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

The emperor turned and left!

The palace banquet ended unhappily, and anyone could see the strange atmosphere between the emperor and empress.

However, the civil and military officials seemed to have already gotten used to it.

In their view, the emperor's favorite person has always been the empress!

As long as the Empress doesn't fall, the Crown Prince won't fall.

But Tang Rui didn't understand at all!

On the carriage back to the Prince's residence, she finally asked the question that had been bothering her: "Father, Grandfather clearly doesn't like Grandmother, so why does he always give her face?"

Situ Che smiled almost imperceptibly: "Who said Father Emperor doesn't like Mother Empress? Everyone in the entire Great Xia knows that Father Emperor's most beloved person is only Mother Empress."

However, the Empress's only favorite son was the Crown Prince.

Even though he made such a huge mistake, they still risked their lives to protect him!

"Rui Rui, your father is right!" Qin Zhiyan chimed in, "Father has always doted on Mother. No matter how big a mistake Mother made, Father would forgive her."

"??"Yeah?

Tang Rui stroked her chin, carefully recalling the emperor's expression at the time. After hesitating for a moment, she shook her head: "No! That's not right! Grandpa Emperor definitely didn't like Grandma Emperor."

Situ Che chuckled, "How would a little kid like you know what likes and dislikes are?"

He's such a grown man, and he still doesn't understand!

Tang Rui gave him a look that said, "You don't know this, do you? When you like someone, your eyes light up. When Grandpa looked at Grandma, there wasn't a glimmer of light in his eyes, only disgust!"

Situ Che also recalled for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly.

Don't say it, you better not say it!

It seems... that's really the case.

Gu Ruoxue's eyebrows twitched: "Rui Rui, then why do you think the Emperor indulges the Empress so much?"

Tang Rui thought for a moment before revealing her guess: "I think... Grandpa must have some kind of leverage that Grandma has over him."

"How could that be? Father is the ruler of Great Xia, what leverage could he possibly have? Even if he did, Mother couldn't possibly have it against him!" Qin Zhiyan didn't believe this explanation.

That's the emperor of a country. If the empress had any dirt on her, she would have been silenced by the emperor long ago.

Situ Che also said, "Alright, stop overthinking. The Crown Prince has escaped again this time. To protect him, Father will definitely find a scapegoat."

Tang Rui: "..." Why don't you believe me?

Her intuition is rarely wrong.

The emperor is also a human being, so why can't the empress have something on him?

Gu Ruoxue frowned and said, "Buying and selling official positions, embezzlement and perverting the law—even after all this, the Emperor still wants to protect him?"

Situ Che gave a helpless, bitter smile: "What can he do when he has such a good mother!"

She was clearly his mother, yet the treatment they received was worlds apart.

...

Situ Che's guess was correct.

The emperor was furious because of the buying and selling of official positions.

Although there is no evidence to prove that the Marquis of Yong'an was also involved, he was disliked by the emperor and suspended from his post, forced to stay at home.

All those involved in the case shall be beheaded and their heads displayed to the public!

And the He family will be the first to be affected!

Every single member of the master's family was taken to the guillotine.

The men from collateral branches were not spared either; only the women and young children from collateral branches received a sliver of hope and were exiled to the frontier.

As for Ho Yiu-cho, who had already passed away, he was listed as a fugitive!

Besides the Ho family, many other officials involved also suffered greatly.

Those whose homes were confiscated were confiscated, and those who were exiled were exiled.

All the results of the imperial examinations over the years were invalidated.

Those who had already become local officials were not spared either; they were all escorted to the capital to receive the "extermination package."

That day, blood flowed like a river at the Meridian Gate!

Tang Rui didn't join in the fun; she didn't even know about it.

It was only afterward that Granny Yuan told her.

Tang Rui couldn't help but sigh, "What goes around comes around."

In this world, how many legal shortcuts are there?

For Tang Rui, one of the shortcuts was the art of being born into the right family.

The second shortcut is to get married!

As for the others, nine times out of ten they are either illegal or morally reprehensible.

Even if you find money on the street, older generations will advise you to donate it or spend it immediately, otherwise you'll be in big trouble.

After sighing, Tang Rui asked, "Granny Yuan, where is Uncle Crown Prince? Is he alright?"

Granny Yuan said calmly, "His Highness the Crown Prince is also innocent; the culprit is his personal attendant."

Tang Rui's eye twitched: "This is too unbelievable! What kind of study companion would have such audacity? Who would believe it?"

Granny Yuan gave her a meaningful glance: "If the Emperor believes it, that's enough!"

Tang Rui: "..."

That's an amazing answer; I'm completely speechless!

Seeing her dejected expression, Granny Yuan smiled almost imperceptibly: "Princess, in this world where imperial power reigns supreme, I'm sure you've heard of the idiom 'calling a deer a horse.'"

Tang Rui nodded; she knew, but she couldn't help feeling frustrated.

Situ Xiao made such a huge mistake and harmed so many people, so why can he still be the crown prince?

I'm really not convinced!

And Liang Aning too!

Remembering the pitiful woman, Tang Rui quickly asked, "What about Liang Aning? Was she also beheaded by the Emperor?"

After all, the assassination attempt on the crown prince was real.

If you kill someone, you are breaking the law. The authorities may give you a lighter sentence because you have your reasons, but they will never find you innocent!

Granny Yuan smiled, glanced at the veiled maid behind her, and answered irrelevantly, "This old servant came today to ask the Princess if she would mind taking in this poor girl? Her name is Huan Die, and because her appearance is damaged, she can no longer stay in the palace to serve."

Huan Die stepped forward at the opportune moment and curtsied to Tang Rui: "Huan Die greets Princess!"

That sound…

Tang Rui was stunned: "Liang Aning?"

Huan Die lowered her eyes meekly: "Your Highness has mistaken me for someone else. This servant is Huan Die, and I know a little martial arts. I hope Your Highness will take me in!"

"..." Bullshit, that voice is clearly Liang Aning's, she would never mistake it.

Tang Rui didn't believe a single punctuation mark: "Then take off your veil, and let this princess take a look."

Upon hearing this, Huan Die removed her veil without saying a word. Tang Rui stared at her, completely stunned.

What kind of face is this?

Her eyes were perfectly fine above her eyes, but the skin below them was pitted and uneven, making her look so ugly it was almost heartbreaking.

The most ridiculous thing is that, despite being disfigured like this, it is indeed Liang Aning!

"I've frightened the princess, please forgive me!" Huan Die put her veil back on and knelt down.

"Get up first!"

Tang Rui looked at Granny Yuan: "Granny, what's going on?"

Granny Yuan smiled faintly: "As I've said before, His Majesty is a benevolent ruler. He's already feeling terrible for not being able to punish the culprit, so how could he blame Huan Die? However, what Huan Die did in front of everyone is an unchangeable fact. Therefore, His Majesty found a death row inmate to impersonate her, gave Huan Die a sum of money, and sent her to the wealthy Jiangnan region to spend the rest of her life. He promised her that the Crown Prince would receive his due punishment, but not now. But Huan Die refused, preferring to disfigure herself and stay in the capital, wanting to see the Crown Prince's fate with her own eyes!"

"Oh!" Tang Rui suddenly realized, and her impression of the emperor improved somewhat.

In ancient times, having a wise and virtuous ruler was indeed a very fortunate thing for the people.

But...

"Why did you ask me to take you in?"