Later, she gave birth to Charles Baker, and by this, she was promoted in rank, rising from Lady to Noble Lady. However, as the child grew, abnormalities became apparent. The emperor could not tolerate that he, the true dragon Son of Heaven, actually had a foolish son. Disgusted, he also blamed Violet Morgan.

Before that, although Violet Morgan was not favored, the emperor liked her beauty and would occasionally visit Mingyue Palace, so life was not as hard as it is now.

But after that, Violet Morgan completely lost favor. The emperor wished he didn’t have this son at all, and out of sight, out of mind, he simply forgot about this mother and son.

At that time, Violet Morgan was already pregnant with the Fifth Princess. When she gave birth, the imperial physician reported to the emperor, but the emperor was not even willing to take a look. The son was foolish, and the daughter was probably no better—what a disgrace to the royal family.

Violet Morgan lost favor, and because of her foolish son, became a laughingstock in the harem. Even her own family, the Xiao clan, abandoned her.

They had sent her into the palace for the sake of their own future, but now that all prospects were cut off, they only sent letters warning her that, given the situation, she must not cause any more trouble and implicate her family.

That’s why she lived so cautiously. Even though her family had long since abandoned her, she still had to consider her parents.

Violet Morgan was also quite frightened tonight. At first, she was answering Grace Baker, but gradually, it turned into her own reminiscing. She had suffered so much in the palace all these years—how could she not feel wronged? But there was nothing she could do, so she just endured it.

Grace Baker listened calmly to this old story, feeling no waves in her heart, and even felt like whistling a tune.

This scenario was more difficult than she had imagined. It seemed that before killing the boss, she would have to win over a few NPCs first to get some life-saving buffs.

As everyone knows, the biggest NPC in the imperial palace is the emperor.

Given the current situation, winning over the emperor would be difficult.

So, as a second-best option, she would try to win over the emperor’s son first.

Charles Baker was the sixth child. Before him, did she have a few older brothers?

She wondered if these half-brothers were good-looking.

Oh, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was, before winning over the little NPCs, she had to take care of the little monsters first.

Little monster: Edward Harris.

Chapter 4 【04】

Edward Harris dared to bully people so openly because she had thoroughly figured out Violet Morgan’s character and wasn’t worried at all about her fighting back. Although she herself was not favored, as the lackey of Lady Margaret, who was the most beloved in the palace, she always relied on her patron’s power to throw her weight around.

After knocking out the Fifth Princess, she was still anxious and afraid for half the night, until Rose reminded her, “His Majesty probably doesn’t even know this princess exists. Why would you worry about her complaining? If anything, His Majesty would only be reminded of that fool when he sees her—he’d be angry before anything else.”

Edward Harris thought about it and realized that was exactly right!

What was there to worry about? She was just trying to help exorcise evil spirits for her, and besides, she hadn’t even had time to do anything yet—so that little girl got off easy.

Once she figured this out, she relaxed and went to sleep. But the next morning, she still sent Rose to the side hall to check on things. As soon as Rose stepped out the door, she was startled by Grace Baker, who was standing in the courtyard.

The main hall and side hall faced the main gate. Near the entrance to the main hall was a pomegranate tree. After autumn, its leaves had fallen, and the branches were bare. Grace Baker was dressed in red, standing alone in the morning mist that had yet to dissipate, her little face expressionless, staring unblinkingly at the pomegranate tree.

It was already quiet in the morning, and she had appeared without a sound. Rose was so startled that her heart jumped. After recovering, she was both angry and scared, raising her voice in displeasure: “Fifth Princess, what are you doing standing there?”

The little girl acted as if she hadn’t heard her, as if she hadn’t even noticed her at all. She just tilted her head back, staring fixedly at the tree.

Rose followed her gaze. There wasn’t a single leaf left on that tree—what was there to look at? She couldn’t help but ask, “Fifth Princess, what are you looking at?”

Only then did Grace Baker slowly withdraw her gaze.

She looked at Rose, and with extreme slowness, curled her lips into a smile and softly said, “There’s someone up there.”

That smile was eerie, and combined with her words, Rose instantly felt her hair stand on end. She glanced fearfully at the pomegranate tree, then hurriedly ran back to the main hall, slamming the door behind her.

Grace Baker brushed aside the damp hair at her temples, turned around, and walked back as if nothing had happened.

In the side hall, Lillian Reed was saying to Violet Morgan, “The little princess said she wanted to watch the sunrise, so she went out to the courtyard early this morning to wait.” Seeing her return, she smiled and asked, “Princess, was the sunrise beautiful?”

Grace Baker pressed her lips together and smiled. “It was beautiful.”

Hazel came over carrying a basket of needlework and said with a smile, “The princess looks so lovely in red, just like a little immortal child from a New Year’s painting. Her Ladyship’s handiwork is wonderful—the clothes she makes are even prettier than those from the weaving bureau.”

Lillian Reed sighed, “It’s a pity we only got two bolts of satin this year—just enough to make one set each for the princess and the sixth prince. Her Ladyship hasn’t had new clothes in years.”

Violet Morgan was threading a needle, her face full of gentle, motherly affection. “It doesn’t matter to me, since I never go out anyway. But Lu’er always likes to run outside. This year, I’ll make her a cloak to keep her warm.”

The three of them sat in the autumn sun doing needlework, while Grace Baker wandered around, getting familiar with the layout. Mingyue Palace wasn’t very big, and it was in a remote location. The outer palace walls were already crumbling in places, looking old and shabby, covered in withered vines.