The forty commoners who followed Yun Chi and Ye Yabing knelt outside the hall and cried out in unison, "We beg Your Majesty to execute the witch Ye Qingxue!"

Forty people, forty mouths, simultaneously voiced their requests. The sound surged into the Zichen Palace like waves, echoing endlessly and lingering between the beams and pillars for a long time.

It looks just like a war horn.

However, compared to the situation inside the Zichen Palace at this moment, it seems quite abrupt.

Yun Chi once believed that Ye Qingxue's reckless entry into the palace and refusal to bow to him was a pretext to spread rumors about his background to his father, the Emperor.

So before he entered the palace, his father must have already brought his mother to the Zichen Palace to be questioned!

But no, there was no sign of his mother at all!

However, the Zichen Palace was filled with kneeling people, or even lying down people, and he knew almost all of them.

Because they were almost all from the Marquis of Zhongyong's household.

Why is this happening?

It turned out that Ye Qingxue was ambushed on her way to the palace.

The man was Zhu Banshan. He stepped forward and told Ye Qingxue that she was his fiancée and that he had already given Ye Xiaowei ten thousand taels of silver.

They will give him another 90,000 taels after they consummate their marriage tonight.

Only then did Ye Qingxue realize that she had been betrayed by Ye Xiaowei, who had returned home from prison.

Because Zhu Banshan didn't recognize Eunuch Huaifu in the palace and was very arrogant, Ye Qingxue immediately subdued him and had Dongbai forcibly bring him into the palace.

Grandpa Huaifu was dumbfounded.

Ye Qingxue then said, "This man is so arrogant because he received favors from the Second Master of the Marquis's Mansion. I need to take him to the palace to complain to the Emperor and ask him to help me. I hope you can understand me, Eunuch?"

Grandpa Huaifu: "..."

He was indeed powerless to stop the young lady of the Marquis's mansion from complaining to the Emperor!

Besides, the emperor wants to see her now!

After entering the palace, Ye Qingxue was going to see the emperor: "I'd like to trouble Eunuch Huaifu to keep a close eye on him for me! I'll take care of the emperor!"

She then took the acacia seeds into the palace.

The emperor had originally intended for Ye Qingxue to serve him in bed, so Huaifu did not come in, and the emperor did not say anything more.

Ye Qingxue dismissed everyone and pretended to massage the emperor's shoulders and neck, but actually secretly drugged him.

After he fell into a deep sleep, Xiangsizi immediately took his pulse and examined him.

The examination of the acacia seeds lasted a long time, even examining the emperor's saliva, but they still found no signs of poisoning.

"How could this be?" Ye Qingxue frowned, still remembering what she had heard on the roof of the Liu residence that night.

Given the emperor's unusual behavior during this period and his complete obedience to Yun Chi, Ye Qingxue believed that it was impossible for him not to have been poisoned.

A long time has passed, and it's completely dark, but Xiangsizi still hasn't noticed anything unusual.

Just when it seemed hopeless, things took an unexpected turn. Ye Qingxue noticed something unusual under the emperor's fingernails. After Xiangsizi examined them, it was confirmed that the emperor had been poisoned with "Tethering Silk" poison.

The author of the herbal medicine, *Abrus precatorius*, stated: "'Pulling silk' can dissolve in alcohol and tea, is colorless and tasteless, and those poisoned will not notice it. After ingestion, one will experience a slight fever and fatigue, which doctors may easily misdiagnose as fatigue and weakness."

"In fact, he will be mentally confused, have missing memories, and be unclear about recent events;

"After that, his temperament gradually changed, becoming suspicious and easily angered; his mind was like a puppet on strings. When the poisoner used blood as medicine, he would obey the poisoner's every word, but his daily words and actions seemed normal, making it difficult for outsiders to discern."

Everything is exactly as the emperor described!

Ye Qingxue immediately determined that the poisoner was Prince Ding, Yun Chi!

"Is there any way to detoxify?" Ye Qingxue asked anxiously.

The acacia seed said, "It needs to be boiled with heart-breaking grass, and the blood of the poisoner must be used in the medicine to detoxify it."

"Not to mention that it is difficult to obtain the Heartbreak Grass and the blood of the Prince Ding right now, even the dosage of Heartbreak Grass is difficult to control. If there is a slight mistake, it will lead to death."

"The chance of curing this poison is extremely slim, with only one in nine chances of survival. Moreover, if an emperor were to die suddenly, the empire would easily descend into chaos, and the people would suffer greatly."

Ye Qingxue unconsciously bit her lower lip, almost drawing blood. Giving the emperor the antidote meant the emperor would face a near-death experience, and she and Yun Zhuo would also face a near-death experience.

But if the poison isn't neutralized, the emperor, with his supreme power, will soon reap the heads of her, Yun Zhuo, and many more innocent people.

"...Is there any medicine that can temporarily free His Majesty from the control of 'Tethering Silk'? Let's get through this flood crisis first?" Ye Qingxue asked.

Xiang Si Zi quickly took out a pill from his medicine bag: "This pill can keep him conscious for twelve hours. After twelve hours, the antidote will have to be used!"

"Alright, feed it to him!" Ye Qingxue took the pill and put it directly into the emperor's mouth.

Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "'Tethering Silk' will make him forget everything we did to him tonight, right?"

Xiang Si Zi nodded, and Ye Qingxue was finally relieved.

No wonder she used the story of Consort Yi to scare the emperor last time.

Later, the emperor was knocked unconscious by Yun Zhuo, but the emperor did not hold them accountable at all, because the emperor did not remember them at all.

After the emperor woke up, Ye Qingxue immediately fed him water to make sure he was awake, and then immediately complained to the emperor about Zhu Banshan's matter.

With Huai Fu as a witness, Zhu Banshan, under the pressure of his supreme power, did not resort to torture and confessed all the deals between him and Ye Xiaowei.

After finishing her complaint, Ye Qingxue saw the emperor's angry expression and said, "My second uncle was originally imprisoned for murder, but His Highness Prince Ding took him out of prison a few days ago."

“Prince Ding certainly didn’t do this to target me. He probably just didn’t want his future father-in-law to suffer in prison.”

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!