The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Hongli became even angrier, his breathing gradually becoming heavy, and he stared intently at Ruofu, his eyes seemingly on fire.

Wang Qin dared not raise his head any further, and the two eunuchs lowered their heads even further, their grip loosening again and again until they were barely touching Hailan's shoulders, just going through the motions.

Hailan's heart, which had long been like stagnant water, suddenly stirred with a ripple.

She quietly raised her head and glanced at the upright-sitting Fujin through her disheveled hair.

Ruo Fucai didn't care what Hongli looked like. She waved her hand and said rather gently, "Alright, alright, since it's a misunderstanding, let's clear it up. The prince is not wrong. He just drank a few too many cups at the palace banquet and got a little tipsy, so he couldn't tell which way was which and went to the wrong room. This girl is not wrong either. Poor thing, she was sleeping peacefully in her room when she suddenly suffered such a misfortune. She was almost scared to death. Luckily, she still has some sense of wit and hasn't forgotten what the nanny taught her, which is why she protected herself."

Hongli's expression, which had just eased because of the first half of her sentence, darkened again.

Ruofu ignored him and looked down at Hailan: "Your name is Hailan? I remember the roster sent by the Imperial Household Department said that your embroidery skills are excellent, but you did not learn this skill from childhood. When you first entered the Imperial Household Department, you were still very inexperienced, but you made rapid progress in just two years."

Hailan was taken aback, not expecting that the Fujin knew these things. She was about to answer when she heard the Fujin continue:

"To have learned this much in just two years shows you're quite clever. No wonder you learned to hit people so quickly. Your nanny only taught you for a month or so, and you already know where to strike in a crucial moment. With more practice, you'll surely improve even more."

Wang Qin's lips twitched uncontrollably.

Hongli clearly understood the implication and said coldly, "So, does the Princess Consort intend to reward her?"

"That's not necessary." Ruofu shook his head tactfully: "After all, she hit a prince. Although ignorance is no excuse, it wouldn't sound good if we rewarded her publicly. It's enough to just praise her a little in private."

Hongli: ...

Is that what he meant?

Ruo Fu raised his hand to Hai Lan: "Get up quickly. The ground is cold, and you're only wearing this one garment. If you catch a cold, the manor will have to pay for a doctor."

Hailan struggled to get up, falling twice because her limbs were too weak, and she finally managed to stand up.

Ruo Fu sighed softly and turned to ask Chen Guang, "What time is it? Is it past midnight yet?"

Shen Guang replied, "Reporting to the Princess Consort, not yet, it's about half a cup of tea's time away."

"Listen to this!" Ruof said to Hailan with a smile, "These misfortunes are all counted in the old year. After midnight, they will all be over. When the new year comes, things will turn around and everything will prosper."

Hongli found her gentle and pleasant demeanor extremely irritating.

Just as he was about to utter a sarcastic remark, Ruofu gave him a very sincere look: "Your Highness, it's true that if you fall and bump your head during the New Year, people say it's to ward off disaster in the coming year. Your bump is so round and full, it looks like it's warded off a lot of misfortune. Who knows, in the new year, Your Highness will have everything go smoothly and rise to higher positions."

Hongli: ...

Snapped!

Hongli slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

He failed to steal a kiss and instead got a good beating, which made him very angry. Now that his wife had arrived, he knew he was in the wrong and was willing to endure her sarcastic remarks. However, after talking for so long, he still couldn't get a single word of justice from his wife!

He was all gentle and kind to that lowly maid, but when it came to himself, he could only endure endless verbal sparring.

It’s tolerable, it’s unbearable!

"My injuries are so severe, and according to the Princess Consort, it's neither my fault nor this lowly maid's. Then whose fault is it?"

Ruo Fu glanced at Hongli coldly, as if he couldn't do anything about him, and then very naturally turned his gaze to Wang Qin, who was standing to the side.

Wang Qin's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he had an extremely ominous premonition.

Sure enough, the next moment—

"Of course it's Wang Qin!"

Ruofu began to analyze seriously: "The prince was drunk, incoherent, unsteady on his feet, and couldn't even distinguish the courtyards. Why didn't Wang Qin properly help the prince to his study or take him to one of the concubines' rooms in the back courtyard? Instead, he led him through a maze of twists and turns to the embroidery room. What was he up to? Did he see that this embroiderer was somewhat pretty and intend to use her to curry favor?"

"This servant wouldn't dare!" Wang Qin knelt down with a thud. "Your Highness, this servant wouldn't dare! It was the Prince, the Prince—"

The words were barely out of his mouth when they abruptly stopped.

If he were to betray his master at this moment, he might escape the punishment of his wife today, but he would certainly have no way to survive in the future.

Wang Qin swallowed the rest of his words and changed his tune, saying, "It was Your Highness who insisted on going this way. This servant tried to stop you, but I couldn't!"

"If you can't stop him, then find more people to stop him! The prince is drunk, so are you drunk too? There are so many guards and eunuchs on night duty along the way, do you have no mouth, or can't you call for help?"

"This servant...this servant couldn't remember for a moment."

"Can't you even remember this? Is your brain filled with mush? When your parents gave birth to you, were they so focused on making you grow taller that they forgot to put a head on top of you? Or did they only have half a brain left in the family, and they were afraid that if they put any more on you, your parents wouldn't be able to use you anymore?"

Wang Qin's face turned red and then pale from the scolding, but he could only lie on the ground and listen.

But Ruofu continued, "Your Highness doesn't know that I gathered all the maids in the manor to learn self-defense a few days ago, nor do you know that I had sticks made. How could you not know? Could it be that you're harboring ill intentions, resenting Your Highness's harshness towards you, and deliberately provoking him to get beaten up?"

Upon hearing this, Hongli immediately frowned, and his gaze toward Wang Qin became somewhat unfriendly.

Wang Qin noticed Hongli's gaze and was terrified. He scrambled forward two steps on his knees, pointing to the heavens and swearing, "Absolutely not! Absolutely not! Your Highness and Consort, you are my witness! I am utterly loyal to Your Highness, heaven and earth bear witness! If I had even the slightest intention to harm Your Highness, may I die a horrible death in this life, the next, and the life after that, and be reborn as a cow or a horse for all eternity, never to be reborn as a human!"

Ruof curled his lip: "Dream on! Oxen can plow fields, horses can pull carts, they're all useful livestock. What use would a stupid thing like you be?"

Wang Qin couldn't muster a smile; he just kept kowtowing, saying, "This servant deserves to die! This servant deserves to die! This servant is useless, but this servant would never dare to harm Your Highness!"