Before long, screams for help could be heard throughout the palace.

Chu Ying Ying didn't watch her steps and accidentally slipped into the artificial pond. The lotus stems tangled with her in the water, preventing her from coming up for air.

Chu Meirong panicked as she screamed for help. She didn't know how her sister fell into the pond. All she knew was that her sister already fell and was screaming for help. She didn't know what to do but panic at the sight of her sister drowning in the water. She couldn't swim too.

Lan Ling, on the other hand, stared soullessly at the drowning Chu Ying Ying. If Chu Ying Ying had listened to her earlier to watch where she was going, she wouldn't have fallen into the pond and be in her current state. Though, it was fine. She didn't have to get her hands dirty this time. Mother nature really did her a favor. It was best to take out those who would be a threat.

"Quickly get her out of the water!" The maids and servants yelled in distress.

The servants who followed them couldn't save the young lady in time. By the time they got Chu Ying Ying out of the water, she was already dead. 

The following day, rumors spread throughout the palace stating that the crown princess, Lan Ling, murdered Chu Ying Ying. Though, the rumor quietly died down. Even if Lan Ling didn't kill Chu Ying Ying, she was there. 

In response, the emperor didn't punish Lan Ling but punished the maids and servants who couldn't help Chu Ying Ying get out of the water in time.

Prime Minister Chu was troubled with the loss of his stepdaughter, but nonetheless, she was only a stepdaughter. If Chu Meirong, his blood daughter, was the one who lost her life that day, he would have caused a ruckus in the palace and demand for the crown princess to explain. Luckily, it was not Chu Meirong but Chu Ying Ying. It was a relief.

In Lan Ling's bedroom, crown prince Wei laid himself on Lan Ling's bed. After blowing the candle and getting onto her bed, Lan Ling waited for him to ask what happened after he left them but he didn't. Instead, he leaned over for a kiss.

But before he could, Lan Ling pressed his lips with her hand. She asked, "You're not going to ask what happened? Or why I killed her?"

"Why do I need to care for someone I just met?" he questioned.

Although it was dark, Lan Ling could see his eyes staring at her. 

Lan Ling turned away and said, "If it was lady Meirong instead of her sister, you would have asked."

"Are you jealous?" Crown prince Wei asked. 

A small chuckle came from Lan Ling but she didn't answer his question. 

"You don't want to answer?" He moved closer to her and placed his head on her shoulder.

"I like the incense you bring me," Lan Ling turned to face him, showing an innocent smile.

The word "incense" made him stop his movements. Did she realize it? No, she wouldn't have. 

Lan Ling continued, "Where did you get them from? I like them very much."

"Feng's Fragrance shop," he replied cautiously. 

"I'll tell my maids to buy some more," Lan Ling said as she snuggled close to him. 

"Don't. If you want more, then I'll bring the to you."

"Okay," Lan Ling responded before going to sleep. She'll no longer have to buy musk incense out of her own pocket now.

Afternoon. 

Lan Ling quickly followed her little husband to his study room with a few osmanthus cakes she made. She happily bothered him for attention knowing that he would only be cold towards her. Still, she continued. 

She glanced at the young man before her. In her eyes, she couldn't see him as a young boy anymore since the day they started to have nightly bedroom activities. Only when they were in bed could she see his different faces. 

Although, this was only due to Empress Xia. As soon as the prince turned fifteen, Empress Xia sent him an aphrodisiac soup, and believing his mother would never do anything to him, he consumed the soup. Only when his body started reacting to the aphrodisiac did he realize he was drugged. He quickly turned to the person closest to him at the time -Lan Ling- for help. 

As if addicted to Lan Ling, he continued to sleep with her using the excuse of Empress Xia continuously sending him aphrodisiacs. Lan Ling never rejected his advances.

They were, at present, husband and wife. And since she didn't allow others to bed him, she was the only choice. 

It didn't bother her. She had no plans on marrying after she was done with everything here. She knew she would lose it anyway, sooner or later. It was her job to teach him, including bedroom activities. And it wasn't as if she minded since they've only slept a few times together. However, that didn't mean she plans to stay here forever or carry the young crown prince's seed in her.

Lan Ling hummed to herself next to the crown prince. She focused on his once feminine features. As he hit puberty, his features became more masculine. Anyone can say that he was the exact copy of the emperor, just a smaller and younger version. He had no features similar to the empress at all.

It was possible that the emperor's genes were dominant to others.

"Say, my dear husband, I won't bother you anymore."

Lan Ling hummed to herself once more as she looked out the window next to her. The fishes in the pond jumped to capture their food that was flying around them.

The crown prince stopped his movements for a second then continued what he was doing before. He was relieved that he could finally get his personal time yet a part of him felt something else. 

Lan Ling continued as she got up to leave, "You won't need me here anymore so I'll be excusing myself."

Little did he know that, as she left, her departing figure would become only a deep memory in his mind, forever haunting him. 

In a blink of an eye, the crown prince turned sixteen. On the same day, the emperor decreed that by the end of the year, he would abdicate the throne in favor of his crown prince.

The palace quickly became a joyful and celebratory place on the surface but a warzone was hiding beneath it. While there were those who would gladly prepare for the crown prince's ascension, there were also those who would do anything to stop it. 

Lan Ling stood on the roof of the crown prince's study. Facing her were a few men in black clothing. Her lips pulled up as she swiftly took away their lives one by one, silently trying not to disturb the one inside the building. Blood splashed onto her porcelain face and dyed her clothes red yet she didn't mind.

Although it had been a while, her moves weren't too dusty.

"Speak," she demanded from the man in black clothing before her. In her mind, she could already guess who it was.

The men in black clothing suicided in fright of the woman before them. This was not part of the plan! They knew the crown princess was evil and madly in love with the crown prince but who would have thought she wasn't just a useless princess? 

Eyeing the last of the men in black clothing, she mouthed, "Run."

Lan Ling smiled brilliantly under the moon as she watched the man run for his life. Did they think that trying to assassinate the crown prince right under her noise was something easily done? How foolish of the perpetrator.

Blowing a finger size jade whistle that could only be heard by those she summoned, seven figures appeared immediately and cleaned out all traces of the assassination. 

She quickly followed the last of the man in black clothing who headed towards a beautiful and large palace that did not lose to Empress Xia's. Before she left, at the corners of her eyes, she noticed the opened doors of the crown prince's study room.

Surprised yet at the same time unsurprised, the crown prince returned to his study room. Although he couldn't see the face clearly, the posture and figure of the woman were similar to someone he knew.

"Augh!"

The man in black clothing fell off the roof with a stab in the back from Lan Ling who quickly caught up. 

The palace where she was currently at belonged to none other than the imperial noble consort Chen. After so long, the imperial noble consort Chen was finally forced to make a move.