"Madam, you've arrived just in time."

Seeing Hua Qingcheng open the gate of the East Palace, Nalan Yunzhi said with a hint of reproach: "You, the East Palace guard, are too outrageous. How dare you stop me!"

However, when Nalan Yunzhi thought that Hua Qingcheng would welcome him into the East Palace, Hua Qingcheng slammed the two doors of the East Palace shut again.

"Your Highness, what are you doing? How can you refuse the Emperor entry? Is this how a daughter and a princess of a country should behave?"

Ouyang Yuming, who was standing beside Nalan Yunzhi, acted like an elder, looking very disappointed. His brows were furrowed, his face full of pain and disappointment, as if Hua Qingcheng was a useless child who needed to be taught a lesson.

Hua Qingcheng glanced at Ouyang Yuming who was jumping around there, and ignored him.

"Queen Mother, do you know how many waves of aggressive assassins the palace guards have repelled since just now?" Hua Qingcheng asked directly, ignoring Nalan Yunzhi's gloomy expression. Her voice was extremely cold, ethereal and pure, yet it carried a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Recalling the report from Murong Jinghe, the commander of the inner court guards, Nalan Yunzhi's heart sank slightly, and his heroic brows knitted again: "Five groups of assassins are coming?

"To answer your mother's question, there were indeed five groups of assassins just now, but not now. We are already on the seventh. Some of them are assassins, some are death squads, and some are secret guards... But without exception, they all want to kill my son's legitimate monarch and his unborn child!"

Hua Qingcheng's words were extremely cold, yet they carried a chilling aura that held a simmering rage. "Now, Queen Mother, do you understand why I ordered that no one be allowed to enter or leave the Eastern Palace?"

"This..." Nalan Yunzhi nodded slightly when he heard this.

Seeing that the Emperor actually agreed with the Crown Princess's approach, Ouyang Yuming spoke up at the right time: "Even if it's for the safety of the Crown Princess and the Phoenix descendant in her womb, Her Highness shouldn't have turned away the Imperial Physician and Lord Wen, right?"

"Princess, Lord Ouyang is very polite. Your Majesty is about to give birth, and she really cannot do without the guidance of Lord Wen, who has rich experience in midwifery. As for the imperial physicians, they are there to protect Your Majesty and my soon-to-be-born granddaughter and grandson." Nalan Yunzhi said with a hint of reproach.

"Escort?" Hua Rumeng smiled slightly when she heard that.

"Mother Queen, have you forgotten what happened when my father gave birth? Back then, the fetus was normal, but suddenly the birth became difficult. Someone took advantage of the situation and took me away, leaving me wandering among the people for over a decade..."

Hua Qingcheng's icy words pierced Nalan Yunzhi's heart like a sharp arrow, but at that moment, she seemed to have no time to care whether Nalan Yunzhi's heartache would be exposed. After all, Mu Lige and his unborn child were the most important to Hua Qingcheng. Even if she didn't become the Crown Princess, she couldn't let anything happen to them.

Hua Rumeng's sharp eyes swept over the group of stable men and imperial physicians behind Ouyang Yuming, and she said coldly, "If I really let these people into the Eastern Palace, I'm afraid not only will they be unable to protect the Crown Princess and her unborn child, but maybe... maybe they will even become their death warrant!"

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Yuming immediately knelt before Nalan Yunzhi and said tearfully, "Your Majesty! The Crown Princess has wronged me! I was only kind-hearted and worried about the Crown Princess' upcoming birth, so I arranged for the medical officer and the imperial physician to be on call at all times. Even if I had a hundred guts, I would not dare to murder the Crown Princess and the Phoenix Child in her belly!"

Upon seeing this, Lord Wen and the imperial physicians all knelt down and shouted to express their loyalty.

Nalan Yunzhi's expression grew serious. She looked at Hua Qingcheng, a trace of guilt flashing in her eyes. "My Lady, I know you're worried about the safety of your husband and the child, but it would be safer if Lord Wen and the Imperial Physician were by your side."

Hua Qingcheng glanced at the kneeling Imperial Hospital Director Du Zhongchun with a calm look, and asked leisurely, "Doctor Du, you have been practicing medicine for decades, and you are the Director of the Imperial Hospital. I believe your medical skills must be very advanced..."

"In reply to Your Highness the Crown Princess, I will continue to serve the Emperor and Your Highness the Crown Princess with all my heart and soul." Du Zhongchun kowtowed in response, feeling a little flattered.

Hua Qingcheng, noticing Du Zhongchun's reaction, raised a mocking smile, but then asked calmly, "Doctor Du thinks your medical skills are superior to those of the Master of Xuanyi Valley."

Du Zhongchun, who was kneeling on the ground, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said honestly, "With my medical skills, naturally... naturally I dare not compare with the master of Xuanyi Valley."

Xuanyi Valley is a sacred place for medical practitioners, a place that doctors from all over the world flock to. Every three years in the autumn, only doctors who receive invitations from Xuanyi Valley's two messengers, "Miraculous Hands" and "Rejuvenation," can enter Xuanyi Valley on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the following year to visit and study.

Even as the director of the Imperial Hospital, she had never accepted the two messengers' badges. If she dared to claim that her medical skills were superior to those of the Master of Xuanyi Valley, she would probably be drowned in the saliva of doctors everywhere.

"Queen Mother, you've seen it too. Even the director of the Imperial Hospital has personally admitted that his medical skills aren't as good as the master of the Mysterious Medical Valley. Now, the Crown Princess and her unborn Phoenix Child are being cared for by the master of the Mysterious Medical Valley and his master. Do you think it's necessary to let these good-for-nothings from the Imperial Hospital in?"

"That... I'm mistaken." Nalan Yunzhi nodded. "Alright, then, let's do as the princess says. Du Zhongchun, you and the doctors from the Imperial Hospital can withdraw first."

"My lord, I obey the order."

Following Nalan Yunzhi's order, Du Zhongchun led all the imperial doctors away in a panic.

"But, Your Majesty..." Ouyang Yuming looked at the imperial physicians who were gradually leaving and said unwillingly, "Even if the imperial physicians are not needed, it is still necessary for Lord Wen to stay..."

Before Nalan Yunzhi could reply, Hua Qingcheng said leisurely, "Lord Ouyang has lived in the inner palace for so long that he's probably unfamiliar with many people and things outside. Lord Ouyang, there's no need to worry about the matter of the stable official. I've already asked my uncle to find several experienced stable officials. They're already at the palace gate, and Yiqing has gone to meet them."

Seeing that Hua Qingcheng had considered everything carefully and arranged everything properly, Nalan Yunzhi nodded slightly.

"Yu Ming, the princess has grown up and can stand on her own. Just do everything according to her arrangements." After saying that, Nalan Yunzhi turned and left, his back looking a little lonely and desolate.

If, back then, she could have stayed by Lingyan's side like the princess, wouldn't everything have been different...

Hua Qingcheng glanced at Nalan Yunzhi who was gradually moving away, then turned around and walked into the East Palace and returned to Mu Lige's bedroom in Lingkun Courtyard.

Now, various forces are secretly eyeing Mu Lige and the child in his womb. She cannot be careless at all, even if the other party is Nalan Yunzhi.