[I was so scared just now that I threw my phone and broke it. The director has to compensate!]

[Is this Empress Wan? Is she really insane?]

[What does she mean by what she’s saying? Is it some kind of hint?]

Before the woman could utter even more terrifying words, Zhou Ping arrived.

Followed by several palace maids, they rushed forward with ropes, easily restraining the still-crazy woman. They covered her mouth tightly with a cloth, preventing her from screaming.

Seeing that the situation stabilized, Zhou Ping turned around, bowed to the still-shocked individuals, and said, “Your Majesty, please calm down. It was the incompetence of this servant that allowed the Empress to run to the front of the hall and cause a disturbance, sullying your ears. This servant will now take Empress Wan back to the Cold Palace along with Lady Qi.”

Qi Yingying, caught off guard by being called, regained her composure, controlled her expression, and approached Zhou Ping. Following her guidance, they escorted the woman who had just gone mad out of the hall.

In the hall, Xue Wu and Ruan Qiu remembered the conversation in the Empress’s quarters and exchanged glances. They hadn’t expected the Empress Dowager to make a move so quickly.

Bai Jinyao, shaken by yet another clue, furrowed her brows. She hadn’t anticipated the background of this plot to be so complex, involving not only Imperial Palace and the foreign nation but also issues within the harem.

Ruan Qiu thought for a moment and turned to Xue Wu, saying, “Shall we split up to find clues?”

Xue Wu was a little surprised, but nodded and said, “Okay.”

[Why split up to find clues? Teaming up is more efficient!]

[I want to see you together, sob. I feel so secure watching Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu together!]

[Hurry and check Qi Yingying’s live stream, there’s a major clue!]

While Bai Jinyao resumed patrolling, Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu went their separate ways to search for clues. At the same time, Qi Yingying had already followed Zhou Ping to the Cold Palace.

The palace maids threw Empress Wan into a dilapidated little room. After Zhou Ping made sure she wouldn’t cause any more trouble, she squatted down and said to Qi Yingying, “Ping’er will take her leave first. Lady Qi, please don’t forget what the Empress Dowager mentioned earlier. Whenever you plan to leave the palace, be sure to inform Ping’er in advance, so Ping’er can make arrangements for you.”

After Zhou Ping left, Qi Yingying looked at the room where Empress Wan was confined. She wanted to ask her some questions, to see if she could find any clues. However, Empress Wan’s previous frenzied state had left her frightened. Qi Yingying was afraid that she might go mad again and harm herself. Thus, she decided to abandon this lead.

She was about to leave when a young palace maid who had grabbed Empress Wan earlier approached quietly. She whispered to Qi Yingying, “Lady Qi, Auntie Ping seems to be suspicious of you.”

“Auntie Ping previously asked me,” the young palace maid looked panicked, “She asked if Lady Qi had changed the Empress’s medicine, which made the Empress regain consciousness. She also asked me if I knew when you were leaving the palace and what you were planning to do. I said I didn’t know, but Auntie Ping didn’t seem to believe me.”

“Lady Qi, what should we do? What if the people from the Empress Dowager’s side find out that we are the Emperor’s people? Will they silence us??” The young palace maid asked in fear.

Qi Yingying: ?

Wasn’t she on the Empress Dowager’s side? Was her real identity actually a chess piece that the Emperor buried beside the Empress Dowager? !

[???]

[How can this be?! I’ve been stunned by clues after going back and forth in several live broadcast rooms…]

[Qi Yingying and Xue Wu are on the same side! With Qi Yingying passing on information, Xue Wu shouldn’t be the first one eliminated, right?]

[Help… Everyone, hurry to watch Ruan Qiu’s live stream; there’s a plot development! Not lying!]

The audience who saw that flocked into Ruan Qiu’s live broadcast room again.

After Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu split up to find clues, she casually grabbed a young eunuch to ask where she lived.

Although she was the eunuch in charge of the Emperor, she didn’t have the qualification to live in the same place as him. Instead, she resided in the row of houses near the palace’s outskirts, with her entire yard and a separate bedroom—quite a top-notch setup.

As Ruan Qiu entered the room, she instructed the young eunuch behind her not to follow. He seemed afraid of her; even a small mistake in guiding her made him almost kneel, begging her not to harm him. Ruan Qiu thought that her character should be a ruthless and cunning eunuch, having committed various misdeeds.

She thoroughly searched the not-so-large room and discovered a small white porcelain bottle in the pillowcase. The camera zoomed in, revealing a small note attached to the bottle that read: “Restless Heart and Impatient Qi Medicine.”

[Can the name of this medicine be any more normal?]

[Who is this medicine for? Surely not for Ruan Qiu herself, right?]

Viewers speculated on the intended recipient of the medicine, and Ruan Qiu’s expression changed suddenly, as if she had remembered something. She tore off the note from the bottle, threw it into the nearby oil lamp, burning it clean, and then put away the bottle.

Next, she walked towards a wooden table with blank sheets of paper. After flipping through the empty pages on the table, she reached under the table’s edge, finding a hidden drawer. Slowly pulling it out, she retrieved a small booklet from inside.

Ruan Qiu looked at the recorded text in the booklet with an unreadable expression, while the audience was in an uproar.

The pages detailed the events that occurred after she administered medicine to the Emperor. Under the influence of the Restless Heart and Impatient Qi Medicine, the Emperor became increasingly volatile, unable to control his temper, growing more prone to anger, and becoming increasingly bloodthirsty. He couldn’t heed the advice of the ministers, and their disappointment in him grew.

Just the previous day, unable to contain his anger, the Emperor killed a minister who often offered advice, causing outrage and concern among many officials.

Ruan Qiu’s gaze focused on the last line: “The Emperor has completely lost his sanity. The Imperial Guards have been bribed by me. In less than three days, I will seize the throne and kill the Empress Dowager!”