In this way, at least in public, it was Princess Tana who had invited Qin Yining, and Li Qitian was merely doting on Princess Tana by helping her speak up to keep the guest – rather than him as emperor detaining a subject’s family member in the palace as a hostage.

Everyone present was shrewd. Besides bowing and taking their leave, no one had anything extra to say.

Consort Yun also mixed among the imperial consorts, bowing and withdrawing.

She was extremely anxious, always feeling that today’s events had gone too smoothly, too much according to her expectations. Things had reached this point, yet His Majesty hadn’t investigated thoroughly, much less dragged her out to face charges.

Consort Yun breathed a long sigh of relief. The heart that had been hanging in suspense could finally settle back in place.

As long as she wasn’t confronted directly, she believed the Empress Dowager would surely protect her afterward. No matter what, she was the Empress Dowager’s grand-niece. Even if she had a thousand or ten thousand faults, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t allow any blemish to appear on the maternal family’s reputation – she would definitely protect her.

At most, she’d just scold her privately.

Consort Yun thought optimistically.

In Ci’an Palace, everyone had taken their leave, only Li Helan still wanted to stay and speak with the Empress Dowager.

But Li Qitian spoke first: “Lan’er, you go out first too.”

Li Helan felt something was unusual and wanted to act coquettishly and stubbornly insist on staying. But when she met Li Qitian’s gaze, her coquettish words immediately stuck in her throat. The imperial brother before her was no longer the one who had indulged her every whim and treasured her like a precious gem.

Li Helan bowed and said, “Yes.” She looked at the Empress Dowager with concern, then quickly walked out, ordering people to guard the door and not allow anyone to disturb or approach.

“Everyone’s gone now.” Li Qitian smiled at the Empress Dowager, but his smile carried a sinister edge. “Mother, now that there are no outsiders, you can tell me about it, can’t you?”

The Empress Dowager’s smile was somewhat forced, clearly showing her guilty conscience. “What does the Emperor want this dowager to say? This dowager doesn’t understand.”

“Don’t understand?” Li Qitian raised one corner of his mouth in a deeply mocking smile. “Does Mother think everyone else is a fool? Do you really believe today’s events were covered up seamlessly, and no one could see that all the suspicious points lead directly to you?”

The Empress Dowager’s face instantly turned pale.

He knew! He actually knew!

“Emperor, let me explain.” The Empress Dowager anxiously grabbed Li Qitian’s hand, forgetting to refer to herself as “this dowager” in her urgency. “Little Hao is my own grandson – how could I harm him? I never intended to harm Little Hao at all!”

Li Qitian smiled and nodded. “This point I believe. Otherwise Consort Yu wouldn’t have appeared there. But that ‘Dream Death’ in the bird’s nest soup… Mother, what you prepared was arsenic, wasn’t it?”

The Empress Dowager nodded, her heart pounding rapidly. She already understood that Consort Yun probably couldn’t be saved.

“Emperor, this matter was poorly planned by this dowager. I didn’t see that Consort Yun would dare have such thoughts.”

“If you hadn’t expected it, you wouldn’t have arranged for Consort Yu. You didn’t trust her either.”

Li Qitian coldly stood up. “I know, Mother did this for the family’s face and glory. For the sake of you being my birth mother, I won’t expose this matter. I’ll bear this embarrassment and blame. But Consort Yun cannot continue to remain.”

“Emperor, Consort Yun served you faithfully. Though that child was momentarily blinded by greed, she’s fundamentally not someone with evil intentions…”

“Not evil intentions, yet she wanted to poison my legitimate son with Dream Death – a poison with no hope of rescue. If she had evil intentions, wouldn’t she want to poison me too? I will not allow anyone with such a venomous heart to remain by my pillow!”

Li Qitian suddenly turned to stare at the Empress Dowager. “Does Mother feel reluctant to part with her? Could it be you can bear to part with your own son and grandson?”

“No, no…”

Li Qitian suddenly moved close to the Empress Dowager’s side, speaking directly: “Mother clings to power, constantly opposing the Empress. At your good age, you won’t peacefully enjoy your twilight years but refuse to settle down. I can turn a blind eye to all this – after all, you are my mother.”

“But Mother’s ambitions grow ever larger. You want to cultivate external relatives and use a woman to influence my harem. In Mother’s eyes, am I such a weak-eared fool?”

“Emperor, don’t misunderstand. I never thought that.”

“Didn’t you? Whose handiwork was the palace coup? When I was buried in the underground palace, what did Mother do? When the real Empress was pregnant and imprisoned in the palace by Prince Li, did Mother ever think she was carrying my flesh and blood, your grandson?”

With each sentence Li Qitian spoke, the Empress Dowager’s complexion grew more miserable. When he finished, she had already collapsed pale and powerless in her chair.

Li Qitian straightened his body, his expression emotionless. “Not pursuing this matter is already showing utmost benevolence and righteousness. Mother, handle it yourself. If you don’t handle it well, I will do it personally.”

The Empress Dowager shook her head repeatedly. Looking at Li Qitian, she felt such fear and strangeness for the first time – this was even more frightening than during the palace coup!

Li Qitian didn’t look back again, striding away from Ci’an Palace.

The Empress Dowager sat dazed in her original position, her mind completely blank, not even knowing what she was thinking or should be thinking.

She suddenly recalled when Li Qitian hadn’t yet participated in the great enterprise, when her husband was still alive. Though their family wasn’t wealthy or noble, they lived together harmoniously, able to be happy about making a new garment for New Year’s, able to be excited about eating a meal of roast chicken.

Now she wore silks and satins, ate delicacies, yet could never again find that feeling of happiness and excitement, nor the warmth of the whole family gathered together.

They had once been an intimate family, but after involving power and interests, they suspected and distanced themselves from each other. Her own son had actually become like this!

The Empress Dowager suddenly burst into tears.

After crying for a long time, she suddenly wiped her face.

“Someone come!”

The nanny who had been waiting outside quickly entered upon hearing the call, bowing: “Empress Dowager.”

“Come here.”

Though tears still stained the Empress Dowager’s face, her eyes had become resolute. She whispered a few words in the nanny’s ear.

A flash of shock crossed the nanny’s face, then her expression grew increasingly grave. Finally, she responded with a low “yes” and quickly withdrew.

Meanwhile, Qin Yining returned to Chuxiu Palace and immediately ordered hot water prepared for bathing.

Soaking wearily in the hot water, her arms resting on the edge of the wooden tub, she tilted her head back to let Bingtang wash her hair.

Ji Yun used a wooden ladle to pour warm water floating with rose petals over her long hair. Seeing her increasingly prominent collarbones and thin arms, her voice choked as she said, “Princess Consort, you’ve suffered.”

Qin Yining smiled, maintaining her previous position without moving, saying softly, “What do you think that eunuch whispered in His Majesty’s ear that made him change his mind? What could he have said? Is there news from the south?”

Ji Yun shook her head. “Perhaps.”

Bingtang said, “This servant believes it must be so. If there wasn’t something making His Majesty wary, today would have been… It must be that the Prince did something to force His Majesty to restrain his thoughts.”

Qin Yining smiled again. “I think so too.”

But now they were all trapped in the palace. Even after such a major incident, Li Qitian hadn’t abandoned the idea of keeping her in the palace as a hostage, completely cutting off her external communications. She knew nothing about any news.

“By the way, pay attention these days to whether Jiang Yuan is still in the imperial study. Of course, don’t actively investigate to avoid being discovered. After all, the fire at Qianqing Palace was such a major event – His Majesty is surely having it thoroughly investigated. We mustn’t expose ourselves.”

“Yes, this servant understands.”

Qin Yining nodded. “Remember not to deliberately investigate, just keep an eye out.”

“Yes.”

Bingtang and Ji Yun actually shared Qin Yining’s suspicions. The timing of the Qianqing Palace fire was too coincidental. If His Majesty hadn’t temporarily changed his mind today and brought out Consort Yu to take the blame, Qin Yining would probably have already been condemned.

When Qianqing Palace caught fire and the palace fell into chaos, with rumors of bandits or rebels killing people in the palace frightening servants into fleeing everywhere, it was actually the perfect time to escape in the confusion. They all suspected whether Jiang Yuan, thinking Qin Yining would surely be severely punished by His Majesty, had set the fire to attract everyone’s attention and give Qin Yining a chance to escape.

Just as they were thinking this, a palace maid suddenly ran past the corridor outside, shouting, “Something terrible! Something terrible! Consort Shun!”

The three exchanged glances. Qin Yining quickly rose and had Bingtang fetch her clothes. Ji Yun hurried to the door, pressing against it to listen to the sounds outside.

Princess Tana was eating fruit in the hall when the sudden shouting startled her so much she dropped her small silver fork. Furious, she said, “What’s all this noise? Has someone died!”

“Your Majesty Consort Shun, someone really has died! This servant just heard people saying that Consort Yun had a heart attack and has passed away!”

“What? Wasn’t she fine just now at Ci’an Palace?” Princess Tana was utterly shocked. She couldn’t understand how a perfectly healthy person could suddenly die. She hadn’t noticed Consort Yun having any heart condition before.

Ji Yun turned back to look at Qin Yining and Bingtang, who had also heard these words.

The three returned to the inner chamber, and only then did Qin Yining say, “She was just a chess piece. In the end, the Empress Dowager needed a scapegoat and didn’t want the matter to implicate the maternal family, so naturally she could only let her ‘die of illness.'”

“Princess Consort, you mean she might have been… by the Empress Dowager?”

“Definitely.”

Qin Yining put on a thick jacket and draped a dark green outer garment, having Bingtang help dry her hair.

Just then, footsteps suddenly approached from outside, followed by a familiar voice: “Is Princess Consort Zhongshun here?”

“It’s Nanny Sun from the Empress’s side.” Qin Yining quickly said, “Hurry and invite her in.”

Ji Yun quickly went to open the hall door and courteously invited the person in.

Nanny Sun looked extremely anxious. Upon seeing Qin Yining, she couldn’t be bothered with bowing and immediately said, “Princess Consort, something has happened to your family.”

Bingtang’s hand holding the wooden comb stopped, and Qin Yining also looked up, her bright eyes gazing at Nanny Sun.

Meeting her clear gaze, Nanny Sun felt deeply reluctant. Sighing, she still said, “Princess Consort, please don’t be too upset. The Empress sent this servant to quietly inform you. She also just heard someone reporting to His Majesty, saying… saying your father’s troop convoy was intercepted outside Tianyu Pass, and your father… he has passed away…”