The Emperor summoned Prince Zhao before him and sternly reprimanded him.
"Who gave you the audacity to act on your own in a matter as significant as relocating the capital? Let me tell you, even if you finish building the new Imperial Palace, I will not move! I’m done indulging you!"
But to everyone’s surprise, Li Ji replied nonchalantly.
"Since Your Majesty is unwilling to move, then you may as well stay here."
The Emperor froze.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"What did you say?"
Li Ji spoke in a calm, unhurried tone.
"Your Majesty has difficulty moving now, so it would be inadvisable to move you about.
Besides, your health is poor. You need to rest quietly.
I believe it would be best for you to remain here.
Once we have all moved away, you will be the only one left in this Imperial Palace.
You can recuperate in peace and quiet. No one will ever disturb you again."
The Emperor trembled with rage, gritting his teeth.
"You... How dare you?!"
But Li Ji, as if completely oblivious to the Emperor’s emotional shift, continued speaking in that same leisurely manner.
"I was actually in a bind, wondering how to bring this up with you. Since you’ve mentioned it yourself today, it saves me the trouble."
The Emperor couldn’t take it anymore. His vision went black, and he fainted from pure rage.
Lu Qian shouted in a panic, "Quick, call the Imperial Physician!"
The bedchamber instantly erupted into chaos.
Li Ji, however, paid it all no mind.
He turned and strode nonchalantly out of the bedchamber.
Just then, he saw Princess Consort Zhen hurrying toward him.
They came face to face.
Hua Qingqing stopped in her tracks and steadied herself.
"It has been a long time, Prince."
Li Ji gazed at her lovely face and spoke slowly.
"Even if the Seventh Prince manages to become the Crown Prince, he won’t necessarily live to see his coronation."
His tone was unhurried, even tinged with a hint of nonchalance.
But to Hua Qingqing’s ears, it was an undeniable threat.
The color drained slightly from Hua Qingqing’s face.
She forced a smile. "The Seventh Prince is still young and understands nothing. Why must you target him, Prince?"
Li Ji replied, "The Seventh Prince may understand nothing, but his mother does. To achieve her goals, his mother didn’t hesitate to use her own sister, causing that sister to lose her life at such a young age. Shouldn’t he and his mother be held responsible for that?"
Hua Qingqing was speechless.
Her face had turned deathly pale, her eyes filled with regret and self-reproach.
She had only wanted to use Prince Wu Zhang’s feelings for her younger sister to have her help retrieve the Jade Seal. She never imagined her sister would fall into danger because of it, let alone lose her life.
’If I had known my moment of weakness would lead to such a grave outcome, I would never have let my sister put herself in harm’s way.’
’I have to take some of the blame for my sister’s death.’
Hua Qingqing said in a choked voice.
"If you harbor hatred, direct it at me. The Seventh Prince is innocent."
Li Ji gave a cold, thin smile.
"Rest assured, none of you will get away."
He didn’t spare Hua Qingqing another glance, leaving Hanzhang Hall without looking back.
Fear and regret flooded Hua Qingqing’s heart.
Prince Zhao was known for being vindictive. If he said he would take revenge on her and the Seventh Prince, he would absolutely follow through.
With the power he now wielded at court, dealing with a naive, ignorant young prince would be far too easy.
She suppressed the regret in her heart and forced herself to calm down.
’It doesn’t matter what Prince Zhao does to me, but I can’t let the Seventh Prince be dragged into this.’
’I have to raise my own status as quickly as possible.’
’Only by holding more power can I protect my child.’
’I’ve already lost my sister. I can’t lose my son too.’
Composing herself, Hua Qingqing turned and walked into the bedchamber.
...
When Hua Manman woke up, she found herself lying on a bed.
A fan by the bed was spinning slowly, emitting a low hum.
The light of dawn streamed in through the window.
After a long moment, she shot upright as if startled.
The thin blanket covering her slid down, bunching up at her waist.
She gasped, taking in large gulps of air.
She was like a fish thrown onto the shore, struggling to breathe.
The system reminded her, "You have returned to modern society."
Only then did Hua Manman gradually recover from the feeling of suffocation.
She raised a hand to her stomach.
’Normally, my stomach should be very uncomfortable right after giving birth.’
’But I don’t feel anything at all now.’
’Thank goodness I gave birth before I came back. Otherwise, the baby in my belly would have been gone.’
’With Li Ji there, the child’s safety shouldn’t be an issue.’
’I hope they can get along...’
Hua Manman gradually began to relax.
She looked around and realized this was indeed the rented room she used to live in.
Memories from before her transmigration slowly returned, growing sharper in her mind.
She was a senior in college. To make her internship more convenient, she had temporarily moved out of the school dorms and into an old residential complex near her company.
It was a small room, a little over twenty square meters, with a monthly rent of 1,300.
Hua Manman’s internship salary was only 1,800 a month.
After paying rent each month, she was left with only 500 for food, utilities, and transportation. Money was incredibly tight.
Fortunately, Hua Manman often took on freelance work, doing drawings for people. A single set of drawings could earn her several hundred.
With this extra income, her life wasn’t quite so difficult.
Her phone’s ringtone suddenly went off.
It was her alarm, reminding her to get up for work.
Hua Manman silenced the alarm, her gaze lingering on the phone’s screen.
She suddenly remembered the novel she had been reading before she transmigrated.
She swiped her finger and opened the Penguin Reading app, only to find that the novel *Palace Intrigue* was not on her bookshelf.
She thought she might have accidentally deleted *Palace Intrigue* from her bookshelf, so she went to the app’s store and searched for the title. However, a message popped up saying the book couldn’t be found and asking her to check if the title was correct.
In disbelief, she searched twice more, but the result was the same.
Hua Manman then tried a keyword search on a search engine.
It pulled up a bunch of random junk.
She scrolled through the results one by one but found no relevant information about *Palace Intrigue*.
No matter how she searched, she couldn’t find the novel *Palace Intrigue*.
It was as if...
...that novel had never existed in this world.
A sense of unease crept into Hua Manman’s heart. She quickly called out to the system, asking what was happening.
System: "After it was detected that Prince Zhao possesses the Mind Reading Technique, the plot of *Palace Intrigue* spiraled out of control. To prevent further complications, the master brain has issued an emergency recall of the book. It will only be rereleased after the plot has been repaired."
Hua Manman’s focus sharpened on a key phrase.
"How do you plan to repair the plot?"
System: "Host does not have sufficient clearance. This information cannot be disclosed."
Hua Manman reminded it, "I already chose to come back. You can’t do anything to Prince Zhao."
...
Manman won’t be staying in the modern world for too long. Watch me use my time magic! WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!