A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

Shi Liu felt a pang of unease.

The Empress wasn't in the pavilion at all; she clearly... jumped into the pond.

On such a cold day, won't the Empress get frostbite in the water?

Thinking about it this way, Shiliu became anxious again.

How can this be good?

It's all the Crown Prince's fault. Why did he have to provoke his mistress?

In Shiliu's opinion, her mistress was so beautiful that the Crown Prince was probably just lusting after her.

This prince is incredibly audacious!

They even dare to bully the Empress!

Unfortunately, the Empress and the Crown Prince have sensitive identities. If this arouses the Emperor's suspicion, the Empress will die without a burial place.

Wax apples walked in front, and pomegranates followed behind.

Shi Liu hesitated several times before speaking.

Once they reached the pavilion, they were far away from His Majesty and the others.

Only then did she dare to whisper, "Sister Lianwu, shall we sneak into the water and pull the Empress out?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than a woman was seen sitting in the pavilion. Who else could it be but her mistress?

Shi Liu couldn't help but exclaim, "Your Majesty!"

Lotus Apple quickly went to greet her, "Perhaps Pomegranate and I forgot the place, Your Highness. Please forgive us for keeping you waiting!"

Zhou Mingyi glanced at Lianwu indifferently.

This girl is quite clever.

She then looked at Shiliu, who, though not as clever as Lianwu, was utterly loyal.

She parted her cherry lips slightly, her voice soft and gentle, "Pomegranate, go and inform His Majesty that I caught a chill from the wind and have a headache, so I must excuse myself and cannot go to apologize, lest I be disrespectful before the Emperor."

After saying that, she said to Lianwu, "Lianwu, help me back to the palace."

Shiliu quickly draped the cloak over her mistress.

The doubt in her eyes was not concealed at all.

She clearly saw the Empress jump into the pond! She and Sister Lianwu both saw it.

Although the Empress was hiding behind the Crown Prince, the clothes she was wearing were clearly the same ones the Empress wore today.

This morning, Shiliu personally helped the Empress put on her clothes.

I will never admit my mistake.

How did the Empress happen to appear in this pavilion, her clothes dry and her hair still in a bun...?

It’s weird.

Zhou Mingyi knew about Shiliu's doubts, but she deliberately kept quiet about them.

To her surprise, Shiliu didn't ask any questions.

They really learned their lesson.

She felt somewhat satisfied.

She brought pomegranates into the palace simply to see her loyalty.

Besides, she's new to the palace, so she definitely needs to have trustworthy people under her command.

But if she doesn't improve, she won't keep her around forever.

She would send her out of the palace and find her a good family to marry into, thus ending this master-servant relationship and not betraying her loyalty.

As for the wax apple, she has always been reserved.

Zhou Mingyi was not worried that she would say something inappropriate.

Instead, she took the initiative to explain it to her.

"Aren't you curious how I managed to escape from the bottom of that pool?"

She leaned back on the chaise lounge, her posture relaxed. After drinking a bowl of ginger soup to ward off the cold, she spoke in a somewhat nonchalant tone.

Lianwu immediately retorted, "Your Highness, please be careful with your words. You simply drank too much and have been sobering up in the pavilion. How could you have escaped from the bottom of the pond?"

Zhou Mingyi turned to look at her, who kept her eyes down and looked calm.

She suddenly chuckled softly, "You're quite clever."

"That's right. I was just drunk."

"As a palace concubine, how could I possibly associate with the Crown Prince?"

"It's just that there are some restless people in this palace."

……

At this time, at the waterside pavilion.

Emperor Qianwu ordered men to go into the water to retrieve the "palace maid" at all costs.

This woman dared to seduce the Crown Prince at Princess Chaoyang's birthday banquet; she's truly restless and a menace!

Emperor Qianwu reprimanded the crown prince for his debauchery, saying that he couldn't even have a peaceful birthday celebration for his own sister.

The Crown Princess then realized the seriousness of the matter.

She instinctively turned to the Crown Prince for help.

"Your Highness..."

But all she received was the prince's cold gaze.

A chill ran down Xiao's spine, and she tried to explain to Emperor Qianwu.

"Father, perhaps... I was too anxious and misjudged..."

"That's why the woman was so ashamed that she had no choice but to jump into this cold pool to prove her innocence..."

Princess Chaoyang, however, seemed to be watching a spectacle, and slowly said, "Oh?"

"Sister-in-law, you clearly asked my father to seek justice for you just now, so why are you speaking up for that vile woman now?"

"That vile woman dared to seduce my brother, the Crown Prince, on my birthday. She must not be let off lightly."

"My sister-in-law is virtuous, but if she indulges her elder brother, the Crown Prince, too much, it may not be a good thing."

Princess Chaoyang's expression clearly showed schadenfreude, but her words seemed to be for the benefit of the Crown Prince and his wife.

"Sister-in-law, don't you think that makes sense?"

"In Chaoyang's opinion, it would be better to have someone bail that bitch out first, and then make a decision."

The Crown Princess felt a chill run down her spine.

Princess Chaoyang is not someone easy to get along with.

As the only child of Emperor Qianwu, she not only had her own princess's residence, which was magnificent and had a large retinue of servants, but she also kept a private army.

According to the system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, ordinary princesses could not have fiefdoms.

But Chaoyang was different; she not only had a fiefdom, but Emperor Qianwu also tacitly allowed her to raise a private army.

Therefore, she, as a princess, truly possessed power and influence.

This power greatly fueled the princess's arrogance, and she frequently oppressed the people.

In particular, she had a fondness for handsome men and had repeatedly abducted handsome men from the common people to serve her in her household.

Therefore, her reputation among the people has never been good.

Only Emperor Qianwu and the Empress Dowager thought she was a gentle and charming woman, merely a little young and willful...

While staying at the Crown Prince's residence, Lady Xiao had heard many tales of the princess's fierce and valiant deeds.

But she could only feel envy.

Now, facing the pressure from Princess Chaoyang, she realized just how much malice the princess harbored towards the crown prince.

She is the Crown Princess, the Crown Prince's principal wife, and the future Empress.

She and the Crown Prince were bound together by fate, sharing both glory and ruin.

Unfortunately, Xiao was blinded by anger and jealousy.

A chill ran from the top of Xiao's head to her tailbone, and Xiao's face turned pale.

"Go!"

Emperor Qianwu's expression was solemn, and he said nothing more.

"Such filth cannot be tolerated in this palace. Today is my beloved daughter Chaoyang's birthday, and I will not tolerate any injustice in her eyes."

Xiao could only pray that the woman would run away quickly, preferably drowning in the pool, and then the matter was left unresolved.

Emperor Qianwu's men acted extremely quickly and soon retrieved a shoe from the bottom of the water.

Chaoyang stared at the shoe for a while.

Strange, why are these the shoes that palace maids usually wear?

But she clearly saw a piece of turquoise clothing.

There are not many women wearing light blue dresses today, except for Consort Zhen.

Princess Chaoyang and Emperor Qianwu arrived late and were initially far away, so they couldn't see clearly.

Princess Chaoyang harbored a deep grudge against Zhou Mingyi and wished nothing more than to kill her. How could she possibly let such an opportunity slip by?

Anyway, if the person who was pulled out wasn't Zhou Mingyi, it wouldn't be a loss for her.

If it were her, she didn't believe she could explain it clearly.

Thinking of a certain possibility, Chaoyang's body trembled slightly with excitement.

Once we get rid of Zhou Mingyi, we'll figure out a way to get our hands on Zhou Mingchong!

In fact, for Princess Chaoyang, men were not a rare commodity.

Her princess residence housed several male lovers.

However, Zhou Mingchong never succeeded in his pursuit. He remained indifferent to her, which only fueled her desire and made her constantly think about him and unwilling to give up.

At this moment, upon seeing that they were merely shoes worn by palace maids, Chaoyang began to feel disappointed.

Before long, Emperor Qianwu's guards pulled a woman out of the fishpond.

The woman was dressed in a light blue palace maid outfit, with fair skin and her eyes closed.

Even the crown prince was dumbfounded.

What's going on?

Clearly, she was just gently hooking her fingers in his palm... How did she escape, how did she switch places?

The crown prince subconsciously looked towards the pavilion.

The deep darkness provided Zhou Mingyi with excellent cover.

Emperor Qianwu's complexion was even darker.

Even palace maids were the emperor's women.

The Crown Prince openly entangled himself with a palace maid in the palace, which was tantamount to challenging his authority.

He angrily pointed at the crown prince, "Do you know your crime?"

The prince knelt down with a "plop".

"Father, please forgive me! I've had too much to drink and wanted to get some fresh air, but this woman suddenly bumped into me! I was caught completely off guard!"

He then looked at Lady Xiao, "Who knew that the Crown Princess would suddenly come over and see it, which led to the misunderstanding."

"This woman has now jumped into the fishpond, proving her innocence with her death. I am truly wronged!"

Emperor Qianwu stared intently at the Crown Prince.

He gave the guards a wink, and the guard captain immediately said, "Your Majesty, the palace maid is not dead."

The crown prince's heart skipped a beat.

He thought the woman was dead.

Although it is unknown how Zhou Mingyi managed to substitute one thing for another.

But since it wasn't her, he suddenly felt a sense of relief.

I don't know if it's out of concern for her being implicated, or because the seriousness of this matter has been greatly downgraded...

But if this woman hadn't died, things would have been very different.

If she wakes up and talks nonsense, he might face even more uncertainties.

But right now, Xie Jing doesn't have a better solution.

All they could do was cry out that they were innocent.

"Father, please save this palace maid and restore my innocence!"

Emperor Qianwu slowly straightened up, his lips seemed to press down slightly, but then again, they didn't.

After a while, he said, "Summon the Imperial Physician."

People from the Imperial Hospital arrived, and the woman was quickly revived.

"Who are you? Why are you seducing the Crown Prince here?"

The palace maid was terrified. "Your Majesty, spare me! I didn't seduce the Crown Prince! Today is the Princess's birthday, and Her Highness was kind enough to reward me with a cup of wine. I couldn't hold my liquor and got drunk. I don't know how I bumped into Her Highness!"

"Who knew..."

The woman's voice suddenly lowered.

The crown prince inwardly cried out that something was wrong.

Sure enough, the woman was on the verge of tears. "Who knew that His Highness would grab my hand and refuse to let me leave, saying..."

"What did you say?"

Emperor Qianwu rebuked in a deep voice: "Your Highness said that I threw myself into your arms, but I did not. Your Highness has misunderstood. You even said that you would inform His Majesty and take me back to the Eastern Palace..."

Xie Jing subconsciously looked at the woman, only to see her kneeling upright, as if she possessed an unyielding spirit.

His eyes flickered with a mixture of light and shadow, but in the end he said nothing.

The Crown Princess, however, looked incredulous.

"presumptuous!"

"Who do you think you are? How dare you try to bite the Crown Prince?"

"Father, Father, you are wise!"

The Crown Princess said, "The Eastern Palace has countless concubines, and is not lacking in beauties. How could the Crown Prince do such an absurd thing?"