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

In the past, if the emperor had taken such a big step, Chief Minister Huang would have definitely stood up and asked the emperor to reconsider.

But now he huddled up with both hands tucked into his sleeves.

Go ahead and copy it. Anyway, if it turns out they're innocent, they'll just be released.

But if something really happens, it's their own fault for courting disaster. They knew the Emperor was in a bad mood these past few days, yet they still insisted on showing their true colors.

After leaving Liu's residence, the Prefect of the Capital went straight back to his own home, wanting to share the good news with his wife so that she would no longer worry about the matter of gold and silver.

Before the couple could even finish their joy, the Imperial Guards had already surrounded the entire Ning Mansion.

Upon seeing the massive formation of the Imperial Guards and then recognizing the commander leading them, the gatekeeper of the Ning residence was so frightened that he turned and ran wildly into the residence.

Upon reaching the main courtyard gate, he rushed inside before the gatekeeper could even ask him a question. By the time the gatekeeper reacted, he was already inside the house.

The couple were startled by the servant who rushed in.

"You bastard! How dare you, a lowly slave, trespass into the main house!"

The gatekeeper, no longer caring about rules, knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Master, the Imperial Guards are here to raid our house! Our entire household is finished!"

After finishing his sentence, the gatekeeper lay down on the ground. He was exhausted from running in. In any case, the Imperial Guards had already taken over the entire Ning Mansion, so even if he wanted to run away, he couldn't.

Before the Prefect of the Capital could even process his shock, he heard the panicked cries of his servants outside.

When the couple went outside, they saw Han Fang, the commander of the Imperial Guards, leading a group of Imperial Guards to brazenly arrest people in the courtyard. Their faces immediately turned cold.

"Commander Han, this is the Ning residence, not a place for you to run wild!"

Han Fang found it amusing that even now, the man surnamed Ning still didn't understand the situation. He really didn't know how he had become the Prefect of the Capital.

In fact, Ning Lu wasn't unaware of it; he just couldn't believe it.

Han Fang shook the imperial edict in his hand.

"Ning Lu receives the imperial decree."

Everyone in the courtyard knelt down on the ground.

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Ning Lu, the former Prefect of Jingzhao, has abused his power for personal gain. He is hereby dismissed from office and investigated. The entire Ning family is imprisoned. They will be punished according to their crimes after the matter is thoroughly investigated. This is the imperial decree."

After reading the imperial edict, Han Fang looked at Ning Lu, who was kneeling on the ground, with a forced smile.

"Lord Ning, please accept the imperial decree."

Ning Lu's hands trembled so much he could barely hold the imperial edict, and even the words he spoke were trembling.

"Your Majesty, I receive the imperial decree."

He fainted as soon as he finished speaking. Before he fainted, he had only one thought in his mind.

It’s over.

Seeing that the person had fainted, Han Fang coldly uttered two words.

"take away."

As he turned to leave, the Ning family members erupted in wailing and howling behind him once more.

For Han Fang, who was used to raiding homes, this was a common occurrence and had no impact whatsoever.

When Han Fang left the Ning residence, the people deliberately avoided looking at him.

Han Fang, the commander of the Imperial Guard, can be said to be a knife in the emperor's hand, specializing in confiscating property and exiling people. No official in the capital wanted to offend him, and neither did the common people, since he had confiscated a lot of wealthy merchants' property.

Inside the Marquis of Anshun's residence, Zhiyi, upon hearing the news, disregarded the fact that her arm was still in a sling and rushed to see the madam.

"Madam, the Ning family, the Prefect of the Capital, had their home ransacked by the Imperial Guards, and now the entire family has been imprisoned."

Ji Yueru thought to herself that this shouldn't be the case. The letter of complaint she wrote was about Minister Liu and Gao Jin, so what did it have to do with the Prefect of the Capital?

"Did anything else happen in Kyoto today?"

"Yes, not only the Ning family, but also the Liu family, the Minister of Revenue, and the Gao family, the Vice Minister of Revenue, had their homes confiscated by the Imperial Guards at the same time. They are probably all locked up in prison now."

"An'an, do you know what happened?"

This morning Ji Yue Ru didn't call An An, but now, even after half a day, An An still doesn't respond.

Remembering what An'an had said before, she wasn't too worried about her daughter. Perhaps the Prefect of the Capital had just committed some offense.

Zhiyi was really curious. She knew that the madam had Chunhua give Mo Wen a letter and ask him to deliver it to the Kyoto government office.

It wasn't that the two of them were being nosy and told her; it was just a coincidence that she happened to be passing by and overheard them.

Chunhua entered the house.

"Madam, the gatekeeper requests an audience."

"Let him in."

The gatekeeper entered and knelt down to pay his respects.

"Madam, the First Madam of the Prince of Qingyang's Mansion has arrived. She was carried here in a sedan chair. She said she came to visit you, and she is waiting at the gate of the mansion now."

Thanks to Ji Chunjiao's efforts, most people in the capital now know that the late Consort of the Prince of Qingyang, who has been widowed for three years, is pregnant.

Later, someone revealed that the heir of the Prince of Qingyang's mansion had actually moved into the former princess's courtyard and was living with her. It was as obvious as the lice on a bald man's head who the father of the child in her womb was.

She had made a scene when she told Ji Chunjiao of the Qingyang Prince's Mansion that Lin Wanwan was sick. She had heard that the pregnancy was unstable and that she had been staying at the mansion to rest.

Now that they've come looking for her, she has every reason to suspect something fishy is going on.

Zhiyi was anxious, as she knew best how much the two sisters disliked each other.

"Madam, please have me go out and send them away."

"No need, I'll go myself."

After being reborn, she carefully reviewed the whereabouts of Marquis Anshun over the past few months, noting that he frequently visited the estate outside the city during his days off.

It's obvious who he went to see.

Now she has good reason to doubt whose child Ji Chunjiao is carrying.

Marquis Anshun? Xiao Yang? Or someone else? Even Ji Chunjiao herself probably doesn't know.

Thinking about it, if she were in Ji Chunjiao's shoes, she would probably be more afraid than anyone else to give birth to the child in her womb.

If you don't want to have the child but still want to maximize your interests, then you need to find someone to take the blame.

It's estimated that Ji Chunjiao hates her the most right now, so it's only natural that she would ask her to take the blame.

Then she'll go out and meet her, to see what she's up to.

"Chunhua, don't do anything without my order."

"Yes, madam."

Besides Chunhua following along, Mowen and Moda were naturally worried about staying by her side.

The group arrived at the gate of the Marquis of Anshun's residence, where Ji Chunjiao and her people had been waiting impatiently.

Clutching her slightly sagging belly, Ji Chunjiao grew increasingly anxious. That bitch wouldn't refuse to come out today, would she?

Just then, the old woman's voice came from outside the sedan chair.

"Madam, the Lady of Anshun Marquis has come out."

Upon hearing this, Ji Chunjiao's face lit up with joy. She lifted the sedan curtain and was about to get out of the sedan when Qiu Ping, who was serving her, quickly stepped forward to help her.

Stepping out of the sedan chair, she looked up and saw Ji Yueru standing in front of the mansion gate, her pregnant appearance obvious and her face rosy.

Suddenly, Ji Chunjiao almost lost control of her facial expression.

Why?! Why is this bitch living such a smooth life now, while she is despised in every way in the Qingyang Prince's Mansion, and she doesn't even dare to go back to the Ji Mansion now?