"Really? Then I'll go right now!" Xi Que was overjoyed and skipped away, but was stopped by the defensive formation set up by Ji Fengyao.

Seeing her embarrassed and discomfitured expression, Bai Lu burst into laughter.

"Miss, you're teasing me!" Magpie stamped her foot, finding it funny herself.

Ji Fengyao then smiled and explained, "I didn't mean to stop you from eliminating this scourge for the people. It's just that if we kill her before her crimes are exposed, people will criticize us and cover up her evil deeds. Wouldn't that be a loss for us?"

"But we can't just let her cause trouble and bully us and the prince like this," Xi Que said, somewhat unconvinced as she didn't quite understand these complex principles.

Ji Fengyao smiled nonchalantly: "Let her bully me? How could I? I've been developing the medicine tailored specifically for her for a long time, but I just haven't waited for the right opportunity. I'm just waiting for her to cause trouble to the death!"

Lin Shuang paused, her hand holding the towel trembling slightly.

At this moment, Xique rushed over in surprise and squatted down next to the bathtub. Her elbow accidentally bumped into Lin Shuang. Lin Shuang subconsciously tightened her grip on the towel and quickly continued to gently rub downwards.

"Miss, you're amazing! My lady never disappoints me!" Xi Que showered Xi Que with compliments without restraint.

Bai Lu happily replied, "Me too! I truly admire the Princess Consort to no end!"

"You've even learned how to say 'no no'?" Ji Fengyao exclaimed in surprise, reaching out to flick Bai Lu's nose and laughing, "You've made rapid progress, you little rascal."

"Hehe, it's all thanks to the Princess's excellent teaching," Bai Lu said, shrinking her neck with pride.

After Princess Zhaoping was poisoned, the bandit suddenly became a miracle doctor, and the empress executed her own sister Chen Ziying, although the banquet hall quickly returned to its usual peaceful atmosphere, everyone's mood remained unsettled.

Especially when they saw the Emperor and the Ninth Prince's identical faces, indifferent yet cold and devoid of any warmth, everyone felt extremely uneasy.

Unable to bear the inner torment any longer, Shang Dongyang quietly left the banquet hall.

When he arrived at Qiwu Palace, the Empress was indifferent but skillfully sewing an exquisite cloth doll.

"Mother, what time is it? How can you still be thinking about this?" Shang Dongyang sat opposite the Empress, furious, and asked anxiously, "Mother, you..."

"Are you trying to ask why I didn't protect your aunt when the Emperor gave me the right to choose, and instead ordered her execution?" The Empress interrupted Shang Dongyang, coldly retorting.

Shang Dongyang clenched his fist, utterly perplexed: "Although Chen Ziying is somewhat foolish, you are the Empress, and she is the only remaining bloodline of the Chen family. Moreover, Princess Zhaoping is not dead; with the merits of the Chen family's ancestors and your current status, protecting Chen Ziying is by no means difficult, Mother..."

The Empress interrupted Shang Dongyang again, and calmly roared in a low voice: "Do you think that by exhausting the Chen family's merits and my status and face, she can be alright?"

Her stupidity was beyond redemption; she didn't even realize the enormous mistakes she had made time and time again!

Even if I save her today, she will still seek her own death again!

Moreover, she had openly provoked the Ninth Prince and that bandit, and had almost killed Princess Zhaoping, thus offending the Empress Dowager. Which of these people is easy to deal with?

Tell me, is it worth sacrificing our entire Eastern Palace to save such a useless stumbling block?