Chapter 215 The Truth Comes Out

Before the east wind could arrive, the scandal had already been exposed in the palace.

The following afternoon, Ye Lan hurriedly brought the latest news.

His usually composed face was now filled with an indescribable mix of strangeness and excitement.

"Your Highness, Your Highness," he bowed and reported, his voice carrying a hint of barely suppressed amusement, "Liu Ruolan... Liu Ruolan, under the guise of visiting her sister in the palace, secretly carried some special perfume with her."

“Then,” he paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, “he took the opportunity… to have an affair with Emperor Yongming in the palace, and… he was caught red-handed by Consort Shu!”

"Consort Shu immediately caused a scene, and Emperor Yongming, upon regaining his senses, was also furious. He was about to lash out at Liu Ruolan. But Liu Ruolan insisted that her sister's constitution was special and unaffected by the contraceptive, and that she... was the same! Perhaps, His Majesty's dragon son... is already in her womb!"

“Now,” Ye Lan’s eyes were filled with schadenfreude, “Emperor Yongming has sent someone to the Huo family to summon Marquis Yongning.”

This is truly... quite a show!

An overwhelming surge of excitement welled up in Shen Qingci's heart!

She abruptly raised her head, her clear phoenix eyes gleaming with undisguised morbid amusement: "Your Highness..."

Looking at her like that, how could Chu Jichen not understand what she was thinking?

He raised his eyebrows slightly, his voice full of indulgence: "Still want to go to the palace to watch a play?"

“No,” Shen Qingci shook her head, a sly smile curving her lips, “Didn’t we say we were going to summon Huo Yunzhan? Of course, I want to go to the Yongning Marquis’s residence first and see his reaction.”

"As for the palace, it would be even better if they could see it."

Chu Jichen always granted her every request. Before long, Shen Qingci was disguised as an ordinary maidservant in the Huo family and was quietly brought into the Yongning Marquis's residence by the secret guards.

Chu Jichen, due to his leg injury, was too conspicuous to be noticed, so he did not go along.

Chu Jichen's secret guards were always quick to report. When they arrived at the Huo residence, the eunuch sent by the palace had barely stepped through the gate.

Upon hearing that someone had arrived from the palace, Huo Yunzhan and Madam Huo hurried out.

The moment the eunuch saw Huo Yunzhan, his eyes were filled with sympathy.

He lowered his head and said quickly, "His Majesty summons the Marquis."

Huo Yunzhan naturally noticed the eunuch's strange expression. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately pulled off the money pouch from his waist and subtly slipped it into the eunuch's hand, lowering his voice to ask, "Eunuch, could you tell me something? Why... why did His Majesty suddenly summon me?"

The eunuch silently weighed the money pouch in his hand, coughed lightly, and ultimately chose to tell the truth.

He leaned close to Huo Yunzhan's ear and whispered in a tone full of sympathy and regret, "My lord... you should... go to the palace as soon as possible."

"Lady Hou...Lady Hou, something happened to her in the palace. She drugged His Majesty and had sex with him, but Consort Shu discovered it!"

Huo Yunzhan was utterly astonished upon hearing this!

"What?" He grabbed the eunuch's arm, his voice filled with disbelief. "Impossible! Is there...is there some mistake?"

"my wife?"

“My lord,” the eunuch lowered his head, his voice extremely low, “isn’t your wife the second young lady of the Prime Minister’s mansion, Liu Ruolan?”

"It's her."

"Recently, because of Consort Shu's pregnancy, she has been frequently entering and leaving the palace. But... but no one could have imagined that she would be so... audacious!"

"She said she had something very important to report to His Majesty about Consort Shu, which is why His Majesty dismissed his attendants. Then she drugged His Majesty."

"They didn't actually spend much time alone in the hall. Who knew... she would actually succeed."

"His Majesty originally intended to deal with her directly. However, her status is special; she is both your wife and the second daughter of the Prime Minister."

"Therefore, His Majesty sent someone to summon you, and also sent someone to the Prime Minister's residence to summon the Prime Minister's wife to come to the palace together."

The veins on Huo Yunzhan's forehead were throbbing!

He took a deep breath and said to the eunuch, "You may return first, sir. I will tidy myself up, change into my official robes, and enter the palace immediately."

After the eunuch left, Huo Yunzhan could no longer restrain himself. He suddenly turned around, grabbed a teacup from the table, and smashed it hard on the ground!

"How dare she?" he roared uncontrollably, his eyes bloodshot.

Madam Huo's mouth dropped open, looking utterly incredulous.

Only after Huo Yunzhan smashed the cup did he finally react!

She held her forehead, looking as if she couldn't accept it, her voice filled with endless sorrow and despair:

"What...what kind of mess is this! How come everything...is happening in our family?!"

“Back then,” her voice was filled with regret and resentment, “when you came back impersonating Yun Ting and spent every night with that Liu Ruolan, and that woman kept quiet, I knew it! She was a restless person!”

"I used to think it was good that you came back impersonating Yun Ting, at least it could keep that woman calm."

"But who could have imagined that it would end up being such an absurd thing!"

"Now look what's happened," her voice was filled with deep-seated hatred, "the reputation of my Huo family... has been completely ruined by this fickle, crazy woman!"

Old Madam Huo muttered to herself, her cloudy old eyes filled with endless regret and exhaustion.

"If you hadn't impersonated Yun Ting and returned back then, things would have been better. The Huo family... wouldn't have ended up in this mess."

Her voice lowered, as if she were talking to herself, or as if she were accusing Huo Yunzhan: "Shen Qingci is still your wife."

"Although the Shen family has fallen from grace, they have raised Shen Qingci quite well. After she married into our Huo family, she was well-behaved, gentle and virtuous, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her."

"Later, things turned out like that," her voice carried a hint of barely perceptible guilt and remorse, "all because... all because you and Liu Ruolan forced me into it."

Hidden in the shadows, Shen Qingci never expected that the fire... would actually spread to her.

Upon hearing this, she merely raised an eyebrow slightly.

Old Madam Huo didn't have this attitude before.

She felt that Old Madam Huo didn't realize her mistake, but rather knew that the Huo family was doomed.

Huo Yunzhan's face instantly turned bright red! He felt a surge of anger and embarrassment!

"Mother!" he interrupted her angrily, "What's the use of saying all this now?"

"The most important thing right now is to think about... how to deal with the situation at hand!"