At noon, in the luxurious Main Hall of Yongning Palace, the tables were filled with delicacies, golden cups and bowls.

When the Imperial Noble Concubine Wan Yuyao returned to the palace from Jinli Lake, she was served by the palace maids to remove the heavy headwear and put on simple yet gorgeous palace costumes. The new eunuch Lord Ren accompanied her for the banquet, with a flattering smile, eagerly serving wine and vegetables for the concubine.

When the curtain was raised, the maidservant in a pink cotton-padded jacket and yellow shirt came in from outside, holding a cup of steaming fin porridge in her hands. Her coquettish face showed a full smile and her figure was so beautiful and charming.

Even though the red and blue scars on her swollen little face didn't disappear, her mental attitude was different from the person crying in the water pavilion at the previous moment.

She was Xier, but her real body was Tu Muxue whose face and identity were changed with Gu Yunxi and was sent into the Palace by Ming Lan.

Holding the lacquered red tray in her hands, Tu Muxue nodded and walked to the side of a table, with a light voice,

"Your Grace, the last fin porridge has been cooked and I have cooled it to the best temperature. Your Grace, please taste it."

Humbly bowing, the girl gently placed the enamel white jade bowl by Wan Yuyao's hand, showing a decent manner.

Lihu immediately stepped forward, examined it with a silver hairpin, and put it in the original place since there was nothing unusual.

Wan Yuyao looked down into the bowl tiredly and she saw a glutinous and fragrant soup with a green and red slice. When she sniffed, she could smell the sweetness of the seafood and then her eyes brightened.

Taking the bowl and trying a bite elegantly, the woman raised her eyebrows and admired,

"Well, it's refreshing and delicious. Xier, you're a great cook."

Wan Yuyao's misty eyes were as light as filaments and she squinted at Xier's face. Seeing many bruises on her beautiful face, Wan Yuyao narrowed her eyes slightly, seeming to have a faintly comfortable smile.

After putting the bowl down immediately, Wan Yuyao pulled the girl's arm and rolled up her pink sleeves.

Tu Muxue's eyebrows and eyelashes drooped motionless, showing no resistance.

Staring at the dense red spots on the delicate forearm, the woman rolled her eyes and cast a smile on the girl's submissive face.

"Oh, those eunuchs are always cruel and I know it's tough for you. Lihu, go to fetch my Jinchuang Safflower Oil."

Tu Muxue was shocked suddenly. She knelt down, bowed her eyebrows, and nodded,

"I will be always grateful for Your Grace's care, but Xier, for the sake of the overall situation, implores Your Grace to take your order back."

The girl followed Gu Di for many years, just to send Gu Yunxi into the palace successfully. She accepted Gu Di's arrangement without hesitation and exchanged her face and identity with Gu Yunxi.

The incident of Mount Yin was discovered and the Eastern Depot wiped out Gu Di's forces in the imperial tomb in one fell swoop. In order to take revenge and get the map again, Tu Muxue made a plan to personally enter the Palace in the name of Gu Yunxi, waiting for the opportunity.

Right now, it was the initial stage of her cooperation with Wan Yuyao. With intuition, Tu Muxue understood that although Wan Yuyao was using her, she still refused to completely believe in her.

Granting medicine just now was nothing but temptation. The Imperial Noble Concubine just wanted to see if the girl who was given the name "Xier" sincerely came here for revenge and whether she had the ability and perseverance to help her get rid of the thorns in the imperial harem.

However, Tu Muxue's following performance made Wan Yuyao very satisfied and her tight heartstrings eased slightly at this moment.

Wan Yuyao took this opportunity to call Lihu back. Her eyes leisurely confronted hers and then she turned her head. The smile on the rose lips was cold. Silently putting her jade hand on the girl’s arm, she personally helped the girl stand up.

The girl was not panicked and her calm expression seemed to place her identity outside people of Yongning Palace. It seemed that she should have received such courtesy from the lord of the palace.

"I really care about you and sincerely give medicine to you. Why do you refuse me?"

Tu Muxue's refined eyebrows raised slightly and the corners of her pink lips curled up with a cool arc,

"Your Grace, Xier and Your Grace worked together to play a bitter trick and deceived Concubine Yu. I believe she will do something in the future. Things in Your Grace's palace have always been the best. The Jinchuang Safflower Oil is also a panacea. If Xier uses it at this time, I'm afraid it will fall short of success for lack of a final effort, and I won’t be able to cheat them if I am well."

Wan Yuyao's brows and eyes were burning straight at the girl and she curled the corners of her lips in a moment, pulling out a satisfied smile.

Holding the jade chopsticks and savoring the dishes, the woman nodded,

"Yes, you're careful, which shows that you can be entrusted an important task."

Tu Muxue lowered her eyebrows and folded her hands. Her soft voice revealed her determination,

"Your Grace, thanks for your compliment. I enter the palace and get Your Grace's care as a guilty person, and I'm dedicated to avenging my master. As long as the vengeance is completed, Xier will let Your Grace do with me. There will be no complaints if Your Grace wants to kill or punish me!"

Wan Yuyao's red lips twitched with her cyan eyeliner flying,

"Don't worry. You're competent, sensible, and considerate. How can I be willing to kill you? After you help me get rid of the big troubles, stay here and serve me."

"Your Grace, thank you so much."

The girl finished talking softly. Her eyelashes drooped slightly and a strange light flashed quietly under her clear eyes.

Tu Muxue couldn't know when she had been in love with Gu Di. For him, she was willing to bear the risk of changing her face and the piercing pain after the operation.

Later, she learned that Gu Di was in love with the real owner of her face, "Gu Yunxi." She, Tu Muxue, was nothing more than a living vessel, exclusively her own blood used to provide nourishment to keep the face alive.

Tu Muxue knew that as long as Gu Yunxi was alive, Gu Di would come back after finding the secret hidden in Kunhuang Island. Maybe he would think of a way to get Gu Yunxi's original face back.

Who was she at that time?

Tu Muxue loved Gu Di very much. As she saw Gu Yunxi's beautiful face, she crazily wanted to take this face as her own forever after getting her face. She wanted to have Gu Yunxi's face and get Gu Di's favor.

Just before being sent into the palace gate, Tu Muxue was repeatedly questioned by Ming Lan.

Considering the future plan, when facing Ming Lan’s questions, she cleverly avoided mentioning the relationship between Gu Di and Leng Qingtang. She only understated the whole process that a year and a half ago, to look for the Kunhuang Island map, Gu Di hijacked Gu Yunxi and sent her to the Palace with a change of face but he was deceived by Gu Yunxi finally.

In order to successfully kill Gu Yunxi, Tu Muxue also deliberately revealed to Ming Lan the information that Gu Yunxi was the first daughter of the late Lord Protector Zheng.

In Yongning Palace right now, Wan Yuyao drank half a bowl of fin porridge and praised afterwards,

"Xier, you are also a caring person. Just to imitate Gu Yunxi, a year and a half ago, you ran around to visit famous teachers day and night to learn skills. This perseverance really moves me."

Hearing these words, she smiled slightly and the meaning was unknown,

"I exchanged face with Gu Yunxi by the support of His Highness. After the exchange of identities, I was always worried. I thought that Gu Yunxi's biological mother was the former chief maid of Concubinary Kitchen and her cooking skills should be first-rate. Her daughter should have some talent, but I can't remedy it..."

"What are you saying?"

Wan Yuyao stiffly froze on the armchair and suddenly widened her eyes with a stagnated expression. She violently raised her hand to interrupt Tu Muxue's aggressive words,

"You have just said... who is Gu Yunxi's mother?"

On the side, the chief maid Lihu was also shocked, staring at the girl intently, listening carefully to her to continue.

Twelve years ago, Wan Yuyao was still an unmarried rich young lady, but more than once, she heard Lord Shen and his wife talk about the past of Lord Protector Zheng and his second wife Madam Pei. Therefore, at this moment, she knew Pei's family well.

The spy that Emperor sent to Zheng Ran betrayed the emperor and his only fate was a dead body.

The girl in front of her nodded and curled her lips. Her delicate face pressed into an inch of shadow and her face was unclear and concealed,

"I have made it clear to Master Ming early. Could it be that he forgot to tell you, Your Grace?"

...

In the Western Depot...

Pinching the sunflower seeds one by one with the white and tender fingers of his right hand, Ming Lan fed the macaw in the cage while thinking thoughtfully. It was too carelessly that the action of picking up the shelled melon-seeds stopped halfway.

The colorful bird quickly ate the whole grain, tilted its head, and stared at the owner. Seeing the good thing between the two fingers hanging in the air, the little bird couldn't wait any longer and stretched out its neck and claws with a pair of wings flapping hard twice.

Its owner still looked like a statue. The unshakable figure made the bird unable to wait any longer. It opened its mouth and stretched its neck to grab the sunflower seeds between the two fingers.

The pain suddenly came to the fingertips. Ming Lan screamed and came to his mind, his mutilated left hand open and the sunflower seeds in his palm falling to the ground.

An Hong leaned forward, holding the Master’s white hand. His expression was full of distress and he said gently,

"Oh my Master, are you okay? Let me blow it for you."

Ming Lan subconsciously lowered his head and looked at the five fingers. The blood on the thumb of his right hand was very eye-catching. Although the skin was not broken, the aggressive color was enough for Ming Lan to be shocked for a moment.

Ming Lan was so angry that he shook his injured left hand and slapped the macaw in the cage fiercely.

"The little beast is really ungrateful. How dare you bite me!"

The bird frantically instigated its wings and struggled to hover, "quacked" a few times, and its green feathers fell all over the ground.

Upon seeing this, An Hong offered a few words of comfort,

"Oh, Master, why do you have to bother yourself arguing with a furry beast. Come, I will rub it for you again."

Coaxing Ming Lan to calm down and get seated, An Hong offered him tea and asked tentatively,

"Master, why did you lose in thought just now?"

Ming Lan's thin eyebrows burst and her eyes were empty for a moment,

"I was thinking how much I should believe Tu Muxue's words?"

An Hong narrowed his eyes and asked,

"What do you mean by this?"

"According to her account, Gu Yunxi's origin coincides with my guess two years ago. Gu Yunxi is indeed Zheng Ran's daughter."

"As such, she is the daughter of a criminal minister. Leng Qingtang accepts the daughter of a criminal minister, so he is also guilty!"

An Hong's sharp voice trembled with excitement and a sly smile appeared on his delicate face.

Ming Lan's expression still solemn, he got up and walked around the room. His eyes looked like being filled with mist at the moment he stopped, a little hazy and distorted,

“If Gu Di defeated by the Eastern Depot is the Ninth Prince who was the offspring of the deceased emperor and Concubine Lan in western Da Yi, it will be reasonable to kidnap Gu Yunxi a year ago. After all, the little wild cat is the orphan of his lifesaver.”

“But why was he so cruel to let her get into danger by changing her face and sending her to the Palace?”

“Also, how much did Gu Yunxi know about her identity? Leng Qingtang appeared to support Emperor, but secretly betrayed him. He kept the daughter of the criminal minister in the Garden. Why? Was it just because her mother was the lover of him back then?”

An Hong thought hard but only felt a headache. He rubbed his temples, with a bitter face,

"Master, do you think that reason can be believed? Leng Qingtang, for his own sake, even didn't let Master Bian go. Just for Pei Rushi, can he take the risk?"

Ming Lan suddenly fell silent and became serious. He watched with deep eyes and his eyebrows were slightly wrinkled. He whispered to himself,

"If there is a chance, it will be better to exchange the face of Gu Yunxi and that of Tu Muxue..."