This kind of little daisy-patterned pouch, Yun Jiao had twelve of them, all in different colors, used to match different-colored clothes.

When Consort Rong saw the pouch, her expression changed.

This pouch and the one in her hand that had been made into a sachet were very similar in floral design and style; needless to say, they were made by the same person.

Could it be that the person behind the tree that day, who overheard her talking with Commander Zhu, was Yun Jiao?

Consort Rong lost her composure for a moment; the Empress Dowager looked at her and gave a displeased little cough.

Consort Rong quickly took back her gaze, sat down on the small stool before the Empress Dowager, and smiled as she asked, "Has Your Majesty the Empress Dowager been resting well these past few days?"

The Empress Dowager nodded slightly.

She didn’t much like Consort Rong, but Consort Rong was favored by His Majesty, so she had to give His Majesty face.

Consort Rong’s eyes kept drifting to the pouch at Yun Jiao’s waist; while talking with the Empress Dowager, she kept getting distracted.

The Empress Dowager soon noticed that Consort Rong was absent-minded, and impatiently waved her hand. "Go do as you please. I will talk for a while with the National Lady."

Consort Rong had no choice but to rise and take her leave.

After leaving the Empress Dowager’s palace, Consort Rong did not return to her own quarters, but slowly walked forward along Crescent Lake.

She walked and pondered at the same time.

The sachet was undoubtedly the National Lady’s; she just didn’t know whether the National Lady had realized her and Commander Zhu’s identities.

After all, that tree was very big, and the voices had come from behind the tree.

Just as Consort Rong was still unsure, she suddenly thought: if the National Lady didn’t know who they were, why would she have run?

With her status, if she ran into some palace maid and guard sneaking around in a love affair, she could just call them out on the spot and nothing would happen to her.

So it meant she very likely had recognized who she was.

Consort Rong ground her teeth, irritation churning in her heart. At that moment, she saw a patrol of soldiers walking over this way, led by none other than Commander Zhu.

The two of them quietly exchanged a glance, and Commander Zhu led his men on ahead.

That night, Consort Rong sent the palace maids and nannies off to sleep early.

She kept only the Maid she trusted most, who had followed her from her maiden home into the palace and was now the steward in her quarters. The palace maids and eunuchs all called her Aunt Xue.

By the time it was the Hai hour, the lamps in all the halls and courtyards of the traveling palace had already been extinguished.

Only the stone lamps along the covered corridors were still burning.

A figure silently slipped over to Frost Cloud Palace, Consort Rong’s bedchamber, opened a window, and climbed inside.

The figure stood still for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the light in the room, then quickly groped his way toward the bed.

Faint moonlight shone in through the window, and one could vaguely see a beauty lying on the bed.

The weather was hot, and the beauty was dressed very lightly; her fair arms and legs were exposed. The person swallowed, unable to help reaching out to touch.

Consort Rong suddenly woke with a start. Seeing the silhouette at her bedside, she showed not the slightest surprise and whispered in complaint, "What took you so long!"

The man was already tearing at his clothes in impatience. "I just finished my shift. I came as soon as I’d washed up."

Once he had stripped off his clothes, the man leapt onto the bed like an anxious monkey. Consort Rong put out a hand to his chest to hold him back. "What are you in such a rush for? The matter I mentioned to you the other day—have you thought it through?"

The man was an arrow already on the string, and so anxious he could hardly stand it. He muttered, "Let’s talk about that later."

Consort Rong coquettishly snapped, "No. If you don’t agree to it, you can forget about laying a hand on me tonight!"

The man could only flop onto his back in defeat. "Ancestor, that’s the kind of thing that can cost a man his head. It’s not so easy to pull off."

Consort Rong snorted. "And climbing into my bed isn’t the kind of thing that could cost you your head?"

"Either way, one more offense hardly makes a difference."