Quick Transmigration: Knowing I'm a Bad Woman, Yet Still Liking Me?

Bai Yuan chuckled softly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, Shen Xun'er does indeed reside in the Jade Lotus Palace, but whose person she is... I have no idea."

"What does the Imperial Concubine mean?" Xiao Chengyu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Bai Yuan rose gracefully and curtsied to Xiao Chengyu. "Shen Xun'er has only been in my palace for a short time, and she often sneaks out at night. A few days ago, Xiao Qi caught her returning suspiciously from outside when she got up in the middle of the night, and other palace servants had also seen her once before. Moreover, she left Yu Fu Palace today without telling anyone in the palace. I implore Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate Shen Xun'er."

Upon hearing this, both Xiao Chengyu and the Empress looked somewhat uneasy, but Xiao Chengyu concealed it very well.

The Empress clenched her handkerchief. "Your Highness, please be careful with your words. Neither His Majesty nor I have said that Shen Xun'er was wrong today. You don't need to rush to distance yourself from her."

Bai Yuan continued to look at Xiao Chengyu, "Your Majesty, I implore you to investigate thoroughly. It won't be difficult to investigate anyway. If it were someone from another palace, it would be fine, but if it were a spy from an enemy country, that would be terrible. If she is truly innocent, Your Majesty can reward her handsomely just for saving the Fourth Prince."

"Since you knew she had problems, why didn't you tell me before?"

Bai Yuan pursed her lips, glancing cautiously at the Empress. "Your Majesty, I used to think..."

Consort Shu listened to Bai Yuan's words and realized that she probably didn't do it.

Moreover, she had seen the guilty look in the Empress's eyes and Bai Yuan's gaze.

But why did the Empress do this?

If the Fourth Prince is in trouble, how can she be expected to remain unharmed?

The Empress shouldn't be that foolish.

So she glanced at everyone present, her gaze settling directly on Shen Xun'er's face. How come she hadn't noticed before that this palace maid actually bore a resemblance to the Imperial Concubine?

Everyone else was also somewhat surprised at this moment. Consort Li looked at Shen Xun'er's appearance and a mocking smile appeared on her lips.

Everyone now thinks that someone deliberately put Shen Xun'er in Baiyuan Palace in an attempt to steal some of His Majesty's favor.

As for who wanted to do this, everyone already knows the answer.

Who would have thought that the Fourth Prince would appear halfway through, causing her to fall into the water and thus prematurely shed her disguise.

Xiao Chengyu glanced at Bai Yuan lightly, "I will have someone investigate this matter later, so please rest assured, Consort."

Just then, Wang Shunan entered the courtyard with a young eunuch from the Fourth Prince's entourage. "Your Majesty," he said, "I have had my men investigate. Besides the footprints of the Fourth Prince, Qiu Ye, and Shen Xun'er, there are no other footprints along the riverbank. We have also found the man from the Fourth Prince's entourage. He said that he was on the road with the Fourth Prince when Qiu Ye suddenly called out to them. The Fourth Prince saw that the man seemed to have something to say, so he asked him to go back and help him grind ink."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chengyu swept the teacup off the table and onto the floor. "Does the person beside the prince need to go back and prepare the ink beforehand? Do you even know what your job is? Protecting the prince is your duty."

The young eunuch slammed his head on the ground with a thud, and stammered, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The Fourth Prince has a heavy workload every day, and he has to practice calligraphy whenever he has a spare moment. The water vat in his quarters... the water vat is often empty. Every time this servant and the Fourth Prince go back, we have to fetch water first and then grind ink, which takes up a lot of time."

"There's no water in the water tank? Why don't you fill it up a little more at once and put it here? Besides, are all the people in the Imperial Household Department dead? Why did I send you to fetch water?" Xiao Chengyu was furious.

A large number of people in the courtyard knelt down in a flash. Bai Yuan rolled her eyes inwardly, glanced at Xiao Chengyu, and remained seated.

"Speak, continue. I want to see how the people in the Imperial Household Department treat my princes."

The young eunuch looked up at Wang Shunan, and only continued after seeing him nod, "We used to fetch water in advance, but the water vat was always empty when we got back. As for everything else, it's fine; the Fourth Prince isn't picky about food or clothes. It's just that the candlelight in the room is a bit dim at night, so the Fourth Prince can't read. That's why he tries to read more during the day."

"Very good, very good. The people in the Imperial Household Department are really doing a good job. It would be one thing if there were many princes, but they can't even take good care of this one? Wang Shunan."

"Your servant is here."

"Immediately arrest the Grand Chamberlain and the Junior Chamberlain, and hand them over to the Imperial Prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for severe interrogation. Anyone who has neglected their duties in educating or disciplining others, regardless of their rank, shall be executed without exception. Their families shall also be implicated and exiled to the far north, to the bitter and cold lands, never to return."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey."

After Wang Shunan left, Xiao Chengyu glanced at Consort Shu kneeling to the side and asked, "Do you have anything to say?"

Consort Shu trembled at his gaze. She crawled forward a few steps. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am truly wronged. Your Majesty knows me well. I would never dare to plot against a prince. If I really wanted to, I wouldn't be foolish enough to do it in broad daylight, in front of so many people. It doesn't make sense. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly and clear my name."

Bai Yuan shook her head inwardly as she looked at Consort Shu.

Xiao Chengyu wasn't originally that angry, but after being told off by the eunuch next to the fourth prince, he was now furious.

Moreover, after Consort Xue's miscarriage some time ago, Xiao Chengyu had already begun to suspect the Empress and Consort Shu.

Even if they now know that the Fourth Prince's matter has nothing to do with her, they will definitely not let her off easily.

Xiao Chengyu pondered for a while, fiddling with the string of beads in his hand. No matter who wanted to harm the Fourth Prince, the beneficiaries would definitely be Consort Shu and the Empress.

He looked down at Consort Shu and said coldly, "Issue my decree to send Qiu Ye to the Imperial Prison for torture. No matter what means are used, she must be made to confess the mastermind. Consort Shu, considering that you were not the mastermind, you will be spared severe punishment for now, demoted to the rank of concubine, and confined to your palace for three months."

Consort Shu stared blankly at Xiao Chengyu, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you can't treat me like this."

"If you are dissatisfied, I may demote you to the rank of Noble Lady."

Consort Shu dared not speak anymore, and could only bite her lip tightly. She never expected things to turn out this way.

Then Xiao Chengyu looked at the Empress. He knew that the Empress had approached Shen Xun'er and asked her to do things for her.

Of course, this was also at his behest.

Although Shen Xun'er didn't say that the Empress had ordered her to frame Consort Shu today, the harem was indeed becoming increasingly chaotic.

The Empress felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze and immediately knelt down. "Your Majesty, the successive tragedies in the harem are all due to my negligence. I have failed Your Majesty's trust and entrustment, and I am filled with remorse. I beg Your Majesty to have mercy and give me another chance to atone for my sins. Such things will never happen again."

"Empress, I have given you many chances, but you still disappoint me. If you continue to manage the harem, I fear that my only remaining prince will be the Crown Prince."

The Empress kowtowed heavily, "Your Majesty, they are all Your Majesty's princes, and they all call me Mother. How could I do this?"

"Oh."

Xiao Chengyu sneered, "What wouldn't you dare to do? Don't think I don't know what you've done all these years. I only did it because you bore me the crown prince. But now you can't even maintain order in the palace, how can you talk about being the empress?"

The empress knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face.

Seeing that she had shut up, Xiao Chengyu raised his head and said, "Issue my decree: the Empress shall immediately hand over the seals of office for the six palaces and devote herself to reflecting on her mistakes in Yuxiu Palace. If you do not reflect on your actions, you will no longer be the Empress."