The seventh prince stood up to greet his mother but he felt like he has used up all his energy in arguing with Xi Feng, he could only slump back on his bed, the imperial consort quickly hurried to his bedside and sat down beside him.

"Your highness, why didn't you inform me before you left, you just disappeared without a trace leaving me worried," the imperial consort said as she held his hands in between hers, he let out a fake smiled and said "mother, I know I am wrong but can you stop overreacting, I have grown up now and I can protect myself, look at how they are all looking at us," Changlin said then he looked in the direction of his attendants and the attendants that followed the imperial consort to his palace, then the imperial consort followed his gaze. The servants were all looking at them awkwardly, they have seen this scene many times but they can't just stop reacting to it, among all the princes in the palace the only prince who is always pampered by his mother is the seventh prince even though he wasn't a weak prince. ​​

"What are you all looking at?" the imperial consort snapped then they closed the door to his chamber and took ten steps back, she looked away from the entrance and focused her attention on the seventh prince again.

"Mother, you don't have to be worried after all there is only one place I would go to if I leave the palace," Changlin said, he has been embarrassed because of his mother several times and he has also her to stop being overprotective but she just wouldn't stop, before he reached the age of sixteen, his mother always had a large group of guards follow him but he always found ways to escape from them so she stopped.

"of course, the only place you would go to is the blossom valley but you know how the palace is, the fourth prince has already dissociated himself from the court but if they find out that you have been to the blossom valley, they won't take it for a normal visit, they would think that the fourth prince wants to come back to the court," the imperial consort said with worry written on her face, she loved the fourth prince as much as she loves her own son but she knew that the both of them will be put into a difficult position if he goes to the blossom valley, she has always been overprotective of him in order to make others view him as a weak prince so that they won't consider him as a rival but he was unwilling to live his life the way she had planned it for him.

"Mother, I know that you are doing all this for the good of my brother and I but my brother and I can't live in hiding forever, even if he is in the blossom valley now I am very sure that he is aware that he can't be there forever very soon he would have to return to the palace and there is nothing wrong with him returning, this is where he belongs," Changlin said.

"but…" she suddenly stopped when she saw him wincing in pain as he held his head in his hand, she looked at him with deep worry.

"what is wrong, Changlin," she said as she stretched her hand to touch his forehead but he held her hand and brought it down gently.

"fourth brother made me drunk then he used knockout drug on me and as a result, I am still suffering from hungover, after a while I will be okay," Changlin said, then he called Si Ye into the room to pour him water. Si Ye poured the water into a jade cup and gave it to him; he hurriedly poured the water down his throat and then he dropped the cup on the tray Si Ye was holding in his hand. He signalled Si Ye to leave the room with his hand then his mother gave him a look he recognised, she seemed to be saying that he deserved what he got.

"Mother, why do you look like you are happy with what the fourth prince did to me the" Changlin said with a look that seemed like he was going to throw a tantrum at any time, the imperial consort couldn't help but smile broadly when she saw the look on his face.

"your fourth brother must have done that for your own good, if he didn't would you have returned to the palace this early, the last time you stayed there over a month then everyone found out that you went to the blossom valley, if he hadn't drugged you the last time, you wouldn't have returned to I didn't send someone to bring you back because I knew that he was going to send you back," she said, then she smiled playfully.

"Mother, I was expecting you to be on my side on this matter but you are actually justifying his actions, last time he drugged me you looked like you were going to rebuke him the moment you see him now that I remember, you must have been putting on an act," Changlin said then he outed his lips, looking at his reaction, she held her large sleeves with her right hand and used her left hand to slightly cover her mouth as she laughed at his childishness, even though he keeps saying that he is no longer a child, he has always acted as a child whenever he was angry.

"Mother, stop laughing at me," He said then he lied down on the bed aggressively and turned his face away from his mother who couldn't bring herself to stop laughing.

"Alright, I will leave now," she said then she stood up and left the room when the servants outside the room saw her smiling as she left the room they already knew that their conversation must have ended with the prince being angry at the imperial consort since that was mostly the result of their conversations.

As soon as the imperial consort left the prince palace with a trail of servants behind her, she met with the imperial noble consort who also had a trail of servants behind her. She quickly got rid of the happy expression on her face then she put on a fake smile as they always do. The imperial noble consort smiled slyly when she saw the imperial consort, she was happy that she looked better than the imperial consort looked that day. She flapped her sleeve and smoothened her long flowing orange skirt with flower petals embroidered on it then she folded her fingers on top each other and walked gracefully towards the imperial consort, When they both came close to each other, the imperial consort bent her knee slightly and bowed her head while the imperial noble consort just looked at her arrogantly, when the imperial stood at ease, the imperial noble consort cocked her eyebrow and accompanied it with a smirk.

"imperial consort, it has been a while since I saw you, you must have been busy to not even attend the gathering of the women in the palace," the imperial noble consort said, the imperial consort knew that she would definitely find trouble with her before she let her go, she smiled awkwardly then she replied "replying your majesty, I wasn't aware of the gathering since I have been busy so I have stayed indoors lately", she hoped that the imperial noble consort will just let her go without probing the issue further but she knew that that wouldn't be the case.

"From what I know, his majesty hasn't called you to serve him for a long time so I wonder what you were busy with," the imperial noble consort said.

Finally, she had gotten straight to the point

When the imperial consort first entered the palace, the emperor was attracted to her to the point of discarding the other women in the palace, ever since the death of the fourth prince mother the emperor has never loved any woman and he didn't give them any attention, he only spent the first night with them for the sake of bearing offspring for the royal family. So, they were all angry that an ordinary woman from an ordinary background was able to get the emperor attention when they couldn't get for so long, then after the king promoted her to the position of a concubine to an imperial consort. This has always made the imperial noble consort jealous and she felt that the imperial consort was a threat to her position seeing how fast she was promoted.

"Your majesty is right, I have not been serving by his majesty side, but I have been busy with embroidering that I forgot about other matter, may your majesty forgive me for my forgetfulness," the imperial consort said then she bowed her head slightly, the imperial noble consort was very satisfied with the result she got elevated her chin and arched an arrogant smile on her lips.

"it is good that you know your fault, next time don't repeat the same mistake, you should know your place in the palace," the imperial noble consort said then she walked past the imperial consort whose head was still bowed, seeing that the imperial noble consort had already walked away, she raised her head then she breathes in a sigh of relief. She had always made sure that she doesn't get involved in the internal affairs of the palace even though she is the fourth-ranked woman in the palace, she didn't go to the gathering even though she was aware of it because she hated the fake attitude and smiles that they always put on in each other presence. Then she walked back to her palace.

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Huo Ying still lied down on her bed, this was already the second and she hadn't gotten the herbs yet, she felt her strength slowly dissipating that she couldn't even speak as much as she did when she first woke up. Her lips were now dry and her face became as pale as snowdrift in a frost, she only wore a white inner and outer garment, and her long black neatly displayed on the pillow. This time she wasn't feeling any pain but she could feel that her temperature was slowly rising, even though the room was well ventilated. She didn't have any appetite to eat so Huo Mei and Huo Lian only fed her porridge so that she can retain her strength but she still ate it with difficulty, she felt like she was slowly dying but she didn't want them to be worried.

Huo Mei came into the room with another bowl of porridge, then she helped her to sit and rest her back on the pillow, she dragged a small stool to the side of the bed.

"Young mistress, it is time for you to eat," Huo Mei said, she was deeply concerned for Huo Yin seeing her state, never has she ever seen her as week as this.

"I really don't want to eat right now, maybe later," Huo Ying said with a very weak voice.

"young mistress…., you have to eat or you won't have enough strength to keep yourself alive before they return with the herbs," Huo Mei said, she knew that Huo Ying really wasn't in the mood to eat but she just couldn't leave her on an empty, knowing that Huo Mei will definitely insist that she eat, she opened her mouth slightly while Huo Mei scooped a spoonful of porridge and fed it to her after she finished feeding her, she poured her a cup of water and gave it to her, Huo Ying didn't have an appetite but she was thirsty for water at that moment so she drank about three cups of water. Then Huo Lian came in with a bowl of tonic on a tray, she smiled when she saw that she had eaten half of the porridge, it was still better compared to when she ate just three spoons and abandoned the food before.

"young mistress, this is your tonic," Huo Lian said then she passed the bowl of tonic to Huo Ying.