You take on two husbands, I'll turn around and marry the tyrant and rule the world.

Chu Nianci looked at Zhui'er and Xiao Guizi kneeling on the ground in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly: "Zhui'er, Xiao Guizi... although you were assigned from the Xin Zhe Ku and the Huan Yi Ju, I have never treated you differently. Now, you are going to repay kindness with enmity?"

A single line: "The Xin Zhe Ku and the Huan Yi Ju."

The palace maids in the hall all showed disdain.

These two people came from these two places and were still allowed to stay, which shows that Consort Hui is a tolerant person.

The two of them, however, were still restless; they were truly ungrateful.

The two lay on the ground, knowing that there was no way out and they could only grit their teeth and bite to the death.

They said in unison, "My lady, it was clearly you who ordered us to do it, how can you put all the blame on us..."

Chu Nianci swayed slightly, as if she couldn't bear the accusation.

With Aunt Lan's help, she slowly knelt down. When she looked up again, her eyes were already brimming with tears, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall: "Your Majesty, please understand. Even if I were confused, I would never dare to touch such a harmful and filthy thing. These two people have falsely accused me, and I have no way to defend myself... I only beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly and restore my innocence!"

At this moment, Shen Lanbing and Jiafei exchanged a glance and stepped forward together.

Shen Lanbing said, "Your Majesty, the words of two servants alone are not enough to be believed. Without solid evidence, if Consort Hui can be falsely accused today, who knows who will be implicated tomorrow or the day after? If this continues, how can the harem ever have a peaceful day?"

Consort Jia also solemnly replied, "I beg Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter and handle it impartially to uphold palace discipline!"

Consort Shu's expression shifted, and after a moment's hesitation, she finally spoke: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I am also implicated in this matter. If the truth cannot be revealed, I fear that others will try to smear me in the future. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly."

"Investigate." Duanmu Qingyu parted his thin lips slightly, uttering only one word.

His brows furrowed slightly, and a chilling coldness, like a deadly winter, silently seeped into his clear, beautiful eyes, sharp and menacing as a drawn sword.

After saying that, he actually stood up, took two steps forward, and personally helped Chu Nianci up. His tone softened slightly: "Don't worry, I'm here. I will not let you suffer injustice. If this is not true, I will definitely give you justice."

Empress Lin, standing to the side, looked pale, her fingers digging deeply into her palms within her wide sleeves.

She felt a mix of bitterness and surprise in her heart.

She hadn't expected the emperor to so clearly protect Chu Nianci.

He didn't say a word when Consort Shu was implicated.

Watching the emperor personally bend down to support that slender, tall figure, she clearly felt the world of difference between being "favored" and "not favored."

Suppress the resentment in my heart.

But then he thought about how perfectly he had arranged this situation, and the jealousy slowly subsided, and his fingertips gradually loosened.

Duanmu Qingyu gave a slight nod to Jingxi beside him.

Jingxi understood and immediately led several capable eunuchs to search every nook and cranny of Tangdi Palace.

They searched carefully the dressing box, hidden compartments, under the mattress, under the flowerpots... even the crevices between the bricks, but found nothing.

Zhui'er watched helplessly as Jingxi returned empty-handed to report "nothing was found." The last trace of color drained from her face, and her eyes were filled with disbelief and terror.

Xiao Guizi was also trembling all over. He had clearly stuffed the package under the wall by himself, and even placed a conspicuous white stone on it as a marker so that people would not be able to find it!

How could there not be?

The emperor narrowed his eyes, a cold glint in them. His voice was not loud, but it was heavy and suppressed: "I have long ago issued a decree that false accusations and framing are strictly prohibited in the palace. If no evidence is found, the person who made the false accusation will be punished along with their entire family, and the person will be beheaded and their head displayed to the public."

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!" Zhui'er collapsed to the ground, trembling like a leaf, tears streaming down her face.

In her confusion, she subconsciously wanted to look in the direction of the pretty lady, but she held back at the last second before she could see her.

But that fleeting glance still betrayed a few clues.

The beautiful lady stood in the crowd, her face suddenly turning pale, her fingernails digging almost into her flesh.

She knew something must have gone wrong, and now, with everyone watching, without concrete evidence, it would be considered a false accusation.

The only solution now is...

A fierce glint flashed in her eyes as she coldly gave Zhui'er an extremely ruthless and threatening look.

Immediately, she stepped forward, her voice icy: "Your Majesty, this servant is truly hateful. Daring to falsely accuse his master and frame a palace concubine, he should be punished according to the law to serve as a warning to others!"

Zhui'er understood.

He collapsed to the ground.

This is to make her risk her life to completely nail this matter down, leaving no way to verify it.

Thinking of her elderly mother's life being in someone else's hands, she closed her eyes in despair. When she looked at Chu Nianci again, her eyes were filled with utter despair.

She said in a trembling voice, "My lady... I was only following your orders! I... I'm willing to die to prove my innocence!"

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly found a surge of strength and slammed herself against the heavy bronze cloud-shaped incense burner in the hall!

"Bang……"

A grating thud suddenly exploded, followed by a blinding splatter of blood.

A chorus of terrified screams and gasps filled the hall.

Tuanyuan covered her mouth in fright, and Shen Lanbing also took a half step back in shock.

Chu Nianci stood quietly in place, watching the figure suddenly fall and the blood spreading, biting her lip.

She never expected that the other party would go to such lengths to drag her down, even risking a life.

Jingxi hurriedly stepped forward to check Zhuier's breath, then silently shook his head at Duanmu Qingyu.

The Empress snorted coldly.

That idiot, Consort Qiao, she ruined even such a flawless plan.

Surprisingly, no crucial physical evidence could be found.

He had no choice but to sacrifice two of his own pieces.

Her cold gaze fell on the remaining Xiao Guizi's face, and she said sternly, "Guards, drag this bastard who is spouting nonsense to the Censorate. I want to see who ordered him to falsely accuse his master like this."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Guizi's face turned deathly pale. He had already been told never to go to the Department of Cautious Punishment, and knew there was no chance of survival.

He crawled on his knees a few steps, kowtowing repeatedly: "This servant is innocent! This servant...this servant had no idea what was in that paper package! This servant was only following Sister Tuanyuan's orders!"

"Follow orders?" Chu Nianci steadied herself, her voice cold and clear. "You say you're following Tuanyuan's orders? Tuanyuan is my personal head maid, and she only handles matters within the inner palace. She never directly orders off the outer palace servants or eunuchs. Since you say it was her arrangement, then let me ask you—"

Her gaze, sharp as needles, pierced Xiao Guizi: "How often are the female stone lions on the left in front of the courtyard gate cleaned?"

Xiao Guizi was taken aback, sweat beaded on his forehead, and stammered, "I just washed it a few days ago..."

"Nonsense!" Tuanyuan immediately retorted, his eyes wide. "The lioness is clearly on the right. You don't even know that, yet you dare claim to be someone who frequently roams the inner courtyard and takes my orders?"

Aunt Lan also stepped forward, bowed to the Emperor and Empress, and said in a calm tone: "Your Majesty and Your Majesty are wise. Xiao Guizi is just a lowly servant who sweeps the outer perimeter. How could Tuanyuan have gone beyond his rank to let him do such a confidential task? The contradiction here is obvious."

The group exchanged glances, already understanding seven or eight parts of the situation.

Xiao Guizi's face flushed red and then turned pale. Seeing his flaws exposed, he panicked and his eyes turned bloodshot. Like a trapped beast, he suddenly raised his head, staring intently at Chu Nianci, and hissed, "You want to force me to my death? I'll fight you to the death!"

A collective gasp erupted from inside the hall!

Before Chu Nianci could fully recover from the bloodshed, she saw the eunuch, acting like a madman, lunging at her recklessly.

Duanmu Qingyu shouted "Insolence!" but it only made him pause slightly.

In a flash, the person was upon him, filled with desperate ferocity...

Duanmu Qingyu's figure suddenly moved, so fast that his movements were almost invisible.

He flicked his sleeves, making it unclear whether he threw a punch or a kick.

Her figure moved like a snowflake, drawing a cold arc in the air, and accurately kicked Xiao Guizi in the chest!

With a muffled thud, accompanied by a faint cracking sound of bones dislocating, Xiao Guizi's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

He collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, curling up and twitching twice.

He realized that his attack had missed.

There is no way to survive if one's confidant is severed.

He also crashed headfirst into the wall, blood splattered, and the body fell to the ground.

Chu Nianci's mind was buzzing as she stared blankly at him.

He was utterly shocked that the emperor would intervene on his behalf.

Overwhelmed with emotion, she realized what was happening and quickly shielded him.

The Empress and Consort Shu were also stunned with fright.

The two of them felt a few drops of warm liquid splash on their faces.

With a flick of the wrist, a patch of scarlet appeared on the fingertip.

The Empress quickly turned aside, while Consort Shu screamed and told Lü Qiao to wipe her face.

Duanmu Qingyu immediately covered his mouth and nose, walked to the side and gagged a few times. Chu Nianci patted his back while having Jingxi bring him a sachet to smell.

"How dare you commit murder in front of me, assassinating a palace concubine!" Duanmu Qingyu recovered, flicked his sleeves, walked back to his chair, and sat down. His voice was icy cold. "Guards, drag these two corpses out, behead them and display their heads to the public, and exterminate their entire clan."

The hall was deathly silent; everyone was so frightened that they held their breath.

No one expected things to take such a sharp turn for the worse.

The young nobleman dared to attack in front of everyone, and His Majesty... actually intervened on the spot to protect Consort Hui!

Everyone was shocked, and when they looked at Chu Nianci again, their gazes were completely different.

She holds such a heavy place in the Sacred Heart.

Who would dare question her importance in the Sacred Heart now?

The Empress sat weakly on her phoenix throne.

Consort Shu was already feeling unwell because Duanmu Qingyu had helped Chu Nianci earlier, and now she saw His Majesty personally taking action to save her.

A surge of jealousy flared in his eyes again.

But with everyone watching, she couldn't show too much, so she just sat in her chair sulking.

The bodies of Zhui'er and Xiao Guizi were quickly and silently dragged away, leaving only a dark red stain on the ground.

The brazier inside the hall was burning brightly, but Chu Nianci felt a chill seeping into her bones.

She gripped her sleeve tightly, her fingertips digging into her palms, using the pain to remind herself.

We must not show the slightest bit of leniency at this moment.

The punishment from the barbarian tribes was indeed harsh, but if Xiao Guizi and Zhui'er succeeded, how could I escape unscathed? I might also be exterminated by the barbarian tribes, so I must not be soft-hearted in the slightest when it comes to this kind of thing.

His Majesty is determined to eliminate the threat completely.

It's also for their own protection.

The beautiful lady lowered her head deeply, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists in her sleeves, filled with intense hatred: those two good-for-nothings, they've lost their lives and haven't even accomplished anything.

She cannot lose.

Fortunately... I still have a hidden move.

She quietly raised her eyes and glanced at a certain part of the crowd.

Judging by the time, that cup of tea... should be taking effect soon.

Sure enough, in this oppressive silence, Consort Jia, who was sitting at the lower end, suddenly frowned and let out a soft groan, while Shen Lanbing, holding her belly, seemed to be about to stand up.

But before she could finish speaking, her body went limp, and she fainted straight forward!

"My lady!" Hongying screamed and rushed over.

The hall, which had just calmed down a little, was thrown into chaos again.