Chu Lian's lips curled up and she didn't say another word. The two of them turned a corner and walked for a while, until they stopped in front of a quiet courtyard gate. Si Wei came to a halt, "Cei Fei, it's here!"

  She nodded and went forward to knock on the door, shouting a few more times if anyone was there, but there was no response.

  "Concubine, I've made inquiries and at this hour Old Lady Yu should be at home. How could there be no one to answer the door? Could it be that she's been deceived by that person? When we return, I'll definitely make him come and apologize to you!"

  Chu Lian seemed to signal her to be quiet, and said in a clear voice, "I am the fourth daughter of the Chu family from Kunzhou. I came to pay respects to the You family, and hope that the You family will not mind my sudden arrival."

  Just as Si Wei was about to speak up and persuade Chu Lian, the sound of a wooden door creaking open came from outside. A woman wearing coarse linen clothes stood half-hidden behind the doorway, "What brings you here to pay your respects?"

  Chu Lian smiled slightly, her clear eyes shining like polished jade, and said seriously, "Because the younger generation has an obsession."

  The wind rose on a spring day, and the trees transmitted a rustling sound, accompanied by the sound of jade hitting each other, like the heavenly palace fairy music. The voice said, "Lan Jing, let her in."

  The woman named Lan Jing finally opened the door, sighed and said to Chu Lian, "Since Master has spoken, you can come in."

  Chu Lianruo pushed aside the veil and told Si Wei to wait for her outside, then walked into the courtyard. The courtyard was very simple, with a pear tree, stone table and stone bench under it. A woman in a dark green embroidered dress sat on the stone bench, facing sideways towards Chu Lianruo. Her raven hair fell to her hips, casually tied back with a ribbon, and just a glimpse of her profile could evoke the scene of a city being overturned by her beauty at first sight.

  Chu Lian was taken aback when she saw the woman. She had been the Empress of Da Huang for a few years, and in the harem, there was no shortage of beautiful women. However, compared to this woman, they were like clouds and mud, worlds apart. Time had not diminished her beauty in the slightest, but rather added a hint of elegance and refinement that came from experiencing the trials and tribulations of life.

  The woman sat quietly without making a sound, and Ling Jing closed the door behind her and invited her to sit down.

  Chu Lian walked closer and sat down without a word, kneeling beside the woman and saying firmly, "I beg of you, Master Yu, teach me."

  The wind lifted the woman's raven hair, her words as gentle as a sigh in the breeze. "What do you want me to teach you?"

  Chu Lian's eyes were like a pair of icy lotus flowers, and she softly spat out shocking words, "Let the ruler of this land and its people fall in love with me!"

  Suddenly, the woman laughed, as if she found it incredibly amusing, yet also sarcastic about the words' lack of self-awareness. She turned her head to look at the person kneeling on the ground, and in her eyes, a deep sorrow and determination were hidden, causing her expression to freeze.

  The woman looked at her for a long time, stopped smiling, and raised her finger like a scallion to point between Chu Lian's eyebrows. "If you can pass my seven-day test, I'll help you."

  Chu Lian bowed down and knocked her head on the ground, making a big courtesy, indicating that she agreed.

  Si Wei waited outside for a long time, and when the concubine finally came out, she was pale-faced and being supported by Lan Jing. At that moment, Si Wei was startled, originally wanting to reason with this woman, but was stopped by the concubine. She accompanied the concubine back to the Governor's Mansion all the way, and it was like this for seven days, but the concubine's complexion became worse and worse, always waking up from nightmares in the middle of the night, followed by a sleepless night.

  For these seven days, Chu Tan did not return to Cen Prefecture. Chu Lian declined the visits from Miss Meng and other relatives, but suddenly said she wanted to eat snacks from Liu'an Street. Every afternoon, she would send two maidservants to buy some small eats on Liu'an Street and bring them back to the mansion. Each trip took more than an hour. Even if others had suspicions, they just turned a blind eye as long as Concubine Lian returned safely to Shengjing, everything else was insignificant.