[I’m confused, whose side is Zhou Ping on? Is it the Fourth Prince’s?]

[Not necessarily, I think she’s playing both sides and waiting to see who wins to follow the final Emperor.]

[Zhou Ping hasn’t rested all day, give the extras a raise, acting in so many roles is really tiring.]

On the other side, Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu had arrived at the entrance to the Cold Palace.

The director rubbed his chin, feeling that this wasn’t going well. This clue should have been Qi Yingying’s. If Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu found out, the plot would definitely veer in an unexpected direction.

He couldn’t understand how, with the identities and clues so restricted, Ruan Qiu managed to guess so many truths?

After a minute of contemplation, to prevent the program from abruptly ending like last time, the director made an unethical decision.

He instructed the undercover maid in the Cold Palace to “silence” Empress Wan, preventing Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu from obtaining this clue.

Upon receiving the director’s message, the extras playing Empress Wan reluctantly got up, ready to follow the maid out of the studio. She deliberately moved slowly, hoping to show her face more on camera, contributing to her future acting career. That person named Zhou Ping became popular after the last episode, but she didn’t look worse than Zhou Ping.

The director watched as she approached the back door of the Cold Palace, while Xue Wu and Ruan Qiu had just entered the pitch-black gate of the Cold Palace. He didn’t urge the extras, but sat back in his chair, ready to enjoy Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu’s bewildered expressions.

The audience was unaware of the director’s unethical actions. They watched with sweet smiles as the two walked side by side on the live camera, browsing through fan art and fanfiction in the forum, immensely happy.

Inside the Cold Palace, with no lights on, the remaining guards stayed at the gate. Through the open night vision camera, the audience saw Ruan Qiu slow down her pace. She couldn’t see clearly in the darkness and could only cautiously discern Xue Wu’s movement direction, following him forward.

“Grab onto me.” Xue Wu suddenly stopped and reached out to Ruan Qiu, saying, “I’ll lead the way for you.”

“Okay, thank you.” Ruan Qiu nodded and reached out, feeling Xue Wu’s sleeve.

Seeing Ruan Qiu trying to grab his sleeve, Xue Wu calmly pressed her hand down, allowing Ruan Qiu’s fingertips to touch his own fingers.

Ruan Qiu paused for a moment, about to retract her hand and reach for Xue Wu’s sleeve again, but heard Xue Wu say, “It’s okay, this way we won’t get separated. Just hold on.”

Ruan Qiu then held onto Xue Wu’s finger and continued to follow with the help of Xue Wu’s exceptional night vision.

[Tsk, tsk, someone is taking advantage of Ruan Ruan because it’s dark and we can’t see them, right?]

[Does the Emperor think we can’t see him just because the lights are off? Hahaha.]

[I saw it! Both of my eyes saw him coaxing Ruan Ruan into holding hands!]

[During the day, the difference in status and position forces them to be reserved, but at night, they can help each other dress and lightly hook fingers in the dark where no one can see. This is their tacit and ambiguous understanding, one more step would be too much, one step less would be too distant, it cannot be spoken, cannot be known, it is a love that deviates from norms, deep and restrained.]

[The wife finally appeared! The Goddess of shipping! Wow, wow, wow, please, wife, write more!]

[The Emperor personally came out to give dogfood, who has this treatment? Let’s ship it!]

The chief director sat up slightly.

He forgot that Xue Wu had incredible night vision.

The director nervously stared at the screen, urging the extras still dawdling to hurry up, watching as Xue Wu effortlessly led Ruan Qiu past obstacles and into the dilapidated room

“No one’s here,” Xue Wu said to Ruan Qiu.

“Could it be that someone from the Empress Dowager’s side came to silence her?” Ruan Qiu said, then shook her head, denying her own thoughts, “The Empress Dowager has no reason to kill her. Let’s go to the back and take a look.”

Xue Wu then continued to lead Ruan Qiu further back, while Ruan Qiu analyzed as they walked, “Actually, I’ve never understood why the Empress Dowager would want to drive Empress Wan insane. The Empress Dowager’s goal should be to prevent the birth of princes in the harem to avoid affecting her rule. She only needs to administer medicine to prevent the consorts from having children. So, Empress Wan probably heard something she shouldn’t have…”

“Wait!” Ruan Qiu suddenly paused, a hint of realization in her voice, “Does the Emperor remember? We overheard the Empress Dowager saying that it was Princess Xingyu who suggested driving Empress Wan insane.”

Ruan Qiu pondered, “Princess Xingyu is the legitimate daughter of the Fourth Prince. Although she has always been raised by the Empress Dowager, it doesn’t necessarily mean she has no disloyalty to her. So, it’s very likely that Empress Wan heard conversations about the Fourth Prince wanting to get the throne, and Princess Xingyu used the Empress Dowager’s hand to drive Empress Wan insane to conceal the truth.”

[Wow, Ruan Qiu’s memory is incredible, isn’t it? Does she remember every word she hears?]

[No wonder the Empress Dowager previously mentioned that it was Ye Xingyu who suggested driving Empress Wan insane! She wanted to silence Empress Wan!]

[And with Empress Wan being  insane, whatever she says won’t be believed by anyone.]

[Although the director is unethical, the attention to detail and foreshadowing, maintaining the smooth plot even during the live broadcast, he’s really skilled]

[Thinking back to Empress Wan’s words about everyone dying before, it’s really terrifying.]

[Just came from Ye Xingyu’s live stream to tell you all, Ye Xingyu does indeed have disloyalty to the Empress Dowager. He’s on the Fourth Prince’s side, and the Fourth Prince wants to use Jiang Yan’s status as the Crown Prince to become the Emperor.”

[I’m getting goosebumps, can Ruan Qiu be right again?]

[Outrageous, isn’t it? I want to see how many more clues Ruan Qiu can find.]

The director backstage was a bit dumbfounded.

He arranged for Empress Wan to be “silenced”, yet he inadvertently provided clues to Ruan Qiu??

At this moment, Xue Wu had already led Ruan Qiu to the back door of the Cold Palace.

“The back door is open,” Xue Wu said to Ruan Qiu. “They should have left from here.”

The back door of the Cold Palace had another stone path, with palace lanterns illuminating the way, albeit dimly.