"I am Qin Su, daughter of the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness. I have urgent business to report to His Majesty."

Unlike Yu Shuo, Qin Su did not have any tokens to prove his identity.

"It's curfew, so you can't go in. You'd better come back tomorrow." The guard at the gate wouldn't budge.

Left with no other choice, Qin Su took out the token that Yu Shuo had given her and handed it over, saying, "I have the token of the Prince of Chen here. Please grant me passage."

The two looked hesitant, but in the end the one next to them relented, "You can go in, but you have to pay a fine."

Qin Su nodded.

"Two taels of silver." Qin Su handed over the money and entered the capital through the small city gate.

Qin Su rode straight to the palace and entered in the same way, but Emperor Mingyang had already rested in Fengqi Palace. Qin Su was stopped by the chief eunuch.

"Miss Qin, what brings you to the palace so late at night? His Majesty has already retired for the night. If you disturb His Majesty, the punishment could be severe or minor." The chief eunuch would not allow Qin Su to enter, neither out of courtesy nor reason.

Qin Su looked anxious. "Please inform Steward Deng that I have something extremely urgent."

Chief Steward Deng said with a troubled expression, "It's not that I'm unwilling to help, but it would be very difficult for anyone. Miss Qin should understand that you are disturbing not only His Majesty, but also Her Majesty the Empress."

Qin Su knew she couldn't force her way in, but if Steward Deng refused to go in and announce her arrival, she really had no choice.

"Please trust me this once, Chief Steward Deng. This is truly an urgent matter concerning the future of Da'an."

Steward Deng wavered, feeling that Qin Su shouldn't be so insensible. Perhaps there really was something important going on.

After hesitating for a long time, he sighed heavily, "Alright, I'll trust you this once. Miss Qin, please don't harm me."

"Don't worry, Steward."

Steward Deng flicked his whisk and went inside, his mind filled with conflicting emotions.

Qin Su paced back and forth, realizing that with less than five days until the Empress Dowager's birthday, the situation was extremely urgent.

After Chief Steward Deng went in, he woke Emperor Mingyang. Fortunately, the Empress was not awakened, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He whispered to Emperor Mingyang, "Your Majesty, the daughter of the Marquis of Zhongyi requests an audience, saying that she has something extremely urgent to discuss."

Emperor Mingyang thought it was some old minister who had something to say, but to his surprise, it was Qin Su.

"What important thing could she possibly have to do?" Emperor Mingyang frowned slightly, his displeasure rising.

He was sleeping so soundly, and suddenly waking him up was really annoying.

Emperor Mingyang pinched the bridge of his nose, got up, straightened his clothes, and put on an outer robe.

“But if Miss Qin didn’t have something important to say, she wouldn’t disturb His Majesty’s rest at this time. Besides, she can’t enter the palace without an imperial edict, and Princess Cheng’an isn’t by her side either. She probably has other ways to get in.”

Emperor Mingyang suppressed his anger and placed his hand on Chief Steward Deng's arm. "Return to the Wolong Palace."

After leaving Fengqi Palace, Emperor Mingyang looked Qin Su up and down. Her hair was slightly messy and her clothes were a little wrinkled. She was different from the noble ladies of the capital. But it was this difference that made her seem fresh.

"Keep up." He said only that before looking away.

Qin Su could only follow the palanquin. After a few steps, the curtain of the palanquin in front was pulled up, and Emperor Mingyang's voice came from inside, "Would you like to get on?"

Qin Su was taken aback for a moment, then quickly waved her hand, "This is fine. My clothes are dirty and I dare not soil Your Majesty's robes."

Emperor Mingyang understood the veiled refusal. He lowered the curtain, not showing any anger, but simply closed his eyes to rest.

Phoenix Palace and Crouching Dragon Hall are not far apart, and soon Emperor Mingyang alighted from his carriage and went inside.

Qin Su hurriedly followed.

After Emperor Mingyang sat down, Qin Su suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to him. "Your Majesty, I know that it is a serious crime to disturb Your Majesty's rest by entering the palace late at night. However, I do have something extremely urgent. Today, I went to see off the army heading to the border. Because it was so late, I planned to rest at a farmhouse, but I heard something shocking."

"The two people in secret said that Prince Chen has been transferred away and that we can take action. I didn't hear the specifics clearly, but they mentioned that they would put a muscle relaxant in the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. After that, I don't know much."

Emperor Mingyang's deep gaze fell on Qin Su, and it was unclear whether he believed her or not.

He opened his mouth, but said something completely unrelated: "How did you get into the palace?"

Qin Su frowned slightly, not quite satisfied with Emperor Mingyang's question. The matter they were discussing was extremely serious, yet he was concerned with such trivial matters.

Qin Su didn't want to reveal her close relationship with Prince Chen, but Emperor Mingyang would definitely find out if he was determined to investigate and discovered that she had Prince Chen's token.

Helpless, she had no choice but to confess.

“I dare not deceive Your Majesty. I am friends with Prince Chen. He was worried that my father would not be by my side and that he, as my friend, would also be absent when he left the capital. He gave me the token so that I would not have anyone to turn to if I was bullied in the capital.”

"His Highness said that if there is any problem, one can enter the palace with the token to seek justice from His Majesty."

She didn't mention the Empress Dowager, but mainly flattered Emperor Mingyang.

"Let me see."

Qin Su was anxious about the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, but Emperor Mingyang seemed unconcerned, which made her increasingly uncomfortable.

Emperor Mingyang took the token from Qin Su, glanced at it briefly, and then returned it to Qin Su.

“Your Majesty, let’s get back to the main point. The other side must have thought that Prince Chen would hinder their plans in the capital. Now that we know this in advance, we must take countermeasures.”

"The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is of utmost importance. How can I believe a mere one-sided account? How can I disregard the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet?" Emperor Mingyang asked Qin Su in a colder tone.

Qin Su held her breath, "Does Your Majesty dare to take the risk? What if what I said is true?"

“Impossible.” Emperor Mingyang rejected it outright. “The palace is heavily guarded. It’s impossible for anyone to poison the food at the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. This is no easy task.”

Qin Su wanted to curse. If the other person wasn't the emperor who held the power of life and death, she would definitely hurl insults at him.

"But what if? Can His Majesty bear the consequences?" Qin Su's words were really offensive. Even Chief Steward Deng held his breath, thinking to himself that Qin Su was courting death.

Emperor Mingyang stared at Qin Su in silence, his gaze exuding imperial authority, but Qin Su remained unfazed, her back straight and unyielding. She was like bamboo growing on a snow-capped mountain, unyielding even in the face of freezing winds and snow.

"You... fine, very fine indeed!" Emperor Mingyang was furious, and he kept sneering, "If I listen to you and the result is not as you said, how will you compensate me?"

Qin Su raised her chin and said, "This humble woman dares to pledge her life! If what this humble woman says is false, this humble woman is willing to be beheaded and show her head to the public!"

Emperor Mingyang found it absurd, especially Qin Su's words.

In fact, not only Emperor Mingyang, but Qin Su in her previous life would have found these words utterly absurd.

The palace was heavily guarded, with poison testers on duty, making it virtually impossible for anything to go wrong.

If the palace were really that lax, the emperor would have died countless times.

"Do you think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

Qin Su was taken aback for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, why do you say that? From the moment Your Majesty offered amnesty to the White Tiger Stronghold, our Qin family has been Your Majesty's subjects. If the ruler commands the subject to die, how can the subject not die?"