After much effort, Concubine Li finally heard the news that the emperor agreed to let her return to Qiwu Palace.

When she left the cold palace, she glanced at the queen with pride, but was secretly happy in her heart.

When Prime Minister Lu saw Emperor Shangwen nod, he finally felt relieved. It was worth it for him to personally deliver the letter to the empress dowager.

In fact, Prime Minister Lu knew that Concubine Li was pregnant, and thinking of the Duan family's prosperity, Prime Minister Lu had to take a gamble.

Fortunately, the Queen Mother stepped in and left the Emperor with no other options, forcing him to compromise. This was actually enough.

"Your Majesty, you must take good care of your body. If you feel unwell or want to eat something, I will have someone prepare it immediately."

Concubine Li nodded softly, "In that case, thank you very much, father."

Prime Minister Lu had achieved his goal and it was inappropriate for him to stay any longer, so he left the palace.

Under the escort of the palace maids, Concubine Li returned to Qiwu Palace safely.

Looking at the familiar yet somewhat dilapidated palace, Concubine Li didn't care at all. She was back after all, even though she was just Concubine Li. However, as long as Shan Wandong was there, Emperor Shang Wen would one day focus on her, so there was no need to rush.

The emperor and empress looked at each other in silence. After the empress dowager left, Empress Duan turned and walked towards Fengyi Palace without any hesitation.

Emperor Shangwen hurriedly chased after her and said in a deep voice, "Queen, please stay."

Empress Duan strongly restrained her emotions. Noble ladies from aristocratic families all had special maids to teach them, so she was not allowed to vent her emotions at will, especially when facing the emperor.

From the moment she entered the palace, Empress Duan knew that the emperor's favor was fleeting, so she never expected it.

Only when his children were persecuted and Emperor Shangwen was willing to uphold justice and punish Concubine Li did he feel some emotions that he didn't have in his usual days. She knew very well what she wanted.

Empress Duan pursed her lips and said nothing, then respectfully bowed to Emperor Shangwen.

"I wonder what else the emperor wants? Tonight, Concubine Li is pregnant for the first time. The emperor should go to accompany Concubine Li. Please rest assured, I am not a jealous person."

These words were said extremely politely. Emperor Shangwen thought of how gentle and considerate the Empress had been in the past two days. Now she seemed distant, and he knew in his heart that it was because of Concubine Li.

He couldn't make a promise, but he spoke to Queen Duan in a firm tone.

"Yun'er, I will weigh this matter in my heart. Concubine Li has done so many wrong things that it is hard to list them all. I will not let you and Yu'er suffer any injustice. You are the most important person in my heart."

After saying this, Emperor Shangwen embraced Empress Duan in his arms, regardless of Empress Duan's indifference. The warm embrace surprised Empress Duan. It was the first time that an emperor of such noble status had tried to please his concubine in such a soft voice.

Empress Duan finally realized that her position in Emperor Shangwen's heart was extraordinary, and that was enough.

As long as he knew the grievances that Yu'er and Jin'er had suffered, she could understand some things.

"I understand. I won't be angry with Your Majesty. But I am worried that Yu'er might be frightened, so I have to go and see her."

After hearing this, Emperor Shangwen did not dwell on the matter.

He had government affairs to attend to, so he did not go to Fengyi Palace after all. Instead, he sent someone to deliver new headwear and jewelry to the Queen's palace in order to please her.

Empress Duan returned to Fengyi Palace, and Nanny Cui said comfortingly to her beside her.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is the Emperor. You cannot blame him. It is unfortunate that Concubine Li is pregnant, and the Emperor can do nothing about it."

Empress Duan was of course aware of what Nanny Cui had said, but she didn't understand why Concubine Li didn't tell her in advance if she had known she was pregnant, given her personality.

On the contrary, two months later, she was filled with sorrow. It seemed that Concubine Li had made considerable preparations to regain favor, except that she wanted to keep the child.

But Concubine Li...she would not let Concubine Li get her wish.

At this time on normal days, the little princess would have finished her feeding and gone to bed early, but tonight she refused to go to bed no matter what. She kept her eyes wide open, indicating that she would not go to bed until her mother came back.

Eleven couldn't persuade the little princess and thought she was thinking about the queen, so he waited with her.

However, when the queen came back, Xiao Ruyu saw that she looked very haggard, with no light in her eyes, as if she had suffered some kind of blow.

When Xiao Ruyu saw the queen, she climbed out of the cradle, regardless of the danger. Eleven was frightened and quickly picked the little princess up from the cradle, holding her steadily in his arms, his eyes full of helplessness.

"Little princess, be careful not to fall."

When Queen Duan saw her daughter, the irritability in her heart gradually subsided.

The sweet fragrance brought by the little princess always has the power to soothe everything. It is because of this that Queen Duan's mood gradually stabilized.

[Mother, did my little cousin and I cause you trouble? I can testify that it was the young master of the Lu family who started it first. My little cousin even has blood on the back of his head.]

Thinking of this, Xiao Ruyu regretted not giving Duan Yiling medicine for his bruises and injuries. In just two months, Duan Yiling had been injured countless times.

Even if it's like stirring up a hornet's nest, you have to be prepared. Fortunately, her spiritual power formed a barrier to protect her little cousin and the emperor. Otherwise, she would have hurt the enemy a thousand times and suffered eight hundred losses herself without getting hurt at all.

The little princess is very smart and will not do business at a loss.

Queen Duan held the little princess in her arms and said softly.

"My mother is sorry for you. Concubine Li has returned to Qiwu Palace because of her pregnancy. Even if it is a punishment, it will be a year later. It is hard to say what will happen in the harem."

Besides, Concubine Li's methods were very ruthless. She was very worried that Concubine Li would harm her children. In the past few months, she had to be on guard against Concubine Li.

Xiao Ruyu was surprised. How could Concubine Li still be pregnant when she only had a bad card left in her hand? And why did she reveal it at this time? It seemed that someone had given her advice.

At this moment, her movements were restricted and she couldn't do anything, but it was even more so that she had to remind her good mother, otherwise, it would be bad if Concubine Li plotted against her.

[Mother, you don't have to blame yourself. This matter has nothing to do with you. My brother and Yu'er are here. We just need to be on guard against Concubine Li. But why does mother have a strange fragrance...]

Xiao Ruyu is an expert in both medicine and poison, and is very sensitive to smells, especially the scent of Queen Duan.

It smells more like the aphrodisiac that the traitors from Medicine King Valley got out of him. This drug has no effect on women, but is extremely attractive to men.

There once was a traitor in Yaowang Valley who took advantage of his position to steal a lot of knowledge from others in Yaowang Valley, and eventually made inferior medicines.

Speaking of which, the reason why the master left Yaowang Valley was to capture the traitor who stole Yaowang Valley's treasure, Linglong Heart.

I didn't expect that things would be so coincidental, which is a bit surprising.

Could it be that there is also a traitor in this world? It’s just strange that she can’t sense that person’s breath.

Seeing that the little princess was so curious, Queen Duan hurried to explain.

"I just went to the cold palace. Maybe I got the cold palace's aura."

Xiao Ruyu suddenly realized, that's what it was.

If Concubine Li's target is not her mother, it must be her father.