Demoting my wife to a concubine? After being reborn, I turned around and married into the imperial f

Chu Xunzhen shook his head.

Granny Gui glanced at Chu Xunzhen to make sure she had no objections, then looked at Princess Jiamin and said, "Then Princess Jiamin will be in charge of the first three hours, and the Ninth Princess Consort will be in charge of the last three hours."

"Okay," Chu Xun replied succinctly.

"Only Princess Jiamin and Her Majesty the Empress will be on night watch. Her Majesty the Empress will rest in the side hall later. If the Princess encounters any problems that she cannot solve, she can come to this room to wake me up."

"Understood, Granny."

Princess Jiamin entered the Empress Dowager's palace as she spoke.

Chu Xunzhen turned around and saw Empress Ma coming towards her.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

Chu Xunzhen bowed as if nothing had happened, as if the falling out between them had never occurred.

Empress Ma was taken aback, never expecting to see Chu Xunzhen here.

"Why is the Ninth Princess still here? The palace gates are already locked. Does she intend to stay and keep me company?"

Granny Gui explained, "Your Majesty, Princess Jiamin and the Ninth Prince's Consort will stay tonight to attend to the Empress Dowager."

"Oh?"

Empress Ma's eyes lit up with a smile upon hearing this.

"The Ninth Princess Consort is very thoughtful."

Chu Xunzhen smiled and said, "I had previously asked the Third Princess to help me with my illness, hoping to share Your Majesty's burdens. However, the Third Princess's child is not even a month old yet, and she was worried about the baby, so she has already returned home."

Empress Ma's expression changed.

Chu Xunzhen smiled inwardly: It's done.

Mingyue Qingli was quite pleased with herself for staying in the palace. Now she was going to erect an invisible wall between herself and the Empress.

Mingyue Qingli thought that keeping Chu Xunzhen in the palace would make her unhappy; on the contrary, it was Chu Xunzhen's wish to stay in the palace to help her grandmother. Most importantly, it could also sow discord between the Third Princess and the Empress.

Empress Ma entered the hall with a gloomy face. Granny Gui lowered her eyes and remained calm, but in reality, a storm was raging inside her.

Fortunately, Chu Xunzhen was not a concubine in the palace. Otherwise, if someone as scheming as her had entered the palace, it would have been uncertain who would have won between her and the Empress.

Granny Gui led Chu Xunzhen to the side room and left respectfully.

Chu Xunzhen climbed onto the bed and flicked out eight protective Gu worms with his right hand to protect himself.

At the same time, she also activated the little white creature that was being nurtured within her.

Xiaobai isn't responding; it probably hasn't recovered yet.

Since that's the case, we can only use Granny Hua's natal Gu worm, the pink and blue butterfly.

The pale blue butterfly was poured out of the porcelain bottle in Chu Xunzhen's arms.

It remained motionless, as if dead.

Chu Xunzhen knew that this state meant it didn't have enough oxygen and had entered a dormant state.

Sure enough, after a while, the pink and blue butterfly fluttered its wings.

Chu Xunzhen bit her finger until it bled.

Fresh blood dripped onto the pink and blue butterfly.

She regained control of the pink and blue butterfly.

"Control all living things within a fifty-meter radius of my room to monitor the entire Shou Kang Palace. Additionally, dispatch twenty cockroach squads to infiltrate the palace, eavesdrop on the Empress and Princess Jiamin's conversation, and simultaneously observe the Empress Dowager on her bed to see if she is unwell."

After Chu Xunzhen finished speaking, he opened the door of the side room and saw cockroaches gathering from all directions, rushing towards the inner hall of Shou'an Palace.

"Dispatch 280 ant squads, divided into four teams of 70 ants each, to guard the Empress Dowager's palace, specifically the four corners of the palace. If anyone is suspicious, immediately issue a warning."

Inside an ant nest in the flowerbed in the northeast corner of Shou Kang Palace.

The queen ant is laying eggs.

However, as soon as Chu Xunzhen gave the order, a red light flashed in her eyes as she issued commands to the ant swarm.

Two hundred and eighty ants poured out of their nest, divided into four teams, and crawled to the four corners outside the Shou Kang Palace to take up their posts.

Chu Xunzhen suddenly lay down to conserve his energy.

She also wanted to know what the dark figure that kept scaring the Empress Dowager at night was.

The Empress Dowager is so kind and approachable, yet she is so old. I wonder who she offends?

Even if the emperor wasn't the empress dowager's biological son, but rather an adopted one, the empress dowager is quite old and doesn't really manage matters of the inner palace. There's no need for the emperor to frighten her like this, is there?

She had just realized that the Emperor's concern for the Empress Dowager was genuine.

If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. Thinking of the jewelry that the Empress Dowager had just given you, Chu Xunzhen felt a warmth in her heart.

Since the Empress Dowager favors her so much, she must do her best to catch the person who plotted against her.

Chu Xunzhen closed his eyes, and after an unknown amount of time, a shrill scream suddenly rang out.

Chu Xunzhen opened her eyes and rushed out.

Outside the Empress Dowager's bedroom, Princess Jiamin was so frightened that her legs went weak and she sat on the ground.

When Chu Xunzhen saw her appearance, his pupils suddenly contracted.

She was covered in blood. Beside her lay a dead cat with half its intestines sticking out and one eye gouged out.

Chu Xunzhen quickly stepped forward, helped her up, and asked, "What happened?"

"Someone was spying on me in the dark just now. They even threw a dead cat at me," Princess Jiamin said, clutching Chu Xunzhen's hand tightly as she sobbed.

Seeing her miserable state, Chu Xunzhen was stunned. She took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood splattered on her face.

"Did you see which way the thief ran?"

Princess Jiamin said, "She ran towards the lotus pond at the back."

Chu Xunzhen nodded, took a step, and then immediately withdrew her leg.

"Never mind. We'll go in immediately and attend to the Empress Dowager."

Princess Jiamin looked at the darkness in the distance and nodded vigorously.

She wouldn't dare chase after the villain alone.

"Let's go see the Empress Dowager."

Upon entering the palace, Princess Jiamin knelt on the ground with a thud.

"Jiamin has disturbed the Empress Dowager; please punish her."

On the tatami mat.

The Empress Dowager sat up, shook her head, and said, "Get up, Jiamin. You just saw how brazen this thief was. Even with so many guards patrolling today, he still dared to show up. It's truly unbelievable."

Princess Jiamin's eyes were filled with terror.

If she hadn't screamed and scared the thief away, who knows what the thief planned to do to her?

Chu Xunzhen said to the Empress Dowager, "Grandmother, shall I take the night watch? Jiamin is terrified."

Princess Jiamin raised her head, as if to say that she was not frightened.

However, when she saw the blood all over her body and thought of the dead cat that had made her want to vomit, she felt as if she had lost all her strength and was completely unable to speak.

The Empress Dowager also noticed that Jiamin was terrified.

The usually spoiled Jiamin was taken aback today, and she was not as fierce as before.

"Jiamin, go and rest in the side hall."

Upon hearing this, Jiamin became even more terrified.

"Grandmother, may I rest on this couch? There are two couches here. The Ninth Princess Consort can sleep on one, and I can sleep on the other."

The Empress Dowager looked at Chu Xunzhen and said, "Then why don't you ask your cousin-in-law?"

Princess Jiamin looked timidly at Chu Xunzhen.

Chu Xunzhen smiled slightly and nodded: "Okay."

Taking a deep breath, Princess Jiamin relaxed completely.

"Thank you, Grandmother." Then she looked at Chu Xunzhen and said shyly, "Thank you, Cousin-in-law."

Chu Xunzhen was taken aback and looked at the girl with some surprise, saying, "There's no need to be so polite."

He poured a glass of water for the Empress Dowager, and she rested again.

Chu Xunzhen's right index finger trembled incessantly.

The blue and pink butterfly that was originally in her room flew out through the crack in the window and landed on an osmanthus tree in the courtyard.

Princess Jiamin closed her eyes, and suddenly, her face turned pale, and she sat up.

"Don't bother me, my stomach hurts, could you come with me to the toilet?"

Princess Jiamin spoke softly.

Chu Xunzhen suddenly opened her eyes and said, "No. If the two of us leave at the same time, there will be no one to watch over Grandmother."

Upon hearing this, Princess Jiamin was so anxious that she almost cried.

"You stay here and watch over the Empress Dowager. I'll go and fetch Granny Gui to come and keep you company."

As Chu Xunzhen finished speaking, Princess Jiamin looked at her gratefully.

Who said Chu Xun was a bad person? Isn't he doing quite well now?

Chu Xunzhen left the Empress Dowager's bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Princess Jiamin stood up, glanced at the Empress Dowager, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that the Empress Dowager was still asleep.

After a while, Chu Xunzhen stood in front of the bedroom and waved to Princess Jiamin.

Princess Jiamin has come out.

In front of the sleeping quarters.

Chu Xunzhen said to Granny Gui, "Granny, take Princess Jiamin to the toilet. Also, wake up two maids to go with you."

"it is good."

As expected of the Ninth Prince's Consort, she has excellent interpersonal skills.

Princess Jiamin was surrounded by people on her left, right, and behind her. In the distance, Chu Xunzhen had also arranged for three guards to follow her.

I suddenly felt incredibly safe.

She glanced at Chu Xunzhen and saw her hurriedly return to her room to continue her night watch.

Chu Xunzhen lay on a small couch in the bedroom, where candlelight flickered.

After an unknown amount of time, Chu Xunzhen actually fell asleep.

A sweet fragrance wafted from the doorway, and Chu Xunzhen was fully awakened.

The fragrance was poisonous, causing the little white creature inside her to become restless.

Even though Xiaobai was injured, it didn't hesitate to devour the delicious poison gas without any hesitation.

Chu Xunzhen recognized the scent; it was a bewitching incense.

Just then, a cry was heard outside the bedchamber.

"Waaaaah...waaaah..."

Chu Xunzhen turned his head and saw a black figure floating in mid-air on the window paper.

"what!"

The Empress Dowager has also woken up!

She pointed at the dark figure and said, "It's her! It's her again!"

Chu Xunzhen's eyes narrowed, and he sneered, "Playing tricks!"

She drew the dagger from her waist and flung it towards the window paper in an instant.

The next instant, the window paper tore apart.

The dagger pierced the straw man with a resounding clang.

"Is it a straw man?"

Startled, the Empress Dowager's face suddenly turned bluish-purple.

Chu Xunzhen quickly gave her acupuncture and pinched her philtrum.

In just three breaths, the Empress Dowager recovered.

She looked at Chu Xunzhen, took her hand, and said, "Good child, you're amazing. For so many days, even the guards couldn't catch this shadowy figure. Who would have thought it was just a scarecrow."

Chu Xunzhen said to the Empress Dowager, "Grandmother, do not be alarmed. This person is playing a prank to frighten you and keep you awake at night. Your granddaughter-in-law has already come up with a way to bring her to justice."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager abruptly asked, "What method?"

However, at that moment, Princess Jiamin's screams suddenly came from the lotus pond.

Chu Xunzhen's gaze sharpened.