Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

The bedchamber was quiet for a moment.

The woman in green slowly raised her eyes. "Your Majesty, you were just frightened today, so it's best not to listen."

The Empress pressed further, "Is it as Gui Yao described?"

She feared she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully without finding out the details; she always felt a heavy, chilly weight on her back.

"no."

The woman in green shook her head. "I was only following orders to end her life; I did not torture her."

But Gui Yao's words kept echoing in the Empress's mind. She tightened her grip on the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand, "Who is causing this...?"

"Your Majesty is destined for greatness, and nobility surrounds you. Ordinary spirits cannot approach you."

The woman in green stepped forward and whispered soothingly, "Consort Su bewitched the princess into letting her leave the palace, and also discovered the princess's secret of going to war in place of the crown prince. Killing her is for the sake of peace in the world."

Your Majesty, please do not let others disturb your peace of mind; harming yourself is the right thing to do.

"Yes, she brought it on herself."

The Empress nodded. "She shouldn't have taken advantage of my daughter. If she had stayed quietly in the palace, I wouldn't have taken her life."

After a few moments of silence, she couldn't help but ask, "How exactly did you kill her?"

The woman in green paused for a few moments. "To prevent anyone from finding out about her death, her body had to be dismembered and left in the depths of the mountains to roost in wild animals..."

"Stop talking."

The Empress abruptly interrupted her, rapidly twirling her prayer beads in her hand, "Actually, I've dreamt of her over the years as well."

That's why she was afraid when Gui Yao described the spirits of the dead.

"But I cannot let her leave the palace with such a big secret, leaving a hidden danger for my child."

Her voice trembled slightly, as if she were trying to convince herself.

"Your Majesty's considerations are thorough and correct."

The woman in green knelt down in front of the footstool. "I will watch over you tonight, so don't be afraid."

The Empress lay down, but stared at the top of the tent, unable to close her eyes. After a long while, she said softly, "Baozhu must hate me very much."

The woman in green was lighting the calming incense from the bedside when she heard this. She paused, then smiled and said, "The princess is very sensible. She understands your good intentions. Your Majesty, please don't overthink it."

"No."

The Empress shook her head. "I also have my own selfish motives..."

She sighed heavily, but didn't say anything more.

The calming incense from the bedside rose gently, filling the entire room, and the Empress's eyelids gradually grew heavy.

The woman in green took a small pillow and lay down on the footstool.

Gui Yao leaped down from the roof beam and walked to the bedside.

She gathered a wisp of malevolent energy in her fingers and threw it towards the Empress's brow.

However, the Yin energy seemed to hit an invisible wall and bounced back.

"How could it have failed?"

Gui Yao was surprised.

She flicked her wrist and channeled her spiritual energy, but the result was the same; she was bounced back two steps by the barrier.

Xiao Huaijin quickly helped her up, "What's wrong?"

Gui Yao steadied himself. "There's something strange about the Empress."

This was the first time she had encountered something like this since her rebirth.

Xiao Huaijin's eyes flickered as he looked at the woman in green. "Try her."

He and Gui Yao had both overheard the conversation between the Empress and this man.

Although they were talking about Consort Su being killed, he always felt that the Empress's last words of hatred were not just about Consort Su.

Gui Yao nodded, channeling his spiritual power into the green-clad woman's mind, and asked, "Why did the Empress say that Baozhu hates her?"

The woman in green closed her eyes, her brows furrowed as if struggling, but finally spoke, "Your Majesty has switched the princess."

Gui Yao's brow twitched slightly. "The real princess was killed by the Empress?"

The woman in green shook her head. "I don't know."

"Who is the fake princess? What was the queen's purpose in switching the princess?"

"Future Crown Princess, the princess is disobedient."

The fake princess is the future crown princess? What does that mean?

Gui Yao looked at Xiao Huaijin.

Xiao Huaijin grasped Gui Yao's hand. He knew that Gui Yao wasn't truly ignorant; she simply couldn't believe it.

Therefore, he asked, "What demands did the Empress make to Baozhu? The princess refused, so the Empress sent the future Crown Princess of Dasheng to Nanyao to impersonate the princess?"

"Marry into the Zhang family and ensure its prosperity."

The Zhang family, the family of the Empress's family, is undoubtedly the Zhang family mentioned by the woman in green.

Only for the sake of her own family's interests would an empress harm her daughter.

Xiao Huaijin then asked, "If the two countries are to form a marriage alliance, the emperor will bring the fake princess back to the capital. How will she marry the crown prince while assuming the identity of Princess Baozhu?"

The man in green frowned again and replied, "I faked my death on the way back to the capital and changed my identity to enter the Eastern Palace."

"What identity should I change to?"

Xiao Huaijin looked at the woman in green, his eyes flickering. "Is she marrying into the Eastern Palace as the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's family?"

The woman in green nodded, her eyes still closed.

Gui Yao glanced at Xiao Huaijin with suspicion.

He's always been steady and intelligent; he wouldn't ask such a direct question...

Xiao Huaijin blinked her right eye gently, and Gui Yao understood. She asked, "The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion has no women of marriageable age. Why did the Empress choose that imposter?"

What's so special about this imposter? Was her trip to Nanyao really just because Baozhu was disobedient? Or is she plotting something with the Empress?

She deliberately asked several questions in a row.

The woman in green froze for a moment before uttering two words, "I don't know."

Gui Yao narrowed her eyes slightly. "Is the ghost market related to that counterfeit?"

Her hand reached out to grab the woman in green.

The woman in green suddenly opened her eyes and dodged back, but she was not as fast as Gui Yao.

Gui Yao grabbed her by the throat. "Tell me, who killed Princess Baozhu, and who was the fake princess?"

Instead of answering, the woman in green asked, "How did you know I was pretending to be controlled by you?"

Gui Yao increased the pressure on her hand, but the woman in green remained unfazed, instead mocking, "I wonder how you pacified all the kingdoms; you don't even know who killed you..."

She was being choked and struggling to breathe, slowly uttering a single word, "Stupid!"

Gui Yao realized something, released her throat, and saw that black blood was already spilling from the corner of her mouth.

Xiao Huaijin checked her pulse. "She's dead."

She had poison hidden in her mouth.

Gui Yao glanced at the wispy light rising from the green-clad body. "Not only is he dead, but his soul is shattered as well."

"It seems someone anticipated our arrival at the palace tonight and was deliberately waiting for us."

Xiao Huaijin took Gui Yao's hand. "Let's leave here first."

Gui Yao nodded, used her spiritual power to wipe away the pinch marks on the green-clad woman's neck, then pried open her eyes. Two lines of bloody tears flowed from her eyes. After facing the Empress, she followed Xiao Huaijin out of Fengyi Palace.

She glanced in the direction of her former palace, then turned and headed out of the palace.

Since they anticipated her visit to Fengyi Palace, they must have made arrangements in her palace as well.

Gui Yao has no intention of being led by others.

Back at Xuanji Tower, she asked Xiao Huaijin, "How much of what she said is true?"

"Most of it should be true."

Xiao Huaijin pursed his lips. "I've heard that the Crown Prince cannot touch women, which is why he remains unmarried."

Although he was a hostage, he knew more about the secrets of Dasheng than ordinary people, so Xiao Huaijin couldn't help but wonder if the fake princess was the same in Nanyao.

Gui Yao tossed aside her tasseled hat. "It's a major taboo for the Crown Prince to have no heir. Did the Empress make a deal with a fake princess to cover for the Crown Prince?"

Let the crown prince and the fake princess be husband and wife in name only.

"That fake princess must be someone the Queen trusts."

She called out, "Mao Dan, go check if there are any young ladies from the Zhenguo Duke's mansion who have been living away from home."

The person the Empress was most likely to trust was her niece from her maternal family.

Xiao Huaijin added, "I suspect that the fake princess went to Nanyao with the intention of taking over Nanyao for the Crown Prince."

Perhaps this is the real reason why the Queen switched the princess's body with her own.

If the fake princess were to seize Nan Yao, the crown prince would become the true ruler of the world.

Gui Yao also thought of this, which is why she asked about the relationship between the Ghost Market and the fake princess.

"It was my carelessness; I never expected her to commit suicide by poisoning herself."

Xiao Huaijin comforted her, "Don't blame yourself. I didn't expect that demons and monsters would always show themselves eventually."

Besides, she also told us a lot: some people wanted to reap the benefits.

Gui Yao pondered, "Could it be that woman in black robes?"

Meanwhile, the man in black robes, whom she suspected, was sitting in a magnificent room, 'watching' the servants burning paper money.

Flames leaped up, and a servant asked the man in black robes, "Master, will Gui Yao believe those words and fight against the Empress and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"

"Yes."

The man in the black robe and with red lips curled up, "Because what Lü Qiao said is the truth, only it's been concealed to some extent."

"Will Gui Yao seek out the Empress again?"

The servants were somewhat worried.

"It's no use looking for it."

The man in the black robe toyed with his bright red fingernails.

"That's a treasure that Old Ghost gave me. If I use it on the Empress and Green Beauty, no one will be able to see their true feelings for three years. We can just watch the show."

She tossed another stack of papers into the basin and sighed, "It's such a pity. The pawn I painstakingly placed next to the Empress has been lost just like that."