With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

"No!"

Shen Run was the first to speak.

"There are rebels and people from unknown forces everywhere outside. Since they dared to spread rumors of your death, they must be hoping it's true. If you go out now, aren't you just walking into their trap?"

Even the old soldier guarding the front hall hesitated before advising, "Your Highness, before the Prince left, he repeatedly instructed that you were not allowed to step out of the palace."

Shen Nannan looked up at him, "I won't leave the palace."

Shen Run frowned. "Then why did you say you wanted everyone to see it..."

"I don't need to travel all over the capital."

Shen Nannan's gaze swept over the crowd and landed on the tightly closed gates of the Prince's Mansion. "Let them come to the Prince's Mansion to see me."

The Prince Zhao's mansion has just taken in many people who escaped from the fire, and more injured people will come seeking medicine at dawn.

If she simply stands in front of that door and lets a hundred people see her, by noon a thousand people will know.

Shen Run still refused to concede, saying, "Standing in front of the mansion gate is also dangerous."

"With you, Sister Qiu, and the people left behind by A-Chao, if I don't even dare to approach the gates of the Prince's mansion, wouldn't all your efforts tonight have been in vain?"

After Shen Nannan finished speaking, she reached out and grabbed Shen Run's injured wrist. His palm had just been treated with medicine, and the red marks hadn't completely faded yet.

"My brother stopped the arsonist for me."

"My father and Uncle Qiu defended the city gate and the long street."

"Ah Chao has also entered the palace."

"You are all doing what you are supposed to do. I can't just hide away and wait for everything to be over just because I'm pregnant."

Shen Run looked at her, his expression still unpleasant.

"But if something really happens to you, Xiao Yunzhao will go crazy when he comes back..."

"He won't."

"You actually believe him."

"I am his wife, so of course I trust him."

Shen Nannan gently stroked her lower abdomen with her fingertips, "Besides, I'll be fine."

She spoke with such certainty, but only she knew that her fingers, hidden in her sleeve, had already grown slightly cold from nervousness.

It wasn't that she wasn't afraid, but the blood-covered Xiao Yunzhao in her dream terrified her more than the danger before her eyes.

In his past life, no one spoke up for him; in this life, she is determined to stand up for him!

Besides, now, they're not just two people anymore. She doesn't care, Xiao Yunzhao doesn't care, but they have a child...

She couldn't let this child, before even being born, be branded with the reputation of having an irredeemably wicked father.

"Qiuyun, help me change my clothes!"

Shen Nannan turned and walked towards the inner courtyard.

Qiu Yun quickly followed.

Shen Run stood there, watching his sister's back, and remained silent for a long time.

As Qiu Tong passed by him, she suddenly spoke up, "You can't persuade him otherwise."

"I know." Shen Run looked down at the burn on his palm, his voice a little muffled. "From childhood to adulthood, she seems easy to talk to, but once she's made up her mind, no one can dissuade her."

"Then protect her!" Qiu Tong gripped the sword tightly.

Shen Run looked up at her. "Didn't you disagree just now?"

"Disagreeing is one thing." Qiu Tong walked towards the gate of the mansion, her tone still calm. "Since she's going to do it, we can't let her get hurt."

As the sky began to lighten with the first hint of gray, the gates of Prince Zhao's residence opened once more.

This time, there were no soldiers.

There were no palace guards who drew their swords against him.

The servants of the Prince's mansion carried out low tables and placed clean water, medicinal herbs, and freshly cooked hot porridge in front of the door.

People who escaped the fire last night were helped out one after another.

Some people still had cigarette ash on their faces, and others had freshly bandaged white cloths wrapped around their arms.

They were initially filled with fear and anxiety, but seeing that the Prince's Mansion really had no intention of driving them away, they slowly gathered in front of the gate.

There were still quite a few people on the street who had come after hearing the news.

"Didn't they say the Prince Zhao's residence was burned down?"

"What I heard was that Princess Zhaoqin is dead?"

"I heard the bodies were burned beyond recognition."

"Then where did these people come from?"

The discussions grew louder and louder.

Shen Run's men did not stop them.

Since someone wants the rumors to spread throughout the capital, then let everyone come and see for themselves with their own questions.

Just as Chen Shi (7-9 AM) arrived, a figure in red begonia blossoms appeared inside the gate of the Prince's Mansion.

The previously noisy crowd gradually quieted down.

Shen Nannan was still wearing a red dress today.

The color is extremely similar to the outer skirt that Consort Yu took and made into a blood-stained garment.

Her long hair was styled into an elegant woman's bun, with a peach blossom hairpin given to her by Xiao Yunzhao adorning her temple.

Her lower abdomen was already noticeably protruding.

Shen Run and Qiu Tong followed her on either side.

On the outside stood the old soldier who had captured the Eastern Palace guards the night before.

Shen Nannan did not leave the palace, but stopped inside the gate so that everyone could see her face clearly.

Someone in the crowd gasped.

"Is that Princess Consort Zhao?"

"The princess is still alive!"

"Wasn't it said they were killed by the mutinous troops?"

The woman who was rescued by Shen Nannan last night walked out of the crowd carrying her child.

Her hair still bore the marks of being singed by fire.

The baby in her arms had stopped crying, and its complexion was much better than the night before.

"Of course the princess is alive." The woman's voice trembled slightly, but it was clear enough for those around her to hear. "Last night, there was a fire near my house, and it was the prince's mansion that opened a side gate and took us in. My child had inhaled smoke and couldn't breathe, and it was also the prince's mansion's doctor who saved him."

"Those people saying that Prince Zhao's residence was set on fire are talking complete nonsense!"

When she got emotional, she held her child and tried to kneel down.

Shen Nannan quickly asked Qiu Yun to help her up, saying, "You're still injured, you don't need to kneel before me."

The woman's eyes were red.

"If it weren't for the princess, this humble woman's child would already be gone."

More and more people who were rescued last night are coming forward.

Some people say they saw the Shen family stop the kerosene cart.

Some people say that the veterans of Prince Zhao's mansion have been putting out fires for them.

Those rumors that were originally so detailed and convincing suddenly seemed ridiculous to those who had actually met Shen Nannan.

A man who had been killed by the mutinous army and whose body was burned beyond recognition was standing right in front of the Prince's mansion.

She was even delivering medicine and porridge to the injured people.

"Gentlemen."

Shen Nannan finally spoke. Her voice wasn't loud, but the crowd quickly quieted down.

"This morning, some of you should have personally witnessed Prince Zhao leading his troops away from the capital."

"When the royal banner passed through the north gate, the envoys sent by the palace and two military supervisors were present. Ten miles outside the city, countless people also saw him off."

"Whether the prince leaves the capital should not be decided by a few pieces of paper of dubious origin."

She did not say where Xiao Yunzhao was now.

He did not fabricate any excuse for his secret return to Beijing.

She simply looked at the Eastern Palace Commander, who was being escorted to the gate by the veterans.

The man's outer robe had already been removed.

The imperial seal of the Eastern Palace on the armor was clearly visible in the daylight.

"After the palace alarm bells rang last night, these people broke into the Prince's residence with a fake imperial edict."

"They said they were sent by His Majesty to bring me into the palace, but I was wearing the armor of the Crown Prince's Palace."

"They are still alive today, and the imperial edict is preserved in the Prince's Palace."

"Once the situation in the palace is stabilized, everything will be judged fairly!"

Whispers arose again from the crowd.

"Are they from the Crown Prince's palace?"

"The palace alarm bells also rang last night, could it really be the Crown Prince...?"

"Prince Zhao has already gone to war, yet they're taking advantage of the palace's emptiness to seize the Princess Consort. How can this be considered protecting the Emperor?"

Shen Nannan did not follow those voices to condemn the Crown Prince.

Now is not the time.

She continued, "The arsonists in the city have also been caught. They had written on their bodies beforehand that Prince Zhao was plotting rebellion, committing arson, and that I would die."

"But before the fire started, I was clearly still alive."

"Prince Zhao has not yet appeared in the palace."

"These people seem to have the ability to foresee the future; they've already written out who will die and who will rebel for everyone."

She looked at the astonished and suspicious faces outside the door.

"I am standing here today not to make you believe every word that the Prince Zhao's Mansion says."

"I just want you all to see and hear for yourselves."

"Don't let those hiding in the shadows use your mouths to kill for them."

In his previous life, Xiao Yunzhao died in the mouths of everyone in the same way.

No one saw why he entered the palace.

No one cared what those who fell to his blade had done.

All they remember about him is that he killed his father and his brother; he was a heartless monster.

In this life, she will make these people see it with their own eyes.

When did the Crown Prince lead his troops into the palace?

What did the Prince Zhao's mansion do that night?

After a brief silence, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, "I saw Prince Zhao leave the city with my own eyes today!"