By now, he must have set sail.

Did he know that as soon as he left, someone had already set their sights on her with ill intentions?

She wanted to see just who was lurking in the shadows, too afraid to show themselves!

“Duanming…” While deep in thought, Shen Xihe habitually reached to stroke Duanming’s fur, only to find empty air beneath her fingertips. As she called out, she remembered she had secretly sent Duanming away with instructions to give the cat to Xiao Huayong, so it could keep him company and give him a living creature to ease his loneliness.

She only hoped he would recover soon, always remembering that someone far away was waiting for his return.

Shen Xihe stood in silence for an unknown length of time until the Emperor, Empress Dowager, Noble Consort Rong, and Consort Shu arrived together.

“Your child pays respects to Your Majesty and Empress Dowager,” Shen Xihe first bowed to Emperor Youning and the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager moved before the Emperor to support Shen Xihe before she could complete her bow: “You’re with child, you must be careful.”

The Emperor paid no mind to such formalities and asked directly: “Palace servants report that you poisoned Lady Li?”

“Your Majesty must not believe such slander.” Shen Xihe replied calmly and steadily, “This is the Eastern Palace, since Beichen…” She paused before continuing, “Today is Beichen’s burial day. Due to my poor health, I could not attend the funeral and was resting here in the Eastern Palace. Lady Li burst in unexpectedly with a dagger, attempting to assassinate me. Fortunately, one of my maids knew some martial arts and saved me from harm. When her assassination attempt failed, Lady Li became hysterical and then drank poison to end her life.”

“Liu Sanzhi, bring in the person!” Emperor Youning commanded.

Liu Sanzhi brought forward a maid – the one who had run out from Li Yanyan’s group.

“You were just running through the palace shouting that the Crown Princess poisoned Lady Li, yet the Crown Princess says Lady Li drank poison herself!” Emperor Youning stared at the trembling maid kneeling on the ground.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty! My mistress, my mistress was indeed poisoned by Her Highness the Crown Princess, poisoned by the Crown Princess…” The maid kept kowtowing, repeating these words, clearly frightened out of her wits.

Everyone’s gaze shifted between the composed Shen Xihe and the terrified maid. Emperor Youning ordered Imperial Physician Huang to examine Li Yanyan’s pulse to confirm she died from poison.

When questioning Li Yanyan’s other two maids, their accounts matched the first maid’s story. When Eastern Palace servants were questioned, they naturally corroborated Shen Xihe’s version.

With both sides maintaining their stories, the suspicious points were that Shen Xihe had no motive for murder, and if she wanted to kill Li Yanyan, she wouldn’t have done it in the Eastern Palace. Moreover, Li Yanyan had come of her own accord, and the Eastern Palace previously had no interaction with Li Yanyan and her husband.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty…” The reporting maid trembled as she spoke, “My mistress rushed into the Eastern Palace after seeing Miss Yu Er…”

Shen Xihe raised an eyebrow imperceptibly – she hadn’t expected Yu Sangning to be involved.

Was Yu Sangning tired of living, daring to provoke her?

Emperor Youning also hadn’t expected his former daughter-in-law to be involved. He held extreme disdain for Yu Sangning.

Setting aside the earlier matters of Bu Shulin and Xiao Wenxi, and the death of the Yu family daughter, just considering Yu Sangning’s role in Xiao Changmin’s affair was enough to make Emperor Youning disgusted.

Emperor Youning’s face darkened: “Summon Lady Yu.”

Yu Sangning longed for wealth and glory and dreamed of the imperial palace, but this was the time she most dreaded entering this place.

The distant palace was so majestic and solemn, its eaves reflecting blinding sacred light in the sun.

This was the noblest place in the world, where everyone inside was as precious as gold and jade, able to determine life and death with a mere gesture.

But now for Yu Sangning, the wide-open palace gates were like a fierce, bloody maw that devoured without leaving bones, pitch-black with no end in sight.

Once inside, there would be no coming out.

She thought herself clever, but in the eyes of those who could move heaven and earth with a wave of their hand, she was nothing but an ant they could crush underfoot!

These all-powerful people toyed with others at will, using people as pawns and lives as pieces, leaving no room for escape. Even knowing it was a dead end, one had no choice but to charge ahead and offer up their life!

“Lady Yu, what did you tell Lady Li? Why did she break into the Eastern Palace attempting to assassinate the Crown Princess?” Emperor Youning asked Yu Sangning with a dark expression.

“Your Majesty, I was invited to the Third Prince’s residence by the Third Prince’s wife,” Yu Sangning replied calmly and composedly.

In truth, this wasn’t the case. She had secretly used people left behind by Yu Xiang to first send word to Li Yanyan, saying she knew the truth about Xiao Changyan’s death, forcing Li Yanyan to actively send people to invite her to the Third Prince’s residence.

These people were the Yu family’s trump card. Just as Yu Xiang had been able to secretly transmit news of death without detection that day, Yu Sangning believed that even if His Majesty sent people to investigate, they wouldn’t find anything. The fact that she was invited to the Third Prince’s residence rather than going on her initiative could be verified – this concerned her life!

“Why did Lady Li invite you to her residence?” Emperor Youning continued questioning while sending people to verify.

Yu Sangning glanced at Shen Xihe before lowering her head and saying: “Your Majesty, the Third Prince’s wife sought me out only to ask me to be a witness. She said if she died in the Eastern Palace, I should truthfully tell Your Majesty that on the day the Eighth Prince attempted to assassinate you, she had received an early warning from someone informing her of the Eighth Prince’s rebellious intentions.”

Shen Xihe lowered her head, adjusting the shawl draped over her arm, seemingly deaf to Yu Sangning’s words.

Yu Sangning said no more, playing the role of an innocent person used by Li Yanyan to perfection.

But this was enough. Someone had instigated Li Yanyan to suspect that the Eastern Palace had fabricated the attempted assassination plot, leading to Xiao Changyan’s death.

Li Yanyan had a note, and neither the paper nor the handwriting could be traced. If she rashly took it to accuse before His Majesty, whether he believed it or not, he couldn’t investigate deeply without substantial evidence.

But if she died in the Eastern Palace and this note was revealed, it would mean something different. With a prince’s wife’s life at stake, His Majesty would have sufficient reason to conduct a thorough investigation.

Others might not know whether Xiao Changyan had planned to assassinate the emperor, but how could His Majesty himself not know? If he didn’t want a thorough investigation, why would he maintain the attitude of proceeding with the Crown Prince’s funeral while only imprisoning Xiao Changyan without passing judgment?

Because Xiao Huayong had “died,” His Majesty hadn’t suspected the Eastern Palace’s involvement. But if Li Yanyan came seeking revenge and was silenced by Shen Xihe, and then this note warning Li Yanyan was revealed, how could His Majesty not suspect the Eastern Palace?

And what would be the first thing to suspect about the Eastern Palace? Naturally, to open the coffin and verify if it contained Xiao Huayong!

If it was him, there were hidden circumstances; if not, everything was orchestrated by the Eastern Palace!

Could Shen Xihe allow Emperor Youning to open the coffin? Of course not. After the coffin was sealed, Xiao Huayong was no longer there – today it was Xiao Juexong who was buried in the imperial tomb.

Years ago, Xiao Huayong had agreed to let Xiao Juexong return to his roots and be buried in the imperial tomb, but he hadn’t agreed to bury him under Xiao Juexong’s name.