Tuoba Yu looked at Li Weiyang, ultimately unable to let her go for a marriage alliance like this. Disregarding Noble Consort De’s obstruction, he had already walked before the Emperor. Everyone’s gaze turned toward him, but he couldn’t care about that anymore. Just as he was about to speak and make a request to the Emperor—

At this moment, a eunuch suddenly came running in, crying loudly: “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Auspicious Hall is on fire!”

The Emperor’s expression changed drastically. He abruptly stood up from the imperial throne, almost unable to believe his own ears, shouting sternly: “What did you say? Say it again!”

The eunuch, face full of distress, said: “Your Majesty, the Auspicious Hall has suddenly caught fire!”

Hearing this, everyone’s faces showed extremely shocked expressions. The palace where the Empress Dowager currently resided was left over from the previous dynasty—damp in autumn, stuffy in summer, and the chambers were somewhat cramped and old-fashioned. Therefore, the Empress Dowager was depressed all day long. Seeing his mother unhappy, the Emperor repeatedly inquired, but the Empress Dowager, worried that large-scale construction would deplete the national treasury, insisted on not revealing her thoughts. It wasn’t until the Empress Dowager’s personal female official proactively petitioned the Emperor that he learned the true situation. To preserve the Empress Dowager’s considerate intentions, the Emperor issued a decree to use his own private savings to build a new palace for the Empress Dowager at the highest point in the northern part of the imperial palace. He named it Chongyang Hall, hoping that after the Empress Dowager moved in, her health would recover and she would enjoy eternal peace.

Speaking of this Chongyang Hall, it represented the Emperor’s filial piety toward his mother, and was also the first palace built using the Emperor’s private property since the founding of Great Li. Not long after Chongyang Hall broke ground, one day while the craftsmen were digging the foundation for the great hall, suddenly dazzling golden light emanated from underground. The craftsmen didn’t dare continue digging and reported to the Emperor. The Emperor was greatly surprised and personally visited the construction site, ordering the craftsmen to continue digging. As they dug, suddenly an object radiated light in all directions, dazzling the eyes—they had unearthed a phoenix, gleaming with golden light, its clarity like a mirror, with ancient patterns on the phoenix feathers, untouched by dust. The Emperor was overjoyed, considering it auspicious, and officially renamed Chongyang Hall to Auspicious Hall. He enshrined the unearthed treasure in the hall, assigned special guards, and simultaneously ordered the Imperial Observatory to select an auspicious date to prepare for the Empress Dowager’s formal relocation.

The Auspicious Hall was a manifestation of the Emperor’s filial piety and a symbol of Great Li’s glorious prosperous age. In the Emperor’s heart, its position was incomparably important. Normally, special personnel were assigned to guard it without a moment’s absence. Moreover, since no one lived in the hall yet, there were no open flames or candles at all. How could such a palace catch fire? This was simply too incomprehensible!

Regardless of everything, the Emperor strode down from the platform in large steps, walking toward the Auspicious Hall without looking back. Seeing the situation was wrong, the various ministers quickly followed. Standing from afar, they could see that half of the magnificent northern palace was already engulfed in flames. At this moment, the fire borrowed the wind’s power, the wind followed the fire’s momentum—in an instant, it blazed up to the heavens. The fire was shockingly large—thick smoke truly rushed up to the clouds, black fog blocking half the sky. The scene was extremely terrifying.

The Emperor stared blankly, truly unable to believe that the palace he had spent so much effort having people build would catch fire. A nearby eunuch quickly said: “Quick! Everyone go fight the fire! Hurry!” Thus, large numbers of palace maids and eunuchs ran over. However, the Emperor just stood there, motionless, as if he had even forgotten how to speak.

Noble Consort Lian glanced at the fire, a trace of cold mockery flashing in her eyes, though her mouth spoke even more gently: “Your Majesty, why would the Auspicious Hall suddenly catch fire?”

The Emperor awakened from his thoughts, loudly calling: “Zhou Tianshou, Zhou Tianshou! Come out here!”

Zhou Tianshou, whose name the Emperor called, quickly walked out from the crowd. However, his face showed not the slightest surprise or panic, forming a stark contrast with the people around him.

“Daoist Master, the Auspicious Hall caught fire for no reason—what could be the cause?” The Emperor looked at the sky reddened by firelight. An ominous feeling suddenly arose. He involuntarily frowned, asking in a cold, heavy tone. Actually, his heart was already like oil being fried over fire, extremely anxious.

Seeing this scene, Li Yuanheng appeared very puzzled. Being from the Northern Desert, he didn’t know that Great Li people were extremely reverent toward fire. Everyone believed that fires were originally caused by ghosts and spirits—a fire breaking out for no reason was heaven warning the people. Especially since the fire occurred at the Auspicious Hall, which was no ordinary place, the Emperor’s first reaction was to believe he had committed an error, causing the heavenly gods to send down punishment.

“Your Majesty, this humble Daoist has been following your decree, constantly monitoring celestial and terrestrial signs, performing divinations to predict fortune and misfortune, providing advance warnings. However, such a large fire—this humble Daoist detected no signs beforehand. This is truly too unusual.” Zhou Tianshou said in a pretentious manner.

The Emperor’s face showed a surprised expression. However, because the other’s words aligned with his own thoughts, he couldn’t help blurting out: “Then what exactly is heaven trying to tell me?”

Zhou Tianshou formed his fingers into a lotus shape, closing his eyes in contemplation, but didn’t answer. The people nearby all began to grow anxious. Only Li Weiyang in the crowd had a slight smile on her face.

Sure enough, Zhou Tianshou quickly opened his eyes, his expression unchanged as he said: “Just now, Your Majesty bestowed a marriage. In this humble Daoist’s view, County Princess Anping has an extraordinary birth chart, extremely precious—not something ordinary common people can match, let alone foreigners! Whether for Great Li or the Northern Desert, this marriage would be greatly inauspicious!”

Zhou Tianshou’s resounding statement caused deathly silence before the great hall. Noble Consort De couldn’t help frowning, a thought bursting forth in her mind: “This old Daoist is stirring up trouble again!” Thinking this, she stepped forward with a forced smile: “Your Majesty, Daoist Master Zhou is merely speculating. County Princess Anping is just a woman—how could her birth chart be so precious? The Northern Desert prince is a dignified imperial grandson of noble blood—how could he be unworthy?”

Zhou Tianshou looked coldly at Noble Consort De: “The Auspicious Hall didn’t catch fire earlier or later, but happened to catch fire just when His Majesty bestowed the marriage. How does Noble Consort De explain this?”

Noble Consort De was startled, then refuted: “That doesn’t necessarily mean this matter is definitely related to the marriage. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence.”

Zhou Tianshou’s smile became cold and congealed. However, he no longer paid attention to Noble Consort De, instead turning to the Emperor: “Your Majesty, do you remember the Disaster of Minglan?”

The so-called Disaster of Minglan referred to the previous dynasty’s Princess Minglan. Initially, the previous dynasty’s Emperor Ningyuan personally bestowed marriage on his niece Princess Minglan, marrying her to the then-mighty General Wang Feng. This was originally a very good match, but the day after the engagement was made, the imperial palace’s Anding Gate inexplicably collapsed halfway. Many people said Princess Minglan’s marriage was very inauspicious and shouldn’t proceed. However, the Emperor believed that since the imperial decree had been issued, there was fundamentally no reason to change it, so he still married Princess Minglan to Wang Feng. However, he found an excuse to keep Wang Feng in the capital guarding the granaries, thinking that as long as he watched him under his nose, nothing major would happen. Yet it was precisely this Wang Feng who, relying on his in-law family’s status, became increasingly arrogant and domineering, even embezzling military provisions and enriching himself. When the army approached the city gates and the Emperor opened the granaries, only then did he discover that all the white grain had turned into coarse chaff, sand, mixed with grass roots and tree bark… Originally, this alone wouldn’t have led to complete defeat, but it happened to be this Wang Feng who opened the national gates, welcoming Great Li’s founding Emperor into the city. Ultimately, half of the previous dynasty’s kingdom was truly ruined in Wang Feng’s hands.

Posterity thus said that heaven had already warned Emperor Ningyuan, but he refused to comply with heaven’s will. If he hadn’t married Princess Minglan to Wang Feng, Wang Feng wouldn’t have stayed in the capital, nor would he have harbored resentment while serving as a Ministry of Revenue official guarding warehouses. Nothing would have become the irreversible situation it later became… Perhaps in others’ eyes, this was merely a far-fetched story. The previous dynasty’s downfall certainly had little relation to this marriage—without Wang Feng, there would still be countless corrupt officials ruining the previous dynasty’s kingdom. However, in the current Emperor’s eyes, Zhou Tianshou’s resounding words struck his heart with every sentence. Though it made him uncomfortable, he believed it without doubt.

Though Li Yuanheng didn’t understand Great Li’s customs, he also knew the situation was wrong. He quickly exchanged glances with Tuoba Zhen. However, Tuoba Zhen acted as if he hadn’t seen anything, merely keeping his head lowered, silent and wordless. Growing anxious, he looked toward Jiang Hua. However, Jiang Hua’s official position was lowly—he had no place to speak here at all. He could only quietly say a few words in Jiang Xu’s ear, but Jiang Xu shook his head.

If it were another matter, the Emperor might listen to his explanation. However, with such a large fire occurring before their eyes, a superstitious person like the Emperor would certainly believe it was heaven’s warning. If the Jiang family spoke up to dissuade him at this time, they would likely suffer misfortune instead. Better to keep silent. In Jiang Hua’s view, expelling Li Weiyang was more important than anything. However, in Jiang Xu’s view, such an action was truly too dangerous—for one Li Weiyang, it simply wasn’t worth taking such a risk!

Noble Consort De grew anxious. If Li Weiyang wasn’t driven away, Tuoba Yu still wouldn’t give up. She glanced at the expressionless Empress and Crown Prince, knowing they would protect themselves wisely and wouldn’t participate in this matter. She couldn’t help gritting her teeth and saying with a forced smile: “Daoist Master Zhou, that Disaster of Minglan passed many years ago—it’s merely a legend. To say this is clearly far-fetched!”

Noble Consort Lian gave a cold laugh, her beautiful eyes turning: “Better to believe it exists than believe it doesn’t. Such a terrible thing happened right before our eyes—can Noble Consort De still turn a blind eye? Great Li has plenty of beautiful women. The Northern Desert prince can pick whichever one he likes—must it be our County Princess Anping? Heaven has already said this marriage cannot proceed. How can it continue? Noble Consort De, insisting so stubbornly—do you intend to harm Great Li’s national fortune?”

A slight smile appeared at Li Weiyang’s lips. Noble Consort Lian had indeed made progress—her words struck directly at the point.

Sure enough, the Emperor rebuked coldly: “Noble Consort De, did you hear that? Stop talking! Or do you deliberately want to ruin my nation?”

Noble Consort De’s face immediately turned deathly pale. She quickly said: “Your Majesty, this subject doesn’t dare. This subject only—”

The Emperor waved his hand, stopping her words, saying coldly: “Enough. I don’t want to hear anymore. Northern Desert Prince, you choose another beauty. County Princess Anping cannot marry you!”

This marriage was inauspicious, very inauspicious. The Auspicious Hall burned the moment he agreed—wasn’t this a great crisis? The Emperor turned his thoughts to Li Weiyang’s intelligence and talent, suddenly awakening. If he sent such a clever girl to the Northern Desert, wouldn’t that be strengthening their power? If Li Weiyang turned against Great Li, it would be equivalent to personally sending them an assistant! Choosing other boudoir daughters would be different—those women didn’t understand politics or struggle. Marrying them off, they would only serve as decorations… After thinking left and right, the Emperor finally made his decision—he absolutely couldn’t let Li Weiyang marry Li Yuanheng!

Li Yuanheng’s expression changed. He understood what the Emperor had just said and quickly said: “No, Your Majesty, I want her!” With that, he pointed toward Li Weiyang in the crowd.

Li Weiyang raised her head slightly, merely glancing at him once, looking completely unconcerned.

The Emperor looked coldly at Li Xiaoran: “Minister, you know my meaning. Since Weiyang is your daughter, I want to hear your opinion.”

The Emperor was unwilling to directly confront the Northern Desert prince who superficially didn’t understand propriety—this required Li Xiaoran to take a stance. Li Xiaoran naturally understood the Emperor’s meaning. Though it was somewhat regrettable he couldn’t sell off Li Weiyang, on second thought, offending the Emperor now would truly be unbearable. He smiled: “Northern Desert Prince, heaven has already given a warning. This marriage is indeed inauspicious. If you insist on marrying her, I’m afraid it will bring disaster to both your Northern Desert and our Great Li. Your nation’s Emperor also won’t agree. Therefore, I believe this marriage must be canceled. I can only ask for your forgiveness!”

Li Yuanheng looked at Great Li’s Emperor in disbelief, then at Li Xiaoran. He had heard that people here kept their word once spoken, especially the Emperor’s imperial decrees, yet they changed orders morning and evening—truly ridiculous!

Li Weiyang’s gaze leisurely watched the man who had originally intended to marry her, her smile carrying a trace of contempt. Originally, she had plenty of methods to refuse this marriage, though it would take some effort. This fire was truly too timely—it was almost as if it had been custom-made for her, specifically set to decline this marriage… No, wait. Heaven had never been this helpful before. Or perhaps this matter was deliberately arranged by someone. Thinking this, Li Weiyang looked around for Li Minde, but couldn’t find him anywhere.

Where had that person gone at such a critical moment?

The Emperor first went back on his word, then Li Xiaoran also turned his back on people. This pair of ruler and minister were remarkably similar in this respect—only doing what benefited themselves, regardless of face or not. The Emperor eliminated the marriage that made him uneasy, then turned to ask: “Has the fire at Auspicious Hall been extinguished?”

A eunuch quickly said: “Your Majesty, rest assured, everything has been handled.”This meant the fire had already been extinguished.

The Emperor looked at the Auspicious Hall where crowds gathered, couldn’t help sighing, then turned: “Return to your seats. The banquet continues.”

Everyone exchanged glances. Though this marriage had fallen through, without Li Weiyang blocking the way, as long as Li Yuanheng and the Northern Desert imperial family refused to give up and insisted on marrying a Great Li young lady back, these families would all be in trouble. Their households had quite a few unmarried daughters of suitable age. Today, for the princes’ consort selection, each was dressed up beautifully. If Li Yuanheng unfortunately set his sights on one of them and she was sent to such a godforsaken place, it would truly be losing both the wife and the soldiers. Immediately, all the young ladies used fans to cover their faces, fearing Li Yuanheng might notice them.

Li Yuanheng stared indignantly at the Emperor’s retreating back. When he could no longer see him, he stared at Li Weiyang instead, quickly pursuing her: “I won’t give up!”

Sun Yanjun looked at him warily: “What do you intend!” However, Li Weiyang held her hand, turning back with a smile: “Fourth Prince, your persistence regarding me isn’t because you like me. After all, we met by chance. To call it love at first sight would be too laughable. I advise you to think carefully about the intentions of the person behind the scenes who instigated you to marry me. Don’t become someone else’s stepping stone—for your Northern Desert, it’s absolutely not a good thing.”

These few sentences carried a warning tone. Li Yuanheng was startled, immediately restraining his original displeasure, seriously looking at this woman before him. Whether she was intelligent and strategic couldn’t yet be seen, but speaking directly to the point was certainly true. His father Emperor had him marry a marriage alliance princess here, but so-called marriage alliance princesses—they were generally reluctant to use real princesses. If the Northern Desert were weak, Great Li would select a palace maid of humble origins to pass off as a princess. However, since the current Northern Desert was very strong, Great Li would at minimum select a nobleman’s daughter of noble birth to send to him—the specific choice, of course, was for him to decide.

Originally, Jiang Hua had sent him a portrait of a beauty, which he hadn’t taken too seriously. However, later he wrote a letter saying many things about Li Weiyang, arousing his curiosity about this young lady. He naturally knew that if Jiang Hua truly cared about Li Weiyang’s welfare, he absolutely wouldn’t frequently mention this young lady before him. But so what? A woman who could capture the attention of the cunning, fox-like Jiang Hua—he was equally interested.

Today, seeing Li Weiyang with his own eyes, he couldn’t help developing even deeper curiosity about her. Looking so cold-hearted and cold-faced, yet completely composed, utterly unlike a girl of this age. His original tiny bit of curiosity immediately became a prairie fire. He wanted to understand what kind of girl Li Weiyang truly was. Previously, those girls would all stare at him like bees the moment they saw him. Why was she so indifferent?

Jiang Hua returned to his seat. For some reason, his coughing grew even fiercer, as if his very lungs would be coughed out. Even lying in bed, he was racking his brains. This carefully planned drama was so easily ruined by a fire. Li Weiyang, you truly are an audacious girl—even daring to commit arson in the palace. If only evidence could be found, but naturally, if the other party dared to do it, they would certainly have left themselves an escape route… Li Weiyang was truly too fortunate, as if even heaven helped her. Jiang Hua forcibly suppressed the surge of hot blood in his heart, his face showing a nonchalant expression.

Tuoba Zhen suddenly handed him a cup of wine. Jiang Hua raised his head.

“Third Young Master, though working on my behalf is good, going too far becomes annoying.” Tuoba Zhen’s face carried a smile, but his words openly and covertly admonished him to abandon thoughts of dealing with Li Weiyang. “Her marriage will naturally have someone to worry about. Third Young Master shouldn’t interfere anymore.”

Tuoba Zhen had repeatedly tried to ruthlessly deal with Li Weiyang, but inexplicably failed each time. Now even he himself couldn’t say clearly whether he loved her more or hated her more. However, regardless of which, his possessions would not be coveted by others. Even if she died, Li Weiyang must die by his hand—it couldn’t be delegated to others. His words were obviously very unreasonable. Since Jiang Hua was his ally, he naturally had an obligation to eliminate the obstructive Li Weiyang. However, as an imperial prince, when Tuoba Zhen didn’t want to be reasonable, having any amount of reason before him was still unreasonable. How could Jiang Hua not understand this? “My apologies.” Jiang Hua smiled: “I was thoughtless in this matter. Fortunately, it didn’t succeed either. Your Highness needn’t worry.” If Jiang Hua had grown angry, he would have methods to persuade him to let go. However, the other party was acting completely nonchalant, which instead indicated he absolutely wasn’t prepared to stop. Tuoba Zhen’s gaze twisted slightly. Ultimately, he merely gave a cold laugh and said nothing more.

The banquet proceeded as usual, though after the fire incident, everyone’s expressions were somewhat awkward. Only Noble Consort Lian’s expression remained unchanged, her smile unaltered as she spoke softly with the Emperor. Blown by her warm breeze, the Emperor’s ugly expression gradually eased. He held her hand: “Still my beloved consort knows how to talk.”

Li Weiyang watched this, couldn’t help smiling. Noble Consort Lian’s appearance was absolutely beautiful. No matter how intelligent the Emperor was, he was ultimately still a man—in many situations, he would value beauty over other things. Moreover, Noble Consort Lian came from commoner origins, fundamentally had no family power, no threat from maternal relatives. No matter how much the Emperor favored her, it wouldn’t cause problems. Plus the previous rumors of a heavenly maiden descending to earth gave her an additional layer of mysterious coloring, making the Emperor increasingly fond of her.

On the platform, Noble Consort Lian smiled: “Your Majesty teases this subject again. Better to properly watch the song and dance.” With that, her delicate hand lightly clapped twice in the air. Dozens of women carrying glazed palace lanterns gracefully emerged from nearby. In the night wind’s blowing, they had the ethereal feeling of nine-heaven immortal maidens descending to the mortal realm. Dozens of women as delicate and shy as flowers began dancing gracefully in the great hall. At this moment, on the fireworks platform not far from the great hall, hundreds of silver frames of various sizes had long been erected, decorated with colorful silk ribbons. At the top stood all kinds of firework tubes—very spectacular. The instant these beautiful women began dancing gracefully, eunuchs holding lamp covers extinguished all the surrounding candles and oil lamps, lighting the fireworks. Countless fireworks rose into the sky. After shattering, beautiful flames descended one by one. More and more fireworks gradually connected into one piece, becoming continuous beautiful scrolls.

Having just had a fire, the Emperor was precisely in an angry mood. Only Noble Consort Lian dared to court bad luck at this time. Yet the Emperor seemed to completely forget the recent unpleasantness, watching the sky full of fireworks very happily: “Beloved consort truly has unique ingenuity.”

The Empress shot a trace of resentful gaze toward Noble Consort Lian. Noble Consort Lian’s smile only deepened.

Sun Yanjun whispered: “Weiyang, did you see? His Majesty especially favors Noble Consort Lian. Even though there was just a fire, she still dares to set off fireworks in the palace.”

Li Weiyang nodded: “Noble Consort Lian is incomparably beautiful, intelligent and clever. Her doing this naturally has her purpose.” On one hand, it was to demonstrate power to others. On the other hand, naturally it was…

Sure enough, Noble Consort Lian was heard laughing: “Your Majesty, look—so many fireworks yet all are safe and sound. This shows Your Majesty’s decision just now was infinitely wise, complying with heaven’s will.”

The Emperor nodded. Indeed it was so. The Auspicious Hall suddenly catching fire for no reason was already a strange occurrence. Now that he had canceled this marriage, setting off such large-scale fireworks caused no incidents—clearly heaven had indeed warned him earlier. He couldn’t help feeling glad he hadn’t overly insisted on his own position earlier. If he had clung to the commitment that an emperor’s words cannot be jokes, it would have angered heaven and the loss would outweigh the gain. Immediately, he held Noble Consort Lian’s hand and smiled: “Beloved consort speaks correctly. I should have listened to your words earlier.”

Hearing this, both the Empress and Noble Consort De’s expressions became extremely ugly, especially Noble Consort De, who almost couldn’t control herself from gripping the wine cup in her hand, nearly spilling it. She was usually the most dignified, yet at this moment couldn’t restrain herself. Truly, Noble Consort Lian’s conduct was too arrogant. Even a few days ago, she had found an excuse to provoke trouble, beating to death a personal female official beside Noble Consort De, giving Noble Consort De severe stimulation.

Noble Consort Lian quietly signaled to Li Weiyang below the platform. Li Weiyang smiled slightly. Inadvertently turning her head, she discovered Li Minde had already returned to his seat. Behind him in the distance burned candles. Man and candlelight complemented each other—his already exquisite, enchanting countenance gained seven more parts of wicked aura. As if sensing the gaze here, Li Minde suddenly raised his eyes to look at her, revealing a smile.

Li Weiyang saw the threads of smile in his eyes, suddenly understanding in her heart. This fellow—having the audacity to commit arson in the palace was one thing, but now he could actually act so nonchalant… Li Weiyang controlled her own guilt, drinking a mouthful of sweet pear blossom wine. The wine entered her heart and calmed her spirit. Reaching her heart, it produced threads of warmth.

“Crack.”

The wine cup struck the table with a crisp sound, attracting many gazes. Noble Consort De’s expression became even uglier, while Noble Consort Lian merely unhurriedly sipped clear wine before saying lightly: “What’s wrong with Elder Sister De?”

“I was careless for a moment and dropped my wine cup.” Noble Consort De smiled forcedly. Today, to deal with Li Weiyang, she had already lost her composure. She absolutely couldn’t show any more dissatisfaction.

“Oh?” Hearing this, Noble Consort Lian glanced lightly at Noble Consort De’s face, saying with a half-smile: “Then Elder Sister De must be careful not to spill any more fine wine.” Afterward, she had no other words, seemingly not caring about Noble Consort De’s loss of composure, already reinvesting all her energy in the song and dance in the arena.

Noble Consort De’s complexion grew increasingly pale. Those around all had various thoughts. Only Seventh Prince Tuoba Yu’s face showed worried expression. No matter how bad his mother consort was, she was still his birth mother. How could he not worry?

Li Weiyang saw from afar, but merely gave a cold laugh before turning her gaze away. In her eyes, Noble Consort De had just been leisurely kicking others when they were down—her death date was probably fast approaching.

After three rounds of wine, the song and dance pleasures also slowly eased. Layer upon layer of cool night wind brushed over them. However, the Emperor was in extremely high spirits, his dragon heart greatly pleased. He loudly proclaimed: “Noble Consort Lian arranged this dance excellently. Someone, bestow Azure Dragon Wine.” At these words, both the Empress and Noble Consort De simultaneously changed color. Azure Dragon Wine was secret brew from the previous dynasty’s imperial family—it prolonged life, nourished the body and supplemented energy. Over the years, it had been exclusively enjoyed by the Emperor alone. Even the Empress had never enjoyed it. Today it was inexplicably bestowed on a consort—truly difficult to accept. However, on such an occasion, there was absolutely no room for anyone to interrupt.

A eunuch held the Azure Dragon Wine, step by step ascending the stairs, delivering it before Noble Consort Lian. Noble Consort Lian’s smile was like flowers: “Your Majesty, this subject’s body currently fears she cannot drink much—”

The Emperor smiled: “You just drink one mouthful. The rest I’ll handle.” Such favor had already reached its peak. However, the Empress’s expression suddenly recovered calmness. She merely gave a cold laugh and made no sound.

Noble Consort Lian smiled, receiving the wine from the eunuch’s hands. Just as she was about to drink, she suddenly cried out: “Your Majesty, look!” The Emperor glanced and saw a tiny flying insect had somehow fallen into the wine. He was about to grow angry when he saw the wine quickly turned a deathly gray color. The Emperor knocked over the wine cup, angrily demanding of the chief eunuch: “What is the meaning of this!”

Chief Eunuch Zhou Xiang was startled, then crawled on his knees to the wine cup, lifting it to look. He saw that small insect had already died in the wine cup. Truly like being doused with a ladle of cold water from above, his whole body shuddered violently. His complexion turned ashen, stammering: “Your Majesty… this insect perhaps was greedy for wine and died drunk—this slave will immediately dispatch people to carefully investigate.”

Among those seated, Imperial Medical院 Director Chen heard the commotion and quickly stepped forward: “Please allow this subject to examine it, Your Majesty.” The Emperor nodded. Director Chen immediately carefully retrieved the small insect’s corpse to examine. His expression then changed drastically: “Your Majesty, this insect is called Wine Evil. It most loves dwelling in wine and would absolutely not be poisoned to death by wine. Please issue a decree, Your Majesty, allowing this subject to examine this wine in detail.”

Time passed bit by bit. The expressions of the Emperor, Empress, Crown Prince and others grew increasingly grim. Li Weiyang watched, couldn’t help concealing the cold laugh in her eyes. Many times, being Emperor was worse than being a commoner—constantly facing assassination and poisoned wine, living in constant fear.

After a long while, Director Chen finally spoke: “This wine is poisoned.”

“No! Impossible! All wine was tested with silver needles!” Zhou Xiang couldn’t help saying. The previous dynasty liked having young eunuchs test wine, but this method was too cruel. Moreover, many poisons were slow-acting and difficult to immediately detect. To ensure absolute safety, the current dynasty began using silver needles, silver chopsticks, and some medicines provided by the Imperial Medical院 to test for poison. Today’s Azure Dragon Wine naturally also went through countless procedures before being presented. How could it be poisoned?

Director Chen shook his head: “Crane’s Crest Red plus Partridge Frost, both double portions—enough to poison a fierce tiger to death. Crane’s Crest Red has a bright color and slight fishy smell. Partridge Frost has a slightly sweet taste. The two neutralize each other when combined, temporarily suppressing each other’s toxicity. Even silver implements cannot detect it. The person who drinks it won’t be immediately poisoned and won’t easily be detected. However, within three days, the toxicity will completely erupt, the poison becoming doubly fierce. The person who poisoned this is truly too vicious—”

Noble Consort Lian’s expression immediately changed. Tears glistening in her eyes, she knelt on the ground: “Your Majesty, this subject grew up in rural countryside, has limited knowledge, lacks cunning, is an unworldly woman. Fortunately heaven bestowed glory and riches, our sovereign treats this subject with deep affection. This subject originally thought that obtaining such circumstances in this life was already satisfying. Never expected someone couldn’t bear to see this subject accompany Your Majesty, requesting Your Majesty’s forgiveness to let this subject leave the palace court, to preserve the dragon son in her belly—”

The Emperor was furious: “Rise! I want to see exactly who dares to murder my beloved consort and dragon son before everyone’s eyes!”

Li Weiyang looked at Noble Consort Lian, blinked, thinking she needed to add more fuel to the fire. However, Noble Consort Lian seemed to have a telepathic connection. In that flash of lightning, tears fell like rain. The silk-wrapped kingfisher feather tassels hanging from her hairpin fell in disarray with her weeping: “Your Majesty, please don’t make a great disturbance over humble this subject. Just don’t investigate this matter. In any case, the other party is merely jealous of this subject’s favor, not intending to harm Your Majesty—to avoid the tragedy of the Second Prince occurring, better to let this subject leave to preserve the imperial family’s dignity!”

Tuoba Yu, who had been quietly observing the situation’s development, thought “not good.” In that instant, the Emperor’s expression became extremely enraged. Over all these years, what made the Emperor most heartbroken and sorrowful was Second Prince Tuoba Jing’s death. Second Prince Tuoba Jing was the Emperor’s second son, only two years younger than the Crown Prince. His nature was benevolent and generous, always treating people with kindness. From childhood, he was greatly loved by his parents, even with a hidden trend of surpassing the Crown Prince. However, he excessively doted on Secondary Consort Lin, being too cold toward Prince Consort Liu. Unfortunately, Liu was a woman with vicious methods. Seeing Tuoba Jing constantly loving Lin, she was both helpless and resentful. In a fit of anger, she put poison in his food. However, Tuoba Jing’s life shouldn’t have ended—after eating that food, he wasn’t poisoned to death but from then on fell ill.

This matter caused great upheaval. The Emperor was dragon-furious, issuing a decree to demote Liu to commoner status and bestow death at home. Tuoba Jing was brought back to the palace to convalesce. However, because the poison had penetrated his body, plus his heart’s regret and remorse, his condition worsened day by day. Struggling for less than half a year, he ultimately couldn’t hold on. Thinking of Tuoba Jing, the Emperor couldn’t help feeling heartbroken. From this, he thought of wife-concubine strife, palace disasters…

Though only in his fifties, his spirit and physical strength had already obviously aged. His body was worse each day. Throughout the year, he would always suffer several illnesses. Each illness weakened his physical and mental strength, taking long to recover. Precisely because of this, he had become increasingly tolerant toward the rear palace consorts. However, he hadn’t expected that while being tolerant, he had inadvertently indulged the murderer. Rear palace struggles had intensified, erupting to the forefront, completely losing the imperial family’s dignity.

Thinking of this, the Emperor raised his eyebrows sternly, shouting: “Investigate! Must thoroughly investigate to the end! I want to see exactly who is so audacious!”

The Emperor’s words had barely fallen when a “thud” sounded from below the hall. Someone had collapsed to the ground—it was a palace maid standing at the steps’ base, precisely a maid originally serving Noble Consort De, named Baihe.

Seeing this scene, Noble Consort De’s mind immediately exploded with a “boom.” Her heart cried out bitterly: What’s wrong with this girl?!

Seeing this, the Emperor sternly demanded: “What is this?”

Baihe, seeing the Emperor’s interrogation, trembled even more violently like chaff being sifted, stammering: “Your Majesty… Your Majesty, this poison… has nothing to do with this slave!”

At these words, Noble Consort De immediately stood up, sternly rebuking: “What nonsense are you spouting here! Get down from here immediately!” Then she quickly turned back: “Your Majesty, this girl has been mentally disturbed recently, perhaps possessed by something—”

Noble Consort Lian’s expression changed: “Elder Sister De, this palace maid is someone from your side. Perhaps she has something to say!”

Noble Consort De’s color changed abruptly, anger rising to her brows. She could only forcibly suppress her fury: “What do you mean? Are you suspecting I did something?”

The Emperor looked at her coldly: “Silence! Let her continue speaking!”

The Empress and Crown Prince exchanged glances, trading a mutually understood look.

Seeing those two who considered themselves mantises, Li Weiyang merely maintained a leisurely smile, watching them at ease like sitting below a theater stage watching an exceptionally wonderful play.

Noble Consort Lian coldly watched that palace maid called Baihe, saying word by word: “Just now your discourtesy before the hall could have already gotten you beaten to death. If you still don’t speak truthfully, just wait for palace rules to handle you.”

“This slave—this slave wants to accuse Chief Eunuch! This slave wants to accuse Zhou Xiang!” Baihe suddenly straightened her body, gritting her teeth and shouting loudly.

Zhou Xiang almost jumped up in that instant, sternly saying: “You girl have gone mad! Get down from here!”

The Empress suddenly gave a cold laugh: “Zhou Xiang, you’re so arrogant even before His Majesty. Could it be that having been chief eunuch so long, you truly consider yourself the master?”

Zhou Xiang’s expression changed. He immediately stammered, unable to speak, merely opening his eyes wide, giving Baihe a warning glare. However, Baihe acted as if she had completely thrown caution to the wind, loudly proclaiming: “This slave knows everything. It was Noble Consort De who bribed Chief Eunuch Zhou Xiang, having him poison the Azure Dragon Wine!”

At these words, the entire hall was in uproar. Noble Consort De’s face was full of fury, loudly saying: “You girl truly are insane. When did I bribe Zhou Xiang? Where would he have the audacity to harm Noble Consort Lian? You’re spouting complete nonsense—whose instigation are you under!”

At this time, the ministers in the hall all had foreheads already covered with dense beads of sweat. Especially those who usually had close relations with Noble Consort De or Seventh Prince—their hearts were all pounding like drums. However, everyone gritted their teeth trying to stand as straight as possible, eyes wide open watching the situation develop. If Noble Consort De truly did such a thing and it was exposed, the Emperor would certainly be thunderously furious…

Baihe kowtowed heavily on the ground several times. When she raised her head, her forehead had already turned blue: “Your Majesty, this slave originally shouldn’t betray you, but you shouldn’t have given this slave to him as a companion eater just to bribe Zhou Xiang. These past three months, this slave has lived a life worse than an animal. This slave can no longer endure it. Even if it means death, this slave doesn’t want to continue living with him!”

With that, she pulled open her clothing, exposing her left shoulder. Such an action could be called extremely improper. However, everyone at this moment couldn’t care about such things, because they all clearly saw that Baihe’s shoulder was covered in bruises and purples, accompanied by countless wounds, reaching deep into the flesh, as if clawed by wild beasts. Scars upon scars, wounds layered upon wounds, a tragic sight too horrible to behold—almost not a single patch of good flesh. She said word by word: “Zhou Xiang is fundamentally not human—he’s a beast. He abused and tortured me in every way. Your Majesty, if not for your own selfish desires, why would you bestow me to him! You claim to be generous and benevolent, but why would you treat a maid loyal and devoted to you this way?”

Hearing this girl’s words, each character dripping blood, Li Weiyang’s smile flashed and vanished in her eyes. This play was becoming more and more exciting… Noble Consort De, when you were pushing me into the fire pit, did you ever think I was also waiting to watch your complete destruction?