"Your Majesty, that's what I heard."
The palace maid knelt on the ground and recounted everything she had heard to the Empress in detail.
"Is that so? But you are from Consort Zhang's palace, how can I trust you?"
What if this is a trap set for me by Consort Zhang and her group?
The Empress still wouldn't easily trust anyone.
But at this moment, one of the palace maids beside her also knelt down.
“Your Majesty, Lü Yao is my cousin. Last time in the palace, she was almost beaten to death by Prince Xiao's concubine, but the Crown Princess saved her. Lü Yao would never lie; she is a grateful person.”
Yes.
The palace maid in Consort Zhang's palace is the one that Su Liluo saved that day.
Lü Yao was kind and innocent by nature. Ever since Su Liluo saved her and guided her on the path ahead, she was very grateful to her.
Therefore, upon hearing Consort Zhang's conversation, she immediately decided to come to Fengluan Palace to inform the Empress.
"Someone, summon the Crown Prince to the palace immediately to see me!"
When the Empress heard what her maid said, she no longer doubted the truth of Lü Yao's words. Her expression changed slightly, and a sense of vigilance arose in her heart.
I kept this secret so perfectly, but I never expected it would still be discovered!
Now, she has no choice but to eliminate the problem completely.
The Empress closed her eyes in deep sorrow.
After receiving the Empress's message, Xiao Ye quickly entered the palace.
"Mother, what do you need me for?"
Xiao Ye asked in a gentle voice.
"You may all leave now. I need to speak with the Crown Prince alone. Remember, no one is to be allowed near my room."
The Empress first glanced at the palace servants around her, then dismissed them all.
Xiao Ye's expression turned serious; she sensed that the Empress was about to tell her something very important.
"Your Highness, I need you to kill a few people."
After the hall quieted down, the Empress spoke softly.
Xiao Ye's gaze suddenly turned to the Empress, "Who does Mother want to kill?"
This was the first time the Empress had ordered him to kill someone.
The Empress was always kind and benevolent. Even if the palace servants made mistakes, the most serious punishment was a beating or being expelled from the palace to be sold off. He had never seen the Empress kill a single servant.
Now, the Empress suddenly wants him to kill several people. Who could possibly be the kind of people that the Empress would order him to kill?
Xiao Ye was genuinely curious.
"This is the list and photos of those three people."
The Empress took out the portraits that had been prepared in advance and handed them to Xiao Ye. Xiao Ye glanced at them indifferently and could not see any difference between the three women. He was just slightly puzzled as to why they were three women of no status.
"Mother, could you tell me why I killed them?"
Xiao Ye still voiced the question that was on his mind.
"Because they know my secret, a secret that could allow your father to depose me as Empress."
The Empress did not hide anything and directly stated the importance of the matter, but did not specify the details.
Xiao Ye glanced at the Empress, knowing that this matter had to be done, but at the same time he understood that his mother did not want to say what it was.
So he didn't make things difficult for the empress, nodded in agreement, and left the palace.
After returning to the Crown Prince's residence, he shared his doubts with Su Liluo.
Do you want to know the Empress's secret?
Su Liluo looked at Xiao Ye seriously.
Xiao Ye hesitated for a moment before speaking, "But it seems my mother doesn't want me to know. I have a feeling this isn't a good thing. If I find out, it might cause problems between her and me..."
He didn't finish speaking, but Su Liluo understood what he meant.
Su Liluo thought for a moment, then grasped Xiao Ye's heart.
"Since that's the case, let's just let things take their course. Don't ask them deliberately. Just do as Mother said and capture these three first. Mother is probably afraid of these three appearing, but we have no trouble with them yet, so there's no need to kill them."
"Once you capture them, keep them under control and prevent them from showing their faces. When you ascend the throne, your mother will be the Empress Dowager, and no one will be able to threaten her anymore."
She knew that although Xiao Ye seemed cold and ruthless, he was not one to kill innocent people indiscriminately, and neither was she.
He only killed enemies on the battlefield to protect his country. He would not lay a hand on the people of Daliang unless they were extremely vicious.
Moreover, the three people in front of them are two unrelated, frail women and an old woman.
"Um."
Xiao Ye glanced at Su Liluo and nodded.
Just as Su Liluo had thought, he did not want to kill the three women who had no grudge against him, but he also did not want to put his mother in danger.
Therefore, he agreed to Su Liluo's proposal.
*
Meanwhile, that night, Consort Zhang's palace was completely silent, and the palace servants who were supposed to keep watch for her were all fast asleep.
Inside the hall, a candle burned dimly, accompanied by a breeze that drifted in through the window.
It swayed, flickering on and off.
"After all these years, you've finally taken the initiative to see me."
In the blur, a hoarse voice, as if roasted over a fire, rang out.
By the moonlight, one could vaguely see a small but sturdy man on the bed, pressing down on a thin woman.
He gently caressed and played with the woman's body, moving down her cheek.
"Hmm~"
The woman let out a muffled groan.
"I have a favor to ask of you this time. You must do it well, or my son and I will die."
Consort Zhang spoke softly.
"What happened? Is it that serious?"
How could you possibly be willing to contact me?
The man asked in confusion.
"Go and find someone for me, and then hand them over to Prince Xiao."
Consort Zhang slowly stated her request.
Actually, she was very afraid of the man in front of her. He was from the same village as her, but he had been different from ordinary people since childhood. He was ugly and had a strange personality.
The reason this man became attached to her was because of a moment of kindness she had once acted on a whim.
She spoke up for him when he was bullied by other children in the village when he was a child.
From then on, the man saw himself as different from others.
Later, this man somehow acquired a terrifying ability, and he even told her that he wasn't originally ugly, but that someone had disfigured him.
After she entered the palace as a maid, this person even sneaked into the palace to visit her, without being discovered by the palace guards.
At that time, she felt that this person was exceptionally capable.
The reason she had this ill-fated relationship with him was because she accidentally offended a palace maid in the palace. In order to get revenge, the palace maid drugged her with aphrodisiacs, hoping that she would seduce the emperor in the empress's palace and be discovered by the empress.
She knew that the emperor would not be interested in her appearance, so she ran away.
I thought I was going to die, but then this man appeared in front of me.
He took her, and she became pregnant a month later.
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