太后心下生疑，冷眼紧盯着钦天监正，“此乃关乎家国社稷的大事，你该不会算错了吧？”

The Imperial Observatory immediately knelt down, cupped their hands, and solemnly replied:

"Your Majesty, I was afraid of making a mistake, so I specially invited three people to make calculations, and they all gave the same result. Your Majesty, I would never dare to deceive me in any way. I beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"

To prevent any falsehoods, the Empress Dowager summoned other officials from the Imperial Observatory and even invited shamans to tell the Empress's fortune.

However, everyone said the same thing: the empress was destined to have no children.

At this point, the Empress Dowager finally believed this explanation.

Although Rongyu was born out of wedlock, she was the only princess in the palace, and the future depended on Rongyu's marriage alliance with Mongolia. Naturally, the Empress Dowager dared not joke about Rongyu's life.

Ultimately, the Empress Dowager changed her mind and no longer allowed the Empress to raise Rongyu.

Yu Ying didn't want to raise Su Yushan's daughter, after all, Rong Yu was already eight years old. Even if she treated Rong Yu well, Rong Yu would never treat her as her own mother. But if raising Rong Yu would make Su Yushan unhappy, then Yu Ying was willing. At least this would make Su Yushan feel the pain of being separated from her loved ones!

Yu Ying had already convinced herself to accept Rong Yu, but she never expected that the Empress Dowager would change her mind at the last moment!

The Imperial Observatory's words were too cruel, and the Empress Dowager couldn't bear to tell the Empress. She only said that Rong Yu's birth charts were incompatible, and used this as an excuse to refuse her.

But Yu Ying always felt that the Empress Dowager was hesitant to speak and wasn't telling the truth.

The Empress Dowager was the one who made her raise Rong Yu, and the Empress Dowager was also the one who wouldn't let her raise her. Yu Ying sighed inwardly, thinking that the Empress Dowager was playing her for a fool! She gave her hope, but then disappointed her. If she had known this would happen, the Empress Dowager shouldn't have made the promise.

But this was her mother-in-law! No matter how indignant she was, she dared not blame the Empress Dowager and could only silently obey her arrangements.

However, Yu Ying did not believe this claim in private. She wanted to find out the truth, but she could not openly summon the Director of the Imperial Observatory. So she could only order the palace servants to secretly investigate.

Hongli had already agreed, and the Empress Dowager had also promised. Since the matter had not been completed, it was not Hongli's fault. Helpless, the Empress Dowager had no choice but to compromise and bestow the title of Princess Gulun upon Rongyu. Hongli then personally named his daughter "Hejing".

Upon learning that she had been bestowed the title of Princess Gulun Hejing, Rong Yu beamed with joy and boasted to her younger brother.

Yongzhang raised his little head and scoffed disdainfully, "Father Emperor said that if I study well, he will grant me a title when I grow up!"

"Then you can grow up slowly! Anyway, my status is higher than yours now, so remember to bow to me when you see me in the future."

Her daughter crossed her arms, her chin slightly raised, looking rather haughty. Su Yushan found it amusing, but still couldn't help but offer a gentle reminder.

"Relatives are equal. You can't care about rank or title. You can't use it to show off or bully others. You must remember that."

Rong Yu immediately lowered his arm and respectfully replied, "Your subject understands. Your subject was just joking with your younger brother!"

The daughter was only happy and unaware that this title was hard-won, obtained by her imperial father through all sorts of means.

To Su Yushan's surprise, Hongli's move actually succeeded.

Is this what it means to defeat magic with magic? The Empress Dowager was superstitious, so Hongli used this tactic to retaliate.

While this was a good idea, speaking of the Empress in this way seemed somewhat inappropriate, but Hongli did not think he was wrong.

"Back then, the Empress used the excuse that their horoscopes didn't match and that Yonghuang's fate was too strong and would bring misfortune to others. I was just retaliating in kind, so you don't need to feel guilty."

Well, as long as Rong Yu isn't given away, that's fine. To achieve her wish, she'll eventually have to resort to some tricks. She didn't harm the Empress; she was just trying to win over her own daughter.

Thinking this way, Su Yushan felt much better.

The Empress, however, remained unwilling to accept this and continued to wait for news.

The palace servants inquired for three days and bribed the Empress Dowager with silver before finally finding out the real reason why she changed her mind.

Upon returning to Changchun Palace, the palace servants stammered and dared not tell the truth, and Yu Ying immediately had a bad feeling.

"Just tell the truth, and I won't blame you. But if you conceal anything, I will punish you severely!"

Left with no other choice, the palace servants had to reveal the truth: "The Imperial Observatory is saying... saying that Her Majesty is destined to have no children, and they also said..."

She's destined to be childless? How could that be? Didn't she have two children? Yu Ying's anger surged, and she angrily questioned,

"What else is there to say?"

The palace maid broke out in a cold sweat and replied timidly, "The Empress Dowager said... that the eldest princess and the second prince were killed by you, so she dares not let you raise the second princess."

Yu Ying cared most about her children. Even if Hongli stopped having children with her, she wouldn't be so sad. But when she heard that both of her children had died because of her, Yu Ying suffered a heart attack and was in unbearable pain.

Bao'er and Yonglian were actually killed by her? How could that be? She was their biological mother! How could she bring misfortune to her own children?

The one who should be Yonglian's nemesis is Yonghuang! It can't be her!

Someone must be behind this. Who else could hate her? It must be Su Yushan. She covets the Empress's throne, which is why she had the Imperial Observatory spread rumors to frame her.

Once the Empress Dowager believes her claim that she is destined to be childless, then she will lose her position as Empress!

She has nothing left but the position of Empress. Su Yushan already has so much, why is she not satisfied and still wants to compete with her?

Even if she doesn't become empress, it's not Su Yushan's turn!

Yu Ying became increasingly angry as she thought about it, feeling depressed and her heart ached with each beat.

She couldn't sleep all night and fell ill the next day. The imperial physician came to prescribe medicine for the empress, but Hongli never went to visit her.

If the Empress Dowager and the Empress hadn't conspired to target Rong Yu, he wouldn't have resorted to such a desperate measure. Now that the Empress is ill, whether it's a real or feigned illness, he doesn't care; he'll let her do as she pleases.

Spring seemed unusually short this year, and summer arrived in the blink of an eye. The palace servants were busy catching cicadas. Summer in the palace was particularly hot and humid. The trip to the Summer Palace, originally scheduled for June, was moved up by half a month this year, and they set off in mid-May.

Remembering the accident last year, this time, Hongli brought all his children with him, including Yongcheng.

Yu Ying was angry and unwilling to go with the emperor. She lied and said that she was not feeling well. The Empress Dowager thought that she was the empress and that she had to accompany the emperor on his travels in order to avoid suspicion and gossip.

The Empress Dowager used the overall situation as an excuse, and Yu Ying could not refuse, so she had no choice but to accompany her.

Last year, King Darhan took a liking to Rong Yu, but unfortunately his son did not come with him. This year, King Darhan specially brought his little prince with him so that the emperor could meet the child and arrange a marriage between the two children.