What Li Ruantang wanted was not just Qin Rong’s wavering heart. She sighed rather heavily, “Actually, with the Official’s years of astuteness in office, you’ve probably already guessed the circumstances of this matter. These years Wei Junshi has been favored, Her Majesty only values that he has no one behind him and won’t have any connections to the previous dynasty.”

“But with this Golden Elixir case coming to light, everything points towards the back palace. Does the Official perhaps remember the Crown Princess dispute from some years ago?”

“This official remembers.” Qin Rong’s heart skipped a beat as she agreed.

Back then, when the Fifth Princess and Third Princess suffered one death and one injury in Fengping Copper Village, Her Majesty was greatly grieved. Now that Li Ruantang brought it up, Qin Rong frowned slightly, but didn’t dare to voice those few words.

Li Ruantang nodded, “Official Qin’s guess is correct.”

During the Crown Princess dispute back then, all the involved officials were dealt with according to the law, except for the Prince of Qing who had pushed things along behind the scenes but ultimately emerged unscathed.

Later, there were officials who memorialized that the Prince of Qing was privately stockpiling weapons, but all these matters eventually came to nothing.

And at that time, it was when Wei Junshi had just entered the back palace, when Her Majesty indulged in nightly revelry.

Later, because many of the children born in the back palace were princes, Her Majesty developed thoughts of longevity, spending huge sums to seek out alchemists and create the Golden Elixir.

It wasn’t until two years ago when sinkholes frequently occurred in Great Jin that Her Majesty finally extinguished these thoughts and no longer insisted on going against heaven’s will.

Now that Wei Junshi was finally with child, and this pregnancy, all the imperial physicians unanimously said it was a princess, along with auspicious omens appearing before the pregnancy.

Every detail seemed to indicate that the destined ruler of Great Jin was about to be born.

The Empress had long since stopped being obsessed with these baseless talks, how could she blindly tolerate this. There must be other reasons behind it.

Additionally, with the waste of resources on the Golden Elixir these past few years, Her Majesty’s health had become increasingly weak, which is why the timing of the Prince of Qing’s return to the capital this time was extremely opportune.

If one day there was a young ruler without support, according to ancestral laws, a regent would have to be chosen. To put it bluntly, there were precedents in history of regents usurping the throne.

Qin Rong pondered for a moment, suddenly understanding Her Majesty’s affection towards Li Ruantang at the Dragon Boat Festival banquet.

After all, among the surviving royal descendants and nobles, one was the healthy and strong Prince of Qing, and the second was Li Ruantang who had not yet inherited her title.

Investigating the Golden Elixir case, on the surface it seemed to be about purging corrupt officials from the court, but in reality it was to catch the Prince of Qing in one net, to prevent further trouble.

Whoever tried to obstruct this would be accused of being a remnant rebel.

Once she understood this point, she immediately knelt down and said, “This official was foolish before, blinded by momentary benefits, and thus committed a great error. I am grateful for the Young Mistress’s guidance tonight. Now this official deeply regrets her actions. I wonder if there is any way to make amends, to demonstrate this official’s loyalty to Her Majesty?”

“Official Qin is naturally intelligent, what need is there for me to say more.” Li Ruantang stood up, pretending to help up the sweating Qin Rong. “Moreover, Official Qin is not like Fang Zhi from before, in a disadvantageous position with no ability to fight back. If Wei Yunruo and his ilk only had the support of one attendant behind them, how could they make such a big move.”

“This official understands!” Qin Rong hurriedly wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead.

Late at night, Wei Dan first escorted the weak-legged Qin Rong back to her residence. Li Ruantang stood up and only then stretched her wrists.

In the corridor, a furtive figure tiptoed, sneakily trying to push open the tightly closed door.

Creak——

Before the young man could exert force with his hand, the thin door panel opened from the inside.

Their eyes met.

Those almond eyes were full of smiles, and the outstretched arm easily pulled the stunned Meng Jun into her embrace.

The door closed.

Coming to his senses, the young man paused, then blushing, broke free from her embrace.

Hmph, he hadn’t yet asked what she had been doing with Qingping these past few nights, nor had he asked why she insisted on using his life as bait.

Meng Jun glared at her angrily, “Don’t think this settles everything.”

He sat with his back turned on the soft stool. The large Western mirror clearly reflected the young woman standing behind him, at a loss for what to do.

Tsk, not at all like how she had just dealt with Qin Rong so strategically, clearly just like when she was little.

The young man’s face showed displeasure, but those beautiful phoenix eyes were already curved. Seeing Li Ruantang about to turn around, his slender fingers reached out awkwardly and grasped her palm.

“Where are you going again?” The clear voice unconsciously carried a hint of grievance.

Li Ruantang smiled faintly, pulling him to sit on the chaise lounge, “Silly, I’m going to get your handkerchief.”

“I’m not silly.” Meng Jun glared at her, took the handkerchief and stuffed it into his sleeve, then pulled out an oiled paper bag and handed it to her, “Here, these are new pastries made by my family’s cook. I brought them especially for you to try. But, I suppose that male companion must have fed you plenty of good food.”

In the banquet hall, quite a lot of food had been consumed, so she probably wasn’t hungry.

The young man lowered his head gloomily, “If you don’t want to eat—”

“I do.” Her answer was simple.

Meng Jun was stunned, then suddenly beamed with joy. He gently opened the oiled paper package. The pastries that had been carefully wrapped inside had already crumbled into small pieces from the jostling.

Even the extra filling he had specially asked the cook to add had turned to crumbs.

The young man’s phoenix eyes, which had just been full of joy, instantly drooped. He secretly observed Li Ruantang’s expression, “How about I bring you some more to try tomorrow.”

“It’s fine, this is still edible.” Li Ruantang didn’t mind. She picked up a small half of the still relatively intact pastry and put it in her mouth, chewing only a couple of times.

Meng Jun, who was sitting close beside her, suddenly seemed to remember something. He hurriedly knocked the remaining pastry out of her hand, his face turning pale. His slender fingers cupped her cheeks directly, “Tangtang, quickly spit it out!”