She thought for a while but couldn't come to any conclusion. It suited her that the princess consort hadn't come. Princess Huaifu had arranged to meet her the next day, so she needed to prepare.

At the Ping Prince's residence, the princess consort had just finished writing a letter to her family and sighed deeply, a frown knitting her brows. "Who could it be, secretly hindering the Fu family? Has the prince's investigation yielded any results?"

"No news has come through yet."

"Are they all a bunch of useless fools? The other side has struck multiple times, leaving traces every time. How could there be no news by now?"

The Ping Prince's residence had been plagued with troubles recently. The prince had been ordered to remain in confinement for reflection. It was said that the Marquis of Guangyang had spoken on his behalf in the court, and the princess consort had no choice but to seek help from her family, fearing the prince might lean more toward arranging a marriage with the Marquis.

"What about Yi'er? I haven't seen him for several days."

"Young Master Er has been by the prince's side. I heard the prince has praised him, saying he's thoughtful and has grown much more than before. The princess consort can rest assured."

At least it was some good news. The princess consort leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes for a moment. "What a pity. I originally planned to make a connection with Princess Huaifu during this prayer, but all these things have delayed it."

She had spent a lot of effort to find out that Princess Huaifu liked fragrances. Although Bai Qingqing hadn't brought her any more Spring Jiao, she still had some left and had intended to use it as an excuse to build a relationship.

"Don't worry, Princess Consort. Young Master Er is showing promise. There will be more opportunities in the future."

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"I hope so."

...

Bai Qingqing was organizing the fragrances she had brought. Most of them were scents that young ladies would enjoy, but to her surprise, Princess Huaifu seemed more interested in those with special effects. Bai Qingqing didn’t have any on hand at the moment, but they had agreed that the princess would send someone to the residence to collect them after she returned.

After finishing the task, Bai Qingqing’s gaze fell on the storybook she had read last night. Unconsciously, she thought of Ning Yan, wondering if he was okay.

Bai Qingqing shook her head and, recalling the vivid memory from last night, decided to take a moment to recreate the scent she had smelled on Ning Yan. However, after writing down a few ingredients, she found herself staring blankly at the names of the fragrances on the paper.

These...

"Zi Dai."

Zi Dai entered promptly. Bai Qingqing asked her to close the door, then softly inquired, "Have you disposed of the bad fragrances I made before?"

"Rest assured, miss. Everything was disposed of according to the usual procedure. If they were soaked in water and ruined, I threw them out. I know what to do."

"You handled them all yourself?"

Zi Dai thought for a moment, then nodded seriously. "Except for the time you ordered me to stay in bed and rest, all the others were handled by me."

Bai Qingqing rubbed her forehead. She needed to think carefully. After so much time had passed, the events from before were somewhat distant and hard to recall. She vaguely remembered something—about half a year ago, Zi Dai had fallen seriously ill with a fever. At first, she had tried to be stubborn, but Bai Qingqing had ordered her to rest.

Without Zi Dai to keep her company, Bai Qingqing had no interest in anything else, so she focused all her attention on experimenting with fragrances...

Her pupils suddenly contracted. She remembered now.

No wonder that memory had always felt fuzzy—it was because, during that time, she had created a fragrance that made even herself feel dizzy!

Bai Qingqing tried hard to remember. At first, she hadn’t paid attention, thinking it was just because she had been in the room for too long. Later, she realized it was the fragrance. The fragrance she had accidentally made could dull a person’s senses!

Now that she understood, Bai Qingqing immediately ordered for the fragrance to be disposed of. She also realized that her persistent dizziness had led to the creation of the "calm down" fragrance.

But at that time, she hadn’t been fully clear-headed and couldn’t recall who had dealt with the fragrance.