To be honest, Cui Zige is utterly unreasonable. If he hadn't spoken frivolously and acted disrespectfully towards Xu Yuehuai before, would she have bothered to treat him like this? Now she's even turning around and biting the hand that feeds her. Even God can't stand it anymore.

Although Heaven could not bear to see it, the Empress could.

After hearing Cui Zige's embellished account, the Empress was immediately enraged.

First, she was angry at Cui Zige for being so disappointing; second, she was angry at Xu Yuehuai for being so ruthless. If the Cui family line were truly cut off, she would definitely make a scene with Xu Yuehuai. After all, Cui Zige was the only respectable junior in the Cui family, and she could only treat her with utmost care and affection.

However, since Xu Yuehuai was backed by the Duke of Zhenguo, she didn't dare to openly turn against them. After all, Cui Zige was in the wrong first. After thinking it over, she decided to go to the Emperor first. If she could get the Emperor to stand up for Cui Zige, the Duke of Zhenguo probably wouldn't dare to say anything.

The Empress naturally understood the principle that it is better to strike first than to strike later, so she took Cui Zige and rushed to see the Emperor.

In the imperial study, the Emperor frowned as he looked at the two kneeling figures before him and asked, "What happened? Why are you in such a rush?"

The Empress had already prepared her explanation on the way here and had discussed various plans with Cui Zige long ago.

She first praised Xu Yuehuai, and then casually mentioned one of her minor flaws.

"Xu Yuehuai is good in every way, except that he is a bit too impulsive," the Empress said with a light laugh.

"What do you mean?" The Emperor looked at the Empress, as he had never heard of this before.

"Actually, it's not a big deal. It's just that when Zige went to Xu Yuehuai to build rapport today, that girl kicked her in the groin. What if something had happened..." The Empress glanced at Cui Zige and said indifferently.

"Such a thing has happened?" The Emperor was quite surprised. Although he felt that she must have her reasons for doing so, the Empress had brought her nephew to complain, so he had to make a statement. "Xu Yuehuai is indeed behaving improperly. Someone, bring Xu Yuehuai to me."

"Yes." A young eunuch accepted the order and quickly went to summon Xu Yuehuai.

After Xu Yuehuai chased Cui Zige away again, she guessed that he would complain to the Empress, so she waited patiently. This time, she was determined to make things clear with the Empress. Cui Zige could not continue like this.

Unexpectedly, instead of receiving a summons from the Empress, they received a summons from the Emperor.

"Very well, the Emperor's words carry more weight than the Empress's." Xu Yuehua muttered to herself, then followed the little eunuch to the Imperial Study.

...

Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, Xu Yuehuai immediately saw Cui Zige's resentful gaze and then subtly touched his lower body, which made her feel nauseous. After calming herself down, she first paid her respects to the Emperor and then asked, "I wonder why Your Majesty summoned me here?"

She wasn't pretending to be stupid on purpose. After all, she needed to hear what the Empress had to say so she could adapt accordingly. If she blurted everything out right away and Cui Zige refused to admit it, there would be nothing she could do.

"Xu Yuehuai, let me ask you this: Did Cui Zige ask you to get closer to him today? Did you kick him in the groin?" The Emperor had no reservations and asked the question directly.

"Your Majesty, I did indeed kick him in the groin," Xu Yuehuai replied immediately.

The Empress thought to herself: I was afraid you wouldn't admit it, but you confessed right away. You're in for a world of hurt now. Even the Duke of Zhenguo won't be able to come up with a coherent explanation.

The Emperor was quite puzzled. Why didn't Xu Yuehuai defend himself?

What they didn't know was that Xu Yuehuai was using a reverse chronological order, a method that made it easier for people to understand how things happened.

"Do you know that this is improper? What if the person develops a chronic illness and can't continue the family line?" the Emperor asked sternly.

“I know. But Your Majesty, Cui Zige was trying to take liberties with me back then, not trying to build a relationship as he claimed.” Xu Yuehuai directly stated the truth of the matter.

The Empress, the Emperor, and Cui Zige were all taken aback upon hearing this.

The Emperor was furious. Neither the Empress nor Cui Zige had mentioned this matter, and he had genuinely thought it was just two young people getting to know each other. However, Xu Yuehuai's words suggested otherwise. Therefore, all his previous words were useless. Since Cui Zige dared to be disrespectful, he should pay a price.

After thinking it over, he glared angrily at the Empress, blaming her for coming to complain without asking questions, causing him to lose face as well. Moreover, Xu Yuehuai still had the Duke of Zhenguo behind her. In an instant, the Emperor regretted getting involved in this matter.

The Empress was naturally embarrassed because Cui Zige hadn't mentioned this matter to her at all. If it was really because he had taken liberties with Xu Yuehuai, then her kick in self-defense would be understandable.

Cui Zige was also shocked. He originally thought that Xu Yuehuai would not dare to say these things in front of the emperor, and could only say whatever he wanted. He did not expect that he had miscalculated this time. Xu Yuehuai not only dared to say it, but also told him everything in detail.

"Cui Zige was touching my waist and uttering vulgarities, asking me to play with him in bed. Your Majesty, I am a virgin waiting to be married. Do you think it's appropriate for Cui Zige to be so frivolous?" Xu Yuehuai finished speaking and shed a few tears, her face flushed red. After all, it was very embarrassing to talk about such things.

"Cui Zige, let me ask you this: is it you who said you were trying to build a relationship, or is it Xu Yuehuai who said you were being disrespectful to her?" After listening to Xu Yuehuai's account, the Emperor turned his gaze to Cui Zige and questioned her sternly.

"I..." Cui Zige stammered, unsure how to explain. He had intended to accuse the villain first, but he hadn't expected to end up shooting himself in the foot.

"Tell me quickly." The Emperor frowned and urged him, seeing his expression. In fact, he had already come to believe Xu Yuehuai's story.

"I... Ouch, it hurts so much!" Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Cui Zige had no choice but to use a plan that the Empress had told him before. After saying that, he covered his lower body and rolled on the ground.

"Quickly summon the imperial physician." The Emperor frowned as he looked at Cui Zige on the ground. Although he also felt that Cui was faking it, he still had to call the imperial physician to take a look, just in case it was true.

Xu Yuehuai saw a hint of coldness in the Empress's eyes, and a bad feeling immediately welled up in her heart.