Upon hearing Feng Jiu’er’s words, Yu Jingfeng raised his head and looked at Di Wu Ya.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has been poisoned? Impossible!” He shook his head in disbelief, yet he did not entirely dismiss Feng Jiu’er’s words either.

“Miss Jiu’er, His Highness the Crown Prince was afraid his protective energy would harm you, so he left himself unshielded — his wounds are very serious.”

“If he has also been poisoned on top of that… I beg you, Miss Jiu’er — please save His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Feng Jiu’er steadied her composure and immediately reached into her robe, retrieved a medicinal pill, and pressed it between Di Wu Ya’s lips.

Her wet nurse’s death had nothing to do with Zhan Liyue — and the extermination of the Long Clan might not have been Zhan Liyue’s doing either. Just what was going on?

Could it be that all of them had been looking in the wrong direction all along?

Suddenly, the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps drew rapidly closer.

In a very short span of time, the Eighth Prince Zhan Lingtian arrived with his forces.

Traveling alongside Zhan Lingtian was one other person — the Empress Dowager Ning, Ye Xuening.

In the blink of an eye, everyone here was surrounded on all sides — as though all of this had been planned long in advance.

Feng Jiu’er looked at the Empress Dowager Ning, her eyes narrowing slightly.

She took another deep breath, her brow furrowing even deeper. “It’s you?”

“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.” Yu Jingfeng turned to look at Ye Xuening, also visibly astonished. “Your Majesty, what are you doing here?”

Yu Jingfeng rose to his feet and stared at Zhan Lingtian. “Eighth Prince, the Empress Dowager is also your own mother — and yet you would use her to threaten His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Before anyone on the other side could respond, Feng Jiu’er asked in a measured tone, “Yu Jingfeng — has my Ninth Imperial Uncle been in the Empress Dowager’s company these past few days?”

Yu Jingfeng did not quite understand Feng Jiu’er’s meaning, but he glanced back and nodded. “Yes — just a few days ago, His Highness the Crown Prince personally entered the city to rescue Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

Feng Jiu’er turned to look at Ye Xuening once more, her brow tightly knitted. “So — you used those few days to poison my Ninth Imperial Uncle?”

“Impossible!” Yu Jingfeng glanced at Feng Jiu’er, then turned back to the Empress Dowager Ning. “How could Her Majesty the Empress Dowager poison His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Di Wu Ya leaned against Feng Jiu’er’s arms, watching the approaching figures, his thick brows faintly furrowed.

Ye Xuening met Feng Jiu’er’s gaze and curved her lips slightly. “Correct — it was I who poisoned him.”

Di Feimu’s brow creased as he gripped his sword, about to step forward.

“Mu Mu.” Feng Jiu’er called out in a low voice. “Stay calm!”

Di Feimu took a deep breath and halted.

Feng Jiu’er knew full well that at a moment like this, no single person could possibly escape on their own.

She fixed her gaze on Ye Xuening and asked in a steady, measured voice, “Your Majesty the Empress Dowager — you killed my wet nurse because she had discovered what you did to the Long Clan all those years ago?”

Ye Xuening swept a glance over the two dying figures, her lips still carrying a faint smile.

“Yes — everything that happened was done by me.”

“Long Feiyan’s loss of virtue before she could enter the palace all those years ago was my doing. And the Battle of Broken Wolf Mountain — that was also my doing.”

“The Long Clan’s exile was arranged through my meddling, and as for why the Long Clan was massacred during that exile — that too goes without saying.”

Ye Xuening gazed at the dying Long Feiyan and shook her head slowly.

“Long Feiyan, I truly must thank you — if not for you, who would have helped me eliminate Zhan Liyue? What a pity that Zhan Liyue never knew what was happening even at the very end.”

“I disfigured her face, severed the tendons of your hands and feet — such a minor scheme, yet the two of you spent decades in mutual misunderstanding. How truly foolish!”

Long Feiyan came to in Qiao Mu’s arms, rose to her feet, and glared at Ye Xuening.

“You… what did you just say? So all of this — everything — was done by your hand?”

Ye Xuening was briefly startled to see that Long Feiyan could still stand, but quickly regained her composure.

Feng Jiu’er looked back and softly called, “Mother.”

Long Feiyan met her gaze with a look that said all was well, then turned her eyes to Ye Xuening. “Ye Xuening — what a ruthless heart you have!”

“Ha ha ha…” A deeply malicious smile spread across Ye Xuening’s face. “I am ruthless?”

“You arranged for Zhan Liyue’s own son to take his mother’s life with his own hands — and you call yourself not ruthless?”

At the thought of Yanu, a wave of bitter anguish surged through Long Feiyan’s heart.

“Whether or not you two brothers believe me — saving Di Wuyou was never my original intention. But wrong is wrong, and I will repay you with a life.”

Long Feiyan took a deep breath and fixed her gaze on Ye Xuening. “Ye Xuening — why would you do all of this? Who exactly are you?”

“None of you are leaving today.” Ye Xuening cast her gaze over everyone before her, her expression one of smug satisfaction.

“I am the Noble Consort Ning of Zhan Bufan — genuine and undeniable! Everything I have done has been for my son — he is the true Son of Heaven.”

“Zhan Lingtian is your own son?” Long Feiyan asked in a deep voice.

“That is correct!” Ye Xuening curved her lips slightly.

“So the coup from back then was also your doing — you overthrew the Di Imperial order so that your own son could one day sit upon the throne?”

Long Feiyan had never in her wildest imagination expected the truth to be like this.

“Correct.” Ye Xuening nodded again. “You are all dying people — you are certainly entitled to know the truth!”

She discarded all her former gentleness, her eyes filled with nothing but malice.

Feng Jiu’er felt the weight of the man in her arms growing heavier and looked down.

Di Wu Ya looked at Ye Xuening and said in a low voice, “The Gu Poison in my body — was that also your doing?”

“Correct!” Ye Xuening’s gaze settled on Di Wu Ya. “I needed you to check and balance Emperor Qiwen, and I also needed you to strengthen the nation of Bei Mu.”

“What a pity you carry the Di name — otherwise I would not be so willing to kill you now.”

Di Wu Ya stirred with anger, and his breath grew increasingly erratic.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, you must not!” Feng Jiu’er held him tightly, preventing him from rising.

That single phrase — “Ninth Imperial Uncle” — brought the fury-filled Di Wu Ya a measure of calm.

He turned and looked at Feng Jiu’er.

Feng Jiu’er lowered her gaze to meet his, and tears slipped down her face without her realizing it.

So the true enemy was neither you, nor me.

That Ye Xuening dared to confess everything at a moment like this showed she was utterly determined to win.

Whether there was still time to turn things around — Feng Jiu’er did not know.

But she would use every ounce of her strength to ensure that most of them still had a future ahead.

“No matter what, you must not fight.” Feng Jiu’er bit her lip and cautioned him in a low voice.

“Only by living can anything remain possible!”

With those words, Feng Jiu’er helped the man leaning against her to his feet and rose.

Yu Jingfeng immediately came back over and supported Di Wu Ya from the other side.

Ye Xuening looked at Di Wu Ya without a trace of fear. “Your body is wracked with deadly poison — even without that sword wound, you could not possibly be a match for my Lingtian.”

“You are going to die either way — you may as well take your own life. Perhaps then you will at least die with some dignity.”

No sooner had the words left her lips than Ye Xuening shook her head and turned her gaze to Long Feiyan.

“Long Feiyan, are you not supposed to be so capable? If there is anyone to blame, blame only that face of yours — it has always been far too irritating to endure!”

She smiled faintly and waved her hand. “Men! Seize everyone here — those who resist are to be killed on the spot!”

“Yes.” A soldier nodded, turned, and surveyed the surroundings. “Archers, at the ready!”