“What did you say? Let me go! Are you trying to go against me? I’m His Majesty’s concubine! How dare you offend me! I’ll return to the imperial palace to meet His Majesty and ask him to sentence you to death!” Madame Hui said unhurriedly with unchallengeable solemnness on her face.

Lin Mengya looked around, but still didn’t find any suspicious people.

Wasn’t Madame Hui a bit too mentally strong?

Nevertheless, Lin Mengya did not strip off the camouflage at once. Instead, she ordered the palace maids around her to take Madame Hui into the yard by force.

The plaque outside the yard was engraved with only two words “Simple Pavilion”.

Moreover, the courtyard was a little dilapidated and seemed to have been uninhabited for a long time.

Although it could not compare with the imperial palace, it was a very secluded and elegant place for people to reflect on their faults.

It was a perfect place for Madame Hui who was flighty and impatient.

“Madame, you spoke so seriously. How dare I offend you? I just have to obey His Majesty’s order. Come on, go to fetch His Majesty’s edict, in case Madame Hui misunderstands us who are just executing His Majesty’s order.” Lin Mengya said amiably, standing there composedly with a smiling face.

However, Madame Hui trembled all over. Her sudden appearance had been confidential before.

Why did Lin Mengya have the Emperor’s edict at this moment?

Madame Hui suddenly had a foreboding.

She took a few steps back slowly, but she didn’t expect that her way out had been blocked.

“Where are you going? Madame, this is His Majesty’s edict. Don’t you want to know what it says?” Lin Mengya asked and took a few steps forward leisurely.

Although she did not assume an aggressive mien, Madame Hui was a little nervous.

The Emperor’s edict was soon brought over. At the sight of the dark yellow envelope sealed with wax, Madame Hui couldn’t help but gasp.

This was the dragon-patterned fine paper specially used for secret edicts, and those who got secret edicts were either executed or imprisoned for the rest of their lives.

No! The Emperor would not treat her like this!

Madame Hui, who had always been composed, panicked. Lin Mengya didn’t want to see what she looked like after losing all her hope.

So Lin Mengya turned her head and acted as if nothing had happened.

“According to the secret order of His Majesty, Madame Hui should be responsible for guarding the cemetery and thus to comfort the spirits of the ancestors from now on, and she is not allowed to step out of the Simple Pavilion for the rest of her life. If she disobeys the order, she will be executed on the spot!” The secret order was announced by a eunuch who had served the Emperor for long.

Moreover, Lin Mengya did not have to worry that Madame Hui would comply in public but oppose in private, because everyone here, including the palace maids and guards, would stay here to watch over and take care of Madame Hui.

“No! His Majesty will never be so cruel to me! It’s all your and your master’s fault! It must be her plot! I know it!” Madame Hui shouted furiously.

It was reasonable for her to get furious. Anyone who was going to be imprisoned in this small courtyard forever would resist.

But how many people could win a desperate fight?

“Calm down. His Majesty still misses you. These palace maids and guards will stay here with you. Oh, by the way, they will rotate the job every other month. Rest assured, they will definitely bring you the hottest and newest news from the imperial palace, and you will learn whatever you want to know,” Lin Mengya said with her back to Madame Hui, but her tone frightened Madame Hui a little.

Her words showed that this edict was indeed issued by the Emperor.

No! No! The Emperor would never treat her like this!

“You’re lying! His Majesty, who has married me for so many years, will never treat me like this! Besides, your master owes me a great deal! I’m going back to the imperial palace! I’m not going to spend the rest of my life alone in this hellish place. I’m going back to the imperial palace!” Madame Hui shouted in a seemingly tough tone.

However, Lin Mengya found she was pretending to be composed and actually uncertain.

Turning around, Lin Mengya thought her ridiculous.

“Do you really think that you can really hide something from others for the rest of your life? Or have you forgotten the truth?” Lin Mengya said in a low voice that could only be heard clearly by the two of them.

She fixed her eyes on Madame Hui and finally saw a trace of astonishment in her eyes.

“I have to tell you one more thing. His Majesty and my master have reconciled with each other. Madame, do you understand what I mean?” Lin Mengya said.

Perhaps Yao Lu had been blinded by her willfulness.

But at least, the Emperor had treated her sincerely.

This was probably one of the reasons why Yao Lu came to a complete realization.

She certainly couldn’t blame anyone else for letting the chance of maintaining her relationship with the Emperor slip.

But Madame Hui was an absolute joke.

Perhaps the Emperor had once fallen for Yao Lu, but Lin Mengya thought his feeling for Yao Lu more of his dependence on someone with whom he had gone through ups and downs with mutual help between them.

For this reason, the Emperor had put up with Yao Lu’s willfulness so that his beloved had suffered a lot of grievances.

The Emperor was like magma under layers of ice when it came to Madame Jingrou. Even his superficial coldness couldn’t conceal his surging and ardent love for her.

It was an indescribable feeling between a man and a woman.

The Emperor could do anything for the sake of Madame Jingrou, even including doting on a woman he didn’t like at all.

At this point, Yao Lu was actually more sensible than Madame Hui.

“That’s impossible… absolutely! It was she who killed my baby! If my baby is still alive, His Majesty will never discard me. It’s all her fault for putting me in this situation! It’s all her fault!” Madame Hui said.

Up to now, she was still stuck with her wrong idea.

Lin Mengya withdrew her burning gaze. She had seen a multitude of unrepentant people during this period.

Madame Hui was neither the first nor the last one.

In terms of stupidity, she could be ranked in the top three.

“Don’t be silly. Shaoshi Yao told me everything before she died. You took her as a fool. But have you ever thought that she was a smart person born into a noble family? How could she be completely deceived by you? Madame Hui, you’d better behave yourself and stay here. You have enjoyed enough pleasure in the imperial palace over the years. That position is out of your reach,” Lin Mengya said.

It was getting late, and she had enough of continuing arguing with Madame Hui.

She walked briskly out of the Simple Pavilion with Baisu. No matter what sounds came from behind, it had nothing to do with her.

“Baisu, how delusional do you think should a person be to twist the fact to suit herself?” In the carriage on the way back to the inner capital city, Lin Mengya murmured softly to herself as she watched the Simple Pavilion on the hillside getting further and further.

“I don’t know,” Baisu answered.

She, who had always been a sensible person, certainly could not imagine what was going on in a delusional person’s mind.

“Of course, it is impossible for a simple person like you to imagine that.” Lin Mengya raised her eyebrows and involuntarily praised Baisu from the bottom of her heart.

Madame Hui’s story was very simple. When the Emperor met Madame Jingrou, he had no feeling for her at the beginning.

Meanwhile, Madame Hui, who was a maid back then, fell for the handsome Emperor.

Later on, the Emperor brought Madame Jingrou to the imperial palace to treat Yao Lu at first, but after going through ups and downs together, the Emperor and Madame Jingrou felt sincere affection for each other.

After that, Yao Lu, who was jealous, repeatedly tried to deal with Madame Jingrou.

At the same time, Madame Hui offered to sleep with the Emperor. Therefore, the Emperor made use of Madame Hui by making her the target of all.

Although Madame Hui won the Emperor’s favor, she became more delusional and wanted to be the noblest Empress in the imperial palace.

Therefore, she tried to maintain her relationship with the Emperor by getting pregnant.

However, after marrying Madame Jingrou, the Emperor did not want any other imperial concubine to have a baby.

So Madame Hui’s pregnancy was false.

What happened next could only be described as a strange combination of circumstances.

At that time, Yao Lu’s palace maid managed to get rid of the so-called baby of Madame Hui and shift the blame to Madame Jingrou.

Madame Jingrou, unaware of the truth, was deceived by Madame Hui.

Yao Lu sensed that something was amiss. However, in order to draw Madame Hui over to her side, she kept the truth secret.

Therefore, this was the cause of all the misunderstandings.

Considering Madame Hui had been her maid, Madame Jingrou thought that she had killed Madame Hui’s baby.

The Emperor was not good at explaining and wanted to protect Madame Jingrou, so their relationship became increasingly subtle.

Yao Lu was pleased to see Madame Jingrou suffer this torment, and she and Madame Hui made use of each other.

Madame Hui, who had her own purpose, kept distorting the fact to upset Madame Jingrou.

The whole story was simple and tremendously dramatic.

Before Yao Lu left, she finally dispelled Lin Mengya’s last doubt.

However, Lin Mengya was still confused by one thing.

Why was Madame Hui chosen by the Eldest Prince as his pawn in the imperial palace?

In order to panic the Eldest Prince, she must disrupt all the arrangements he made in advance.

Taking today’s incident for instance, although all the members of the imperial palace had been instructed to keep Shaoshi Yao’s funeral procession secret, the Eldest Prince’s men were still able to learn it under the Emperor’s deliberate arrangement.

Wanyan Jing was unaware of the Emperor’s arrangement, so he didn’t dare to show up easily.

The Yao Family was in imminent danger. After thinking it over, they found Madame Hui the most suitable person to disrupt the funeral procession, and this was the best time for Madame Hui to return to the imperial palace.

As such, Lin Mengya and Madame Jingrou had been prepared for this by asking the Emperor to issue this secret edict.

Once Madame Hui was trapped in the Simple Pavilion, she, as a pawn, became useless.

Lin Mengya had been prepared for the next step.

However, she still couldn’t figure out why Madame Hui didn’t even have any backup.

She had no idea whether Madame Hui was overly confident or they had another backup plan.

“Forget it, let’s go back early. There are still a lot of things to handle in the imperial palace. Xiaoyu is probably going to have a hard time,” Lin Mengya shrugged and said.

This matter had been settled for the time being.

Now she was going to help Xiaoyu and Madame Jingrou sort out the current forces.