Empress Dowager Xiao's attitude was firm: "If I don't tell you, my daughter might still have a sliver of hope. But if I tell you now, both my daughter and I will surely die; including you, you won't survive either. Given your and the Ninth Prince's current situation, he can't protect you, and you can't protect yourself."

What secret could have such serious consequences if you found out?

Ji Fengyao was genuinely curious about what Consort Xiao was saying.

But she also knew that unless she performed a soul search on Consort Xiao, Consort Xiao would not tell her now, even if she were dead.

“My goal is actually the same as yours, to live a quiet and peaceful life. But I don’t know what misunderstanding the Empress Dowager has about me. Since I came to the capital, she has made things difficult for me time and time again. Can the Dowager Consort clear up my doubts?” Ji Fengyao took a step back and did not press the issue.

Empress Dowager Xiao breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this, and said coldly, "Because you were too domineering and blocked her path; she is a very vengeful person, and now that you have offended her to death, even if you know all this now, it will be of no use."

"Isn't this perfect? ​​It gives you, the Dowager Consort, a reason to exist." Ji Fengyao casually picked at her clean, unadorned, yet naturally glossy nails, her tone languid: "I know that Granny Wang is the Empress Dowager's person. As long as you, the Dowager Consort, tell me in advance what you know about the Empress Dowager's intentions and movements; and we cooperate in a cooperative manner, then both you and I can live well in the future."

"You, you even know that Granny Wang is one of the Empress Dowager's people!" Consort Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "Did the Ninth Prince find out and tell you?"

“Anyone who has served their master for half their life is either a loyal servant or a thorn in their side; if Granny Wang were truly one of your people, she wouldn’t have dared to cause trouble last time and insist on provoking you to deal with me so harshly.” Ji Fengyao pointed back at her beautiful, clear phoenix eyes: “My eyes are not blind; I can see for myself. I don’t need Your Highness to remind me.”

Empress Dowager Xiao stared blankly at Ji Fengyao, remaining silent in disbelief for a long while before smiling sadly and saying, "It seems I underestimated you. I never imagined you were so intelligent. It seems that in this world, only a woman like you is worthy of the Ninth Prince."

Ji Fengyao silently rolled her eyes: "..."

What do you mean by "matching"? That's her master!

Even if we take a step back and say that she has to be worthy of the Ninth Prince, why can't the Ninth Prince be worthy of her?

Empress Dowager Xiao nodded: "Alright, I agree to cooperate with you, but you must promise me one thing."

A moment later.

Ji Fengyao, swinging the undergarment that Consort Xiao used to wear, swaggered out the door. To Wang Mama's almost incredulous gaze, she personally reached out and stripped all of Liu Yunzhao's hair ornaments off.

She wrapped the hairpins in Consort Xiao's undergarments, handed them to Xique, and said arrogantly, "Keep these safe. These are all incriminating evidence against Consort Xiao. Don't lose them. They're worth a million taels of silver!"

"Alright, Miss, as long as we don't get the money, we won't lose this thing!" Xi Que happily hugged the underwear and hairpins tightly to her chest, looking every bit greedy.

Granny Wang: "..."

What a bunch of shallow-minded, filthy bandits!

They had such a huge handle on them, yet they managed to settle it with just one million taels of silver?

If I had known they were so easy to deal with, why did the Empress Dowager go through all that trouble? She could have just thrown millions of taels of silver at them and knocked them unconscious!