A four-year-old medical prodigy descended to the mortal realm, and the entire capital sought her tre

The Empress arrived late.

Two days ago, when the Crown Prince went to pay his respects to the Empress, he specifically told her about it.

The Crown Prince told the Empress that he would pretend to be seriously ill in a few days so that she wouldn't worry about him.

She also said that if anything strange happened in Consort Yu's Wan Ning Palace, the Empress should observe the situation first before taking any action.

The Crown Prince's sudden statement puzzled and worried the Empress.

However, she heard the Crown Prince say that this matter concerned his position and the very life of the royal family, and that he asked her to trust that her son could handle it.

Therefore, when the news that the Crown Prince did not hold the morning court session reached the Empress's palace, she did not go to the East Palace immediately.

Instead, he anxiously awaited news in his Yongning Palace.

Until the eunuch came to report that something strange had happened in Wan Ning Palace, the Empress waited for nearly half an hour but received no news.

She had just set off for Wanning Palace.

Upon arriving at Wan Ning Palace, what they saw was Consort Yu questioning Zhou Ruo.

The Empress's arrival caused a stir. She walked to the Emperor's side, gave a greeting, and then retreated to the Crown Prince's side.

Upon seeing the Crown Prince's appearance, the Empress was initially taken aback.

But the Crown Prince immediately gave the Empress a look, and she understood and stood aside to watch the show.

The Emperor and Consort Yu were stunned by Zhou Ruo's words and paid no attention to the Empress who had arrived quietly.

Zhou Ruo explained it to Consort Yu again.

"I said, the Fourth Prince has the spirit of a toad inside him. Remove it and he'll be fine!"

After saying that, she suddenly asked in confusion, "Wait a minute, you clearly set up this Soul-Stealing Formation, don't you know how to break it?"

"What?" The servants stirred again.

Although they had retreated to wait outside the hall, the situation inside was truly explosive, and Yin Tao couldn't drive away the eunuchs and palace maids no matter what she tried.

"Princess Ji'an asked, 'What is Your Highness planning to seize?'"

"Soul stealing, it seems to be referring to soul stealing!"

"How could that be? Are you talking about our Empress? Her Majesty is so virtuous and gentle, how could she possibly know any soul-stealing formation!"

"Nonsense!"

......

The servants inside the bedchamber were so shocked that they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Even Eunuch Qin, who was by the emperor's side, was almost speechless with astonishment.

The words spoken by the servants were actually Qin Gonggong's true feelings.

However, Eunuch Qin carefully recalled the Emperor's reactions from the moment he entered the Eastern Palace until now.

This is indeed different from the previous attitude towards Consort Yu and the Imperial Advisor.

After entering the palace, the emperor questioned Consort Yu and ruthlessly dragged the Imperial Advisor out.

All of this suggests that the Emperor may have already noticed the unusual relationship between Consort Yu and the Imperial Advisor.

But... what's going on here?

Consort Yu was greatly shocked. She listened to the whispers of the servants and then turned to look at the Emperor.

The emperor glared at her with a cold face.

She quickly crawled past the fourth prince and all the way to the emperor's knees.

As she passed by the Fourth Prince, she inadvertently sensed an aura emanating from him.

This is an atmosphere mixed with doubt, grievance, confusion, pain, and resentment.

But she had no time to delve deeper or soothe the fourth prince's emotions. She climbed onto the emperor's legs and sobbed,

"Your Majesty, I am innocent! I have no grudge against Princess Ji'an, and I do not know why she would frame me like this."

The Emperor kicked Consort Yu away, his heart heavy with unease, yet he couldn't utter a single word.

Consort Yu was disturbed by the Emperor's action, and she felt a sudden emptiness in her heart.

At this moment, the Crown Prince slowly walked over, and Consort Yu saw the Crown Prince's feet.

She looked up at the Crown Prince's grotesque face and saw anger in his eyes.

Consort Yu frowned, feeling very uneasy.

She pointed at the Crown Prince, wanting to ask if he was truly ill, but the words caught in her throat, and she could only stammer, "You...?"

"Your Highness Consort Yu, do you not recognize me?" the Crown Prince said teasingly, looking at Consort Yu.

Then he took out a handkerchief, walked to the basin of water, wet it, and wiped off the makeup on his face with the wet handkerchief.

Then the crown prince regained a clean and handsome face.

Seeing the Crown Prince's actions, Zhao Jinzhong and Zhou Ru both nodded and said in unison, "Oh, I see!"

It turns out that the prince's "ghostly appearance" was due to the makeup he applied.

However, the prince's technique was too poor; he overdid it.

Having regained his appearance, the Crown Prince returned to Consort Yu's side and said, "Consort Yu, you didn't expect this, did you?"

Consort Yu was so shocked that her mind went blank.

The crown prince then said, "I'm sorry, I've disappointed you this time."

The Empress was puzzled by the Crown Prince's words, and she couldn't help but ask, "Lin'er, what do you mean by that?"

"Your Majesty, you may not know this, but Consort Yu has cast a curse on me, attempting to steal my soul into my fourth brother's body."

"What?!" The Empress was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out.

The Empress looked at the Emperor, who was also shocked.

He saw Consort Yu's actions, such as setting up an array, in the Water Condensation Mirror, but the part about the array to steal souls was not visible in the Water Condensation Mirror.

So when the Crown Prince brought this up, the Emperor was quite surprised.

Unheard of, utterly terrifying.

Before the Fourth Prince began to act strangely, the Crown Prince was unaware of the possession by a spirit.

After all, Zhao Jinzhong had only just found out yesterday.

On the way from the East Palace to Wanning Palace, Zhao Jinzhong secretly informed the Crown Prince about the matter of stealing the soul.

The Crown Prince appeared dazed in Wan Ning Palace because he was struggling to process the fact that Consort Yu wanted to take his soul and give it to the Fourth Prince.

After sorting out the events and seeing the true appearance of the Imperial Advisor, he felt extremely fortunate.

If Consort Yu's formation hadn't been anticipated by Zhou Suo, her soul would have truly been taken over by the Fourth Prince.

He will suffer immensely for the rest of his life.

Amidst the shock of the crowd, Consort Yu burst into laughter.

First came a laugh tinged with doubt, then a bitter laugh, and then the laughter turned into a maniacal laugh.

"Consort Yu!" The Emperor, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly roared in fury, "What a virtuous and gentle appearance you have, yet your heart is so vicious!"

"Did you confess to all those despicable things you did, or did you have someone else do it for you?"

Consort Yu's laughter stopped abruptly. She looked at the Emperor with tears in her eyes and an innocent expression.

"Your Majesty, I know nothing about what the Crown Prince said."

Why would Your Highness fabricate such an absurd story and impose it upon me?

"Hmph!" The Emperor sneered. "Crown Prince, you tell me!"

The prince began to recount what he had seen in the Water Mirror.

"Your Highness, this matter probably begins with the incense you gave my mother."

Consort Yu's heart sank, and a glint flashed in her eyes.

She sat on the floor, one hand supporting her on the ground, her palm gripping the carpet tightly, her fingers sinking into it with the force.

The Empress asked in confusion, "Lin'er, is the incense you're talking about the one I used to help you stay focused while you were reading?"

"Mother, that's right."

After responding to the Empress, the Crown Prince continued speaking.

"That incense was purchased from the Western Regions by Consort Yu. It can not only refresh the mind, but also absorb a person's essence."

"What?!" The Empress was shocked again.

"In addition to incense, Consort Yu also provided me with a specially made incense burner, which can store the essence absorbed from the incense."

Upon hearing this, the Empress's legs went weak and she almost couldn't stand up.

The Emperor was also shocked. All he knew was that Xiao Pingzi had placed an incense burner in the Crown Prince's bedroom, which was given to him by Consort Yu.

However, they did not know that this incense burner was actually used to store the prince's spirit.

"Later, Consort Yu gave Consort Ling a jade pendant, and Consort Ling then gave this jade pendant to me as a birthday gift."

The Crown Prince, recalling this, looked at the Emperor and said,

"Father, I was fortunate enough to wear this jade pendant when I left the palace on the day of the martial arts competition in the capital."

Zhou Ruo inadvertently discovered that this jade was also absorbing her son's essence, and Zhou Ruo timely protected her son from this calamity.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have already become...

The crown prince could not utter the word "puppet".

Even though he narrowly escaped this calamity, the crown prince still felt lingering fear when talking about how he almost became a puppet.

Everyone looked at Zhou Ruo, and the Emperor's still-frightened face revealed gratitude towards Zhou Ruo.

He finally understood why Zhou Ruo had gotten involved in Consort Yu's plot to harm the Crown Prince.

Consort Yu finally realized that the one who ruined all her carefully planned schemes was actually this inconspicuous Princess Ji'an.

"Then there's the copper ball that Father Emperor prepared for me, containing talismans placed inside by Consort Yu."

"The bronze ball can also absorb my essence."