Chapter 26 What does he want from her?

Liu Ruolan immediately noticed that Huo Yunzhan was staring at Shen Qingci, seemingly lost in thought.

She clenched her fist tightly, her nails digging deep into the flesh of her palm.

"My lord..."

She took a deep breath: "What my sister-in-law said makes some sense, but the child in Yue Niang's belly is still my second brother's."

"It's rather inappropriate for my sister-in-law to abort the child in Yue Niang's womb without even informing her..."

Huo Yunzhan frowned, then turned and retorted, "This is my fault. I told my sister-in-law to do as she pleases..."

Before he could finish speaking, a maid rushed in, shouting, "Madam, something terrible has happened!"

Huo Yunzhan immediately frowned, looked at the person who rushed in without regard for anything, and angrily scolded, "What are you doing in such a panic? What's wrong?"

The maid lowered her head, trembling all over: "Reporting to the Marquis and Madam, news has come from the palace that His Majesty has discovered a witchcraft doll in Consort Shu's room."

"The witchcraft doll has His Majesty's birth date and time written on it!"

The maid gritted her teeth: "His Majesty is furious and has already ordered that Consort Shu be banished to the Cold Palace!"

"Furthermore, the Prime Minister was also implicated and summoned to the palace by imperial decree. His Majesty suspects that Consort Shu's actions were all instigated by the Prime Minister, so he ordered a search of the Prime Minister's residence!"

Liu Ruolan's eyes widened, and she staggered: "How is this possible? How could this happen?"

"My elder sister is deeply devoted to His Majesty and would never do such a thing. Someone must be trying to frame her!"

Liu Ruolan hurriedly grabbed Huo Yunzhan's arm: "Husband, you have to think of something! Help me find out what's going on!"

Huo Yunzhan's expression changed several times, and he quickly took a deep breath: "Don't worry, my father-in-law is the Prime Minister, he would never be so easily framed!"

"Let's go back to our courtyard first, and I'll try to arrange for someone to go and ask what the situation is."

"good."

Liu Ruolan and Huo Yunzhan left in a hurry, and Shen Qingci frowned, somewhat surprised.

In my past life... it seems that such a thing never happened.

At least in her memory, it never happened.

Even at the time of her death, Prime Minister Liu still held immense power and influence in the court, enjoying the height of his influence.

It was precisely because of this that Liu Ruolan became so arrogant.

Huo Yunzhan was so afraid of Prime Minister Liu's power that he was completely obedient to Liu Ruolan. Even when Liu Ruolan wanted to kill him and the child in her womb, he dared not object in the slightest. Instead, he only helped Liu Ruolan hand over the knife.

But why... is this happening now?

Although she was reborn and changed some things, her influence within the palace is still temporarily limited...

Thinking of this, Shen Qingci suddenly froze.

Her reach couldn't extend into the palace, but there was one person... who could.

Chu Jichen.

Shen Qingci suddenly sat up straight. Yes, she had forgotten the most important person among them.

After her rebirth, she did not directly intervene in the palace to change the course of events there.

But in this life, she agreed to marry Chu Jichen.

Furthermore, she had been forced to confess everything to Chu Jichen.

This includes Huo Yunzhan's faked death and her hatred for Liu Ruolan.

Could it be Chu Jichen's doing?

If that's the case, then everything makes sense.

Shen Qingci's throat bobbed slightly. Earlier, when Chu Jichen delivered the imperial decree of marriage to her and told her that it was written by his own hand and had not been issued by His Majesty…

She had already harbored the idea of ​​using Chu Jichen to exact revenge.

But that was all she thought about. In her view, even if it was to be used, she would at least have to wait until after she married Chu Jichen.

But she never expected that Chu Jichen would suddenly pull such a stunt at this moment.

This is really... amazing.

"Miss." Wanqing quickly closed the courtyard gate before approaching: "Did you hear that just now? A witchcraft doll with His Majesty's birth date and time written on it was found in Consort Shu's palace!"

"This witchcraft is a forbidden art in the palace. How could Consort Liu dare to do it?"

"In that case, the Liu family will definitely be greatly implicated!"

"If Prime Minister Liu were to fall from power or be demoted because of this, that would be even better!"

Wanqing pouted and said, "That Liu Ruolan, isn't she just relying on having a prime minister as her father? That's why she dares to bully Miss like this."

"If her father, the prime minister, were gone, let's see how arrogant she'd still be!"

"How could this be such a coincidence? That Consort Shu had an accident at this very moment!"

"Could it be that Heaven heard our prayers and sent this retribution upon the Liu family?"

Shen Qingci was amused by Wan Qing: "Whether Heaven heard our prayers or not, I don't know, but the Regent should have heard them!"

Wanqing was taken aback, then quickly realized: "Miss means...it was the Regent's doing?"

Wanqing's eyes lit up: "What you said, Miss, does make some sense!"

"Could it be that the Regent fell in love with you at first sight, Miss? And acted rashly for the sake of a beautiful woman?"

Shen Qingci shook her head, her eyes clear: "Where do so many people fall in love at first sight? Where do so many people risk their lives for a beautiful woman?"

She didn't believe it at all.

"There must be a reason why he did this."

"He helped me, but he must have something in mind."

What she didn't understand was, what could Chu Jichen possibly want from her?

Now that the Shen family has been wiped out, she's just an orphan! Chu Jichen can't possibly be after her family's power, can he? Besides, in this Great Zhou Dynasty, apart from the emperor, there's no one whose power can surpass his, right?

Even though she knew she was still quite beautiful, she had been married and pregnant. Chu Jichen was the regent; what kind of stunningly beautiful woman couldn't he have? What Chu Jichen wanted most was probably not her as a person.

She wasn't after power, nor lust, and she had no wealth either...

Shen Qingci frowned, increasingly unable to understand Chu Jichen's purpose in doing this.

But... she couldn't understand it; she still had a mouth, and she could still ask questions.

She could just ask Chu Jichen directly what he wanted.

If he also has ulterior motives towards her, then things are simple.

She can have whatever he wants.

She could offer any of it to him in a deal.

She even felt that if they could each get what they wanted from this marriage and have their own agenda, it might be much more reliable than simply being attracted to someone at first sight.

Thinking of this, Shen Qingci stood up and walked behind the desk: "Wanqing, grind the ink for me. I'm going to write a letter to the Regent."

She needs to find a way to arrange a meeting with him.