I told the princess that I wanted to go and take one last look at the birds and animals I had been taking care of.

　　The princess agreed.

　　And so, I arrived in the backyard of the princess's mansion.

　　Here, various animals that the princess had kept were housed, from the thousand-li colt in the stable to the hunting dogs in the kennel.

　　I had been responsible for taking care of them all these years, and I knew the habits of every bird and beast.

　　At this moment, I pondered for a moment and walked up to a massive birdcage.

　　Inside were nine white-tailed jinjiaos, each with a large snow-colored tail feather, looking extremely beautiful.

　　I had been raising them for eleven months, and as the saying goes, it takes a thousand days to train an army, but only a moment to use them.

　　I hoped that they would bring me the desired results.

　　In one breath, I opened the birdcage and let out a light whistle.

　　The jinjiaos flew into the sky, circling above the princess's mansion.

　　They held each other's tails, forming a circle, and the snow-white tail feathers reflected the moonlight, particularly striking in the night.

　　Even from miles away, one could see this peculiar and beautiful white circle above the princess's mansion.

　　The Qintian Observatory, responsible for observing celestial phenomena at night and recording auspicious and inauspicious signs, would undoubtedly be alarmed by such a scene.

　　Indeed, I did not have to wait long before the sound of footsteps came from the back door of the princess's mansion.

　　The person who arrived was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe.

　　It was the emperor.

　　Accompanying him was the national teacher from the Qintian Observatory.

　　They both looked up at the white circle, and the emperor then asked me, kneeling on the ground, "What is going on here?" This, of course, was the result of my daily training of the birds.

　　I had secretly trained them for countless days in order for them to fly in such a perfect and organized formation.

　　However, on the surface, I was just clueless: "I don't know, I was just feeding the birds as usual and forgot to close the cage door, so they flew out." The national teacher's face was filled with joy as he bowed respectfully: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! The nine birds forming a circle is an auspicious sign, indicating the prosperity of the country.

　　This is a rare occurrence!" At this moment, Princess Yong'an had also heard the commotion and hurriedly came over, putting on her robe.

　　As soon as she arrived, the Emperor was in a very good mood and embraced her shoulder.

　　"Yong'an, the auspicious sign of the nine birds forming a circle appeared in your residence.

　　You are truly my lucky star." Princess Yong'an gave a slight pause and looked at me with lowered eyes.

　　I knelt respectfully to the side, appearing indifferent to the matter.

　　Princess Yong'an smiled and nestled into the Emperor's embrace, coquettishly saying, "That is natural.

　　Yong'an hopes that Emperor Brother can always enjoy peace and happiness." The Emperor had been busy with state affairs lately and hadn't visited the princess for quite some time.

　　But on this night, he accompanied her for a long time.

　　They ate snacks, drank wine, and talked until dawn.

　　After the Emperor left, Princess Yong'an came to me.

　　She said, "You have some talent in animal training." I obediently replied, "Princess is the lucky star, so these birds formed an auspicious sign, it has nothing to do with me." Princess Yong'an proudly said, "Naturally, I am the lucky star, but you have been feeding these birds, so you also deserve some credit.

　　"Stay by my side and continue to serve me." From then on, Princess Yong'an never mentioned sending me to the Empress's palace to serve as a maid again.

　　She may have noticed my little trick in animal training, but in her eyes, I was only using my skills to ensure my own safety, and it was not a flaw.

　　In addition, I served diligently and gained increasing trust from Princess Yong'an.

　　Now, everyone knows that Lanqiu is the most favored person in the princess's residence.

　　Princess Yong'an indeed relied heavily on me.

　　During the silkworm-raising festival that year, all the women in the palace should have gone to pay respects to the Empress, but Princess Yong'an said that she was feeling unwell and sent me to go in her place.

　　This was an extremely disrespectful act, not attending personally and sending a maid instead.

　　It was almost a direct insult to the Empress.

　　Therefore, when I entered the Phoenix Beauty Palace, the Empress's expression was not good.

　　But she didn't lose her temper.

　　There was no other way, everyone knew that the Emperor favored Princess Yong'an to the extreme.

　　The relationship between the Emperor and Empress was only a political alliance, the Emperor did not dislike the Empress, but there was not much affection between them.

　　Furthermore, the Empress had been in the palace for many years and had not been pregnant other than the miscarriage.

　　Her position was extremely unstable.

　　In this situation, the rational woman from a prestigious family was not willing to create more trouble.

　　So she restrained her emotions and had the close maid, Dongzhi, pour me tea.

　　I expressed gratitude on the surface but suddenly trembled, spilling tea on Dongzhi's skirt.

　　Dongzhi was scalded by the hot tea and could hardly maintain her composure.

　　"Bold servant, how dare you disrespect the Empress!" I straightened my skirt calmly and said, "I came on behalf of the princess, so I represent her.

　　Even though I am a servant, we in the princess's residence are still drinking the finest Mingqian Longjing tea.

　　Yet the Empress is served with such old tea, it's the Empress who first disgraced the princess.

　　Furthermore, this Dongzhi auntie's tea pouring skills are also subpar.

　　It is said that she was a maidservant brought with the Empress, yet she lacks such proficiency."

　　"I usually don't know how to serve the queen, so it's better for a servant to demonstrate." I stepped forward and used the first brewed tea to warm the teacup, then poured the second brewed tea into the cup and presented it to the queen.

　　In that moment of closeness, I whispered in a voice only the queen could hear, "The bracelet from Toshiba is made of deer antlers." At that moment, I saw the queen's brow tremble violently.

　　I handed her the cup and said aloud, "Your Majesty, please try it and see if the tea tastes better?" The queen took a deep breath, drank the tea from the porcelain cup, and only after a long while said, "Princess Lanqiu is truly worthy of being from the princess's household.

　　As the golden branch and jade leaf of the princess, she is highly favored by the emperor.

　　Not only does she have the best food, clothing, and lifestyle, but even her subordinates' skills are so strong.

　　Indeed, this palace is impressed." I smiled and said, "The queen only needs to know that the emperor favors the princess—this servant will take her leave." I left with a courteous gesture, a satisfied expression appropriate for a servant who relied on someone else's power.

　　That day, everyone knew that Princess Lanqiu of the princess's residence had publicly embarrassed the queen, but the queen, constrained by the power of the princess's residence, didn't say a word.

　　Princess Yong'an, after learning of this, rewarded me.

　　"Su Wenyun thought that being the queen made her the most respected woman in the palace.

　　Now she finally understands who the most noble woman in this palace is.

　　If it weren't for societal constraints, I wouldn't have been able to marry the emperor, so how could she take the Phoenix Seal?" I looked at the princess's joyful smile and remembered the words my father had taught me in my heart.

　　Father said that the best way to tame a beast is to feed it the best meat.

　　Fill its appetite, pamper its tongue, and let it live a heavenly life.

　　How happy it is in the beginning, and how miserable it will be when it's hungry in the future.

　　So I smiled and echoed the princess, calculating the days silently in my heart.

　　This fierce beast, Princess Yong'an, wouldn't have to wait too long to be hungry.

　　Sure enough, two months later, Princess Yong'an couldn't smile anymore.

　　The news of the queen's pregnancy spread quickly throughout the capital.

　　"...

　　How is this possible? How could this happen?!" That day, I saw a madness in Princess Yong'an that I had never seen before.

　　She threw the jade bottle on the desk to the ground, and the shards cut her hand, but she didn't care about the pain.

　　She just screamed, "Toshiba clearly...

　　Clearly had deer antlers in it.

　　The thing contained musk." The queen would have the court physicians examine her clothing, jewelry, and meals, but it would be difficult for her to have every maid's belongings examined.

　　Not to mention, Toshiba was her accompanying maid.

　　Princess Yong'an was infuriated.

　　She had spent a lot of money to bribe Toshiba, but Toshiba was so useless that she allowed the queen to become pregnant.

　　I timely stepped forward and stood with the princess against a common enemy.

　　"I observed that day, the queen's appearance is quite plain, not even one-tenth as beautiful as the princess.

　　The emperor has no interest in her.

　　She must have used an aphrodisiac to win his favor.

　　It's ridiculous how her cold and dignified appearance during the day turns into something else in bed, causing the emperor to not even attend the morning court the next day, lingering in her palace, unwilling to leave..." I described in more and more detail, seemingly scolding the queen, but in reality, every word pierced the heart.

　　Princess Yong'an's face turned red, her chest heaved up and down, and she painfully covered her heart: "Shut up..." She couldn't catch her breath and fainted.