Listening to her daughter's heartfelt words, the pregnant Lady Hou went on a killing spree.

She could refuse the title of Lady Anshun, but Princess Changping, the Crown Prince's wife, did not dare to refuse and could only get up and curtsy with the help of her maid.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Princess Changping ignored Princess Xiao and looked at Ji Yueru instead.

"Let's go, let's go out together."

After everyone had gone, Princess Xiao was a little puzzled and turned to ask the prince beside her.

"When did Princess Changping and Lady Anshun become so close?"

"Really? I don't know either."

"How much longer until Lady Hou gives birth?"

Ji Yueru touched her belly.

"There are less than three months left."

"That will happen soon. I feel that I am quite destined to be with the child in your belly. When she is born, I will definitely come to congratulate her and give the child a generous gift."

I like gifts, the more generous the better.

The two heard An'an's cheerful voice, and Ji Yueru smiled.

"On behalf of my daughter An'an, I thank Your Highness."

"The name you gave her is An'an."

"Yes, her nickname is An'an."

Princess Changping sincerely praised it.

"It's a good name."

The two walked outside the hall, where several eunuchs were already waiting.

A young eunuch stepped forward.

"Please, Lady Anshun."

Looking at the sedan chair beside her, Ji Yueru understood. She hadn't expected the Empress to be so considerate.

Another eunuch stepped forward and bowed to Princess Changping.

"Your Highness, Her Majesty the Empress requests your presence."

Judging from the reactions of everyone at today's palace banquet, Princess Changping was not stupid and thought of a possibility.

Only members of the royal family can hear An An's innermost thoughts; others cannot.

After the two parted, Ji Yueru boarded a sedan chair and headed towards the palace gate, while Princess Changping followed the eunuch to the emperor's bedroom.

When she arrived, almost everyone in the royal family was there, including all the concubines.

The Emperor and Empress sat at the head of the table, while the princes, princesses, and concubines sat at the foot of the table.

Princess Changping held her breath, bowed respectfully, and sat down in her seat.

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Once everyone had arrived, the emperor spoke coldly.

"No one is to divulge what happened at the palace banquet today. Anyone who disobeys will be executed."

According to the little guy, he doesn't even have two years left to live, and nothing is more important than his own life right now.

Everything else is fine, but the fact that the emperor starved to death is something no one would dare to spread. How many heads do they have to dare to tell anyone?

Each one of them should be dressed in their best.

"Yes, Father."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The emperor was already suspicious, and now, looking at everyone below, apart from the empress and Consort De, he saw everyone as someone who wanted to harm him.

"I will send people to protect Lady Anshun. If any of you dare to lay a hand on her or the child in her womb, don't blame me for not showing any mercy."

Few people in the royal family are fools. If they couldn't figure it out at the time, they could figure it out by thinking about it a few more times and testing it a few more times.

To avoid being tested and hurting someone, he might as well make his point clear now.

It was obvious that the Marquis of Anshun and her unborn child were protected by him. He wanted to see which rebellious son would dare to harm the mother and daughter.

The Crown Prince, Prince Cheng, Prince Ming, and Prince Shun all responded in unison.

"Go back, everyone."

The emperor waved his hand, and everyone left the palace one by one, knowing that the emperor would be annoyed to see them, so it was best to leave as quickly as possible.

Once everyone left, only the Emperor and Empress remained in the palace.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to send someone to protect Lady Anshun and the child in her womb? I reckon the child will find out."

The emperor thought it wasn't impossible.

"I have ordered people to keep a close eye on the movements of the Marquis of Anshun's residence."

"The most important thing now is to have someone investigate whether everything the child said is true. If it is, the Ming Dynasty may be in grave danger."

He imagined that two years later, he and the empress would pass away one after another, and his sons would kill each other in the struggle for the throne.

Just hearing about the emperor's name, one can imagine the turmoil that would follow the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, he now knows that taking precautions will prevent the other side from succeeding.

The Queen is right. The most important thing now is to verify what the little one said, and also to ensure the safety of the North.

If the Marquis of Wuwei's mansion is truly as the little fellow says, then he will definitely make the people of the Marquis of Wuwei's mansion know the consequences of daring to deceive the emperor.

Less than half an hour after the palace banquet ended, orders were issued from the palace, and most of the emperor's men were dispatched, with the majority going to the northern border.

After leaving the palace banquet, many people in their carriages were discussing the events of the day.

I don't know what's wrong with the royal family. Everyone in the royal family is acting strangely today.

They couldn't quite put their finger on what was wrong; their unpredictable moods were hard to fathom.

Inside the Marquis of Wuwei's residence, the Marquis's wife returned in a carriage with her hair disheveled, accompanied by her eunuch who had come to deliver the imperial decree.

The old marquis, trembling, was helped to kneel down with everyone in the mansion to receive the imperial decree.

After the eunuch read out the contents of the imperial edict, the old marquis almost fainted.

He closed his eyes to suppress the dizziness and raised his hands high.

"Your subject obeys the decree."

The steward respectfully saw off the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict. The old Marquis—no, he should be called the old Earl now.

He stared at Lady Wuwei with a gloomy expression.

"Tell me everything you did in the palace today, in detail."

Lady Wuwei might be a bit arrogant in front of others, but in front of her father-in-law, the old Marquis, she had no arrogance whatsoever.

"Father, your daughter-in-law really didn't do anything."

As we had agreed before, not long after the banquet began, I stood up and asked the emperor for a marriage decree, using the excuse that Li'er had saved the eldest daughter of the Feng family.

At that moment, Madam Feng ran out and said that it was the Lady of Anshun Marquis who had saved the eldest daughter of the Feng family, not Li'er.

The emperor then said that the eldest daughter of the Feng family was not saved by Li'er. He told both families to go down and discuss the marriage themselves, and if both families were willing, he would naturally be willing to bestow a marriage upon them.

But the Feng family would never agree. At that time, Madam Feng thanked her daughter-in-law for not agreeing and said that she would take Li'er to the Feng family and ask Feng Shanzhang for an explanation.

Finally, the emperor reprimanded me and demoted my marquisate to earldom.

The old man closed his eyes and began to curse at Zhao.

"You stupid woman, who is the emperor? He is the supreme ruler, and his words are imperial edicts."

When he said that, he meant he wasn't going to give the Marquis of Wuwei any face, so you should have thanked him and left.

How dare you contradict the Emperor and go against him! How many brains do you even have?!

Zhao was so berated that her mind went blank.

"I...I..."

I said "I" but in the end, I didn't say anything else.

They had already discussed and made all the necessary preparations, but unexpectedly, Lady Anshun appeared and disrupted all his plans.

"Don't mention the marriage between Li'er and the Feng family girl again. Don't arrange a marriage for Li'er for the next two years. Wait until things calm down before discussing it again."

As for the matter of the Marquis's residence being downgraded to an Earl's residence, that's settled for now. You may leave.

Zhao left shakily, and fainted as soon as she stepped out of the old man's courtyard.

The servants attending to him dared not make a sound and quickly carried him back to the courtyard.

By the time Ji Yueru left the palace, most of the carriages outside the palace gates had already left.

It was already late, and there weren't many carriages going the same way as them on their way back to the Marquis of Anshun's residence.

Mo Wen and Mo Da stood guard on horseback beside the carriage, their faces very serious.

It was so quiet; the streets were far too quiet.

Mother, tonight may not be peaceful.