"So, we'll just have to swallow this insult ourselves?" Lady Chen was sobbing uncontrollably, and she looked like she was about to faint again.

Chen Ziying and the palace maid beside her quickly helped her up, patting her back and patting her back to help her catch her breath. It took her a while to recover.

"Your Majesty, you didn't see it, but our manor's treasury is almost empty. Otherwise, a family like ours wouldn't bother coming to you over a box or two of broken medicinal herbs," Chen Ziying said, her eyes red and swollen.

The Empress naturally knew that, given the power and influence of the Duke of Chen's family, they would never make such a scene over a small amount of money.

"This matter concerns the Empress Dowager, and I cannot make a hasty judgment. I must consult the Empress Dowager before making a decision. You may come with me to pay your respects to the Empress Dowager," the Empress said calmly.

Several people led a group of palace maids and eunuchs to the Empress Dowager's Cixi Palace in a grand procession.

The Empress traveled with the same number of people as usual, except for the addition of the Duke of Chen and Chen Ziying; but now, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, she was making a bit of a fuss.

When the Empress Dowager looked at the Empress, her expression clearly fell eight degrees, and she even glared at her with extreme displeasure.

When the Empress entered the room and saw Ji Fengyao sitting in the hall, and noticed that the Emperor Taihuang looked strange, her heart sank to the bottom.

The Empress, Lady Chen, and Chen Ziying paid their respects in turn.

The Empress Dowager didn't even utter a sound.

The other concubines always lived by the Empress Dowager's whims; if the Empress Dowager didn't say anything, they naturally wouldn't either.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly plummeted to freezing point, becoming extremely awkward.

At this moment, Cixi Palace was like a giant powder keg, with the fuse ready and only the fire to be lit missing.

Ji Fengyao's clear, water-washed black eyes darted around, and under the hateful gazes of Chen Guogongfu and Chen Ziying, she gracefully rose and bid farewell to the Empress Dowager with a "sad" expression: "Empress Dowager, now that things have been clarified, I will leave this gold token with you and return to my residence. I will live in seclusion in my residence to avoid suspicion in the future, and I am afraid I will not be able to visit the Empress Dowager again."

"What's there to avoid? You were recommended to the Emperor by me. If you want to avoid suspicion, then I should also reflect on my mistakes. You just sit here properly. I'll ask the Empress for you what you're trying to avoid," the Empress Dowager said in a stern voice with a dark face.

The fact that Lady Chen and Chen Ziying dared to be disrespectful to Ji Fengyao in front of her shows that they were probably a hundred times more outrageous than Xi Que had described at the Duke of Chen's residence yesterday!

"Mother, you've spoken too harshly. The matter of the Ninth Prince's Consort..." The Empress was filled with regret at this moment.

She was also confused by the crying and fussing of the Duchess of Chen, why didn't she inquire about the situation at Cixi Palace first?

At this moment, the bandit seized the initiative, and her arrival was like walking right into the line of fire!

"How is the matter of the Ninth Prince's Consort? Your Chen State Duke's Mansion is truly quite grand now, with both an Empress and a Crown Prince. In the future, even the entire Great Zhao Dynasty will belong to your Chen family, so you don't even care about me, the Empress Dowager." The Empress Dowager slammed her hand on the tea table, making the teacups on the table bounce.

"Mother, how dare the Chen family? This matter is not your doing..." The Empress was about to explain.

The Empress Dowager, however, did not allow her to explain at all.

The Empress Dowager threw the booklet that Xique had handed her away, which landed at the Empress's feet: "Look at this for yourself. The Ninth Princess only asked for a few medicines for me, and you all went and registered her name and made a list. Are you trying to make me pay back a debt?"