The emperor snorted coldly: "So you deliberately contracted a sexually transmitted disease to get revenge on me."

The maidservant beside her suddenly knelt down and replied, "Your Majesty, please see the truth. The little princess was deceived by that person because she entrusted herself to the wrong person."

The emperor gave a soft "oh," wanting to hear what the inside story was.

If the princess's father and mother also knew about this, then they couldn't blame him for being ruthless and destroying this small country.

Even the little maid knew that if they didn't explain clearly, the emperor of the great dynasty might become angry and destroy their small country.

The cause and effect must be explained clearly, otherwise not only will the princess and those who came with her as part of the dowry be sentenced to death, but the country itself may be completely destroyed.

She has elderly parents, older brother and sister, and younger brother at home, and everyone treats her very well.

Then the maidservant said, "Princess Zhu Hua fell in love with a poor scholar without knowing that she was to be married off."

She initially fell in love with the poor scholar because of his exceptional literary talent, but after receiving the princess's silver notes, he became complacent and spent his days visiting brothels.

Later, when the scholar learned that Zhu Hua was actually a princess of the country, and the only princess at that, he developed the idea of ​​becoming her husband.

During this time, he no longer spent his days visiting brothels, but devoted himself to the princess. The princess was simple-minded and believed that as a human being, how could she not make mistakes? She felt that it was a great thing to know one's mistakes and correct them.

So the princess forgave the poor scholar for spending his days visiting brothels and for hurting her feelings.

Our poor princess was easily deceived by that poor scholar, and was willing to break with her father and mother to be with him.

Later, that beast came up with a wicked idea. He thought that if he could force himself on the princess, and ideally get her pregnant, then His Majesty would have no choice but to agree.

Zhu Hua, who was standing nearby, heard her maid talking about her past shameful deeds and immediately slapped her across the face.

"When has this princess ever needed the pity of you maids?"

The maidservant hugged her princess with heartache, "Little princess, haven't you seen through it yet? That beast deliberately infected you with the disease!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Hua slapped him again: "No, he didn't know he was infected. He didn't intentionally infect me."

"Waaah... He said he was drugged by another woman, had sex with her, and didn't know she had a disease."

The emperor shook his head upon hearing this. She had already been harmed to such an extent by that poor scholar, yet she was still trying to excuse him!

That's incredibly stupid.

It now seems that Zhu Hua's father and mother were unaware of this matter, so there is no need to destroy such a small country.

Although I am not a tyrant and will not arbitrarily destroy countries weaker than myself, I still have to make them pay some price.

"Xiao Dezi, send Princess Zhu Hua back and tell them that Princess Zhu Hua is infected with a disease and even tried to infect me. Tell them to handle it themselves, and if they don't handle it well, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Xiao Dezi nodded immediately upon hearing this, while the maid beside her breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that not only had she escaped a calamity, but their country might have escaped one as well.

Zhu Hua immediately became agitated upon hearing this: "You can't announce this to the world, otherwise what will become of me, the princess?"

The maidservant beside her quickly covered the princess's mouth.

The emperor fell silent and turned to walk out.

Xiao Dezi slapped Princess Zhu Hua across the face from behind: "What kind of thing is this? How dare you shout at the Emperor like that? Do you think your head is too heavy and you need me to chop it off?"

You did despicable things, and you wanted the whole country to be dragged down with you. Now that your deeds have simply been exposed, you can't even accept it? How selfish!

After saying this, he ignored the princess's collapsed expression and strode after the departing emperor.

The news quickly reached the Empress's palace, where Aunt Qiu said indignantly, "Your Majesty is always thinking of the Emperor's best interests, but he doesn't appreciate it at all."

In my humble opinion, Your Highness shouldn't worry so much. It only leads to misunderstandings. Your Highness suffers injustices and can only swallow them down. It pains me to see this."

The Empress patted Xiao Qiu's hand and said, "Alright, you need to be more careful with your words. It's fine if you say this in front of me when no one else is around, but if others are here, they'll have something on you."

Xiao Qiu chuckled and said, "What's there to be afraid of? Your Majesty will definitely protect Xiao Qiu. Xiao Qiu isn't afraid at all."

The Empress smiled and tapped Xiao Qiu's head with her finger: "You!"

Just then, the eunuch at the door shouted loudly, "The Emperor has arrived!"

The Empress quickly sat up from the soft couch, straightened her clothes, and hurried outside to greet them.

Upon seeing the Emperor, he gave a slight bow, but the Emperor quickly helped him up, saying, "I have said it many times, there is no need to bow when you see me."

The Empress shook her head: "Your Majesty, I must observe the proper etiquette."

"You really are getting more and more distant these days."

The Empress gestured for Xiao Qiu to leave first, and Xiao Qiu quickly called everyone down.

The Emperor held the Empress's hand and said, "Do you still remember when we climbed the mountain before dawn to see the first sun rise in the east?"

The empress stared at the emperor, seemingly lost in memories of the past, in a daze.

At that moment, she seemed to see again the young man she had loved to the core.

"Your Majesty, that is all in the past. Now that I am getting older, I can no longer compare with the beauties of the harem."

Your Majesty need not neglect your other sisters because of a promise made in your youth.

The emperor was clearly taken aback by these words, and then a hint of anger arose in his eyes.

"I have already said so, yet you still want to push me to someone else. Why? Because you have never fought for anything."

The Empress merely glanced at the Emperor: "I believe that what is mine will always be mine, and no one can take it away from me. What is not mine, even if I try my best to keep it, will not last long."

"Hmph! The Empress is truly magnanimous! So this is how you see me—that all your efforts to keep me here will be in vain?"

The Empress quickly got off the soft couch and knelt before the Emperor: "Your Majesty, I dare not."

The emperor sighed as if he were exhausted: "Do you know that I have only ever had you in my heart? But your unassuming nature makes me feel that you don't care about me."

Upon hearing this, the Empress's eyes finally showed a ripple: "Your Majesty is the emperor, and he has three palaces and six courtyards of sisters who can carry on the royal family line. As the Empress, I should be magnanimous."

The emperor then picked up the empress and said, “I don’t need your magnanimity. I have always believed that only by elevating the person I love most to the highest position can my empire become your empire, and only the child you bear become the sole heir.”