The Empress nodded, "It’s good that you think this way, Second Prince. Your Mother Consort and the Empress Mother were good sisters. After she suddenly died of illness, seeing you alone and helpless, the Empress Mother truly couldn’t bear it, so she took the heavy burden upon herself to adopt you under her name. It was with sincere intentions that the Empress Mother did this, hoping the Second Prince would not disappoint her."

At this very moment, the Second Prince internally cursed the Empress thousands of times. This malicious woman killed his Mother Consort for her own future and then pretended to be kind, saying his Mother Consort was her good sister—what nonsense! His Mother Consort was truly unlucky to have known her.

Though the Second Prince was inwardly furious and knew that the hatred for his mother’s murder was irreconcilable.

However, until he had the power, he could not act on his impulses. Therefore, despite his nails digging deeply into the flesh under his sleeve, leaving a trace of blood, outwardly, he dared not show any dissatisfaction. Outwardly, he continued to sincerely speak to the Empress: "The Empress Mother has given me a great kindness in restoring my place; I will surely repay her vast gratitude in the future."

The word "repay" was particularly emphasized by the Second Prince.

The Empress believed the Second Prince was grateful to her and paid it no mind.

After dining in the Empress’s palace, the Second Prince went to visit the Empress Dowager. However, as the Empress Dowager was asleep, he was unable to enter and could only stand at the door for a while before leaving.

The next morning, as Long Rui and Xuexue were having breakfast in the side hall, the doorkeeper hurriedly reported that someone from the palace had arrived and specifically named Madam Situ to come out and receive a decree.

Long Rui and Xuexue exchanged a glance.

Long Rui asked, "Madam, you didn’t accidentally cure that old lady to death yesterday, did you?"

Xuexue, also bewildered, replied, "I don’t think so; I followed the Hibiscus Secret Manual step by step."

Long Rui looked at her and asked, "Madam, wasn’t that old lady your first patient?"

Xuexue nodded with a justified look, "Yes! Since practicing the Hibiscus Needle Technique, I’ve never found the chance to apply it. Yesterday, I finally had an opportunity."

Oh dear! Goodness gracious, his wife had such nerve, experimenting on the Empress Dowager. Long Rui greatly admired his wife’s courage.

Long Rui looked at Xuexue, eyes wide open, preparing to scare his daring wife.

Xuexue felt goosebumps under his gaze.

"Prince, what’s wrong?"

"Madam, you’re in trouble!"

"Wha... what happened to me?"

"You cured that old lady in the palace to death."

"Huh? Couldn’t be, right?"

"It’s very possible; otherwise, why would the Emperor send people over so early?"

Upon Long Rui’s reminder, the more Xuexue thought about it, the more possible it seemed. She suddenly stood up and asked, "Prince, should I run away?"

Long Rui couldn’t help but laugh, holding her down: "Madam, I was just teasing you; why take it seriously?"

Xuexue, however, couldn’t laugh at all, thinking that Long Rui was right. Maybe she had really cured the Empress Dowager to death, and the Emperor was sending people to settle accounts with her. She regretted deeply she hadn’t disguised herself; the Emperor wouldn’t know who she was and wouldn’t find her here.

The doorkeeper stood aside, completely confused, not knowing what the Prince and Madam were talking about. So he said, "Prince, Madam, I saw they were beating drums, so it looks like there’s some celebration. You should hurry and check it out."

Celebration? Drumming?

Xuexue caught the keywords, her mind easing; it certainly was not the Empress Dowager dead, otherwise why such celebration and drumming.

She happily stood up and said to Long Rui, "Prince, maybe the Queen Dowager’s illness has improved, and the Emperor suddenly realized his conscience, sending ten thousand taels of gold, Madam, I’ll go receive the money first, take your time to eat!"