The next morning.

Duke Gao was summoned to the palace by Ye Ling.

Before entering the palace, Duke Gao had already prepared himself for the emperor to hold him accountable.

As expected.

Ye Ling looked serious.

"Duke Gao, I knew before that you favored your concubines over your wife, but I never knew you would protect your concubines to this extent!"

"She caused me to lose my child!"

"I'd like to ask you, in your eyes, is Consort Gao still your daughter?"

Duke Gao knelt on the ground, trembling.

"Your Majesty, it was an unintentional mistake! I was unaware that Her Majesty was pregnant!"

"Oh? So, according to you, if Consort Gao weren't pregnant, you could beat her?"

"My lord, my lord——"

"Your Majesty, please punish me!"

"Of course I will punish them! To cause the death of my son is a grave crime!"

"Considering you are a veteran minister, I can spare your life! But while you may escape the death penalty, you cannot escape punishment!"

"I hereby exile you three thousand miles away, and you shall never return to the Great Yuan!"

Duke Gao was already mentally prepared for such punishment.

Of course, I can accept that.

"Your Majesty, are you suggesting that this old minister be the sole recipient of punishment?"

"What? Does Duke Gao intend to spare your concubine and your son from punishment?"

"Your Majesty, please have mercy! My concubine and son are innocent! They should not be exiled three thousand miles away with me! My son is not even a month old yet; he will surely not be able to endure such suffering and may even die!"

Ye Ling sneered.

"You're so heartbroken over your son suffering a little!"

"When your daughter was abused by your concubine, did you ever think about the suffering she was enduring?"

"If you had any compassion for her, she wouldn't have been hurt in her childhood."

Duke Gao sighed.

The Emperor was indeed there to avenge Consort Gao.

"I am guilty."

"Since you know you are guilty, then go back and make preparations. We will set off in two days."

"I don't want to hear any of your pleas for the concubines, otherwise, I will order them killed immediately!"

Things have come to this point.

Duke Gao dared not say anything more.

I had no choice but to back out immediately.

After he returned to the Duke's mansion.

Chen Wan'er immediately asked him.

"My lord, what did the Emperor say?"

Duke Gao recounted everything about how Ye Ling was dealt with.

Chen Wan'er was shocked upon hearing this.

"What? The Emperor is so heartless? He actually wants me and my son, who is not even a month old, to suffer this hardship together?"

Duke Gao sighed.

"Wan'er, I have tried my best to protect you and your child, but once the Emperor's decree is issued, no one can change it."

"Now that things have come to this, we can only bring more silver and, once we're on the road, bribe the officials to treat us better and prevent us from suffering too much."

Chen Wan'er nodded.

"For now, this is the only option."

"Wan'er, I never expected that this matter would involve you as well."

“I was thinking of divorcing you so that I could protect you and our son, but I really can’t bear to part with you.”

"Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of you and your child!"

Chen Wan'er nodded.

"I understand what my husband is thinking."

"Just do everything according to your wishes, sir."

However.

Chen Wan'er truly hated him to the core.

Divorce is indeed a very good option.

This can save her and her son.

But that old geezer didn't do that.

Should we say he's affectionate, or should we say he's holding himself back?

Chen Wan'er didn't want to wait any longer.

I'm being exiled tomorrow.

Before that.

We must sever all ties with the Gao family.

That very night, Chen Wan'er decided to run away.

It was past midnight.

She quickly carried her son to Shen Ruo's home.

However.

I just pushed the door open.

Then they saw the officials.

Chen Wan'er had a bad feeling.

He immediately turned around and was about to leave!

But they were stopped by the officials.

A person emerged from the torchlight.

Takasugi looked at her with an icy expression.

"What's wrong, Chen Wan'er? In the middle of the night, why aren't you at the Duke's mansion? Why have you come to your old flame's place?"

"I, I—"

Chen Wan'er hurriedly tried to defend herself.

“Chen Ruo is a distant relative of mine. I am being exiled tomorrow, so I have come today to say goodbye to him.”

"Oh! I didn't even know that saying goodbye had to be done in the middle of the night. Chen Wan'er, you really went to great lengths!"

Takasugi's expression turned cold.

"Stop making excuses!"

"Let me tell you! That useless spineless coward Shen Ruo has already confessed everything!"

"The son you're holding in your arms isn't a child of the Gao family at all! He's your illegitimate child with Shen Ruo!"

"You've been plotting this all along, giving the Gao family's assets to your old flame, thinking that one day you and your old flame could run away with the money!"

"But you didn't expect that from the moment you came to see Chen Ruo yesterday, your every move has been watched!"

Chen Wan'er frowned.

"By whom?"

"You don't need to know that! You'll never know who's behind it all. All you need to know is that it's someone you can never compare to!"

"Could it be Gao Zhu?"

"Although my younger sister is very intelligent, she is still somewhat inferior to this lady!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!