"Tsk tsk tsk, plotting against a royal daughter, do you think you can leave alive?" Empress Zhaoyuan sneered.

"Gag this vile woman's mouth!" the Empress roared. The other prisoners in the cell turned to look, their enthusiasm for watching the drama unfold as if they themselves were not the ones facing the guillotine the next day.

"Also, bring me the case files of those two lowly lackeys," Empress Zhaoyuan ordered the trembling chief eunuch standing to the side.

Upon hearing the Empress's words, the chief eunuch hurriedly went to check the case files. His heart trembled. Fortunately, the prison was smelly; otherwise, if the Empress had smelled the alcohol on him, his head would have been chopped off.

"If you don't tell the truth, don't blame me for being ruthless. I will exterminate your entire family, and none of you will escape! If you're not afraid of being ground to dust, then tell me the truth honestly!"

Empress Zhaoyuan gave a signal, and the hands and feet of two servants were held down, while another eunuch, Li, raised a board and began to punish them.

"Eunuch Li is quite skilled. I guarantee this beating won't kill you, but it will torture you until you're in excruciating pain!"

"I advise you to think carefully. Apart from me, no one else can guarantee the safety of your families."

The cell was dimly lit, with flickering candlelight, making it impossible to see the empress's face clearly; only her cold voice could be heard.

"Ah, ah!"

Eunuch Li raised the board expressionlessly and then brought it down, the board striking the palace maid with a "smack, smack, smack" sound.

The palace maid initially gritted her teeth, her gaze resolute, large beads of sweat appearing on her forehead from the pain. Later, her body gradually curled up until she could no longer endure the excruciating pain.

Either way, she's going to die. Now the Empress holds the power of life and death over her family. Compared to the Princess Consort of Jin, the Empress has a higher status and more power.

"Ah, Your Majesty, spare me! This servant knows her mistake!"

"I will speak!"

Empress Zhaoyuan raised her hand, and Eunuch Li put down the board.

"It's the Princess Consort of Jin! This servant will tell you everything, Your Majesty, please have mercy!" The palace maid wailed, lying on the ground.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare my life! It was the Princess Consort of Jin who threatened my family's lives. I had no choice!"

The Empress raised an eyebrow. "Princess Consort of Jin? So she's my sister-in-law. What a troublesome, lowly woman."

The maid's buttocks and legs were already a bloody mess. She crawled to the Empress's feet, her voice hoarse, and begged desperately.

"This servant is just a lowly life, how dare I oppose the Princess Consort of Jin?!"

"This servant had no choice but to obey orders."

"We beg Your Majesty to investigate this matter thoroughly!"

The head eunuch brought over the case files of the palace maid and the eunuch. As the empress looked at the case files, she said, "Tell me everything clearly, word by word, from beginning to end."

"Go and fetch pen, ink, paper, and inkstone to record my testimony."

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty, this servant will record it immediately."

After an incense stick had burned a while, the head eunuch finished recording the palace maid's confession, then grabbed her hand, dipped it in blood, and signed it.

That eunuch was loyal; he bit off his tongue and committed suicide.

After Empress Zhaoyuan understood the whole story and caught the real culprit, she left the prison satisfied.

...

"Wow wow wow!"

Inside Shouchang Palace, a loud cry startled Zhang Mama, who was half asleep.

When Zhang Mama saw Yun Duoduo crying, she felt extremely distressed. She sat up and hurriedly hugged Yun Duoduo in her arms, gently rocking her. "Oh, don't cry, don't cry, my little baby, don't cry."

Yun Duoduo was awakened by her own crying. She didn't understand why her mouth had involuntarily opened and why she had started crying uncontrollably when she was sleeping soundly.

All of this is simply the baby's instinct, a completely physiological reaction.

After crying for a while, Yun Duoduo felt like her head was about to explode. She felt dizzy and opened her eyes wide. She looked out the window, but it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything.

Listen closely, and you'll hear the night watchman announcing the time; it's the hour of Chou, which is one in the morning.

Yun Duoduo was speechless. This baby's sleep schedule was really irregular. This baby was staying up all night! Staying up all night is bad for your health!

She glanced at Granny Zhang, who was standing guard beside her. Granny Zhang looked haggard, with huge dark circles under her eyes, and her eye sockets were getting deeper and deeper.

Seeing that Yun Duoduo was looking at her, Granny Zhang gently hummed, "Little princess, don't cry, don't cry, Granny will sing you a song."

"Little rocking bed, gently swaying, little stars, hanging in the sky, gentle breeze blowing, princess sleeping..."

Seeing Zhang Mama's haggard face and her attempts to coax her to sleep, Yun Duoduo felt a pang of guilt.

She had come into this world for no reason, enjoying wealth and luxury, and causing trouble for so many people. Although she was still a child physically, she was already an adult mentally. She forced herself to close her eyes and began counting sheep: [One sheep, two sheep, three sheep...]

Yun Duoduo frowned, using her willpower and physical strength to fight back, and after counting two hundred sheep, she finally fell asleep again.

...

The next day, before dawn, Yun Duoduo woke up. Sure enough, a baby's sleep is so unstable.

She blinked her big eyes and looked around at everything. Suddenly, her gaze fell on the foot of the bed, and she shuddered. She saw the medicine box there again!

What's going on? She was a little confused.

She climbed to the medicine box, opened it, and found two vials of oral liquid for treating colds and two straws inside.

Goodness, that's exactly her daily dosage.

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