Chapter 1 Su Guifei is Gone

It rained all night, and the news didn't spread until dawn the next day.

"Huh?"

As soon as it dawned, Leng Youyou stood there, letting the palace maids dress her. She stared out the window at the drizzling rain, regretting that the heavens hadn't cooperated last night, preventing her from taking Zhen Po to the Cold Palace.

Then the mama beside her rushed in from outside the door, her face pale, and told her the news.

Su Guifei, wasn't that Bai Xiao?

Why did this player suddenly log off?

"What happened?"

Leng Youyou dismissed the other palace servants and looked at her personal mama.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, it is said that the Guifei drank too much wine last night and didn't close the window when she went to sleep. Last night the wind and rain were heavy, and the Guifei caught a cold, which triggered an acute illness. That's why she passed away."

"Are you trying to fool me? Do you think I'd believe that?"

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, this servant is not deceiving you. That's all I could find out. The palace servants who took care of the Guifei last night were all dealt with by His Majesty this morning. With such news, nothing else has leaked out."

The mama felt wronged. How could she not know there was a problem?

The key was that she couldn't find out anything. It was very interesting that she couldn't find out anything.

Wasn't it just that someone didn't want anyone to know anything?

Who else in this palace could handle the news so flawlessly?

...

"My god, how did Bai Xiao suddenly disappear?"

The four players who left the palace naturally received the news of the Guifei's sudden death. Zhen Hu immediately took Zhen Po to Qing Wang's residence under some pretense to ask Yuan Fang about the situation.

After all, Bai Xiao was also his girlfriend, so he should know something.

But when they went in, they saw Yuan Fang's pale face, and there was a bowl of unfinished medicine on the table beside him.

"I don't know either." Yuan Fang shook his head weakly and smiled bitterly, "It's all because of the heavy rain last night. We had agreed to go find the Mysterious Merchant together. But the rain was so heavy, and I drank some wine at the time. I caught a cold on the way back, and I developed a fever at night..."

In any case, Yuan Fang looked distressed and didn't know what to do.

"The palace is saying that she died suddenly from an acute illness. Who would believe that?" Zhen Po curled his lips and sat down, picking up the tea that the servant brought. He didn't see the obscure glint in Yuan Fang's eyes when he finished speaking.

"I heard A'Xiao say before... she ate a box lunch sold by the Mysterious Merchant and said there was a secret in the Cold Palace. Could it be that she discovered some secret and that's why she met with misfortune?"

"Huh?" Did box lunches have that function?

Zhen Hu, who had been sitting there without saying anything, suddenly raised his head when he heard this. He glanced at Yuan Fang's pale face, and then glanced at Zhen Po, who didn't have much reaction. He silently retracted his gaze under the guise of drinking tea.

Yuan Fang sat there, seeing it clearly.

"Yes, I heard A'Xiao say that the two box lunches have different functions. One can glimpse a secret in Emperor Jing'an's heart, and the other can know whether the people around you are loyal to you."

Zhen Hu also knew about the Mysterious Merchant, but he didn't know about the box lunches and their functions based on his reaction.

Even as twins, Zhen Po hadn't told him.

But now it was coming out of Yuan Fang's mouth, which was interesting.

...

"Oh my, there's a good show coming up~"

Ming Mei ate the freshly delivered fruit, watching the three male players sitting there, each with their own thoughts. For a moment, she couldn't help but think of the scene last night.

Mu Chen finally asked Bai Xiao one question: "How much more can the Su family lose because of the mistakes you've made?"

Bai Xiao was silent for a long time, and finally chose to end her own life, using her life to exchange for Yuan Fang's fate.

If Yuan Fang hadn't bought a box lunch, Mu Chen would have killed them all. That's why he not only agreed to Bai Xiao's suggestion, but also allowed her ten minutes to chat with Yuan Fang before she died.

Through the live broadcast, Ming Mei heard Bai Xiao only tell Yuan Fang one sentence:

"You still need the Su family's support. If I live, the Su family will definitely be uprooted by Emperor Jing'an to compensate for the mistakes I made. Without me, it's up to you to get their continued support... Also, the Zhen brothers, dismantle their early alliance as soon as possible! Zhu Lian... you have to be careful, he's not as simple as he looks on the surface."

Although she didn't know what Yuan Fang's state of mind was after experiencing a series of stimuli in the early stage, and then discovering that the person who had been hidden in the Cold Palace by Emperor Jing'an was actually the Mysterious Merchant.

But that didn't prevent him from stabilizing his mentality in the end, directly buying three lion's head box lunches, and then going back to cause trouble.

Looking at what he said to the Zhen brothers, Ming Mei knew that all the great dramas were about to officially begin.

[The real melee will begin after the remaining two players have successfully bought box lunches.]

Gui Gui and Ming Mei were watching the actions of these players together. Zhu Lian looked pitiful, weak, and helpless, but if they hadn't seen him summon his staff to rearrange his plans after returning to his residence, Ming Mei would have almost believed him.

Zhu Lian's current arrangement was to buy time.

He was arranging the time difference for the players to buy Ming Mei's box lunches.

He knew that the braised lion's head box lunch could identify whether the people around him were loyal to him. Zhu Lian first used the lion's head to test the three people he relied on the most, and after confirming their safety, he began his real layout.

Because of this, Ming Mei actually discovered that there were spies arranged by this brother beside the other princes, and some of them could even be considered counselors valued by the other brothers!

...

"Next time, how long until there's a banquet in the evening?"

That night, Ming Mei was still with Mu Chen, looking at memorials.

Ming Mei lay on her side on the chaise lounge that the palace servants had moved to the table where Mu Chen was reviewing memorials. Seeing Mu Chen answer without raising his head, "A month later," Ming Mei sighed and said, "That's so long?"

"The Guifei only died a few days ago. It'll be at least a month. Then we'll hold a banquet to get rid of the bad luck."

"The way you describe it, it's obvious you hate the Guifei. She's been dead for a month, and you're holding a banquet to get rid of the bad luck because you think it's unlucky."

Ming Mei curled her lips. Seeing this, Mu Chen smiled and said, "That's right, I want them to know that I hate the Guifei, so I can knock some people into shape."

Ming Mei nodded. She understood what Mu Chen meant, but she was lazy. This kind of brain-burning game really wasn't suitable for a salted fish who sold box lunches _(：3」∠)_

"By the way, a month later, that's so long... Have you checked the weather?"

"I already asked the Qin Tian Jian to calculate the weather a long time ago. It won't rain this time. I'll try to sell all your box lunches."

Hearing Mu Chen's guarantee, Ming Mei was relieved and didn't continue to pay attention to him. But as if she remembered something, she glanced around privately and pretended to be curious, "Why haven't I seen Lu Xiaoyao by your side today?"

Ming Mei pretended not to know, but through the live broadcast in the background, she saw that Lu Xiaoyao had been acting a little strange these past two days.

If Mu Chen hadn't been merciful and given her "paid leave," based on her spacey behavior these past two days, Ming Mei thought Mu Chen would have dragged Lu Xiaoyao out and beheaded her according to her character setting.

"As for her, she probably can't break free from her character setting and is now grieving over the Guifei's death. So, I gave her a few days off."

"Is that so?"

Although Lu Xiaoyao believed that she really wasn't sad, according to her idea, her character had been deceived, and now that the other party was gone, based on Lu Xiaoyao's personality, she wouldn't celebrate for the sake of respect for the dead in the Dou Shi team.

Lu Xiaoyao was genuinely feeling liberated, but for Lu Changfu, it wasn't like that. The character was really sad!

She was so sad that Ming Mei glanced at Lu Xiaoyao's live broadcast room and saw the other party sitting cross-legged in her small room, originally humming a song leisurely and eating melon seeds, and then suddenly saw her tears fall unconsciously and she burst into tears.

Ming Mei: "..."

Lu Xiaoyao: "Wuwuwu, you damn thing, you didn't let me go even after you died and made me sad! You bad woman, wuwuwuwuwu~~"