After the milk ball arrived, the father who had no heirs had a string of good luck.

"Mother, don't be angry."

She walked to Qin Zhiyan's side, gently tugged at her sleeve, and then turned to Qin Zhirou: "Auntie Crown Princess, Consort Gu saw with her own eyes that you pushed my mother into the water."

"She's the concubine of Prince Li, and Qin Zhiyan is the Princess of Li. Of course she'll side with her own family." Qin Zhirou wasn't stupid either. She said pitifully, "I know my sister has never liked me. She bullied me before I was married, using her status as the eldest sister to suppress me. I can let the rest go, but... but this time she really went too far. How important is a woman's reputation? She pushed me into the water, ruining my reputation. Isn't that trying to kill me? Waaah..."

Several female guests were fooled by her and cast disapproving glances at Qin Zhiyan.

However, the other princesses did not express their opinions, so they could only keep their opinions to themselves.

Tang Rui noticed the gazes of the noble ladies, put her hands on her hips, and said angrily, "Nonsense! It was clearly you who bullied my mother all along. Before she got married, you bullied her, beat her, and took her dowry at the Yong'an Marquis's residence. How did it become my mother bullying you?"

Qin Zhirou's face stiffened upon hearing this.

Before she could explain, Tang Rui said, "Auntie Crown Princess, it was the Emperor's order to have you return your dowry! Are you sure you want to deny it?"

Qin Zhirou: "..."

Denying the emperor's words is tantamount to saying that the emperor is talking nonsense, isn't it?

She wouldn't dare!

Seeing that she remained silent, Tang Rui continued innocently, "You have the audacity to take my mother's dowry, and you still have the nerve to say that my mother bullied you? If my mother could bully you, you wouldn't have taken her dowry."

Qin Zhirou: "..." You wretched girl!

The surrounding ladies stared at Qin Zhirou in disbelief, seemingly unable to believe that she could do such a shameless thing.

Princess Rui scoffed, "Crown Princess, you truly have no bottom line. You're even capable of stealing your elder sister's dowry. What wouldn't you dare to do?"

Princess Chen's eyes were filled with disdain: "Back when the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince got married, a full 128 loads of dowry paraded through the streets. At that time, I was curious. The Yong'an Marquis's family was a newly rich family, and as for the Bai family, they were only seventh-rank officials back then. Where did they get such a background? So all that dowry belonged to Princess Li? That makes sense. After all, Princess Li's birth mother was from a noble family."

Princess Xiang looked heartbroken and indignant: "Oh dear, Crown Princess, if you don't have money, just say so! Why resort to robbing? You are the Crown Princess! You might become the most noble woman in the world. What good things wouldn't you have then? Why... why did you do such a despicable thing?"

Tang Rui nodded vigorously, summarizing aptly, "Yes, yes, Crown Princess Aunt, you're practically lowering the overall image and class of all the princesses of Great Xia!"

Upon hearing this, the three princesses almost gave Tang Rui a thumbs up!

Jingpi is someone who can summarize.

Doesn't that lower their overall image and class?

With these three "giants" speaking, the other ladies of the court began to point and whisper among themselves.

Situ Qiang: "..."

That's so embarrassing!

Situ Qiang silently moved two steps to the side, distancing herself from the Crown Princess.

Qin Zhirou couldn't out-argue so many people, and she was so angry that she was practically fuming. Her tone became sharp, and she was no longer the pitiful girl she had been just moments before, her face streaked with tears: "Zhaohua, don't change the subject. I'm talking about the matter of Princess Li pushing me into the water. She plotted to harm the Crown Princess, and her crime deserves to be punished by death."

"Exterminate nine generations of your family?" a man's voice rang out.

The noblewoman looked up and saw the Crown Prince, Prince Chen, Prince Rui, Prince Xiang, and Prince Li leading a group of male guests as they walked in.

Of the emperor's seven sons, all but the ninth prince, Prince Jin, who was away on a long trip, and the eleventh prince, who was still young and staying in the palace, came.

The one who just said he wanted to exterminate his entire family was none other than Prince Li.

Although he was in a wheelchair and was noticeably shorter than the other four princes, he was still a handsome man and his presence was in no way inferior.

The noblewomen all curtsied to the princes.

King Xiang also came to his queen's side, a hint of dissatisfaction flashing in his eyes.

Before he could even get angry, the Princess Consort of Xiang gave him a nonchalant glance.

The Prince of Xiang choked for a moment, swallowing back the resentment that was on the tip of his tongue, and forced a stiff but gentle smile: "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

Princess Xiang glanced at the Crown Princess with displeasure: "Let the Crown Princess say it herself!"

Stirring up trouble at her birthday party clearly shows they don't like her.

Qin Zhirou, right?

You just wait, I'll show you!

"Your Highness, sob sob sob..." Qin Zhirou looked at the Crown Prince, her expression instantly returning to one of tearful intimacy: "My sister and I are now married, and our relationship has grown increasingly distant. I finally managed to see her, intending to catch up, but she... pushed me into the water, causing me... sob sob sob..."

As she was complaining, Situ Che wheeled himself over to Qin Zhiyan and asked, "What happened?"

"Your Highness..." Qin Zhiyan didn't feel wronged at first, but when she saw him, she couldn't help but feel wronged.

It's less about recounting what happened and more about filing a complaint.

The funniest thing is that when she complains, she unconsciously adopts Tang-style mannerisms, staring at you pitifully with innocent eyes.

It was practically a euphemism for "Your Highness, please help me beat her up."

Situ Che... wanted to laugh!

But you can't laugh!

Situ Che clenched his fist and put it to his lips, clearing his throat: "It's good that you're not injured!"

After saying that, she looked at Consort Gu beside Qin Zhiyan, her eyes softening slightly: "Thanks to you."

Consort Gu lowered her eyes slightly, not daring to meet Situ Che's gaze, but a strange ripple stirred in her heart.

Tang Rui glanced at her, then at her own father, and understood.

It seems that Consort Gu doesn't like the Crown Prince that much!

Indeed, having a husband who is so handsome that he's outrageously beautiful, has a great temper, and is very reasonable is something that's always around her.

Even if you don't fall in love at first sight, you can still develop feelings over time, right?

I'm not blind!

"Seventh Imperial Brother!" The Crown Prince, having heard Qin Zhiyan's account, coldly demanded, "You can't even control your own woman, and you've offended the Crown Princess! What is your punishment?"

He didn't like Qin Zhirou, but she was his Crown Princess.

Bullying Qin Zhirou, isn't that a slap in his face?

Situ Che glanced at him indifferently: "To be able to distort the truth in front of everyone and with witnesses all around, the Crown Prince certainly knows how to discipline people."

The Crown Prince choked, then flew into a rage: "Prince Li, I am the Crown Prince, don't forget your place. You talk about witnesses, fine, where are the witnesses? It's not your concubine, is it? Your concubine is also your person, does her word count?"

Your people?

Consort Gu's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she slowly raised her head to look at him steadily.

The crown prince didn't even glance at her, acting as if he didn't know her at all.

Consort Gu twitched the corners of her lips, a hint of self-mockery flashing in her eyes.