The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Qingying subconsciously looked at Aruo, whose mind raced. Just as she was about to come up with an excuse, Ruofu suddenly slammed his hand heavily on the table!

The teacups on the table trembled slightly.

Everyone in the room was startled.

Zhao Ying strode forward, grabbed A Ruo's arm, and forced her to kneel on the ground.

Caught off guard, A'Ruo's knee slammed against the brick surface with a thud. Ignoring the pain, she cried out in alarm to Qingying, "Master! Master!"

Qingying's expression changed, and she abruptly stood up: "What is Your Highness doing? Weren't we just discussing how to settle Hailan's matter? One thing at a time. If you don't want to deal with it, just say so. Why go through all this?"

Ruofu slowly turned to look at her and asked, word by word:

"What are you?"

Qingying was stunned.

She even doubted whether she had heard correctly, a look of disbelief on her face: "Madam?"

"Yes, I am the Princess Consort."

Rufus then asked, "Then what are you?"

Qingying blushed instantly.

She hesitated for a long time before finally saying with difficulty, "This concubine... is a secondary consort."

"So you did know you were a concubine."

Ruo Fu sneered, "You? You think you can teach me, the primary wife, how to do things? Who gave you the guts?"

Qingying's face grew increasingly pale.

Ruofu, however, had no intention of letting her off easily. What a joke! She was a pig who had run into him; why shouldn't he beat her up?

"If you were upright and knew how to behave properly and follow the rules, I might have given you some face. But you've disregarded my words once or twice, and now you even dare to trample on my personal gag order!"

"I made it clear what happened last night: anyone who dares to utter a single word of gossip in this mansion will have their entire family sold off to the darkest, most desolate place."

"Why? It's for the sake of the prince's reputation, and for Hailan's honor!"

Her voice was clear and strong, resounding: "There are only a few masters in this house. Xi Yue doesn't know, Zhu Ying doesn't know, but you are sharp-eared and insightful, and you know everything clearly first thing in the morning."

Gao Xiyue immediately sat up straight, her small face showing a hint of pride.

Ruo Fu looked at Qing Ying again: "You knew all along! And in front of so many people, you poured out everything that happened last night, and then put on a magnanimous and compassionate act, speaking up for Hai Lan."

"You keep talking about reputation, so let me ask you this: by publicizing this in broad daylight and forcing me to give Hailan the title of princess, are you trying to save her reputation, or are you confirming that she had something going on with the prince last night?"

Qingying's expression changed drastically: "I'm not—"

"Why aren't you?"

Ruofu interrupted her directly: "Since you know she didn't let the prince succeed last night, and I've covered it up, as long as no one present says anything, in a year or two, who will know about this? But today you insist on elevating her to the rank of princess! What are you going to make others think?"

"A mere embroiderer! She got the prince into her room in the middle of the night, and the next day she was granted a title. Will people say she was bullied, or will they say she had already seduced the prince, and last night was just a half-hearted act, and she used the opportunity to rise to the top?"

Qingying's face flushed red and then turned pale.

Ruof's tone grew increasingly cold: "If you truly cared about her, you should have kept your mouth shut, instead of rushing to tell me what to do!"

"Or are you saying you don't care how Hailan will face people after this? You just want to use her to fill the hole the Prince made last night, and then use your magnanimity to make me, the primary wife, look narrow-minded and intolerant!"

Qingying's eyes immediately reddened, and her mouth opened and closed, but after a long while she could only utter a pitiful sentence: "I, I didn't mean that."

Ruof rolled his eyes.

"Whether that's what you mean or not, the public will have its own judgment!"

Too lazy to argue with Qingying any longer, she turned her gaze back to A'ruo, who was kneeling on the ground.

"Getting back to the main point, who exactly gave you the information last night?"

Aruo's shoulders twitched, and she immediately lowered her head.

Qingying barely managed to compose herself and said, "I only overheard it by chance, why is Your Highness making such a fuss?"

"Heared? Heard from whom? You're just a concubine, never stepping out of the inner quarters. Who could you possibly hear things from in the middle of the night?"

Ruof narrowed his eyes: "It couldn't have been you who couldn't sleep at night, suddenly got the urge, and went for a stroll in the backyard, could it?"

Qingying was speechless.

Ruofu's gaze shifted, landing directly on A'ruo: "You little slut, hurry up and confess the truth!"

A'Ruo turned pale with fright and immediately turned her head: "Master! Master, save me!"

Qingying couldn't bear to watch her maid be punished, so she bit her lip and said, "Last night... I ate too much and had indigestion, so I asked A'ruo to go to the pharmacy to get some pills. The pharmacy isn't far from the embroidery room, so she probably overheard it when she passed by."

Ruofu chuckled again: "Is that so? Then it'll be easier to investigate. Chenguang, you go to the pharmacy yourself. According to the rules, when medicine is taken from the manor, regardless of whether it's master or servant, everyone must register and keep a record. Go and check if what our Consort Qing said is true. If not, then she's deceiving her mistress, a crime punishable by double! Such a servant doesn't even need to be sold; she should be beaten to death!"

"Yes."

Shen Guang turned to leave.

"etc!"

Qingying suddenly spoke up, her embarrassment almost impossible to conceal.

She bit her lower lip, and after a moment, she suddenly knelt down.

"It is Aruo who is ill-mannered, please do not take it to heart, Your Highness. As for Hailan's matter, since Your Highness has made a decision, I will naturally not interfere again. Please, Your Highness... show mercy."

Aruo immediately burst into tears: "Master!"

Ruofu looked down at Qingying for a long time.

After a long pause, he suddenly sneered, "You really can't understand human language! I'm asking who broke my rules, who told you about last night's events. One minute you're pleading for Hailan's status, the next you're pleading for Aruo's, always saying 'be lenient' and 'show mercy'."

"You're always watching whether I, as the primary wife, am fulfilling my duties, afraid that I'm not doing enough. How come you don't even know what it means to be meticulous in managing the household, which is the most important thing for a primary wife?"

"How long have the rules of the manor been established? I only issued the gag order last night, and the news has already reached your courtyard this morning. If I let it go today because of your pleading, then from now on everyone can run around at night, everyone can eavesdrop on the master's private affairs, and everyone can ignore what I say."

"Can I still manage this family? And where do I even begin to manage it?"

"Everyone says that your Ulanara clan is a noble family, and you, Qingying, were raised as a high-born noblewoman. Didn't anyone teach you these things?"

"Or do you know that you'll only ever be a concubine in this life, and all you care about is a little bit of favor, while everything else—rules, hierarchy, you can just throw to the back of your mind?"

Qingying's eyes reddened even more, but she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

Ruof waved his hand impatiently: "Alright. If you can't speak properly, then get out of here and stop getting in the way!"

She stared at A'Ruo again: "Tell me yourself, who tipped you off? Or do I have to investigate myself? Let me be clear: if you're obedient now and confess everything, I might be lenient with you since you've taken the initiative to admit your mistake. But if you're as clueless as your mistress and insist that I investigate every single detail..."

She sneered, "I'm not that easy to talk to."

A'Ruo kept looking towards Qingying, but the latter remained kneeling on the ground, tears welling in her eyes, her face pale, seemingly lost in thought, still immersed in the humiliation inflicted upon her by the Fujin, unable to extricate herself.

Aruo became increasingly panicked.

She's just bold and hot-tempered, not truly fearless.

"What are you still standing there for?" After waiting for a while, seeing that the master and servants were still in the same deadpan state, Ruof completely lost his patience: "Drag them away and lock them up! Investigate everyone who was on night duty last night, the people in the pharmacy, and the people in the kitchen, one by one. Once we find out who colluded with her from the inside, we won't bother finding any kidnappers; just beat them all to death!"

Zhao Ying immediately replied, "Yes."

Qingying suddenly looked up: "Aruo is my dowry maid, the Fujin cannot do this!"

Ruo Fu turned to stare at her: "This is the Prince Bao's residence. I, the Princess Consort, am the sole mistress of this inner courtyard. Let alone that she is merely a maidservant who came with you as part of your dowry, even if it were you—"

Ruofu looked down at her: "This princess can hit me or scold me as she pleases. Don't think that just because you have the title of concubine and are listed in the imperial register, you can act recklessly in front of me."

"You have disregarded the rules of the household once or twice, allowing your servants to break the law and commit insubordination. I, the Princess Consort, am free to report this to the Imperial Clan Court and have your status as a secondary consort revoked! If the Imperial Clan Court dares not take action, I will continue to appeal to the Noble Consort Xi and to His Majesty! I refuse to believe that they can stand by and watch this family's system of legitimate and illegitimate children reversed, allowing the Prince to favor his concubine over his wife, and allowing you, Ulanara, to climb above my Fucha clan!"