"But Consort Lixian and Consort Xu, although they are old, their sons have grown up. And Consort Zhou Jing, although she is only a second-rank consort, has two sons. The Seventh Prince is disfigured, but the Eighth Prince is still fine. How can we know they won't make a move against Consort Zhen?"

"Forgive my bluntness, but although His Majesty is wary of the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, Third Prince, Seventh Prince, and Eighth Prince are all grown up. Doesn't he take precautions against them? It's just that with the Crown Prince in the lead, others seem insignificant."

"So, my sister has her own ideas?" The Empress looked at her.

Ye Lingyi bluntly stated, "If you don't kill the snake, you'll only get hurt in return. What is the Seventh Prince's true nature? It would be better to just suppress Consort Zhou."

The Empress was taken aback, and frowned slightly: "Sister, there are some things that cannot be said."

The Empress suspected that the Crown Prince was responsible for the Seventh Prince's disfigurement, but she never asked him.

Will His Majesty have any doubts?

Although it was initially said that the Eighth Prince was the one who did it, given how foolish the Eighth Prince was, was it really him?

His Majesty did not punish him severely, probably because he had figured it out.

Perhaps it really was the Eighth Prince who did it, but whose hand was involved?

Besides, back in the north, when the crown prince was assassinated, he escaped too easily.

They even dragged the twelfth prince into the mess. It wasn't that His Majesty didn't investigate; it was that His Majesty compromised.

With this incident before, how could His Majesty not suspect what was wrong with the Seventh Prince's face?

Consort Zhou was an old-timer in the harem; how could she not have thought of that?

Couldn't the Seventh Prince have thought of this himself?

From both a moral and logical standpoint, suppressing her is the right thing to do. Taking advantage of this opportunity is excellent.

The Empress nodded gently: "What my sister says is quite right."

Ye Lingyi came to talk about this, and after exchanging a few more words, she left.

On the way back, the maid Baozhu sighed, "You've been wronged."

“I originally entered the palace to help her win favor and to strategize for her. But all these years, she has seen me as someone who wants to steal her favor. She herself has been out of favor for so many years. If I could really gain favor, wouldn't that be a good thing? Would the Ye family really abandon her and choose me instead?”

"Ever since I gave birth to the fourteenth prince, she has been wary of me in every way. The fourteenth prince is only a few years old, what can he do?" Ye Lingyi sneered and shook her head.

"Yes, Lingyi, you've been wronged." Baozhu was a maid who had come into the household with them.

“Although my sister is the Empress, her vision is ultimately too narrow. All these years, she has been suppressed by that vile Consort Zhen. My sister is not ruthless enough, and her methods are not dark enough. Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince did not inherit her temperament.” Ye Lingyi shook her head again.

Baozhu nodded: "You're right. I just hope that in the future, His Highness the Crown Prince will know your good qualities and take good care of you."

"Whether he takes care of me or not is irrelevant. I just hope that in the future, since the Fourteenth Prince has some bloodline from the Ye family, he will at least be treated well."

Baozhu sighed inwardly, for women are inherently gentle, but become strong when they become mothers.

Her own daughter-in-law didn't really want to get involved, but having given birth to a son, she couldn't just do nothing.

It's lamentable that the Empress was so wary of her own family.

Indeed, Lingyi is right; the Empress is not ruthless enough, nor is she cunning enough.

Over the years, haven't there been any opportunities to kill Consort Zhen?

But she didn't dare to do it.

Even though they had long been estranged from His Majesty, they could only wait for His Highness to ascend the throne. Then, they, mother and son, could finally avenge their humiliation.

And then Consort Zhen gave birth to the twelfth prince, such a wretched child.

With the Duke Ye's mansion behind them, even if the Empress personally ordered the death of Consort Zhen, would His Majesty dare to directly depose the Empress?

What a pity.

Now that the Cao family has gained considerable power, it is no longer possible to easily order their execution.

Ye Lingyi easily passed on these messages to Shu Chengfeng.

They agreed without prior consultation.

Shu Chengfeng had the same idea. So the next step was to lay the groundwork.

The Empress is already under house arrest and the palace has been searched; dwelling on these matters now is pointless.

Let's just leave her locked up for a few days.

That's how it is anyway; it can't get any worse.

The next step, naturally, is to uncover the 'truth'. Only with the truth can the wronged empress be revealed.

If we first say that the Empress was wronged, then argue our case and find evidence, wouldn't we be in a much more passive position?

Wouldn't it be better to just show the results directly?

Soon, rumors spread in the palace that Consort Zhou had poisoned Consort Zhen's child.

The reason is that the injury to the Seventh Prince's face in the first half of the year was done by Consort Zhen.

This rumor was naturally unfounded, but although the Empress was confined to her quarters, she was still the Empress.

They just can't get out; it's not like their Phoenix Seal has been taken away.

She knew exactly when to act and quickly dispatched men straight to Yiyuan Palace to search the palace.

When Consort Zhou saw the Empress, she knew something was wrong, but it was too late.

The empress still wielded considerable authority in the inner palace.

So, naturally, the medicine was found. It was a pill for treating miscarriages in women, but it had little taste and dissolved very easily.

This evidence was naturally sent to His Majesty by the Empress.

At the same time, someone also reported the deceased Granny Zhang.

They said that silver notes were found in the house where she lived before her death.

Silver notes are common, but it's unusual to find them among palace maids.

Since Granny Zhang is dead, she has no right to argue.

Shu Chengfeng had already pinned all the charges on her. This made it seem natural that she was also implicated in a relationship with Consort Zhou.

And the connection with the eldest princess could not be erased, so it was easy to find out.

The discovery in the palace was entirely accidental.

Compared to His Majesty's momentary anger leading him to search the Empress's palace only to find nothing, now there is solid evidence right before his eyes.

Yes, all of His Majesty's previous doubts stemmed from his anger.

This was due to Consort Zhen's miscarriage, and also because of the sudden death of Granny Zhang earlier.

He didn't care about a palace maid, but he did care that someone in the palace was actually a ghost.

Therefore, once Consort Zhen miscarries, he will almost immediately turn against the Empress.

He naturally wanted to frame the Empress, but unfortunately, the Empress had cultivated her influence in the palace for many years and was not entirely without merit.

Back then, there was an incident where he wanted to depose the empress, but the people around the empress were too fierce and risked their lives to leave the palace to deliver the message.

Now, the Empress may not have other skills, but she can still manage her Fengxiang Palace like an ironclad fortress.

Therefore, even His Majesty would find it difficult to frame someone.

But it was much easier for the Empress to make Consort Zhou the murderer.

The Zhou family's power was ultimately not in the capital, and ultimately not as great as the Ye family's.

Now, His Majesty is in a dilemma.

He believed it, and he knew that Consort Zhou was somewhat wronged.

Disbelief means a renewed confrontation with the Ye family. The Crown Prince is now an adult and even has children of his own.

The Empress had done nothing wrong, yet she was suddenly framed, and His Majesty still wanted to accuse her of a crime.

This is a terrible thing.

Deposing an empress is never easy.

Moreover, if the matter is truly exposed using Consort Zhen as a pretext, it will be His Majesty who will look bad.

An emperor who does something too outrageous will only make things worse for the crown prince.

It's good when you're pampered, but at times like this, marrying a daughter-in-law is ultimately a stain on your reputation.