"Your Highness, Your Highness, I am just a merchant's wife, are you trying to drag me down with you?" Tao Wanniang said helplessly.

"Manager Tao, please have some understanding of the pain and suffering parents endure. Our child has been bullied to this extent. Even if it were the Emperor himself, I would still avenge him. But I want to know how you did it."

The young are easy to fool, but the old are hard to deal with! Tao Wanniang sighed inwardly, "That day, the Emperor came to Zhaixing Tower and summoned me specifically." Tao Wanniang said, "Because of my relationship with Lingyunzhou, the Emperor came to find out how I viewed the eldest princess's request for the Emperor to issue a decree to grant us marriage."

“I am just a merchant’s wife, how could I let the Emperor ask me questions? I felt a little strange, so I kept an eye on things. I have a secret treasure at home, hmm, it can record what other people say.”

Tao Wanniang took out the recording pen, pressed playback, and the emperor's monologue from that day was played.

Prince Rui was shocked, his eyes filled with disbelief, looking at the ordinary little black pen with great complexity.

"What...what...what is this?"

"This is called a voice recorder, um, it can record what you hear." As Tao Wanniang spoke, she pressed the record button again and then spoke into the voice recorder.

Pressing playback again, her words were played back verbatim from the recorder. Seeing the shocked expressions of Prince Rui and his wife, as well as Xiao Yi, Tao Wanniang felt truly helpless; it was inappropriate to bring this out!

"Forgive me for being a coward and wanting to stay out of this, so I lied to the young master," Tao Wanniang said with an embarrassed smile to Xiao Yi. "I don't have any ventriloquists, only this!"

With this, who cares about ventriloquists! Xiao Yi looked at the inconspicuous recording pen with curiosity and surprise.

"Sister Tao, may I take a look at this?" Xiao Yi asked.

"It's okay to look, but don't press any buttons randomly. If you press the wrong one, you'll lose everything immediately!" Tao Wanniang tossed the recorder to Xiao Yi.

"This thing is truly rare and unheard of. Where did Sister Tao get it from?" Prince Rui also wanted to see it.

"I exchanged it on the way to escape famine," Tao Wanniang said casually. "I had everything, but nothing could compare to a sip of water and a bowl of porridge."

These words failed to convince Prince Rui, but they did reveal the emperor's absurd thoughts to them. Just as the princess consort had thought, the princess's illness was most likely due to something the emperor had done.

"Father, Mother, the Emperor must not find out about this!" Xiao Yi said decisively. "Sister Tao, please delete that passage."

"Why, Yi'er? This is evidence!" Princess Rui asked, puzzled.

"Father, Mother, these are the words His Majesty spoke at the Star-Picking Tower. Does His Majesty intend to make the entire Star-Picking Tower a target for silencing us?" Xiao Yi said solemnly. He couldn't let Tao Wanniang be the first to be targeted. She had overheard His Majesty's thoughts, and if His Majesty found out, Tao Wanniang would die!

Prince Rui looked at Tao Wanniang, then at the recording pen, and finally returned the recording pen to Tao Wanniang.

"Manager Tao, this thing is too strange and defies common sense. You should destroy it." Prince Rui said solemnly. His son was right. This thing could indeed leave the emperor speechless, but it also became evidence for the emperor to punish Zhaixing Tower.

"Yes, Shopkeeper Tao, this thing is too shocking! It can eavesdrop on people's conversations. You should destroy it immediately!" Princess Rui, who reacted quickly, also advised.

To avenge his son, Prince Rui's mansion would not allow the Star-Picking Tower to become the target of the emperor's anger.

Tao Wanniang was somewhat taken aback, but how could someone like her not understand the reason behind it?

A well-placed voice recorder could be irrefutable evidence against the emperor, but... a quiet warmth welled up inside me. The Prince Rui's mansion was, after all, a place that didn't flaunt imperial power and nobility, nor its ruthlessness!

"Sister Tao, let me see you out! Thank you for what you did for me," Xiao Yi said. "At least from now on, I won't be kept in the dark anymore."

After bidding farewell to Prince Rui and his wife, Tao Wanniang followed Xiao Yi toward the entrance of the Prince's Mansion.

“Sister Tao, once you leave this room today, just forget about this whole thing,” Xiao Yi said. “You shouldn’t have gotten involved in this.”

Tao Wanniang didn't want to get involved, but what could she do when she found out? However, there wasn't much she could do right now.

"I don't know much about the Emperor, but if the Eldest Princess is capable of such a thing, Your Highness, you'd better be careful! Some people will become enraged."

"Sister Tao, thank you!" Xiao Yi said again, beckoning Cheng Feng who was not far away. Xiao Yi instructed Cheng Feng to take Tao Wanniang back to Zhaixing Tower.

"I cannot swallow this insult! Is it wrong for my son to be so outstanding? Even if he had such thoughts, they should have kept them buried deep inside until they rotted away. This hypocritical forced marriage, which led to the death of my daughter-in-law, and the spreading of rumors to ruin my son's marriage—it's utterly despicable!"

Xiao Yi pushed open the study door again and heard Prince Rui speaking angrily in a low voice.

"Your Highness, go! Yi'er is living such a miserable life. That Zhao Zhe is a real scoundrel!"

Xiao Yi felt a surge of warmth in his heart. His parents hadn't blamed him for the original sin just because the other party was the emperor.

"Father, Mother, I'd like to visit the Princess's residence first," Xiao Yi said.

"Do we still need to see? Isn't it obvious?" Prince Rui said. "You go to the Princess's residence and take a look, and I'll go to the palace. Don't worry, I won't go so far as to directly berate him!"

After thinking it over, Xiao Yi temporarily agreed to Prince Rui's proposal.

When he went out again, it was already dark. Xiao Yi arrived at the Princess's residence and, after explaining his purpose, was led to the Princess's bedroom by the steward.

"Your Highness, our princess has a sudden illness. She was perfectly fine, but suddenly she fell ill. She can't speak, her hands are shaking, and she can't write."

This sounded like they were trying to prevent the princess from saying that thing. Xiao Yi's heart sank, and he felt uneasy.

"Your Highness, the Prince Rui's son has come to see you!" The steward knocked on the door and said in a low voice.

The door creaked open, and Leng Cui, the princess's personal maid, greeted Xiao Yi before leading him inside.

The princess looked indifferent as she combed her hair in front of the mirror, but her hand holding the comb kept trembling.

"Your Highness, please let me do it," another maid, Xiang Ning, said in a low voice.

“Your Highness, I have come to inquire about the cause of your illness. It is a private matter, so please dismiss all attendants.” Xiao Yi said solemnly, “I know you are currently unable to speak or write. If I am correct, will you nod in agreement?”

“Your Highness, Princess, why do you have to ask me something at this time?” Xiang Ning couldn’t help but ask.

The princess threw the comb aside, turned around and gave Xiao Yi a bitter smile. In the candlelight, it was eerily unsettling. Then, she nodded and gestured for Leng Cui and Xiang Ning to leave.