Although it is still unknown who plotted against Consort Chen back then, it is certain that Consort Chen did not betray the Emperor.

Consort Chen was framed and had no way to express her suffering. However, the Emperor believed that she was protecting that man and took his anger out on the Yan family and Prince Ling. How heartbroken and desperate Consort Chen must have been when she chose to commit suicide by poison.

In the end, Consort Chen could only resort to desperate measures, pinning her hopes for protecting Prince Ling and preserving the last bloodline of the Yan family on the Empress Dowager, who disliked her.

Thinking of the days when Consort Chen, who was once the most beloved concubine, spent in the cold palace, Eunuch Yuan felt a lump in his throat.

Who could be so cruel as to treat Consort Chen and the Emperor like this? Once the person is found, the Emperor will surely grind them to dust.

The Empress Dowager only told part of the truth back then, but even part of the truth was enough for the Emperor to bear. He had not forgotten what Xie Jingyan had told him when he asked him to spare Empress Song's life.

The Emperor looked at the Empress Dowager and said, "Was it the Wei family who plotted against Consort Chen?!"

The Emperor's voice was hoarse, but it felt as if the Empress Dowager had been struck by a heavy hammer.

The Empress Dowager composed herself and looked at the Emperor. "Although I am protective of my own, does Your Majesty believe that with Wei's cunning and scheming, she could possibly plot against Consort Chen in the Yan residence?"

"If Lady Wei had this ability, I wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble to protect her position as empress all those years."

"I would never knowingly allow the Wei family to do this, and fail to eliminate them completely to preserve the Yan family bloodline and prevent future troubles."

The Empress Dowager's voice grew increasingly urgent.

Eunuch Yuan had previously thought that Empress Wei lacked such cunning and scheming, but the Empress Dowager's words were not at all confident; rather, they seemed to be defending Empress Wei, as if she were afraid that the Emperor would suspect her.

And then there was the eldest prince, who, knowing full well that the letter was malicious, still went to the appointment and almost lost his life in the end.

Originally, Eunuch Yuan had no doubts about Empress Wei, but the Empress Dowager's words made him a little suspicious.

However, the person investigating Consort Chen's case was not the Emperor, but Prince Ling.

Eunuch Yuan believed that no matter who plotted against Consort Chen, Prince Ling would find them.

The Emperor has left.

Before leaving, he left with the words, "I hope the Empress Dowager will not deceive me again, otherwise don't blame me for being an unfilial son!"

The Empress Dowager sat on the phoenix throne, her face pale.

She just watched the emperor leave.

Just as she was about to look away, her gaze met that of a dark figure emerging from behind a double-sided embroidered phoenix and peony sandalwood screen.

Almost instantly, a chill ran through the Empress Dowager's entire body.

Xie Jingyan glanced at the Empress Dowager once, then turned and left.

But that one glance made the Empress Dowager uneasy.

Granny Zhao said, "These things were probably discovered by Prince Ling..."

Prince Ling is so intelligent that it's frightening.

It seemed as if nothing could be hidden from him.

Granny Zhao was a little worried, "What if Prince Ling finds out what Empress Wei did..."

The Empress Dowager gets angry whenever this is mentioned. She repeatedly warns Empress Wei to be smarter and not to confront Consort Chen. She tells her that as long as Consort Chen doesn't make a mistake, she, as the Empress Dowager, will definitely protect her position as Empress and that the Crown Prince will surely be the eldest prince. However, Empress Wei ignores her words and doesn't believe that her own aunt would be instigated to harm Consort Chen. She was used to the point of being completely ruined.

Although the Empress Dowager was also annoyed that Consort Chen had bewitched her two sons, she dared not do anything to Consort Chen except to give her a cold shoulder, for fear of hurting the Emperor's feelings.

Empress Wei, on the other hand, caused the death of Consort Chen, and fearing that the Emperor would find out, she lived in constant anxiety and eventually died of fright, allowing Empress Song to reap the benefits.

The Empress Dowager felt a pain in her chest from the mention of this matter.

She wasn't afraid that Prince Ling would find out the truth; she was afraid that he would only find out half of it. The Empress Dowager also wanted to know who had been instigating Empress Wei back then.

Back then, the Empress Dowager noticed that something was wrong with Empress Wei. Under interrogation, Empress Wei confessed to the Empress Dowager that she had been instigated to harm Consort Chen. She had ordered Consort Chen to be poisoned at the Yan residence, causing her to become ugly. She didn't believe that even if Consort Chen lost her face, the Emperor would still treat her the same. However, she didn't know why it had become that Consort Chen had an affair, and the Emperor even went to the Yan residence to catch them in the act. She also instigated her concubines to fall into the water and drown on the day Consort Chen's incident occurred. The Empress Dowager wanted to investigate this matter further, but she had no way of knowing where to begin.

Not only did the trail go cold, but the Empress Dowager also dared not investigate further, fearing it would alarm the Emperor, and the matter was eventually dropped.

The Empress Dowager leaned back on her phoenix chair and glanced at the imperial edict in Zhao Mama's hand. Her face fell.

"Summon the Minister of Justice to me!"

Knowing that the Empress Dowager was angry, Zhao Mama sent someone to summon the Minister of Justice.

The Minister of Justice, unaware of why the Empress Dowager wanted to see him, came to Shou Kang Palace to meet her.

Upon entering the hall, the Minister of Justice saw the familiar imperial edict on the small table beside the Empress Dowager, and his heart skipped a beat.

Wasn't this imperial edict with Prince Ling? How did it end up in the Empress Dowager's hands?

They said it would be safer to leave it in his hands...

Isn't Prince Ling setting him up for a trap?

The Minister of Justice felt like dying.

The Empress Dowager's accusations came crashing down on him, "Wasn't this imperial edict burned along with your study, Minister of Justice?!"

The Minister of Justice certainly couldn't admit it. He said, "The fire burned down the study, and the imperial edict was gone too. I instinctively thought it was burned down, but I never imagined it was stolen by the arsonist. I failed in protecting the imperial edict, but fortunately it was returned to the Empress Dowager..."

The Empress Dowager, sitting on her phoenix throne, nearly vomited blood from anger.

The Minister of Justice gave the imperial edict to Prince Ling and then framed the assassin. The Empress Dowager couldn't say anything; she couldn't very well admit that she had sent the assassin to steal the edict, could she?

Since it was said that the imperial edict was stolen by an assassin, the Empress Dowager simply went along with the Minister of Justice's words and questioned, "You, Minister of Justice, asked the Emperor to establish Prince Ling as the Crown Prince in front of all the civil and military officials. Why did Prince Ling send someone to your residence to steal the imperial edict?"

The Minister of Justice said, "It's probably because the heir of the Duke of Du is seeking to marry a girl from the Wang family..."

The Empress Dowager knew about this. Her grandson had asked to marry the niece of the wife of the Minister of Justice, but the Wang family refused. When the Empress Dowager found out, she felt that the Wang family was ungrateful and even wanted to summon the Wang family's daughter to the palace to see her. However, Princess Huyang persuaded her not to. The Wang family's daughter had always dressed as a man, which was already enough to cause controversy. If the Empress Dowager summoned her again, the matter would only become more complicated.

The Empress Dowager then abandoned the idea.

Hearing the Minister of Justice say this, the Empress Dowager asked in displeasure, "What is the connection between these two matters?"

The Minister of Justice said, "The Wang family's daughter is the Yan family's daughter whom Your Majesty asked me to rescue. Back then, she lost her memory due to a serious illness and needed to stay in the capital for treatment. Since we couldn't send her away from the capital, she grew up in the Wang family. That's why I and the Wang family dared not agree to the marriage. Later, the heir of the Duke of Du pursued Qing'er. Qing'er was hit on the head in the street and regained her memory. She called Prince Ling 'cousin' in the street..."

The Empress Dowager's face turned as long as a horse's.

She never expected that her grandson would fall for the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Yan.

With so many well-bred young ladies in the capital, why would he choose the Yan family's daughter?!

The Empress Dowager was so angry that her head throbbed and her vision began to blur again.

It took the Empress Dowager a while to recover. The Minister of Justice's words were impeccable, and the Empress Dowager could not find any fault with them. In addition, her eyes were stinging, so the Empress Dowager did not bother to cause trouble for the Minister of Justice. She impatiently waved her hand and sent him away.