“Have a seat. We are a family. Don’t be so polite.”

The emperor’s voice sounded a little tired, and he must have been working hard on national affairs for days.

Lin Mengya stood up respectfully and quietly but stood beside Long Tianyu with her hands down. It was not her home court now, so naturally, there was no room for her performance.

The fake Concubine De was confused.

She thought that the emperor had been getting better for a few days, but only a few months ago, she had been summoned into the palace.

But he didn’t say anything. The emperor had rebuked her for failing to abide by the rules of the palace and punished her to face the wall and ponder about her misdeed at Prince Yu’s Mansion last time.

But now, it was extremely abnormal when he summoned her to the palace, which made her a little at a loss.

“It hasn’t been easy for you these days. Yu’er has already told me about all your grievances. It is indeed not your fault. I know that I have wronged you, so I want to make up for it. What do you think, dear?”

The fake Concubine De had many doubts, but the emperor was a man of his word, and he would definitely not trick her.

Now that the emperor offered awards, whether it was gold or power, it would be beneficial to her. If this continued, even the empress would not dare to underestimate her anymore.

It was not a long-term solution to use another woman’s face. She might as well compete with the empress when she was in power.

At the moment, the fake Concubine De was beaming with joy, and she naturally agreed.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. It’s your decision.”

Concubine De, who was overjoyed, was busy thanking the emperor. She did not notice the shrewdness in the eyes of the three people in front of her.

The emperor pondered for a moment, then said thoughtfully, “Yu’er saved me this time. I should have awarded him, but our son is filial and insisted on giving you honor. If so, then I will confer you the title of Imperial Noble Consort. It’s also rewarding you for your hard work in raising Yu’er for so many years. What do you think?”

Imperial Noble Consort! The false Concubine De was overjoyed.

That woman had only been a powerless Concubine De in her entire life.

Not only had the empress overwhelmed the poor woman, but, it was still unclear whether she was dead or alive. If she could be promoted to the position of Imperial Noble Consort, then she could stand to the empress as an equal.

The fake Concubine De thanked the emperor immediately as if she were afraid that the emperor would cancel the reward on second thought.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Lin Mengya smiled meaningfully.

Imperial Noble Consort, what a noble position and it was within her immediate reach. It was just that the counterfeit didn’t know that the more she looked forward to it, the crueler the truth would be.

The conferring ceremony of the Imperial Noble Consort was a major event. Although the emperor had given his order, the Ministry of Rites needed to choose an auspicious day to perform the ceremony.

First, the emperor sent a protocol officer to supervise the matter, and also asked the Saint Garment Bureau to prepare a new set of imperial concubine costumes and a gold roll.

These would be much more easily done than choosing an auspicious day. The protocol officer took it seriously and chose the most recent auspicious day that evening, which happened to be the sixth day of next month.

The emperor decided to choose this day.

The conferring ceremony must be held in the palace, so it would be more convenient for the heroine Concubine De to stay in the palace.

Lin Mengya, the daughter-in-law, naturally became the best candidate for Concubine De.

Regardless of whether Concubine De would like it or not, the people Lin Mengya had brought successfully took care of Concubine De’s daily life. They also used the imperial order as an excuse to completely cut off the connection between Concubine De and the outside world.

She couldn’t live in the previously deserted palace room anymore. The emperor gave her permission to live in Dongpei Palace next to the main hall.

Although it was not as gorgeous as the previous palace, it was elegant.

It was just a little unusual. This time Concubine De returned to the palace in glory, but none of her old acquaintances came to visit her.

This was a little disappointment for Concubine De, who wanted to show off her power every day. However, since she was the Imperial Noble Consort, her identity was naturally extraordinary.

In the future, those people would certainly rush to pay respects to her.

However, the only thing that really annoyed Concubine De was her daughter-in-law who was always watching her.

Regardless of her stern words or kindness, this damn girl just refused to let her go out of the palace.

But all the people serving her were Lin Mengya’s men.

Now, she was completely guarded like a prisoner.

Lin Mengya, who was checking the emperor’s rewards outside, suddenly heard the sound of broken porcelain in Dongpei Palace.

Before she could enter the room, she heard the fake Concubine De’s shrill voice.

“You damn girl! How dare you bring such hot tea to me? Are you trying to kill me? Do you think that if someone supports you, you can ignore me! Huh, you are just a servant. I am the Imperial Noble Consort conferred by the emperor. How dare you bitch hurt me!”

She was yelling and cursing again, but Lin Mengya had been used to it these days.

She calmly put down the things in her hands and motioned to the royal servants who had brought them to leave quickly. Lin Mengya entered the house of Dongpei Palace with coldness in her eyes.

The warm tea wet the ground. Hongyu tightly guarded the youngest Baizhi behind her, looking a little angry.

Hongyu was a girl who always smiled. She was angry not just because of a broken tea bowl.

Lin Mengya tried to be nice, but she couldn’t.

“Since Her Majesty doesn’t like it, then you girls don’t have to bring tea anymore. Hongyu, pass my order. From today on, the Imperial Noble Consort will take a quiet fast until the day of the conferring ceremony. She is so sincere in order not to offend the gods. Therefore, the tea and snacks won’t be necessary for the future.”

Lin Mengya’s face was as cold as frost, even Concubine De, who had just lost her temper, was intimidated and looked at the girl in front of her with fear.

No matter how hard she had tried to persuade the girl these days, the stubborn girl just refused to budge. Now that she annoyed Lin Mengya, she knew she would probably suffer.

However, when she became the Imperial Noble Consort, these bad girls would be dead.

“Are you still dreaming of becoming the Imperial Noble Consort? We have seen the face under your mask a long time ago. Jingyue, I advise you to stay honestly. Maybe we will spare your life. If you continue to make trouble like this, the news of Concubine De’s sudden death will be announced soon.”

Lin Mengya’s eyes were cold. The fake Concubine De, the former Jingyue, was scared to see them.

How could she know her secret?

Before she could relax, the appearance of a figure made her uneasy.

“Princess Yu, everything is ready. I will guard it from now on.”

That was a face that Jingyue had been so familiar with.

Every time, it was indeed her eyebrows and her outline. However, what was strange was that at this moment, this face was seen as someone else’s.

“Jinyue! You betrayed me! Humph, I thought you were loyal to the lady. Don’t forget. She can’t live long if you expose me!”

She thought that Jinyue, who had been turned into Jingyue by her, had betrayed her. The insidiousness in Jingyue’s eyes greatly disappointed her former good friend.

“I will never betray the lady. Jingyue, stop it before it is too late. The prince and princess know everything. And I will not relent. This time, I will save the lady even if it costs your life.”

Jinyue’s words made Jingyue stunned on the spot.

The empress had set a trap to drug the real Concubine De and used two fake human skin masks to turn her into seemingly real Concubine De.

She hadn’t expected that the perfect plan would have already been seen through.

She was stunned.

“Stop talking nonsense with her. Tie her up.”

Lin Mengya had intended to tell her the truth in half a day.

But Long Tianyu had just sent someone to tell her that it was a good opportunity to carry out a secret exchange tonight.

The woman was asking for it. Naturally, she wouldn’t go easy on Jingyue.

After she gave the order, several guards brought a rope to tie Jingyue up. In her horrified cry and violent struggle, Lin Mengya just gave her a cruel smile.

“Do you think your Master will come to save you? It’s ridiculous. Do you think you can compete with the empress after becoming the Imperial Noble Consort? Unfortunately, in the eyes of the empress, you are nothing. Besides, I want to tell you one thing. Your domineering attitude has made the empress want to kill you. So you are truly desperate now.”

Lin Mengya, with the cruelest smile in the world, pronounced Jingyue’s death sentence.

Actually, Jingyue had asked for it.

Lin Mengya had sent one of the empress’s servants to find out about Jingyue, but the counterfeit had put on the air of imperial noble consort with her.

The evil and mean empress had hurt the real Concubine De, let alone a pawn like Jingyue.

Now, Jingyue was really alone and helpless, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“You take turns to watch her. If she isn’t obedient, just beat her. It’s best if you beat her to death.”

The situation had changed in an instant. Jingyue had become a prisoner in Lin Mengya’s hands before she reacted.

After taking a cold look at Jingyue, Lin Mengya took Jinyue’s hand and walked her out of the gate of Dongpei Palace.

“Princess, you said you will pick up Her Majesty tonight, is it true?”

Jinyue asked anxiously. Lin Mengya had asked her before whether she would regret it or not if she wouldn’t be able to restore her identity anymore in the future.

However, Jinyue didn’t even think about it, and immediately said that she was willing to be Jingyue for a lifetime for the sake of Concubine De.