered the examination hall, and a single question on water management stumped a number of them.

Good news came from Gu Qinghong, who had repeatedly failed the exam.

After the steward of the private residence sent a message, Shen Lingyi rushed over immediately. The carriage could not move halfway and was blocked by a crowd on the street. Ahead, there was a large crowd of people, and several minor officials posted the list of successful candidates.

Gu Qinghong's slender figure stood out in the crowd; he could easily be swept away if he were distracted. He was initially nervous, but after recognizing the name of the person at the top of the list, he became excited and almost burst into tears.

He passed the exam!

After three years, I finally passed the exam and became the top scorer!

Not far away, a man with several servants saw Gu Qinghong, who wore a black hat and a blue robe, resembling a stalk of green bamboo, and immediately shouted, "Damn it, Gu Qinghong, I've finally found you! You've made me fail the exam! All of you, get him!"

The crowd parted abruptly, and Gu Qinghong was suddenly tackled and pinned down by several people.

Inside the carriage, Peony angrily smashed the window. Bullying the weak with numbers was too shameful!

Shen Lingyi immediately ordered the driver in a cold voice, "Run them over."

"Huh?" The coachman thought he had misheard. What did he mean by crashing into it? This was the imperial city.

However, Shen Lingyi didn't care about the imperial city or anything like that. So what if she was under the emperor's nose? She was always the one being bullied. She was the one who bullied others, and no one ever bullied her.

Gu Qinghong has little to do with her, so it won't work.

As the richly dressed young nobleman walked triumphantly to Gu Qinghong, before they could exchange more than a few words, a rapid sound of hooves approached, and a carriage came hurtling towards them.

Young Master Wang was so shocked that he only had time to scream before the wheel hit his foot and he fell to the side.