After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"Madam Gu, what effect will this Falling Star Curse have on Her Majesty the Empress?" Zhao Xianshan asked anxiously.

Rong Yingluo glanced at the unrelated people in the courtyard and gave Gu Ce a meaningful look.

"Lord Zhao, please send all the servants away," Gu Ce said solemnly.

Zhao Xianshan understood Gu Ce's meaning: some things couldn't be spread.

The Empress regained her footing and understood Rong Yingluo's words. She pushed away the maid's hand and told her to lead the servants out of the courtyard.

Zhao Xianshan waved his hand, and even Madam Qi withdrew.

Rong Yingluo only spoke when the four of them were alone in the courtyard.

"The Empress is the rightful Empress, and the princes she gives birth to are the legitimate heirs of the royal family. Therefore, he is the rightful Emperor Star, and the one who falls from grace is the Emperor Star."

Although the Zhao family is not the royal family, the Second Prince has half Zhao family blood in his veins, so the Falling Star Curse has an effect on the Second Prince comparable to a hurricane.

"But because of the protection of the royal family's true dragon aura, the second prince only got lost, not died." Rong Yingluo explained logically.

Zhao Xianshan also lost his balance, and Gu Ce immediately supported him.

The Empress burst into tears instantly, and her body swayed. Rong Yingluo helped her up.

"Madam Gu, are you saying my son is still alive?" the Empress asked sorrowfully.

"She is indeed still alive," Rong Yingluo said with absolute certainty.

Gu Ce felt a pang of pain in his heart as he watched the Empress shed tears.

If his identity is true, then this is his biological mother, and Zhao Xianshan is his maternal grandfather.

But now he has no evidence and can only suppress the bitterness in his heart.

His chest felt like it was blocked with a lump of pent-up anger, which he couldn't shake off.

"Lord Zhao?" Gu Ce saw that Zhao Xianshan's eyes were lifeless, as if he were possessed, and called out softly.

"My son is still alive," the Empress murmured, repeating the words three times.

Suddenly, she grabbed Rong Yingluo's hand, her voice trembling with emotion: "Madam Gu, do you know where my son is?"

She longed to see her son right now.

That was the child she risked her life to give birth to, and she took meticulous care of him every day, fearing the slightest mishap.

When the emperor married her, he also married two concubines. Her womb was not as fertile as Concubine Cao's. As a result, Concubine Cao's son was already over a year old when she finally became pregnant.

Fearing that her son would be plotted against by Consort Cao, she never allowed him to have any contact with Consort Cao's people, and she protected her courtyard like a fortress. However, even during a lantern festival outing, when the Emperor himself was carrying him, things went wrong and they encountered an ambush. Her son still left her, which was the pain of her life.

Now that Madam Gu is telling her that her son is still alive and suffering somewhere, the more she thinks about it, the more her heart aches.

"Your Majesty, I do not have the ability to find out where someone is, but he should not have suffered any hardship," Rong Yingluo said gently, glancing at Gu Ce.

She couldn't say right now that Gu Ce was most likely her son; it wasn't the right time.

If it were revealed, it would be met with fierce suppression and assassination attempts from the Crown Prince and Consort Cao.

Gu Ce's most important task now is to play dumb and work with the Emperor to gradually weaken the Crown Prince's power, and then find a way to destroy the Crown Prince.

Only then will it be absolutely safe for him to acknowledge his ancestors and return to his roots.

"Father, help me! I need to find my son!" The Empress suddenly cried out as if she had lost her mind.

"Xian'er, calm down. This matter needs careful consideration. Now that we know the Second Prince is still alive, we have hope. We can't make a big fuss about it." Zhao Xianshan still maintained a calm mind.

"Lord Zhao, Your Majesty the Empress, there's no need to search. As long as we break this Falling Star Curse, the Second Prince will naturally recognize you when the time is right. This matter must be kept secret," Rong Yingluo reminded them.

"Yes, yes, this matter must not be known to anyone, including the Emperor." Zhao Xianshan knew that the Emperor also doted on the Crown Prince.

The emperor only has one son, the crown prince, who can succeed him, so he can only focus his efforts on the crown prince.

Over the years, the Fourth Prince has been practically non-existent in the Emperor's eyes.

Although the Fourth Prince has been attending court to listen to government affairs recently, the Emperor has never asked the Fourth Prince for his opinions on political matters.

Currently, in the imperial court, although the emperor is suppressing the crown prince, it is merely to prevent him from harboring any ambition to murder his father and seize the throne.

"Young Madam Gu, please break this formation," the Empress said urgently, she could not wait any longer.

"Your Majesty, do not be anxious. Although this evil spirit is poisonous, it has a weakness. Seven is the extreme of Lesser Yang, and if it is too strong, it will break. Now, more than twenty years have passed, and the Yin energy has been worn away. The evil spirit has loosened by three-tenths on its own. Today, I will break this Falling Star Formation."

Rong Yingluo took out a copper coin from her sleeve and walked to the dry well.

She then took out a red thread from her bosom, tied it to a copper coin, and suspended the red thread above the compass. The copper coin then spun on its own without any wind.

Rong Yingluo silently recited a few incantations, and with a flick of her finger, the red coin broke, and the copper coin made a soft "ding" sound as it fell into the well through the crack.

Almost simultaneously, the two old locust trees in the courtyard suddenly shed a flurry of withered leaves, and then the sky cleared up, a ray of afternoon sunlight slanting through the branches and leaves, shining on the bluestone slab of the ancient well.

"It's done. Lord Zhao, all you need to do later is have someone pry off and discard those seven bluestone slabs, and then fill in the dry well." Rong Yingluo put away the compass. "Once this evil formation is broken, the Zhao family and the Empress's fortune will return. As for the Second Prince, you just need to wait for the opportunity to come."

"Young Madam Gu," the Empress said in a hoarse voice, enunciating each word clearly, "if that day ever comes, I will personally pour you tea."

The Empress trembled slightly. For over twenty years, everyone had advised her to forget the child who had disappeared at the age of two, and even the Emperor no longer mentioned him in front of her. But what mother could truly forget her own child?

She walked up to Rong Yingluo, took her hand, and couldn't stop her tears, but they were no longer the heavy, unyielding gloom of the past; instead, they were filled with hope.

Though her eyes were filled with tears, they shone brightly—the radiance that comes from hope.

"What are you saying, Your Majesty? You are the Empress of the country, how can you serve tea to a subject like me?" Rong Yingluo admired the Empress's love for her son.

When Gu Ce heard the Empress's words, his heart ached even more. He longed to reveal his identity right now and call her "Mother," but he knew he couldn't. He could only suppress his feelings deeply, which caused him to grip Zhao Xianshan's hand much tighter without even realizing it.

"Lord Gu?" Zhao Xianshan felt the pain and looked at Gu Ce in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I was just too excited and happy that the Second Prince is returning." Gu Ce made up a lame excuse.

"I urge Your Majesty the Empress and Lord Zhao to keep what I have said today a secret," Rong Yingluo instructed again.

"Don't worry, we know what's important." Zhao Xianshan is over sixty years old and has experienced a lot, so of course he knows.

The Second Prince went missing back then, and it was deliberate; to this day, no one has been found to be responsible.

They have always suspected that Consort Cao and her family were behind it, but they haven't been able to find any evidence. They've been suffering this injustice in silence ever since.

The Empress immediately took off an exquisite jade bracelet from her wrist and put it on Rong Yingluo's wrist.

"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable." Rong Yingluo could tell at a glance that the jade bracelet was extremely valuable.

This is the second jade bracelet she received today.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation, please accept it." The Empress patted her hand.

Rong Yingluo had no choice but to accept it; what the Empress gave her was a reward.

She looked around the courtyard again: "Lord Zhao, we should have someone prune the old locust tree in the courtyard, or we can remove it altogether."

"Why?" Zhao Xianshan asked, puzzled. This was a century-old tree, a major feature of the Zhao family mansion.

"The shade of the trees is too dense, blocking the way for the distinguished guest's return home," Rong Yingluo said calmly.

In fact, such lush trees are the easiest places to hide people. If an assassin were to hide in the trees, it would be impossible to guard against them.

"Master, something terrible has happened! The old lady has fainted!" Rong Yingluo's words had barely finished when a servant's shout came from outside the courtyard.