Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Her lips trembled slightly, and when she spoke, her voice was shrill and trembling: "This...this is a forgery! I never said such a thing!"

"When Huajianzui heard about this, she was on the roof beam of your warm pavilion." Xi Yueli put the paper back into her sleeve.

"She heard you write down every word you said on this page, including the fact that the loquats you were eating were sour because she said you took one bite and then put them down."

The princess's back pressed against the edge of the table behind her, and she felt as if something was draining her energy from the inside out.

She remembered that there was indeed a plate of loquats that day. The new cook hadn't picked them well, and they were so sour that she only took one bite before pushing them away. That was something only she knew.

Xi Yueli stood up from her chair, took two steps forward, and stood in front of the princess, the distance between them no more than an arm's length.

"Princess, if I present this document to you, you are an accomplice to treason. The case of the Empress's treason is under thorough investigation. Once this document is placed on the Emperor's desk, your statement will be confirmed as 'knowing about a plot but failing to report it, and condoning treason.' According to the laws of Ying, those who know about a plot but fail to report it are guilty of treason as well."

The princess's back was completely pressed against the edge of the table, and she slid down half an inch. She had to brace herself with her hands on the edge of the table to avoid sitting on the ground.

Her gaze shifted from Xi Yueli's face to the corner of the paper peeking out from Xi Yueli's sleeve, then back to Xi Yueli's eyes. A sob escaped her throat, which she had forcefully suppressed: "...What do you want me to do?"

Xi Yueli tilted her head slightly, and sunlight streamed in from behind the window paper, outlining the contours of her profile with a sharp golden line: "I need you to testify before the Emperor."

"The Empress once told you personally that she had sacrificed a city, that the old case had nothing to do with her, and that someone wanted to frame her. You just need to repeat what the Empress told you to His Majesty verbatim."

She paused, then lowered her voice by half an octave, "If you do this, I'll spare your life. The Empress may fall, but the Princess's residence will still exist, and your title will remain. You'll simply have to relinquish the power you're entitled to, and you can live a peaceful and stable life for the rest of your days."

The princess's lips were still trembling as she looked at Xi Yueli's white figure standing in the sunlight, her calm and confident demeanor frightening.

She remained silent for a long time, then her shoulders began to tremble and tears rolled down her cheeks, washing away her carefully applied makeup and leaving two white streaks.

She nodded, whimpering, like a cat cornered against a wall, finally resigned to its fate.

"...I promise you, I will be your witness."

Looking at her devastated profile, Xi Yueli didn't say anything more. She took a half step back and walked sideways toward the entrance of the flower hall.

Helian Jing stood on the stone steps outside the door. He reached out and took her hand, their fingers intertwined, and pulled her half a step towards him. Then he released her hand, turned to the side, and walked down the stone steps in front of the Princess's villa side by side with her.

The sound of the eldest princess crying intermittently came from the flower hall behind them, but it was not very clear through the door.

The bronze bell of the grand assembly rang half an hour earlier than usual.

When the gates of the Hall of Diligent Governance were pushed open at exactly 7:00 AM, all the civil and military officials were already lined up.

The emperor sat a little straighter on his throne than usual today, his fingertips resting on the armrests, his gaze fixed on the rising sunlight outside the palace gates.

The phoenix throne is empty. This morning, the Empress sent word that she is unwell and will not be attending court for the time being.

The court officials all bowed their heads, no one was talking, but the air in the hall was three times heavier than usual. The matter of the secret letter from that day had not been completely quelled. Although the impeachment memorial had been suppressed, everyone knew in their hearts that the rift had already opened.

As usual, when the court assembly proceeded to the third item on the agenda, the palace doors were pushed open from the outside.

The eldest princess entered. She was dressed in a plain palace gown, and her hair was held in place only by a silver hairpin, without any gold hairpins. Her face was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes, indicating that she had not slept all night.

She stood in the center of the hall, her gaze sweeping from the direction of the throne over the faces of the courtiers who were turning to look at her, and then she knelt down.

"I have something to report."

She took a roll of paper from her sleeve, held it above her head with both hands, and spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, but with a barely perceptible tremor at the end.

"I hereby accuse Empress Xiao of plotting to murder the late Empress and the eldest daughter of the Emperor, and of colluding with General Shen Kuo of Beishuo to privately forge ironware with the intention of rebellion."

"The forgery of the late emperor's edict, manipulation of court officials, and the recruitment of sorcerer families to harm the royal bloodline with evil magic. I have heard and seen all of this with my own eyes. I am willing to confront you with every single point on the document."

The hall was quiet for a moment, then whispers suddenly erupted among the court officials. One of the military officers took a half step forward, but was pulled back by his colleague's sleeve.

Three civil officials were simultaneously looking down and flipping through the notebooks in their sleeves, as if checking whether they had any records of communicating with the Empress.

The eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs took the scroll from the Princess and presented it to the table with both hands. Zhang, with her thin hands, reached out and took the scroll, unfolding it and looking at it for a long time.

He raised his head and looked towards the palace gate, but just as he was about to speak, a sound came from the palace gate.

The Queen entered.

The hem of her dark red robe embroidered with gold phoenixes brushed against the threshold, and her steps quickened by half a beat compared to usual.

She walked to the front of the phoenix throne but did not sit down. Instead, she turned around to face the court officials and her gaze fell on the kneeling back of the eldest princess. She chuckled.

The laughter was short and soft, like listening to a child reciting a flawed essay. Her voice was half an octave higher than usual, "Princess, I have treated you well. Yet today you dare to speak such nonsense and frame me—do you know what crime it is to slander the Queen Mother?"

She took two steps forward, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the court officials. As she looked at them, their eyes lowered, and no one dared to meet her eyes.

Her gaze finally settled on the figure in a plain white dress standing at the end of the civil official's line, and a cold smile curved her lips.

"Your Majesty, I know who sent her." She raised her finger and pointed in Xi Yueli's direction.

"This person who claims to be the eldest princess is not of royal blood at all. She is a demon. She bears traces of evil magic. I personally saw the phoenix pattern emitting a strange light between her brows, which is a sign of possession by an evil spirit."

"If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can have a sorcerer examine the mark between her eyebrows; that is not something that should be present in the royal bloodline."

Some people gasped, while others unconsciously took a half-step to the side, as if avoiding something. Xi Yueli stepped forward from the ranks when the Empress pointed her finger at her.

She wore a plain white dress today, and the hairpin in her hair gleamed warmly in the sunlight.

She walked to the center of the hall and stood beside the eldest princess. Her gaze met the empress's gaze in mid-air, separated by a distance of ten feet, like two bowstrings drawn taut at the same time.

"Her Majesty the Empress just said that I am a demon, that I have a phoenix pattern with strange light between my brows—" She tilted her head slightly.

"On the day of the Crown Princess's birth, auspicious omens appeared in the sky, and the whole country rejoiced for three days. The late Emperor once said in public, 'This girl will inherit the throne.' If the phoenix mark between my daughter's eyebrows is 'possessed by an evil spirit,' then what was the auspicious omen that appeared in the sky above Daying back then?"

She took two steps forward, stopping three steps in front of the Empress. "Your Majesty says I am a demon."

"But the one who set up the array to sacrifice the entire city of Chilin, shattering the soul of a newborn infant and stuffing the fragments into different bodies, was the Empress. If I am a demon, then what is Your Majesty?"