The Little Princess of the Empire was having a meltdown, and the people around her seemed used to it, just kneeling there quietly without making a sound.

More than ten minutes passed. Jiang Zheyu felt like an idiot for standing there and watching the Little Princess of the Empire whip flowers with a whip for over ten minutes!

Jiang Zheyu assumed everyone was just waiting for the Little Princess of the Empire to finish her meltdown before taking her back for treatment.

She figured this was probably how the night would end.

So, Jiang Zheyu decided she wasn’t going to watch the Little Princess of the Empire continue her frenzied attack on the flowers.

She was just about to close the French doors and go back to bed.

Suddenly, a sharp voice cut through the air from the garden.

"Why aren’t you in bed in the middle of the night? What sort of tantrum are you throwing now?"

A sharp, female voice rang out, resolute and clear.

Jiang Zheyu’s hand, which had been about to close the doors, paused. Her gaze subconsciously darted through the glass, searching for the source of the voice.

She saw two new figures in the garden: one short, one tall; one woman, one man.

The woman stood with her back to Jiang Zheyu. Her jet-black hair was draped smoothly over her shoulders. She wore a luxurious, gray silk pajama set, and a man stood beside her, clad in a matching outfit.

’When did another female move into the palace next to mine?’

That’s right, Jiang Zheyu lived in the central palace, flanked on both sides by other palaces. She already knew the Little Princess of the Empire lived in one of them, while the other had seemed to be empty. Now, however, it looked like it was occupied too.

Jiang Zheyu watched the commotion below. ’Since I’ve been woken up anyway,’ she thought, ’it would be a shame not to watch the drama.’ So she quietly slipped on a jacket, grabbed a small stool, and sat down by the French doors.

The midnight air was a bit chilly. After standing there for a while, Jiang Zheyu had felt her legs growing cold, which was why she had grabbed a jacket to cover them with.

Back in the garden, as the woman’s voice faded, the Little Princess of the Empire stopped her assault on the flowers. She spun around to face the woman, her voice sharp yet audibly weak, perhaps from blood loss. "You again? I thought you left the Imperial Palace! I thought you weren’t living here anymore!"

"Do you think I’m like you? With nothing better to do?" the woman said, her voice cold. "I’m here to do research in the Imperial Palace archives, which requires me to stay here for a period of time. I just didn’t expect to be kept up by you having another one of your midnight meltdowns. The Little Princess of the Empire, willing to die for some despicable Star Thief. How utterly pathetic."

Jiang Zheyu sat hunched on her small stool by the French doors, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Hearing the woman’s words, she couldn’t help but become curious about her identity.

However, the woman’s back was always to her, so she couldn’t see what she looked like.

"How dare you say that to me!" The Little Princess of the Empire was so furious she began to tremble all over. Her small frame shook so violently that the ripples in her dress were clearly visible. "You’re a female with no Comforting Power! What gives you the right to say that to me!"

"I don’t have Comforting Power, but I developed the reagent that can Purify Beastification Value. Even your father and brothers have to thank me for it. That makes me a hundred times better than lazy females like you who just freeload at home." Yan Luo sneered. "Useless, aside from that bit of spiritual power. Do you think that gives you the right to be so high and mighty?"

Now that she, Yan Luo, had developed this reagent, she was determined to deliver a resounding slap in the face to all those lazy, arrogant females who thought they were superior just because they had spiritual power.

Over by the window, it suddenly dawned on Jiang Zheyu. ’Of course. That woman is the novel’s heroine.’

Once she thought about it, it all seemed to make perfect sense.

Because in the novel, after the heroine became a Special-level Researcher, she revealed her identity as a female and instantly became a hot commodity.

After becoming a Special-level Researcher, the heroine originally lived in the Imperial Palace as well, but she moved out after repeated conflicts with the Little Princess of the Empire.

Jiang Zheyu paused, a strange thought occurring to her. The heroine’s career plotline seemed to be progressing normally. As for her romance plotline, however... from what she knew, Si Yu and Su Yan, who were originally part of the heroine’s harem, were now both revolving around her instead.

’So, the other men in the heroine’s harem are probably still developing their relationships with her as planned, right?’

Jiang Zheyu’s gaze fell on the man beside the heroine. She wondered which Beastman from the heroine’s harem he was, but since she could only see his back, she couldn’t guess.

"You, you..." The Little Princess of the Empire sputtered, apparently too angry to form a complete sentence.

The next second, overcome by blood loss and anger, the Little Princess of the Empire’s eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted, slumping to the side.

The man in the white shirt, who had been kneeling on the ground, instantly darted to the Little Princess of the Empire’s side and caught her.

The man in the white shirt gave Yan Luo a slight nod, then carried the princess away. The crowd of kneeling servants quickly followed suit.

Jiang Zheyu, watching from her spot by the French doors, was a little surprised. ’It’s over already?’

The Little Princess of the Empire and the heroine had clashed many times in the novel. Jiang Zheyu seemed to remember one time they even came to blows.

But Jiang Zheyu probably wouldn’t get to see that. She had no idea if the heroine had already passed that part of the plot.

Anyway, she didn’t remember the details of those events clearly. She only recalled that the heroine and the Little Princess of the Empire had a major rivalry.

After the Little Princess of the Empire left, the heroine naturally left as well.

Now that the drama was over, Jiang Zheyu was also ready to go back to sleep.

However, just as the heroine was leaving, the man at her side suddenly looked up. His grayish-white eyes, devoid of all emotion, fixed in her direction.

Jiang Zheyu, realizing she’d been spotted, jumped in fright and abruptly yanked the curtains shut, blocking the man’s line of sight.

"Hui, what is it?" Yan Luo asked, looking at the man who had stopped behind her.

Hui’s gaze remained fixed on the French doors of the central palace.

"Someone was just there," Hui explained simply as he walked to Yan Luo’s side. "Like a dirty little rat, spying on us."

Yan Luo paused, then also glanced toward the second-floor French doors of the central palace. She seemed to remember something, and after realizing who lived there, she said, "A dirty little rat indeed."

Chatting nonchalantly, the two of them slowly left the garden.

Jiang Zheyu hadn’t expected to become part of the drama she was watching.

’I’m starting to get angry. How dare they call me a dirty little rat?’

’No, wait. Is this really what the heroine is like? She seems to have a massive prejudice against females with spiritual power.’