The Empress’s complexion instantly turned ashen.

Prince Gongxi slowly revealed a smile. “For now, your son has only told Mother Empress about this matter.”

The Empress’s fingers exerted force, crumpling the letter into a ball. She said word by word, “How did you learn of this?”

Prince Gongxi spoke, “Your son’s mouth has never been able to keep major secrets. As soon as I found out, I immediately came to tell Mother Empress. Your son is worried he won’t be able to control himself and will tell Father Emperor…”

The Empress’s expression was gloomy.

“If Mother Empress can give your son thirty thousand taels of silver, your son will let this matter rot in his stomach.” Prince Gongxi pulled at the corners of his lips. “Your son will await Mother Empress’s delivery of silver.”

After speaking, he strode away.

The Empress had just left the Eastern Palace. She turned back to enter again. She was about to have someone summon the Crown Prince, but after thinking, decided against it.

The Crown Prince probably also didn’t know that Consort Wu was formerly Princess Consort An’jing.

“Nanny Yin, take this palace’s token and leave the palace. Go inquire about where the former Princess Consort An’jing’s maternal family is now. Use the fastest speed to find the person, bring them into the palace, and bring them before this palace.”

Nanny Yin was the Empress’s most trusted confidant nanny. Knowing the severity of this matter, she immediately took the Empress’s palace token and left the palace.

At the same time, Yun Chu supported Chu Yi and brought the two children out of the palace.

Twenty strokes were routine for Chu Yi. Moreover, Yun Chu had slipped silver to the guards administering the punishment, so those two guards showed considerable mercy.

“Father…” Chu Changsheng’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Does it hurt? I’ll blow on it for you.”

Chu Hongyu’s eyes also reddened. “Imperial Grandfather is so mean, so very mean. All he knows is to beat Father…”

Chu Changsheng wiped his tears and said, “It’s that consort and the Duke’s… wife who are bad. Imperial Grandfather was deceived by them, so he wanted to punish Mother.”

Chu Yi lay on the carriage’s soft cushion and spoke, “Both of you stop crying. I’m fine. This incident can serve as a lesson for you both. There’s a saying in books: ‘One person should not enter a temple, two people should not look at a well.’ Do you know what it means?”

Both children shook their heads in confusion.

“‘One person should not enter a temple’ means that if something valuable goes missing from the temple, one would be suspected of theft,” Yun Chu explained. “As for ‘two people should not look at a well,’ if the other person accidentally falls into the well, you would also be suspected, and of course there’s also the possibility of being pushed into the well by the other person. This time, Mother tried hard to avoid it, but still attracted trouble. We can only say that human hearts are incalculable.”

She couldn’t guess why the Duke’s wife would frame her.

Nor could she guess why His Majesty would readily believe the Duke’s wife’s false testimony.

The carriage soon arrived at the manor entrance. Nanny Zheng took the two children to wash up. Yun Chu took a bottle of medicine to apply it to Chu Yi’s wounds.

Seeing the man’s buttocks with new injuries on top of old ones, she couldn’t help but sigh. “It’s all my fault.”

Before they married, he had been beaten twice, also because of her.

Chu Yi turned his head to look at her. “I should say it’s my fault. Consort Fang framed you because of me.”

“Consort Fang is nothing to fear,” Yun Chu said while applying medicine. “Have you ever offended anyone from the Duke’s manor?”

Chu Yi shook his head. He had no significant contact with the Duke’s manor.

He paused and spoke, “I heard Mother Consort mention that twenty or thirty years ago, Father Emperor had requested the Late Emperor issue an edict to marry the eldest daughter of the Li family as his wife—that is, the current Duke’s wife. However, at that time, the former Crown Prince had already died. As Father Emperor, being the second prince, was about to be designated Crown Prince, the Late Emperor felt the eldest daughter of the Li family was unworthy to be the principal consort. Thus he issued an edict for Father Emperor to marry the legitimate eldest daughter of the Gongsun family, who is now the Empress.”

Yun Chu found it hard to believe.

In her impression, the current Emperor was fond of beauty, favoring this beauty today, gracing that talented lady tomorrow, with new people constantly entering the rear palace.

Could such an Emperor have once actively sought to marry his beloved?

Just because the Duke’s wife had once been His Majesty’s beloved, even when she lied through her teeth, His Majesty was willing to believe her?

After Yun Chu finished applying medicine to Chu Yi and helped him dress, she spoke, “The Duke’s wife openly bore false witness. This places her in opposition to Prince Pingxi’s manor. I’m afraid such incidents will occur again in the future.”

She instructed Qiutong standing at the door, “Go to the Intelligence Bureau and bring all intelligence related to the Duke’s wife.”

The Intelligence Bureau was now under Yun Ze’s charge. Established for over half a year, it had collected nearly all obtainable intelligence.

That night, Qiutong retrieved the materials—two thick scrolls placed before the desk.

Yun Chu opened them and carefully examined the contents.

This examination lasted until the hour of the Rat. Her expression grew increasingly grave.

The Duke’s wife had lost a child in her youth and could no longer bear children. However, Duke Yingguo had many women in his rear courtyard, thus his descendants were numerous.

However, after Duke Yingguo’s death, those illegitimate sons died one by one or went mad. Later, the Duke’s wife adopted a child from a branch family to inherit the title.

Setting aside internal matters of the Duke’s manor.

The dossier listed matters related to the Duke’s wife together. Yun Chu could roughly guess why the Duke’s wife had framed her.

Nearly all women in the capital with loving marriages, after attending a banquet together with the Duke’s wife, encountered incidents—either falling ill, their husbands taking concubines, or family misfortunes…

“I suspect that because the Duke’s wife couldn’t marry His Majesty back then, she has always harbored a mental knot,” Yun Chu closed the dossier. “She cannot bear to see others in loving happiness. She sees one, destroys one.”

Chu Yi’s expression was very dark. “Without Father Emperor’s indulgence, the Duke’s wife’s reach wouldn’t extend so far. How could Father Emperor have taken a liking to such a vicious woman?”

“With His Majesty protecting her, there’s truly no way to deal with her,” Yun Chu nestled in the man’s embrace. “Let’s not think about this matter tonight. Let’s sleep.”

Chu Yi planted a kiss in her hair and said softly, “The position at the Ministry of Works has been temporarily suspended. With nothing to do next, why don’t our family of four leave the city to relax?”

Yun Chu supported her forehead. “You’re already injured. You should properly recuperate.”

“Recuperating in the capital, there’s no way to calm the mind,” Chu Yi held her. “Now that summer has arrived, the scenery in the capital suburbs is beautiful. Let’s go view the beautiful scenery.”

Yun Chu gazed at the moonlight outside the window.

It had been over a year since her rebirth. She had been constantly dealing with all sorts of matters and had indeed never calmed down to observe the scenery around her.

She needed to relax. The children should also have a break. Most importantly, in a place with picturesque scenery, this man’s injuries would heal faster.

Yun Chu slowly drifted off to sleep.

However, Chu Yi did not fall asleep.

The Duke’s wife had Father Emperor as her support, acting without any scruples in everything she did. If next time she schemed against Chu’er when he wasn’t present, Chu’er would suffer a loss.

They say what you can’t have is always the best. The Duke’s wife was Father Emperor’s white moonlight, the cinnabar mole on his heart. Dealing with her was indeed somewhat difficult.

However, everyone has weaknesses.

Find the weakness and attack it—the Duke’s wife wouldn’t amount to much.

The next morning, Chu Yi instructed Chengxu, “Go investigate the specific reasons for all incidents involving Duke Yingguo’s illegitimate sons. It would be best to find witnesses and physical evidence.”