The east was already red, and the sun slowly rose from the drowsy clouds clinging to the ground, shining upon the grandest architectural complex in Kyoto. The outer walls of the Imperial Palace displayed a color even more scarlet than the sky, calmly and terrifyingly watching the crowd in the plaza before it. Fan Xian was one of these people. He looked at the high palace walls and the deep, seemingly endless gate beneath them, feeling that this dark place resembled the mouth of a monster, uncontrollably producing a trace of tension.

Like everyone else in this world, Fan Xian still felt awe in the face of the solemn symbol of imperial power before him. However, awe did not equate to obedience, nor did it mean no resistance, and this was where he differed from others. After the guards at the palace gate examined the crowd, they nodded with a hint of pride, and Fan Xian and his party obediently entered.

Today was a day for presenting gifts to the palace. There was an imperial decree summoning the eighth-rank Assistant Harmony Officer into the palace. The decree had arrived yesterday, and the Fan residence had been busy all night, determining the number of people who would enter the palace. Fan Jian would naturally not go, and the women of the Sinan Duke's residence were few, so distant relatives from the other residences of the great Fan clan in Kyoto had volunteered.

Fan Xian had never seen such a lively scene, but Fan Jian coldly stopped everyone's thoughts. In the end, it was decided that Liu Shi and Fan Ruoruo would accompany Fan Xian into the palace, along with two elderly serving women. These two women were from the time of his grandmother in Danzhou and were very familiar with the rules of the palace. Liu Shi's willingness to accompany Fan Xian into the palace was somewhat unexpected, because he knew that although Liu Shi had never been officially recognized as the main wife, she had actually interacted with some of the noble figures in the palace since childhood, and their relationship was not ordinary. With her by his side, Fan Xian's trip to the palace would likely be much smoother.

Slight, yet somewhat noisy, footsteps echoed in the quiet gate. The gate was extremely deep, and the rising sun could only illuminate half of it, leaving the other half particularly dark. A gust of cold wind suddenly blew out from the palace walls, causing everyone's eyes to water. The weather in August and September suddenly took on the biting chill of late autumn.

Imperceptibly, Fan Xian touched his belt, feeling the few tiny pills, much smaller than soybeans, and his heart was slightly at ease. Knowing that the palace inspection was extremely strict, he had hidden his hidden crossbow and dagger inside the house before leaving. However, Uncle Wu Zhu's lecture had left a deep impression on him, so even in the theoretically safest place in the world, he still prepared some life-saving methods.

"Tap, tap, tap." Humans are strange animals, and groups of people are even stranger. Walking beneath the quiet palace walls, the footsteps of the six-person team gradually became synchronized, landing and lifting at the same time, like simultaneously plucking a four-stringed zither, producing the same monotonous note along with the leading young eunuch.

Fan Xian felt a surge of discomfort and forcibly paused, causing his footsteps to fall out of sync with the others, breaking the uniformity beneath the palace walls. He gently tugged at his sister's sleeve and whispered, "I'm a little nervous."

Fan Ruoruo smiled, wanting to encourage him. The young eunuch in front turned his head, frowning and looking at Fan Xian, seemingly dissatisfied. Liu Shi frowned and whispered, "The palace is different from other places, be more careful with your words."

The young eunuch was not particularly handsome, and he looked troubled. Hearing the Sinan Duke's wife say this, he immediately felt more important. Where was this? This was the Imperial Palace. Fan Xian smiled wryly, not expecting Liu Shi to continue with a smile, "But there's no need to be nervous. I've been coming to this palace since I was a child. Back then, Eunuch Hong was the head eunuch. In the blink of an eye, it's all just children serving in the palace now."

Hearing this, the young eunuch in front dared not act presumptuously and quickly hunched over and walked into the palace. He had thought he was receiving some country bumpkins into the palace, but he never knew they were acquaintances visiting relatives.

The Imperial Palace was extremely vast. After the long gate, there was a large plaza paved with bluestone, giving one a sense of openness. The morning sun shone on the roof of the Taiji Palace's main hall, and the yellow glazed tiles reflected a dazzling color. Beneath the hall, several feet apart, was a large column. The long stone steps in front of the hall were like a jade road leading to the Milky Way, looking very solemn.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes, looking at the building before him, and a sense of absurdity welled up in his heart. He really wondered if he had come to the Palace Museum. Perhaps this sense of absurdity diluted the tension in his heart and a sense of detachment from the unfamiliar palace. In the subsequent journey, Fan Xian finally returned to his natural state, somewhat like when he first entered the Fan residence, with a smiling face, looking around at the palace maids and eunuchs walking with their heads lowered beneath the palace walls, occasionally looking up at the eaves protruding in the distance – not knowing which palace it was, not knowing who lived in that palace.

His expression was fully seen by his companions. The young eunuch shook his head, but a faint smile appeared on Liu Shi's lips. She thought to herself that this young master was indeed fearless.

The main purpose of entering the palace today was simple: the palace's consorts wanted to see what Fan Xian, the great talent who was about to marry Chen'er (assumed name), looked like.

Although the purpose was simple, the process was particularly complicated, so the Fan family woke up early, washed and dressed, and entered the palace when the gates opened. Then, they waited in a corner room, waiting for the summons from one of the palace consorts. Those who were summoned could wait, but the palace consorts were not willing to wait for people.

Because he had woken up too early, Fan Xian sat in the corner room, drinking the palace's good tea, still feeling drowsy and not in good spirits. Liu Shi glanced at him, smiled, stood up, and said to the eunuch who greeted them from the palace, "Eunuch Hou, it's been a long time." As she said this, she imperceptibly slipped a banknote into his hand.

Fan Xian secretly watched, and the corners of his lips curled up, almost laughing. His aunt's methods were indeed instilled by his father, relying entirely on banknotes to pave the way.

Who knew that Eunuch Hou would show a troubled expression and respectfully say, "Madam Fan, are you not embarrassing this old servant? You and several masters in the palace grew up together, how dare this old servant beg from you here?" Liu Shi couldn't help but laugh at these words, "This is a reward for you, not buying anything from you, who are you afraid of telling?"

Eunuch Hou chuckled, his face wrinkled into a pile, and whispered, "Knowing that you were entering the palace today, those masters would never let you wait here for too long. Don't worry, it's just that it's too early, and I'm afraid everyone in the palaces is still busy washing up, just sit for a while."

Fan Xian's ears perked up, and he noticed that the old eunuch called Liu Shi "Madam Fan," indicating that the palace already had a tendency towards Liu Shi being officially recognized as the main wife. Hearing that the various palaces were still washing up and sweeping the courtyards, he originally felt that he had woken up too early and arrived too early, and he couldn't help but smile wryly at these words.

Fortunately, Eunuch Hou was right. The Sinan Duke's decision to have Liu Shi accompany them into the palace was indeed wise. Before the morning court had even begun, the three members of the Fan family had already entered the inner palace. The two old serving women were being entertained outside, with good tea and water, and they were old women who were used to entering the palace, so they wouldn't find it boring.

……

……

First, they went to Consort Yi's place. This noble lady was the birth mother of the current dynasty's Third Prince. She was favored because of her son, so she rose from a Talent to a Consort. Fan Xian respectfully bowed, and then heard a gentle voice: "Rise."

Consort Yi was plainly beautiful, but that was all there was to it. She was not the breathtaking beauty that Fan Xian had imagined. Much to Fan Xian's surprise, Liu Shi looked at Consort Yi with slightly moist eyes. After the two women exchanged a restrained bow, they disregarded etiquette, held hands, and looked at each other without a word. Fan Xian turned his questioning gaze to his sister. Ruoruo's face was calm, but she was not surprised at all.

After listening to them talk for a while, Fan Xian learned that Consort Yi was actually Liu Shi's cousin!

Fan Xian was extremely shocked, and only then did he realize that the Liu family's foundation was so deep. Fortunately, he had implemented a policy of appeasement after entering Kyoto, and Liu Shi had treated him relatively gently. Otherwise, if there had been a real conflict between the two sides, he really didn't know who would die!

"You never come into the palace to see me anymore." Consort Yi wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and complained, "It's been four years, and you have the heart to leave your sister alone in this palace. I finally managed to get permission to summon you into the palace to talk to me a few times, but you refused to come, it's really making me feel depressed."

A trace of sadness flashed across Liu Shi's face, and she didn't speak for a long time. After a while, she whispered, "It's my fault, it's all my fault."

She didn't look at Fan Xian, but Fan Xian looked at Liu Shi's slightly thin shoulders, and a strange color flashed in his eyes. He heard Consort Yi say "four years," and he very sensitively thought of the assassination attempt in Danzhou. According to his father, Liu Shi was just a scapegoat for this assassination attempt, and the real masterminds were the two most "noble" women in the palace – Liu Shi hadn't entered the palace for four years, could it be for this reason?

"I'll come into the palace to see you often in the future." Liu Shi smiled gently, holding Consort Yi's hand, "Didn't I come today?"

Consort Yi turned her anger into a smile and gently blamed, "If it weren't for your Fan family's young master marrying the most precious girl in the palace, I wouldn't expect to see you." She turned to Fan Xian and asked gently, "You're Fan Xian?"

Fan Xian quickly stood up, a warm smile on his clear and refined face, and bowed deeply: "Nephew Fan Xian greets Aunt Liu."

These words were very unconventional! The palace maids and eunuchs were stunned, and Liu Shi was also a little surprised, thinking that she wasn't even his biological mother. However, Fan Xian shamelessly climbed the family tree, which obviously suited Consort Yi's taste, who was tired of palace rules. The noblewoman looked at Fan Xian with a beaming smile: "Indeed a good child."