The medicinal powder scattered in the air with the wind, and everyone retreated, desperate to avoid it.

The atmosphere in Hanzhang Hall was so cold and stern it was frightening. In this deathly silence, one could faintly hear the clicking sound of upper and lower teeth colliding together.

Attempting to harm the heir apparent, attempting to harm the heir apparent! What a grave crime this was! This was an offense worthy of executing nine generations of kinsmen! That’s why she had planned to use this to send the Song family to their doom! But in the blink of an eye, matters had already spiraled beyond her control.

Empress Dowager Rongxian’s well-maintained fingernails broke off forcefully. She paid no mind to the pain, only feeling her mind had turned into a tangled mess—Emperor Jianzhang’s respect toward her was merely superficial; in reality, he had long harbored deep hatred for her over the matters of Prince Tai and Prince Zhuang. If not for the lack of evidence, if not for ancestral rites and laws, she, this Empress Dowager, would probably have long since gone to the imperial mausoleum to accompany the late Emperor.

She wanted to say this matter had nothing to do with her daughter, wanted to point the finger at the Song family and Consort Song, but now she suddenly discovered that the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—she seemed to have become one link in someone else’s trap.

But where exactly had things gone wrong?! This matter was clearly known only to her and Prince Duan. She hadn’t even revealed a whisper to Shijia.

Emperor Jianzhang let out an extremely light, extremely soft hum, but this single hum caused everyone in the hall to involuntarily kneel to the ground.

When the Son of Heaven rages, a million corpses fall.

“Princess Shijia has been disrespectful to me, disrespectful to the Empress Dowager, and has insulted the Empress. Send her to the Imperial Prison.” He coldly glanced at everyone in the hall, his tone finally showing change: “The Commander of the Imperial Guard and the Assistant Commander will personally interrogate her. I want to review all written documents myself.”

The Imperial Guard Prison! Empress Dowager Rongxian finally came to her senses and lunged toward Emperor Jianzhang: “No! Emperor, she is your own elder sister! She must have been framed by someone—”

“Mother!” Emperor Jianzhang’s sword-like brows drew together, and his entire person suddenly emanated an overwhelming aura, completely incomparable to just moments ago. He immediately forced Empress Dowager Rongxian to fall silent. He curved his lips into a smile: “If she weren’t my own elder sister, she would already be dead at this moment. I’m giving her one more chance. I absolutely will not wrongly accuse her. You can rest assured.”

The Empress watched coldly for a while, then suddenly spoke up to remind Emperor Jianzhang: “With such an incident occurring, these titled ladies are probably all frightened badly. They can no longer visit the various palaces either. Why not have them leave the palace?”

Those who came today were all noble ladies from distinguished families, as well as female relatives from the inner quarters of important cabinet ministers. If they lingered too long in the palace, who knows what people outside might think.

Emperor Jianzhang coldly surveyed the trembling crowd once over. After who knows how long, he finally softened his tone and nodded: “Very well. I apologize for frightening all you titled ladies.”

Everyone hastily shook their heads, as panicked as startled birds.

“However, today you never came to the Eastern Palace.” Emperor Jianzhang’s voice exploded coldly overhead: “I also hope these young ladies can all remember this point.”

Having been unintentionally dragged into such a power struggle, everyone had already been secretly lamenting their bad luck. They certainly wouldn’t dare leak half a word—the Imperial Guard weren’t pushovers. They knew exactly who had been in this hall today. If gossip really spread in the future, they’d definitely catch the culprit immediately. Upon hearing this, they hastily grabbed their daughters or granddaughters beside them and continuously kowtowed in acknowledgment.

Emperor Jianzhang then glanced sideways at the Empress. The Empress understood and had the female officials beside her escort these titled ladies out.

Just as she stepped over the threshold, Song Chuyi heard Emperor Jianzhang behind her instructing Director Sun and Director Chen to investigate exactly what poison was in the brocade pouch.

After exiting the palace through the East Flower Gate, a group of titled ladies stood outside the palace gate, all feeling somewhat bewildered for a moment—everything they had experienced in the palace today felt unreal, like a dream.

The Princess Consort of Zhennan pulled Ye Yunxiu and her sister toward their family carriage, not forgetting to take a deep look toward Old Madam Song along the way.

The wrinkles on Old Madam Song’s face appeared even deeper at this moment. She gripped Song Chuyi’s hand tightly and only after boarding the carriage did her whole person seem to come alive again. She leaned heavily against the pillow, completely exhausted.

Though she hadn’t said much from beginning to end today, it was as if she had expended all the energy of her entire life. She was truly worn out.

Song Chuyi tested the water temperature, poured tea and offered it up. She reached out to take it, and after drinking a mouthful, slowly let out a sigh: “That was truly too dangerous.”

Too dangerous indeed. If Song Chumi hadn’t stumbled upon the matter with the Zhang family and made it public, if Song Chuyi hadn’t perceived something amiss with her keen insight, today it would have been Consort Song and the entire Song family sent to the Imperial Prison.

They had contacted Princess Duanhui beforehand to connect with the Grand Prince and revealed everything. That too was extremely dangerous. If the Grand Prince hadn’t helped, if the Prince of Zhennan hadn’t intervened to replace the sleeper agent and insert the Zhang family’s young master into Princess Shijia’s residence…

If even one link had gone wrong… Old Madam Song slowly closed her eyes. Even now she still felt her legs were weak, unable to muster half a bit of strength in her body.

When passing through the eastern part of the city, the carriage couldn’t move for a long while. Old Madam Song frowned and waited, but when there was still no movement, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat panicked. She lifted the curtain to look outside.

With just one glance, she closed the curtain again.

“The Imperial Guard is raiding a household,” she said, gripping the pillow beside her tightly with both hands as she looked at Song Chuyi. “It’s Princess Shijia’s residence.”

Qin Chuan approached and asked through the curtain whether they should take a different route.

“I’m afraid it won’t be finished anytime soon. The road in between has been sealed off, and onlookers are packed three layers deep on all sides.”

Old Madam Song nodded heavily: “Take a different route then,” she said.

By coincidence, Old Madam Chen was also stuck on this road. She wasn’t faring any better. After learning it was the Imperial Guard conducting a raid, her whole body shuddered: “Quickly take a different route.”

Chen Mingyu’s face was deathly pale. She clung tightly to her grandmother’s side, clutching her arm, so frightened her voice became shrill: “Grandmother… they’re raiding Princess Shijia’s residence…”

The only princess imperial in the current world, the Emperor’s only remaining elder sister, had fallen from the pinnacle to the ground in a single night.

Old Madam Chen patted her hand, forcibly suppressing the terror in her heart: “This has nothing to do with us. When we get home in a bit, don’t say anything. Especially don’t leak half a word to your mother.”

Emperor Jianzhang’s words from earlier still rang in their ears. Even if Chen Mingyu had the courage of the heavens, she wouldn’t dare speak recklessly. She nodded desperately. But she still couldn’t help worrying somewhat about Zhou Weizhao in the palace—although they said they had discovered leads, what if the imperial physicians in the palace couldn’t neutralize the poison? After all, their Chen family was dependent on the Crown Prince. If both the Crown Prince and the Grand Prince met with misfortune, that would be extremely inauspicious for them.