Zheng Shi said coldly: “You still know to feel sorry for Changning, but her own father hasn’t given her the slightest thought. She’s been ill for several days, yet he hasn’t even come to see her once.”

Thinking of Li Jiancheng’s heartlessness, Liu Ye secretly sighed, but said aloud: “The Crown Prince must help His Majesty handle state affairs, so he inevitably can’t spare attention. When the Crown Prince is more free, he’ll surely come see Changning.”

Zheng Shi said indifferently: “I know very well what he’s thinking. You needn’t say these empty words to comfort me.”

Liu Ye said helplessly: “Things have come to this point. It would be better if Miss could see it more clearly.”

Zheng Shi sneered: “Don’t worry. If I couldn’t see clearly, I would have already hanged myself long ago. How could I still be sitting here? Serve the porridge.”

Liu Ye ladled a bowl of white porridge for Zheng Shi. The table held several small dishes to accompany the porridge, all vegetarian without any meat or fish. Zheng Shi had been eating vegetarian for several years now.

“Though things are somewhat bitter now, Second Young Master is making great progress. This servant has heard the teacher praise Second Young Master more than once, saying he’s exceptionally intelligent.”

“What good is exceptional intelligence? As long as he remains that woman’s son for one day, His Highness won’t value him for one day, not even giving him a place to stand.” These words weren’t spoken by Zheng Shi, but by a maid serving in the side hall.

“Jin Xiang, what nonsense are you spouting?” Liu Ye stared in surprise at this maid called Jin Xiang. She had come to serve in Yiqiu Palace three years ago, was very diligent in her work, spoke little and wasn’t prone to gossip, so Zheng Shi had kept her by her side to work. She never expected that Jin Xiang, usually silent and taciturn, would suddenly say such bold words.

Jin Xiang paid no attention to Liu Ye, but said to Zheng Shi: “Your Highness, may this servant speak with you privately?”

Zheng Shi stared at her for a moment, then said to Liu Ye: “You go out first.”

After Liu Ye left, Zheng Shi set down the white porridge she hadn’t touched and said: “Now there are only the two of us here. Whatever you have to say, say it.”

“This servant has been by Your Highness’s side these past few years. No one knows better than this servant how hard Your Highness has had it, but forgive this servant’s boldness in saying – now is not Your Highness’s most difficult time.”

Zheng Shi raised an eyebrow, looking at her: “You’re saying… I’ll suffer more in the future?”

“Correct. To be precise, not only Your Highness, but Second Young Master and the Princess as well.” Jin Xiang’s words made Zheng Shi’s expression change slightly. She said coldly: “Continue.”

“According to what this servant knows, several years ago, His Highness already wanted to depose Your Highness’s Crown Princess position. Only because His Majesty strongly opposed it did it not succeed. One could say His Majesty is Your Highness’s protective talisman. When His Majesty is no longer His Majesty, what do you think will happen?”

Zheng Shi said with a grave expression: “What do you mean by this?”

Jin Xiang didn’t answer immediately, but said: “Your Highness lives within the Eastern Palace. Could you really not have noticed anything at all?”

Zheng Shi lowered her head without speaking. In fact, though she lived in seclusion in Yiqiu Palace, she was still in the Eastern Palace after all. She was somewhat aware of the Eastern Palace’s movements. These past few days, there had been many more people coming and going from the Eastern Palace than usual, and Li Jiancheng had been urgently summoned to Taiji Palace. Even without Jin Xiang saying anything, she vaguely felt something was about to happen.

Zheng Shi suppressed the thoughts in her heart and said with cold eyes: “What do you know?”

Jin Xiang smiled slightly: “There’s one thing Your Highness surely doesn’t know – the Crown Prince… has an affair with Noble Consort De!”

“What?” Zheng Shi abruptly stood up, staring at Jin Xiang in disbelief: “Is this true?”

“This concerns palace affairs – how would this servant dare speak falsely? It’s absolutely true. This matter was revealed by Prince Qin, and His Majesty said that in three days, he’ll have the Crown Prince and Prince Qin confront each other again.”

Zheng Shi’s face turned pale as she said grimly: “He’s becoming more and more outrageous – to even do such things!” After a pause, she said: “Could it be that Prince Qin is falsely accusing the Crown Prince?”

Jin Xiang shook her head: “Not only Prince Qin, but Noble Consort Wan also testified to this matter. There should be no falsehood. The Crown Prince knows he’s committed a great crime, so he won’t sit and wait for three days.”

Zheng Shi sat back down in her chair: “If he won’t wait three days, what can he do?”

Jin Xiang smiled mysteriously and asked instead of answering: “What does Your Highness think?”

Zheng Shi’s eyelids suddenly twitched. She said coldly: “You needn’t play riddles with me here. If you have something to say, say it quickly.”

This time, Jin Xiang didn’t beat around the bush, saying slowly: “To protect himself, the Crown Prince will surely lead troops into Taiji Palace within these three days and force His Majesty to abdicate!”

Though she had been mentally prepared, when she actually heard these words, Zheng Shi still trembled violently, her ten fingers tightly intertwined. After a long while, she stared at Jin Xiang: “For the Crown Prince, this matter must be the deepest secret. How do you know? Who exactly are you?”

Jin Xiang smiled: “Rather than Your Highness having time to ask this, you’d better worry about yourself first. In the three years this servant has been in Yiqiu Palace, I’ve never seen the Crown Prince step foot here once. Even for the New Year’s Eve banquet, he didn’t allow Your Highness to attend. The Crown Princess title has long existed in name only. Once His Majesty is forced to abdicate and can no longer restrain him, the Crown Prince will surely order Your Highness deposed immediately.”

This time, Zheng Shi seemed unusually calm, brushing her sleeves and saying indifferently: “I already expected this long ago. Whether deposed or not, for me it’s just the same as now. Could it possibly be worse?”

“For Your Highness, perhaps there’s no difference, but what about Second Young Master and Princess Changning? Is it the same for them too?” Jin Xiang’s words made Zheng Shi’s eyelids twitch. She said somewhat uncomfortably: “They are the Crown Prince’s children, so naturally they’ll be the same as now, without any difference.”

Jin Xiang shook her head: “There’s no one else here – why must Your Highness deceive yourself? The Crown Prince is a heartless person. As he treats Your Highness, so he treats Second Young Master and Princess Changning. I’m afraid the day Your Highness is deposed will be when they’re driven out of Chang’an.”

Zheng Shi bit her silver teeth tightly. She wanted to deny Jin Xiang’s words, but she couldn’t. Ever since Jirong’s false pregnancy incident, Li Jiancheng had treated their mother and children as if they were dead, never coming to see them even once. Sometimes when Chengdao and Changning missed him desperately and ran to see him, they either received the cold shoulder or were driven away after barely saying a few words, making them experience the world’s coldness and warmth at such young ages. The reason Chengdao studied so diligently was hoping Li Jiancheng would look at them more, but sadly… he would never understand that his father’s heart was hard and cold as iron stone. No matter how well he did, it was useless.

“Even if Your Highness doesn’t think of yourself, you must think of those two. They are the Crown Prince’s legitimate son and daughter. Especially Second Young Master – when the Crown Prince ascends as Emperor, he should be the next Crown Prince. But what about now? Not only will they gain nothing, they’ll lose what little they have now. Your Highness, can you really bear to watch them become homeless, or even… be killed by Noble Consort Ji?!”

Zheng Shi’s expression changed dramatically as she shouted: “Silence!”