Hearing this, a thought stirred in Ling Jingshu’s mind. “My lady, perhaps all of this is Prince Yan’s scheme. If the assassination had succeeded and the Crown Prince had died, he would have become the prime candidate for heir. And since the assassination failed, he can simply push all the blame onto Li Shufei and Prince An.”

“With them taking the blame, Prince Yan can clear himself of all suspicion entirely. And with the merit of having saved the Emperor’s life, his chances for the future are far from gone!”

“In the end, the one who benefits from all this is certainly Prince Yan.”

What a brilliant scheme to kill two birds with one stone!

What a meticulous, ruthless, and venomous Prince Yan he truly was!

Wei Xianfei fell silent for a moment before saying, “If things really are as you think, then this Prince Yan is far too terrifying.”

Prince Yan had not yet even reached the age of twenty, and already he schemed without a single flaw and acted with such ruthlessness — harsh on himself, harsher still on others. An enemy like this was enough to make anyone’s blood run cold just thinking of him.

Ling Jingshu let out a bitter laugh as well.

Indeed! Prince Yan had never been one to underestimate!

In her past life, the prince who had seized the throne and become the Son of Heaven had relied on far more than just Empress Xu!

Judging from this single move alone, Prince Yan was already formidable enough to be a serious rival to the Crown Prince.

Still, Prince An himself was no good person to begin with. His abilities were mediocre, but his ambition was anything but small. In her past life, the Crown Prince’s death had also been Prince An’s doing. This attempt on the Crown Prince’s life might well have been a scheme secretly arranged in collusion between Prince Yan and Prince An.

“For now, I only hope His Highness the Crown Prince recovers from danger soon,” Wei Xianfei said. “As long as the Crown Prince does not fall, the Emperor will not change the heir apparent.”

Wei Yan had long ago privately pledged his allegiance to the Crown Grandson. Wei Xianfei, left with no other choice, had naturally come to stand on the Crown Prince’s side as well.

Ling Jingshu was full of confidence in Wei Yan. “Rest assured, my lady. Since Wei Yan was able to pull the Crown Prince back from death’s door, he will surely be able to heal him fully.”

Wei Xianfei rallied her spirits and smiled. “Speaking of which, it was thanks to you carrying the antidote pills that day, and feeding them to the Crown Prince in time. Otherwise, no matter how skilled A’Yan’s medicine, it would have come too late to save the Crown Prince’s life.”

Before attending the banquet, after she and Ling Jingshu had taken the antidote pills, out of caution she had instructed Ling Jingshu to leave the remaining pills stored in her chambers, lest someone notice and grow suspicious. But Ling Jingshu had persuaded her otherwise, insisting on keeping the pills on her person.

Who would have thought that this one small detail would end up saving the Crown Prince’s life.

In front of Wei Xianfei, Ling Jingshu felt no need to hide anything, and gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Honestly, I never expected any of this to happen either. I just had an ominous feeling, a sense that this banquet wouldn’t go smoothly. That’s why I insisted on bringing the pills along. In the end, it’s just because I’m too timid by nature.”

“Regardless, the fact remains that you saved the Crown Prince.” Wei Xianfei smiled warmly. “With such a great merit to your name, you could strut about the palace without a care from now on. The Crown Grandson, too, has noted this debt of gratitude — someday, you might receive an unexpected reward.”

If only that were so!

She hoped the Crown Grandson hadn’t forgotten his promise to her — that someday he would act to eliminate the Lu family!

Ling Jingshu thought this to herself quietly. Naturally, she said nothing of it aloud, and quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.

…

That very night, Li Shufei was brought to the temporary palace.

What awaited Li Shufei was the Emperor’s face, livid with fury, and an interrogation as sharp as a blade’s edge. “At the Zhongyuan banquet, a female assassin disguised herself as a dancer and attempted to assassinate me during the sword dance. Was this assassin acting on your orders? And that eunuch who attacked the Crown Prince — was he also sent by your dear son, Prince An?”

“All these years, I have asked myself whether I treated you poorly, and I do not believe I did. Why would you do this? Do you wish to become Empress, to make Prince An the Crown Prince? Do the two of you, mother and son, truly believe yourselves worthy of such positions?”

Li Shufei had been escorted under guard the entire journey here, without even time to change her clothes.

Her hair was somewhat disheveled, and the wrinkles on her face, no longer hidden beneath powder and rouge, stood out all the more starkly. She looked, if anything, even older than the Emperor himself.

Listening to these venomous, sharp, merciless accusations, Li Shufei stood numb for a moment, and then suddenly began to laugh.

“You venomous woman — how dare you still laugh in my presence!” Fury surging within him, the Emperor strode forward and kicked Li Shufei hard in the chest.

That kick carried every ounce of the Emperor’s strength.

Li Shufei was sent crashing to the ground, the back of her head striking the floor hard. Both her chest and the back of her head throbbed with sharp pain. Something wet — she must have been bleeding.

A trickle of fresh blood seeped from Li Shufei’s mouth. Yet her face showed no trace of panic or fear — instead, she tilted her head back and laughed long and loud.

Her laughter was wild and shrill, like the dying howl of a trapped beast, echoing through the empty hall.

“I’ve held it in my whole life — why shouldn’t I dare to laugh now.”

Li Shufei laughed again, her laughter sharp and shrill, carrying a reckless madness. “Back when I married you, you were still only Crown Prince. I could never compare to Crown Princess Consort Jiang Shi, and even after bearing you a son, I never won your favor. All of that, I accepted.”

“When Empress Jiang died of illness, my rank was the highest among the consorts. I had served at your side for years — if I had no great merit, I had at least my hardship and devotion. That position should rightfully have gone to me. But your heart was entirely set on that vile woman, Xu Man. You let her become Empress, crushing me beneath her instead.”

“The son she bore, you cradled in your palm like a treasured pearl. The son I bore, you couldn’t even spare a second glance — you sent him off to his fief early, tearing mother and son apart.”

“A full ten years, and I haven’t been able to see my own son at all. Every day, I had to tuck my tail and grovel, bowing low before that vile woman Xu Man. How could my heart not be filled with resentment?”

“Xu Man cuckolded you time and time again, and no small number of people within this palace knew of it. Yet not a single one dared breathe a word of it before you. You have no idea how satisfying that was to me. Just thinking of it, I would wake up laughing even in my dreams.”

The Emperor’s face alternated between flushed red and ashen white, his entire body trembling violently.

Without realizing what he had grabbed, he hurled something with all his strength at Li Shufei.

A jade paperweight struck Li Shufei hard on the temple.

Her skin split open instantly, and blood gushed freely, quickly blurring her entire face.

Li Shufei seemed not to feel the pain of her torn flesh at all, continuing to laugh with unrestrained abandon, her blood-covered face making her look like a demon — eerie and terrifying. “After Xu Man was deposed, I was so happy I couldn’t sleep for several nights in a row.”

“When you handed the palace affairs to me, I thought you had finally remembered me at last. But why did you have to let Wei Xianfei share in managing the palace affairs too? I have endured for decades — and now I must endure a Wei Xianfei younger and more beautiful than I am. If I keep enduring like this, the position of Empress will never be mine.”

“There has never been room for me in your eyes or your heart. What’s wrong with wanting to kill you?”

“In what way is my son inferior to the Crown Prince!”

“I will kill you, kill the Crown Prince! Then my An’er will be the eldest surviving prince, and this dragon throne should rightfully be his to sit upon.”