Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

The next day, a scream woke up the entire Phoenix Palace.

When it was time for the Empress to get up, the palace servants entered the palace to attend to her, only to find the palace maid, Lü Qiao, lying on the ground spitting out blood.

The Empress opened her eyes with a scream, and the first thing she saw was Lü Qiao's dead body. "Guards!"

She grabbed the Buddhist prayer beads from beside her pillow and shouted, "Investigate! Who killed Lü Qiao?"

Green Beauty is highly skilled in martial arts; no ordinary person can harm her.

The conclusion came quickly: Lü Qiao died of poisoning, specifically from a poison sac lodged in her teeth, a condition typically associated with suicide.

Upon learning of this, the emperor sent the crown prince to the morning court session, and the prince went to the Phoenix Palace.

"I had someone investigate, and no outsiders broke into the palace last night. What exactly happened to you, palace maid?"

"I don't know either."

The Empress's face turned pale, and her voice trembled, "Lü Qiao said last night that she would keep watch for me, how could she, how could she..."

The image of Lü Qiao, her eyes wide with grief and blood streaming down her face, filled the Empress's mind. Her hands and feet turned cold, and she could no longer speak.

"Could it be the vengeful spirit Xuanji mentioned?"

The emperor suddenly asked, "Was having Lü Qiao commit suicide merely a warning to you?"

The empress shuddered, and the prayer beads got stuck in her palm.

"Your Majesty, I have not harmed anyone."

She was indeed terrified.

She was born as the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, and became the Empress after marriage. The Emperor respected his principal wife and never allowed any other concubines to surpass her.

After Baozhu was born, the emperor cherished his daughter even more and more, so even though she had been in the palace for many years, she did not experience much darkness.

This was the first time she had ever seen someone die with their eyes wide open at such close range, but she was still rational and knew that she must not let the emperor know about the things she had done.

"If it's not the work of a wandering spirit, then the death of this palace maid is very suspicious."

The emperor pondered for a moment and said, "De Shun, have someone investigate carefully what this palace maid did in her previous life and who she offended."

Lü Qiao is the Empress's confidante; investigating her is tantamount to investigating the Empress.

The Empress recovered from her shock. "Your Majesty is very busy with state affairs. I am just a palace maid. How could I dare to trouble Your Majesty? I will handle the affairs of the inner palace myself."

The emperor glanced at her. "Alright, just let me know when you've found out, so I won't worry about you."

The Empress secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he still trusted her as before.

Back in the imperial study, the emperor said to Li Deshun, "Go to Xuanji Tower without anyone around."

"His Majesty suspects that..."

Did the young master commit murder?

The emperor glanced at him. "You and I have both noticed the empress's unusual behavior. How could she not see it? With her personality, how could she not find out?"

But she might not have killed him. Go and check on her, see if she's alright.

It turns out she was worried about the young master.

Li Deshun grinned. "This servant will go right away."

Strangely, it seemed as if the young master had anticipated his arrival; as soon as he reached the outside of Xuanji Tower, the young master came out.

He wasn't asked to wait for a moment.

He stepped forward and bowed, "This old servant greets the princess."

Gui Yao led him to a restaurant. "What brings you here?"

Not wanting to create distance, Li Deshun asked directly, "Did you go to Fengyi Palace last night?"

"I've gone."

Gui Yao didn't hide anything from him, "I didn't kill the person."

"Your Majesty... this old servant understands."

Li Deshun smiled and said, "This old servant was just worried that something might happen to you, so I can rest assured now that I've seen it."

Gui Yao hummed in agreement, her eyes half-closed.

De Shun is a veteran of the palace for decades, and his cautiousness in speech and conduct is ingrained in his bones. His use of "Your Majesty" just now was definitely not a slip of the tongue.

He was telling himself that the emperor cared about her.

"De Shun, the fake princess was arranged by the Empress."

She told Li Deshun what Lü Qiao had said last night, "Although that person had the intention to sow discord, there must be some truth to it, otherwise it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny."

That would defeat the purpose of instigating conflict.

After hearing this, Li Deshun, with a stern face, squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Your Majesty is confused."

After thinking for a moment, he also told Gui Yao about the emperor's probing words to the crown prince last night.

"I wonder where Her Majesty found this person for the Crown Prince. If it's just to marry him off, that's fine, but what if she has other ambitions..."

He cut himself off at that point.

She must have ambitions, otherwise why would she go to Nan Yao in place of the princess?

She only needs to marry the crown prince; she can simply marry him directly.

This is also why Gui Yao decided to inform the emperor about the matter, so that he could take precautions in advance.

If the hostage sent by Dasheng commits evil deeds in Nanyao, even if it is not at the emperor's behest, the matter will still be attributed to the emperor.

At that time, no matter how reasonable the Emperor and Empress of Nanyao are, they will have to seek justice for their people. Otherwise, the two countries will have to go to war.

The matter was of great importance, and Li Deshun dared not delay. Without even taking a sip of water, he hurriedly returned to the palace.

Upon hearing the news, the emperor was so enraged that his vision blurred. "Zhuzhu'er spent five years bringing peace; what exactly is she trying to do?"

"It seems Your Highness has been used."

Li Deshun pondered, "She seems unaware that the young master has been in trouble, while Lü Qiao is so clear about what happened three years ago, it is very likely that the person behind her is also involved."

The fact that they're deliberately leaking this to the young master seems to be a ploy to get him to fight against the Empress and the fake princess.

The emperor slammed his hand on the table. "Draft an edict. I will bestow the fifth daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion upon the Crown Prince."

The Empress dared to do such a thing, which must have been instigated by the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. It's possible that the imposter was actually from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Let's disrupt their plans and let them fight amongst themselves first.

"If the Empress didn't kill Zhuzhu, then she must have cleverly imprisoned Zhuzhu somewhere, and that place must be guarded by someone she trusts."

The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is the prime suspect. It's unclear whether the Duke of Zhenguo, like her, thought Zhuzhu was alright, or whether Zhuzhu's death was his doing.

That idiot queen! That wicked woman!

The emperor clenched his fists tightly in anger.

Li Deshun immediately ground ink and laid out paper.

After the imperial edict was written, the emperor instructed, "The crown prince is filial and should go to Xuanji Tower to ask for help. After he leaves the palace, send the edict to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion."

He picked up his pen again and instructed, "Please invite Prince Jin to the palace."

The emperor decided to write a letter to the emperor of Nan Yao in person, explaining the matter of the fake princess, and then secretly send it to Nan Yao through Xiao Huaijin's channels.

Nan Yao and Da Sheng had always kept to themselves, and now that the two countries had maintained friendly relations for three years, he had no intention of starting a war.

They dared not start a war.

Zhu Zhu'er might not be willing to go to war against Nan Yao for the sake of Da Sheng. If the Crown Prince really goes, his useless abilities will become known to the whole world.

The Crown Prince was holding the morning court session when his nose suddenly started itching so badly he felt like sneezing. He quickly covered his nose with his hand.

He assumed it was because he had taken too long a bath the night before and caught a chill. Thinking of the Empress, he went directly to her palace as soon as the morning court session ended.

Even the Empress dared not tell the truth to her own son.

The Crown Prince felt sorry for her when he saw that she was not in good spirits. "Mother, please rest well. I will send someone to invite Gui Yao to exorcise the evil spirits for you."

The Emperor told him last night that the Empress was possessed by a ghost.

Seeing that the Empress hadn't found anything, and having experienced the case of the mental illness, he preferred to believe it was true.

This time, the Empress did not refuse.

She felt no guilt as long as it wasn't Su Cai Ren.

However, the Crown Prince's men were unable to persuade Gui Yao to come.

The young eunuch replied tremblingly, "Princess Xuanji said that Her Majesty was afraid of corrupting the atmosphere of the palace, and she dared not disobey Her Majesty's order."

"How dare you!"

The Crown Prince slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair in anger, "You represent my decree, and she dares to refuse!"

The Empress's face darkened as well. "They've only just become godparents, yet they don't even respect the Crown Prince. Those from the countryside are still too wild to be tamed."

"Your subject will go personally."

The crown prince, angered, got up and walked out.

Wang Mama immediately flattered the Empress, "Your Highness is truly filial."

The Empress's eyes showed relief. "I have given him all my heart."

She even mistreated her daughter, so it's only right that the Crown Prince be filial.

Unaware of the Empress's thoughts, the Crown Prince went straight out of the palace to the Xuanji Tower, but no one came out even after he called for a long time.

The eunuch asked, "Your Highness, is Princess Xuanji not at home?"

Even if you wanted to enter Xuanji Tower, you couldn't.

The crown prince pursed his lips. "Then we'll wait."

If Guiyao is at home, he will always go out sometime; if he goes out, he will always return home sometime.

He refused to believe that no one would come.

Half an hour later, instead of Gui Yao, he was greeted by a young eunuch who came running in a panic.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! His Majesty has bestowed a marriage upon you and Miss Biao."

"What?"

The Crown Prince was a little confused. Didn't he tell his father last night that his mother would worry about his marriage?

The young eunuch thought he hadn't heard him clearly, so he repeated it.

The Crown Prince heard clearly and immediately wanted to go to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but when he thought of the numerous relatives there, he turned around and headed straight for the palace.

He wanted to find his father, the emperor, to find out what he had done wrong that he had to be tormented like this.

The crown prince no longer cared about finding Gui Yao.

Gui Yao, holding an umbrella, walked to the new residence of the Tong family, which was the house that Lady Cheng'an had brought with her as part of her dowry.

Although the house was not large, it was in an excellent location and the entrance was decorated very well. It was said that the father of the Lady of the Chenghou Mansion specially came to the capital to prepare the dowry for his daughter.

Gui Yao asked the ghosts beside him, "Do you remember this house?"

Aye's mother shook her head.

Gui Yao then led her directly to the room of Marquis Cheng'an. "Go in and see if the man inside is your husband."