The Female Psychology PhD Who Time Traveled to the Royal Harem

Boom—

A thunderclap struck above Jingren Palace, startling Consort Shu awake from her sleep. "Lianxin! Lianxin!" she cried out.

Lianxin, who had been keeping watch in the outer chamber, quickly threw off her blanket and got up. "Your Highness, I'm here. What's wrong?"

Consort Shu's chest heaved violently, her forehead drenched in cold sweat. After a long moment, she said, "I had a nightmare. Bring me a cup of hot water."

Lianxin hurriedly obeyed, soon returning with a cup of hot tea.

"Clink, clink, clink, clink..."

The hand holding the teacup shook terribly.

"Crash!"

The teacup fell to the ground, shattering on the gold brick floor with a piercing sound.

As if triggered by some signal, the doors to Consort Shu's chambers burst open with a "bang." Jin Wuyong, dressed in night clothes with only his eyes visible, rushed in and knocked out Lianxin with a swift chop before she could scream.

"Fei'er, come with me quickly. Our plan has been exposed. The Emperor has ordered the Investigative Bureau and palace guards to arrest me. If they catch us, we're dead."

Before Consort Shu could react, Jin Wuyong grabbed her wrist, twisting her ankle in the process.

Finally coming to her senses, she forcefully shook off Jin Wuyong's hand and slapped him across the face. "Useless fool! You can't even handle this small task, and now you dare to implicate me."

The man in black was stunned for a moment and stopped in his tracks. "Small task? This was about taking Concubine Zhen's life. I risked everything, even my family, for you. Is this how you treat me?"

Consort Shu, her clothes disheveled from the struggle, straightened her appearance and sat down on a couch behind the screen, adopting the air of a noble consort. She glanced at him disdainfully, "I am Consort Shu. You're nothing but a watchdog for me. You do as I say, or did you think I'd spare your miserable life otherwise?"

She sneered, "It was just a matter of sleeping with a woman, yet you proved so incompetent. You've disappointed me. When things go wrong, you should take all the blame yourself. Why come here to harm me?"

"You..."

The man in black shook his head. "There's no point arguing now. The Emperor knows you ordered me to do it. Hurry and come with me. I know a way to escape the palace."

Who wants to die when they can live?

Those once beautiful memories with the Emperor seemed to fade, becoming meaningless.

She grabbed the man's hand, her gaze determined. Once out of the palace, she would find an opportunity to kill Jin Wuyong, then hide away in some remote place.

It would be revenge for her father as well.

"Bang!"

The entire Jingren Palace lit up as bright as day, with torches, lanterns, and candles surrounding Consort Shu and the man in black.

The Xuanwu Emperor stood in the center of the crowd, coldly looking at her. The Empress, Consort De, Consort Liang, Concubine Li, Noble Consort Rong, Consort Jin, Zhang Wanrong, Noble Consort Ye, and Concubine Jiang...

All the notable consorts of the harem were there, watching her predicament with glee, except for Jiang Xinyue, who was resting in Hexi Palace due to her pregnancy.

"Your Majesty!"

Consort Shu immediately pushed away the man in black and ran towards the Xuanwu Emperor, crying as if she were the greatest victim. "Your Majesty, Guard Jin has gone mad. He suddenly burst into my chambers, saying he wanted to elope with me. I was frightened..."

She stopped halfway, her eyes widening. The disheveled figure being held down by several guards was none other than Jin Wuyong.

If that was Jin Wuyong, then who was the one who had been pulling her along earlier?

The man in black removed his mask, revealing a face that was 80% similar to Jin Wuyong's, especially the eyes, which were identical.

But in the next moment, the man raised his hand and peeled off a human skin mask, revealing an utterly ordinary face that left no impression.

The man's face showed no emotion as he coldly walked past Consort Shu, knelt on the ground, and reported to the Xuanwu Emperor: "Your Majesty, Consort Shu indeed had an improper relationship with Guard Jin. It was also Consort Shu who instructed Guard Jin to go to Hexi Palace to harm Concubine Zhen. Consort Shu has just confessed to everything."

The Emperor had heard it all, including Consort Shu telling Jin Wuyong to take all the blame.

In fact, when Jin Wuyong was caught in Hexi Palace, he hadn't revealed anything about Consort Shu. He only said that he had secretly admired Concubine Zhen and had planned everything himself out of lust, wanting to be intimate with her.

When Jiang Xinyue heard this, she was furious and didn't believe that Jin Wuyong would dare commit such a grave crime, punishable by the execution of nine generations of his family, without someone instructing him.

What Jin Wuyong didn't know was that on the afternoon Jiang Xinyue met with Consort Jin, Consort Jin had already gone to Chengqian Palace to seek an audience with the Emperor.

Moreover, she had reported to the Emperor that her own brother was having an affair with Consort Shu, and that Consort Shu had used her body to gain her brother's loyalty, planning to harm Concubine Zhen.

Their plan was to first ruin Concubine Zhen's reputation, then lure the Emperor to Hexi Palace to catch them in bed together, thereby framing her and claiming that the child in her womb was illegitimate, not the Emperor's.

After hearing this, the Xuanwu Emperor didn't immediately confront Consort Shu.

He knew that Consort Shu was skilled at making excuses, and she had the backing of his birth mother, the Dowager Empress. Without solid evidence, based solely on Consort Jin's report, he couldn't do anything to her.

Jiang Xinyue had already cursed the Emperor eight hundred times in Hexi Palace.

When Jin Wuyong knocked out Shuang Jiang and Xi Que under the cover of night, that dog of an Emperor was already waiting outside with his guards, observing the situation.

He actually waited until Jiang Xinyue was pushed down onto the bed and cried out before barging in with a few skilled eunuchs.

Did he think he was being considerate by not letting the guards see her with another man's hands on her wrists?

Fortunately, Jiang Xinyue had made thorough preparations. She pulled out a pair of scissors from under her pillow and stabbed Jin Wuyong in the shoulder blade. Before the eunuchs could even approach, Jin Wuyong was already bleeding profusely, writhing in pain on the ground.

When the Xuanwu Emperor rushed in behind the screen with the eunuchs, he saw Jiang Xinyue covered in blood, still holding the scissors, defensively pointing the blade at everyone.

Jin Wuyong, lying on the ground, was in so much pain that he could only roll around, lacking even the strength to struggle.

The scissors were coated with poison powder from Yan the Imperial Physician, which could cause extreme pain at the wound site and render the victim powerless, eliminating any possibility of further violence.

After all, with Jin Wuyong committing a crime punishable by the execution of nine generations, would the Emperor bother to call for an imperial physician to treat his wound? He probably wished Jiang Xinyue had sent him to meet the King of Hell with one snip of the scissors!

Jiang Xinyue had always lived by the principle of never entrusting her life to others, ensuring her own safety in every way possible.

The Xuanwu Emperor quickly snatched the scissors from her hand and tossed them aside. "If a single word of today's events leaks out, I'll have your heads."

Of course, those who accompanied the Emperor to "catch the adulterers" were all his own confidants and wouldn't leak any information.

What the Emperor meant was probably the brave act of Concubine Zhen stabbing Guard Jin.

If Guard Jin died, the Dowager Empress would likely frame Concubine Zhen again, accusing her of murdering him to silence him.