"Ji Wen and Shi Lingqiao were able to secretly meet for a year without being discovered, thanks in no small part to the Fourth Prince cleaning up their messes."

The Empress Dowager was stunned, clearly not expecting that Xiao Si was involved.

She thought for a moment, "It's almost noon now. I'll have someone invite the Emperor over for lunch. You can tell him about this."

Qingyou nodded, "Okay!"

She knew that the Empress Dowager, like Qiao Mingxuan, was a conspiracy theorist.

After all, who would have thought that Shi Lingqiao was the fourth prince's deceased cousin? They would only think that she was a vixen sent by the fourth prince to seduce Huo Jiwen in order to seize the military power of the Duke's mansion.

This was also deliberately orchestrated by Qingyou, so that the emperor would be more vigilant and increasingly dislike the Fourth Prince and Char Siu Bao, eventually giving up on them.

Moreover, the emperor was able to follow this clue to find out that Shi Lingqiao had sent a lot of things to the frontier.

In the past year or so, the fourth prince has also used his connections to ensure that his maternal grandfather's family lives very comfortably, not at all like exiled prisoners.

Not long after, the emperor arrived.

Seeing her younger sister's haggard and red-eyed appearance as she bowed, I was also surprised.

He asked with concern, "What's wrong with Qingyou?"

Before Qingyou could answer, the Empress Dowager interjected, "It's all because of your nephew."

The emperor frowned and asked again, "What did Ji Wen do to upset you?"

How did you manage to upset his sister like this?

This matter is definitely not trivial; otherwise, given my sister's fiercely protective nature, she wouldn't have run into the palace to complain to our mother.

He and his younger sister had a close relationship since childhood, and he had always doted on her. Seeing her like this, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.