The improved female villains regained their memories.

He frowned and asked, "Why aren't you crying or making a fuss?"

Ling Yan'er gave a wink, and her trusted confidant hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, the room was filled with crimson light as soon as the two children were born. Since the two princesses are of imperial lineage, they are naturally not ordinary children."

"Hmm, that makes some sense."

The emperor nodded, reluctantly acknowledging this reasoning.

For some reason, he felt that the child in his arms was looking at him with pity, just like a passerby seeing a white pig being slaughtered by a butcher.

He stretched out his finger, trying to tease her, and she blinked, grinned, grabbed her finger, and made babbling sounds.

At this point, he seemed like a normal child.

But he knew that wasn't the case.

The child in her arms wasn't acting out of curiosity, but because she sensed it.

She realized that she was abnormal, and that's why she needed to do this.

It was summer outside the window, but the emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty was suddenly drenched in a cold sweat.

When I came to my senses, the baby in my arms had already fallen asleep.

His confidants began to flatter him, saying that as expected of His Majesty, the princess could only sleep peacefully in His Majesty's arms, and so on. He listened, but was not pleased; instead, his face remained serious.

Ling Yan'er sensed something was wrong and asked, "Your Majesty?"

"It's alright, my beloved concubine, you've worked hard. I just remembered that I still have some government affairs to attend to in the Hall of Diligent Governance. You should rest well first, and I will come to see you again tonight."

The emperor arrived in high spirits, but left deep in thought.

Ling Yan'er couldn't figure out what went wrong, so she could only instruct everyone not to reveal any flaws.

As the two sisters grew up, this incident became a minor episode and was rarely mentioned.

My older sister, Xu Anlu, is a lovely, lively, and polite child. She never looks down on servants and is respectful to everyone. Most people in the palace like her very much.

On the contrary, her younger sister Xu Anyin was a mischievous and disrespectful child who abused her status as a princess. She bullied many people in the palace, but because she was Ling Yan'er's child, few dared to say anything.

Ling Shui'er witnessed the sisters' upbringing. Ling Yan'er was using them, and her teaching was merely a facade. Ling Shui'er, as their biological mother, naturally paid more attention to the sisters' education than Ling Yan'er.

In her eyes, Xu Anlu was obedient and well-behaved, while Xu Anyin was terribly mischievous. She felt both angry and helpless about Xu Anyin's behavior.

On one occasion, she entered the palace and happened to see Xu Anyin reprimanding a maid:

Why didn't you stop me?!

"Your Highness, I tried to stop you, but you insisted on playing in the water."

"You've gone too far! How dare you talk back! These clothes were made for me by my mother herself, and now they're soaking wet. It's all your fault!"

The maid looked aggrieved, tears welling in her eyes, and lowered her head, not daring to refute. Xu Anyin grew angrier as she spoke, and raised her hand to hit the maid.

Ling Shui'er couldn't stand it any longer. She used her lightness skill to grab Xu Anyin's hand: "Xiao Yin, you're beating and scolding the servants again. Be careful, or I'll tell your mother."

"Oh, it's Auntie." Xu Anyin said nonchalantly when he saw that it was Ling Shui'er. "I was disciplining my own maid, not causing trouble. It's fine if you tell Mother Consort."

"Is this a lesson? You clearly wanted to play in the water yourself, how can you blame it on someone else?"

"What does it matter!"

"Xiao Yin, you must be reasonable. Have you forgotten the benevolence and righteousness that the Master taught you?"

"Ugh, so noisy! Auntie, why are you just like those old men, spouting nonsense about morality and justice to me? Enough is enough, I don't want to hear any more of this high-sounding advice!"

She flung Ling Shui'er's hand away and ran off into the distance, turning back to make a face at Ling Shui'er before she reached the end.

"A little bit~"

"you!"

Ling Shui'er was about to say something in anger when Xu Anyin ran away after making a face.

She could only turn around and comfort the little maid for a few words before going to find Ling Yan'er.

Each time she entered the palace, it meant that Ling Yan'er had a task to give her. Time was precious, and she didn't have that much time.

The mission was completed, and it was already afternoon. Ling Yan'er invited her to stay for dinner, but she thought she would go see her two daughters again, so she agreed.

When he wasn't in class, Xu Anyin usually frequented the imperial kitchen and the back garden. Ling Shui'er was thinking about what happened that morning and planned to go find Xu Anyin to talk to him again, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

Did that guy go to take revenge on the maid?

Everyone in the palace knew that Xu Anyin was notoriously vengeful. If a servant accidentally disturbed her afternoon nap, she would yell that she would beat that person to death. Ling Yan'er, of course, did not agree. So, in the middle of the night, she ran to where the servants were sleeping and imitated the servant's voice, shouting "Fire!" which resulted in the servant being dragged out and severely beaten by the head eunuch.

Ling Shui'er was a little worried. Hearing that the girl was hanging clothes out to dry, she used her light-footed skill to go over and see what was going on.

Someone did come looking for her, but it wasn't Xu Anyin, it was Xu Anlu.

The single ahoge (cowlick) swayed in the wind as Xu Anlu stood there, bowing and apologizing to the bewildered maid.

"I heard about what happened this morning. I'm sorry, my good-for-nothing sister has done something stupid again."

She pulled a bag of silver coins from her pocket: "This is an apology..."

"No, no, Your Highness, you're too kind, I...I..."

The maid was at a loss. Seeing this, Xu Anlu smiled slightly and said, "Then let me put it another way. I've heard from others that you are very skillful. I wonder if you would be willing to come and follow me."

"But, Your Highness..."

"I'll talk to the steward. Also, I heard you haven't written home in a long time. I can help you with that too."

She smiled, her ahoge (cowlick) swirling in the wind.

"Okay?"

Tears fell, pattering down.

The maid sniffled, wiped away her tears, and nodded:

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I will try my best..."

"Then it's settled."

Xu Anlu smiled and stuffed the money into her hand: "Take it. It's getting cold lately, so buy yourself some clothes."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Ling Shui'er watched Xu Anlu leave. After she left, the maidservant hung up the clothes while shedding tears.

She suddenly abandoned her plan to find Xu Anyin and instead secretly followed Xu Anlu.

Along the way, Xu Anlu greeted everyone and they all seemed to have a good relationship.

"Your Highness."

"It's you! Is anyone bullying you?"

"Thanks to Your Highness, it's gone."

"If anyone bullies you again, you have to tell me."

"Your Highness."

"Oh, it's Uncle. How's the war in the southwest?"

"all the best."

"Have you come to the palace to see your sister?"

“Yes, I haven’t thanked Your Highness for your care yet. Although she is not my biological sister, she is still the sister of my friend. My friend is dead, and I cannot stand idly by.”

"Don't worry, Uncle, she's doing very well with me taking care of her. But you, Uncle, need to take good care of yourself. The country still needs to be entrusted to loyal ministers like you."

"Your Highness is too kind. For the sake of our Great Yan Dynasty, we would gladly die for it."

Ling Shui'er looked at Xu Anlu with a complicated expression.

She could exchange a few words with everyone. From the inner palace to the front hall, whether it was servants or ministers, high-ranking officials or nobles, everyone had a very good impression of this princess. More importantly, she could remember everyone's name.

It's the name of every single one, including the servants.

She walked around the palace and finally returned to the back garden, where she found a quiet place to sit.

As the sun set in the west, Ling Shui'er couldn't resist any longer and went outside.

Her ahoge stood up, she turned her head, saw Ling Shui'er, excitedly stood up, and ran over to her, looking very lively: "Auntie, you've entered the palace!"

"Yes, they've entered the palace."

Did you bring me a gift?

"I'm sorry, Auntie came in a hurry and didn't bring a gift. I'll definitely bring you one next time."

"Oh~" she said, not disappointed at all. Instead, she looked up and smiled, saying, "It's okay, it's enough that my aunt came to see me. I don't need any gifts."

It's terrifying how sensible they can be.

Ling Shui'er stroked her hair, thinking about what she had done along the way, and asked, "What is Xiao Lu doing here all by herself?"

"Hmm... let me think about some things."

"What's wrong? Is the homework your teacher assigned you difficult?"

"No, the homework the teacher assigned wasn't difficult; it's just that there are some things I can't figure out myself."

"Oh?" Ling Shui'er smiled. "What is it? Can you tell your aunt?"

Xu Anlu suddenly stopped talking, walked back and sat down alone, staring blankly into space.

Ling Shui'er was puzzled and went over to ask, "Xiao Lu?"

"Auntie...why is there oppression in the world?"

"Hey?"

Ling Shui'er was stunned.

She had never thought about this question before, much less expected Xu Anlu to bring it up. Somewhat flustered, she asked, "Why is Xiaolu asking this?"

“I read in a book that Heaven is noble and Earth is lowly. Confucius said that Heaven is noble and Earth is lowly, but would Heaven oppress Earth? No, it would not. Heaven gives birth to things and Earth carries them. The reason Heaven is above is to give birth, and the reason Earth is below is to carry them. Heaven is not above because it wants to be noble, and Earth is not below because it wants to be lowly.”

Xu Anlu spoke steadily, her words flowing: "Heaven exists above to give birth to people, and earth exists below to support them, just like the people in the imperial palace. The emperor is responsible for the birth and growth of all people, so he is above, and the people are responsible for bearing the burden of the country, so they are below. If the emperor feels that it is justified to oppress the people, then the people will also feel that it is justified not to bear the burden of the country, and even worse, they may rebel and cause chaos."

Even if the titles of emperor and commoner disappear a thousand years later, the relationship between superior and inferior will never disappear. Just like immortals and mortals, aren't they also in the relationship between emperor and commoner?

Ling Shui'er was startled and immediately realized what blasphemous things Xu Anlu was saying. She quickly changed her expression and scolded, "Xiao Lu, do you know what you're saying?"