Chapter 70 She must not repeat the same mistake.

Chu Jichen stroked the armrest of his wheelchair, his expression indifferent: "The Liu family still has some tricks up their sleeve. I've arranged for many people to search, but there's still no news."

Shen Qingci nodded. After all, Prime Minister Liu had been in the court for many years and had managed to rise to his current position step by step, so he must have some skills.

but……

"Didn't they find a witchcraft doll in Consort Shu's palace before? Wasn't Prime Minister Liu also summoned to the palace to be questioned? I remember that the Liu family even planned to have Liu Ruolan pretend to resign from her post, and Huo Yunzhan and Liu Ruolan even had a fight because of it."

"Later, so many things happened to me that I stopped paying attention to this matter and how it was ultimately resolved."

Chu Jichen scoffed: "The Emperor found a scapegoat for Consort Shu."

The Emperor... in place of Consort Shu?

The witchcraft dolls found in Consort Shu's palace were used to curse the emperor, weren't they?

Didn't we hear that the emperor was furious about this?

Chu Jichen seemed to know what Shen Qingci was thinking, and simply lowered his head with a faint expression: "The emperor was indeed furious because his birth date and time were written on that witchcraft doll."

"But he doesn't want to be controlled by me forever."

“I am the regent. He has now come of age, but I have not yet returned power to him. He disapproves of my handling of many political affairs.”

"In the imperial court, the only one who can rival me is Prime Minister Liu."

Chu Jichen twitched the corner of his mouth: "He married Consort Shu before in order to win over Prime Minister Liu and intend to use Prime Minister Liu's influence to regain the imperial power."

"He certainly couldn't possibly make Prime Minister Liu resign."

Shen Qingci narrowed her eyes. Indeed, the emperor was most wary of Chu Jichen.

Prime Minister Liu was one of his few bargaining chips.

Therefore, when the Liu family said that if all else failed, Prime Minister Liu would resign, they were actually well aware that if he did resign, Emperor Yongming would definitely compromise.

The only one unaware of the situation was Huo Yunzhan.

"The emperor made a maidservant of Consort De, who often opposed Consort Shu, take the blame. The maidservant was beaten to death, and Consort De was also banished to the Cold Palace."

Chu Jichen lowered his eyes and straightened his clothes: "The Consort De's father was the Imperial Censor, but he died in an accident while investigating a corruption case."

“He had two sons, but they were both too young to shoulder great responsibilities. To the emperor, Consort De was far less useful than Consort Shu. Naturally, Consort De became the sacrifice.”

Shen Qingci's heart trembled slightly; she had always known how cruel the struggle for imperial power could be.

This is especially true for women who are caught up in the power struggles within the imperial court.

After Consort De's father died and her family fell into decline, she became useless to the emperor and a pawn that could be discarded at any time.

Shen Qingci's gaze fell on Chu Jichen, and she fell silent.

Chu Jichen is also a member of the royal family.

Although he was unable to seize the throne due to his disability in both legs.

But he was not without ambition.

But now, she is the only orphan left in the Shen family, and she is of no help whatsoever to his ambitions.

He may have married her now out of love, a woman who had been married before and had a child, but people's hearts are fickle, and she didn't know how long this love could last. Nor did she believe it could last long.

Once she no longer likes him and can no longer help him, she becomes a discarded pawn.

Just like Huo Yunzhan treated her.

Shen Qingci took a deep breath. Therefore, she absolutely could not repeat the same mistake, giving her heart away because of Chu Jichen's momentary kindness...

She's had enough of experiencing something like what happened with Huo Yunzhan, having gone through it once already.

As Chu Jichen spoke, his gaze thoughtfully fell on Shen Qingci, who quickly snapped out of her reverie: "What's wrong?"

Chu Jichen shook his head: "In fact, after the incident with the witchcraft doll, the day after Prime Minister Liu was summoned to the palace, they had already reached an agreement."

"They just wanted to find out who the real mastermind behind the witchcraft doll was, and at the same time, find a suitable scapegoat, so they delayed for a while and kept it a secret."

"But Prime Minister Liu's family should all know. Therefore, they remained calm and did not panic at all."

Shen Qingci nodded in agreement. That was true. Apart from the beginning, Liu Ruolan was still quite arrogant and did not restrain herself at all.

Upon realizing this, Shen Qingci shuddered and looked at Chu Jichen.

Yes, as a member of Prime Minister Liu's family, Liu Ruolan should know that the matter of the witchcraft doll would not affect Prime Minister Liu, much less her.

And that's exactly what she did.

Can……

Huo Yunzhan and the old lady Hou seemed to be unaware of this.

Huo Yunzhan was worried that his soon-to-be-acquired position as Grand Master of the Palace might slip away, and he even had some arguments with Liu Ruolan.

Even during the argument, Liu Ruolan never mentioned that they had found a scapegoat.

This is precisely why Huo Yunzhan developed distrust of the Liu family, and thus set his sights on her, intending to send her to the palace.

But why would Liu Ruolan do this?

Wasn't she so eager to get intimate with Huo Yunzhan, intending to get pregnant with his child?

Or was it that at that time, Liu Ruolan had already developed a rift with Huo Yunzhan and didn't trust him enough?

Shen Qingci sat down opposite Chu Jichen, her brows furrowed slightly: "Now that Huo Yunzhan is completely beyond saving, the Liu family shouldn't let Liu Ruolan hang herself on such a crooked tree. Besides, Huo Yunzhan is practically useless to the Liu family. Why... would they save Huo Yunzhan?"

"After all this effort, there is now widespread suspicion about the Liu family."

"Why not just let the fire really start and kill Huo Yunzhan?"

Chu Jichen hadn't expected Shen Qingci to be so perceptive. He turned the jade thumb ring on his thumb, lowered his eyes, and smiled: "Because of the Shen family."

Shen Qingci's eyes widened: "The Shen family? Which Shen family?"

Chu Jichen just stared at Shen Qingci without saying a word.

Shen Qingci hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand and pointed to herself: "Me? Our Shen family?"

"But our Shen family has been completely wiped out, leaving only me."

Chu Jichen nodded: "Yes."

"But there were rumors before the Shen family got into trouble."

"Rumor has it that the Shen family has secretly trained an elite team. Although the number of people is not large, less than 10,000, they are all absolute masters."

"It is said that this army only obeys General Shen's orders. General Shen has won many battles in the past because he has such an elite force under his command."

"Rumor has it that Emperor Yongming did not actually intend to kill General Shen directly. Before issuing the decree, he secretly interrogated General Shen for several days, but General Shen denied the existence of that elite force."

"Emperor Yongming was then enraged and issued an imperial edict!"

"Later, Huo Yunzhan married you, and then there was the rumor that General Shen had given you the order to deploy this elite force."