"You'd better confess the truth, or else, as Consort Bu said, your entire family will be executed!" The Empress Dowager was also dissatisfied with Kangxi's protection, so she could only put pressure on Xiao Changzi.

"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, please spare me! It was all the Imperial Noble Consort who told me to say this. It has nothing to do with my family. Imperial Noble Consort, you promised to protect my family, and that's why I agreed! Otherwise, why would I do something that betrays my master?"

Xiao Changzi's unconventional actions left everyone present bewildered, especially Consort Bu. The lines they were supposed to say had all changed. She could hear each word clearly, but she couldn't understand them when put together!

"Little Changzi, are you saying that the Imperial Noble Consort told you to say that the source of smallpox was the Fourth Prince?"

Wanyi asked uncertainly, her face still showing shock, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing!

"Yes, Your Highness, please spare me! This servant had no choice. They used both soft and hard tactics, and this servant had no choice but to comply," Xiao Changzi said, his voice trembling with tears.

"You're talking nonsense. You clearly said that Consort Chen gave Princess Duanjing smallpox scabs, thus causing Consort Chen to be accused of being unrighteous."

Lady Bu never expected that, at the very end, Xiao Changzi would rebel because of a single sentence she uttered.

"Little Changzi, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want!" The Imperial Noble Consort also reprimanded her sternly, while the Empress Dowager, seeing that the situation was beneficial to Wanyi, did not interrupt.

"Xiao Changzi, if you tell the truth, I will only punish you!" Kangxi glared at the Imperial Noble Consort and Consort Bu with displeasure, and then spoke to Xiao Changzi, who was kneeling below, in a conciliatory tone.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. This servant will now speak. My elderly mother is ill and needs a large amount of money. The kind-hearted Consort Chen has given me money twice, but it is ultimately just a drop in the bucket, and it has been used up in no time." As Xiao Changzi spoke, the Imperial Noble Consort and Consort Bu tried to interrupt him several times, but he swallowed his words after being warned by Kangxi's glare.

"At that time, the Second Princess was suffering from smallpox. Consort Bu approached me and gave me a lot of silver, asking me to give the Second Princess's handkerchief to the Fourth Prince. As a result, the Fourth Prince developed a fever the next morning. Last night, Consort Bu also approached me and asked me to say that the smallpox originated from the Fourth Prince. I deserve to die. I beg Your Majesty to spare my family for telling the truth!" After Xiao Changzi finished speaking, he kowtowed heavily.

“Your Majesty, this servant is not to be trusted. He told me something completely different. He clearly said that Consort Chen harmed Princess Duanjing!” Consort Bu said anxiously.

"You need evidence to speak. Do you have any proof that Consort Bu bribed you?" The Empress Dowager frowned as she looked at the overwhelming trend and said with dissatisfaction.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the silver that Consort Bu gave me is still not all spent, and there are also some hairpins that look brand new. I think we can find out that Consort Bu used them!" Xiao Changzi said, taking the hairpins out of his sleeve.

"I think I've seen Consort Bu wear this before! But I've forgotten when it was!" Wanyi squinted and looked intently.

“If Your Highness remembers correctly, it was when she was pregnant with the Second Princess that the Imperial Noble Consort bestowed it upon her. She even mentioned it to the other palaces. It’s been so long that Your Highness may not remember, but this servant has a good memory!” Furong, who was beside Wanyi, explained to Wanyi with a slight bow.

"It really is! I think so too!" Kangxi's memory returned. He had seen Duanjing when she was in Consort Bu's arms, which happened to be the time when Consort Bu showed off.

"Your Majesty, this hairpin of mine went missing after I gave birth to Princess Duanjing. I don't know how it disappeared. I was afraid that the Imperial Noble Consort would blame me, so I only had my maid Caixia search for it secretly for a few days, and then the matter was dropped!"

Consort Bu knew the hairpin was missing, but she didn't care at the time. After all, the style was the one the Imperial Noble Consort had offered her, but she had given birth to a princess, so the hairpin was meaningless to her!

"Then why didn't you register it lost? Even if it was a gift from the Imperial Noble Consort, you should still register it if it's lost! Or did you give it to Xiao Changzi yourself and then make up the excuse that it's lost because you didn't dare to register it?"

Now it's Wan Yi's turn to watch their performance. Look at their pitiful appearance, it's truly a feast for the eyes!

"To plot against the imperial heir is an offense punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family! How could I dare!" Consort Bu shouted, clutching a handkerchief to her chest, as if trying to bolster her courage.

"Then how do you explain this hairpin? Consort Bu, you still have Princess Duanjing to take care of you, so why would you be so foolish as to harm the Fourth Prince? He has no grudge against you!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, the imperial nobleman used Princess Duanjing, whom Consort Bu cared about the most, to threaten her.

Consort Bu looked at the Imperial Noble Consort in shock. She never expected that the Imperial Noble Consort would abandon her at this moment. If she fell, would Duan Jing still be treated well by the Imperial Noble Consort?

"No enmity whatsoever?" Consort Bu retorted sarcastically.

"Your Majesty is so indignant that he dotes on the Fourth Prince so much, while Duanjing can't even catch a glimpse of her Imperial Father from afar. Why is that? Just because he's a prince?"

Consort Bu went on a rampage, leaving Emperor Kangxi and the others stunned, having never seen anything like her before. Consort Bu ignored them; since she was going to die anyway, she might as well voice her grievances.

"And Your Highness, Imperial Noble Consort, ask yourselves honestly, since Princess Duanjing was born, because she wasn't a prince, you never even gave her a second glance. This led to those snobbish servants making things difficult for me and the princess at every turn. They even took Duanjing away from me when they were unhappy. So I want to take revenge on you. It's all your fault, all your fault!"

Lady Bu knelt down and wept bitterly, it was unclear whether she was weeping for Duan Jing's future or for the punishment that was about to befall her.

"That is no excuse for you to harm the Fourth Prince. Even if I were incompetent, I would never lay a hand on a child. He is so innocent, especially since he is the Emperor's child!"

Wanyi angrily rebuked Consort Bu, but did not forget to tell Emperor Kangxi that she would never harm his child.

"Your Highness, Consort Chen, you have a son and are favored by the emperor, so of course you don't know what kind of life we ​​lowly concubines lead!"

If you don't try to please the person in charge at all times, and you upset them, then your future days will be filled with misery and nothing will go smoothly.

"Consort Chen also came from the rank of concubine, how could she not know? It's just that you've gone astray!" Useless thing, you've ruined yourself by framing someone else, what bad luck, the Empress Dowager thought angrily.

"Now that things are clear, even though Consort Bu made a mistake, she is still Princess Duanjing's birth mother. It wouldn't be right for the princess to lose her mother at such a young age. Besides, the Fourth Prince is not seriously injured. Why not give her a lighter punishment?" The Imperial Noble Consort pleaded for her, seeing that Consort Bu had admitted her mistake and that she was not implicated.