The empress is both charming and seductive, rising through the ranks of palace intrigue.

Xi Jieyu was relieved to hear that the child was alright, but the thought of someone harming her filled her with anger and hatred.

The moment she fell into the water, her mind went blank, and she felt suffocated, as if she had been dragged into an abyss, unable to move and at the mercy of others.

"Your Majesty, someone is trying to harm me! Trying to harm our child." She gripped Xiao Yu's clothes tightly, her face pale and her whole body trembling.

Who is it? Who wants to harm her?!

She clung tightly to the Emperor's arm, tears dripping onto her bright yellow sleeve. "I don't know what happened, I didn't react at the time."

"I'm really scared," she repeated anxiously.

Xiao Yu patted her hand to comfort her. "Tell me clearly what happened. If you've been wronged, I will definitely stand up for you."

Consort Xi was embarrassed and stunned for a moment. "Your Majesty... Your Majesty was trying to feed the fish, but I don't know why I fell down like that."

Consort Rong shook her head, sighed, and said anxiously, "Consort Xi, didn't you feel it? It was Consort Ning who pushed you."

Xi Jieyu was stunned. Her eyes widened as she tried to recall the scene before she fell into the water, but her mind went blank. She only felt her whole body lean forward and was terrified.

Xiao Yu frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over Consort Rong with a deepening intensity, conveying a sense of unfathomable mystery. He then looked at Consort Xi: "Consort Xi, how did you fall into the water?"

Consort Rong tightened her grip on the handkerchief and stared intently at Consort Xi.

Consort Xi frowned and shook her head, saying, "I...I was terrified at the time, and I can't be sure if someone pushed me."

"If no one pushed you, how could you have fallen? You must have been so panicked that you didn't notice that," Consort Rong said urgently, her face showing that she was doing this for Consort Xi's own good.

The Empress glanced at Consort Rong suspiciously, and began to ponder.

Xi Jieyu nodded: "Yes! Consort Ning was indeed behind me at the time."

Xiao Yu pointed at Consort Xi's maid and said in a deep voice, "You tell me, how did your mistress fall down?"

The palace maid knelt down in fright: "This servant doesn't know either. This servant went to look at the fish with the mistress at the time, but it is true that Consort Ning was closest to the mistress."

Xiao Yu's face darkened, and he said coldly, "As a palace maid, instead of protecting her mistress, you went to watch the fish. For the sake of Consort Xi, take her away and give her ten strokes of the cane."

Xi Jieyu looked up, about to plead for mercy, but seeing Xiao Yu's frighteningly dark face, she swallowed her words.

After Ning Shuyan changed her clothes and came over, Xiao Yu looked her up and down for a while: "Consort Ning, is there anything to do with Consort Xi falling into the water?" he said slowly.

Ning Shuyan knelt on the ground, raised her clear eyes and stared at Xiao Yu: "It has nothing to do with me, and I didn't push him."

Xiao Yu saw the woman's bright, almond-shaped eyes staring firmly at him without the slightest hesitation. He was taken aback, his fingers twirling the jade ring on his thumb. He said indifferently, "I'll give you a chance to explain."

Ning Shuyan turned to look at Xi Jieyu on the bed and said gently, "Think carefully, did someone push you?"

The more Xi Jieyu thought about it, the more complicated her mind became. She shook her head: "I don't know, I only know that you are closest to me, you are next to me."

Ning Shuyan was pondering this matter while changing her clothes. She had found "evidence," but she couldn't say it now.

"If I wanted to harm you, why would I have jumped into the water to save you?"

Consort Rong snorted coldly: "Who knows if that was just a ploy by you?"

Ning Shuyan turned to look at Consort Rong, her gaze sharp and cold. "A self-inflicted injury ruse? Would I risk my life to stage such a ruse? If it were truly a ruse, I would have stalled for time; how could I have rescued Consort Xi so quickly? Wouldn't that have been a losing proposition?"

Xi Jieyu suddenly remembered that in the water she had relaxed and held her breath. It seemed she was really trying her best to save herself, never letting go for a moment.

Ning Shuyan continued, "Xi Jieyu, when we first arrived at the Thousand Carp Pond, if Consort Rong hadn't asked me to pay my respects to her, I was prepared to leave. You know this, and you also said you wanted to leave at the time. If I wanted to harm you, why would I have left? I would have tried every means to lure you into feeding the fish, and then used that opportunity to push you into the water."

That's so obvious. Wasn't Consort Rong just using the golden koi to lure her to see it?

Consort Rong's heart trembled upon hearing these words. She tried her best to hide her emotions and raised her hand to touch the gold tassels at her temples.

Consort Xi didn't think about Consort Rong at all, and simply nodded and said slowly, "Yes... you were about to leave."

Seeing that Ning Shuyan had already cleared her name with her clever words, Consort Rong suppressed her hatred and said, "If it wasn't Consort Ning who pushed you, then it must have been Consort Xi who slipped down on her own?"

Xi Jieyu quickly replied, "No, I didn't slip."

Ning Shuyan's beautiful eyes flickered slightly: "I remember, when you fell into the water, it seemed like the railing broke along with you..."

Ning Shuyan left it at that; she believed Xiao Yu understood without her needing to elaborate. Sometimes, it's better for him to figure things out and investigate himself than for her to say it aloud.

She noticed that Xiao Yu's expression changed, and the hand that was stroking the jade thumb ring paused slightly.

Consort Xi's eyes lit up, as if she suddenly remembered something. She grabbed Xiao Yu's sleeve tightly and said loudly, "Yes, Your Majesty... the railing broke when I fell."

Xiao Yu lowered his eyelids slightly and said in a deep voice, "Go, let the craftsmen check if there's anything strange about the railings of the Thousand Carp Pond." His seemingly calm face contained a sharp chill.

These words were naturally directed at Yang An, who immediately agreed and hurriedly walked out, knowing that this matter could not be delayed.

Consort Xi's eyes were filled with hatred, her eyes wide open, and she gritted her teeth and said, "Who, who wants to harm me!" After a pause, she looked at Xiao Yu and called out in a softer voice, "Your Majesty..." She grabbed Xiao Yu's sleeve.

Xiao Yu said, "I will investigate this thoroughly. Please don't get angry."

The Empress quickly added, "Yes, the imperial physician just said you've upset the baby; you mustn't get upset again."

Thinking of the child in her womb, Xi Jieyu's expression softened somewhat.

The Empress looked at Xiao Yu: "Does Your Majesty suspect that someone tampered with the railings?"

Xiao Yu did not answer, but simply nodded slightly.

Consort Rong lowered her eyes, her long, slender fingernails digging tightly into her palms to calm herself down.

Looking at Ning Shuyan's pale face, the Empress said gently, "Consort Ning also fell into the water just now, and must have suffered. Please sit down."

Ning Shuyan did feel unwell all over; her throat was sore from choking on water earlier, so she sat down.

"Consort Ning, when Consort Xi fell, who was close to you?" Xiao Yu's eyes darkened as if he were thinking of something.

Ning Shuyan naturally knew that she had already sorted out her thoughts. She pretended to ponder for a moment and then said, "At that time, Consort Rong watched the fish by the railing for a while, then said she wanted to return to the palace, so she stood behind me, not close to Consort Xi."

Xiao Yu nodded slowly, lost in thought, his hand gently tapping on the table, producing a series of deep sounds that seemed to strike Rong Fei's heart, causing her great unease.

She took a deep breath and told herself not to be nervous, since no one had noticed that she was the one who had done it.

But these words reminded Consort Xi. She lowered her eyes, seemingly thinking about something, and after a moment she raised her eyes to gaze at Consort Rong.