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

"Assassins! Protect the Prime Minister's wife!"

The imperial guards at the palace gate saw this from afar and shouted. The two men drew their swords and rushed over, but they were too far away to make a move in time.

The place where the carriages were parked was filled with attendants who were skilled in martial arts. After all, being an official in the Ming Dynasty was a high-risk profession, and assassination was a common occurrence.

Upon seeing the Prime Minister's wife and the eldest daughter of the Ye family being assassinated, the attendants who were nearby and had martial arts skills naturally could not stand idly by and drew their swords to help.

When they helped, they already knew what benefits this life-saving favor could bring to their master.

Just as the sword tip was about to pierce Ye Simiao's throat, Wang was shocked and, without thinking, stepped forward to block Ye Simiao, who was already too frightened to react.

"puff!"

That was the sound of a sword piercing flesh.

Wang was slightly shorter than Ye Simiao. The sword that was originally going to pierce Ye Simiao's throat was blocked by Wang, and the blade grazed Wang's cheek instead.

Blood gushing from the wound splattered all over Ye Simiao's head and face.

At that moment, several attendants arrived and clashed with Princess Qixia's men.

A few breaths later, several Imperial Guards joined in. Seeing that he was no match for them, the newcomer bit hard and broke the poison hidden between his teeth.

By the time everyone noticed something was wrong, the assassin had already collapsed and died, with dark blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that he had died from poisoning.

The eunuch who came to deliver the message, as expected of someone who served the emperor closely, quickly made a decision.

"Quickly, quickly get a stretcher to carry the Prime Minister's wife, and hurry to summon the imperial physician to the Golden Palace. The Emperor wants to see the Prime Minister's wife now."

Upon hearing this, several Imperial Guards present immediately took action.

When summoned by the emperor, even if someone is injured or unconscious, or even if they are dead, they must be carried over first.

Two imperial guards brought a stretcher to carry the person. Ye Simiao used a handkerchief to cover the deep, bone-revealing sword wound on Wang's cheek to prevent the bleeding from continuing.

At this moment, his face was incredibly complex.

She didn't know what Wang was thinking when she stood in front of her—whether it was to atone for her sins, or to protect her life as if she were her daughter.

The eunuchs followed beside them, and the group practically jogged.

The Imperial Guards had already arrived at the Golden Palace to report to the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, just as the eunuch went to deliver the message, an assassin suddenly appeared and tried to kill the eldest daughter of the Ye family."

The Prime Minister's wife took a knife for the eldest daughter of the Ye family. Fortunately, her life is not in danger; she only suffered a facial injury. The imperial physician is already waiting at the palace gate.

The Imperial Guards entered and recounted the events without embellishment.

The ministers in the hall were all shrewd people. Some of them who had doubts about what Prime Minister Ye had said earlier were now seven or eight parts of the truth.

There's no such thing as a coincidence in the world.

The emperor had just summoned the prime minister's wife and the eldest daughter of the Ye family when the eldest daughter of the Ye family was assassinated with a specific purpose.

They absolutely refused to believe that Princess Qixia wasn't involved in this matter, since Prime Minister Ye had just said that his wife had already recognized Princess Qixia.

That means that, apart from the ministers who knew earlier in the palace, the only people outside who know the identity of the eldest daughter of the Ye family are the Ye family members and Princess Qixia.

It is obvious who sent the assassin.

If this is true, Princess Qixia dared to send assassins to kill members of the royal bloodline.

The emperor's face was as cold as frost.

"The legend of Princess Qixia."

The eunuch beside him hurriedly agreed and rushed out of the palace gate.

Meanwhile, Consort De, who was deep in the palace, had already heard the news and rushed over. She no longer cared about the rule that concubines could not interfere in politics.

Knowing that her biological daughter had been switched for twenty years, how could she possibly sit still?

The Prime Minister's wife was carried to the outside of the Golden Palace. Two Imperial Guards placed the stretcher on the ground, while the Imperial Physician, who had already heard about her injuries from the Imperial Guards who had come to inform them, waited nearby.

He quickly stepped forward and applied a few needles to stop the bleeding, then shook out some wound medicine and sprinkled it on the Prime Minister's wife's face before bandaging it with cotton cloth.

After finishing the treatment and silently apologizing, a golden needle was plunged straight into the Prime Minister's wife's acupoint.

The Prime Minister's wife, who had just fainted from the pain, was awakened again by the pain.

Seeing that the person was awake, two Imperial Guards carried a stretcher and followed Ye Simiao into the Golden Palace.

Upon arriving at the Golden Palace, under the watchful eyes of all the officials, Ye Simiao surprisingly found herself quite calm.

He walked into the main hall and knelt down before the emperor, who should have been his father, with a sob in his voice.

"Your Majesty, this humble woman pays her respects."

The royal family has not yet recognized her status, so she can only refer to herself as a subject.

When Ye Simiao straightened up again, the emperor's gaze fell on her face.

The eyes were so similar to his; how come he hadn't noticed before?

Apart from his eyes, there was nothing else about Ye Simiao that resembled him or Consort De.

For example, her nose. Consort De's ancestors had foreign blood, and her appearance is not much different from that of people in the Ming Dynasty, except that her nose is more prominent than that of people in the Ming Dynasty.

But Ye Simiao's nose was flat and flat, unlike either him or Consort De.

Ye Simiao is actually quite good-looking; every feature except her nose is striking. However, her flat nose severely detracts from her beauty.

The first thing that catches the eye when you look at her is her nose; you wouldn't think she's beautiful.

"Your Majesty, Consort De has arrived."

Upon hearing that Consort De had arrived, the Emperor felt a headache coming on. Before he could say anything more, Consort De had already stumbled into the Golden Palace.

Having already learned of what had happened in the Golden Palace, Consort De was immediately drawn to Ye Simiao kneeling on the ground upon entering the hall.

"My beloved concubine, what brings you here?"

"Your Majesty, I've heard that Qixia isn't my biological daughter. What's the truth of this?"

The emperor looked at the prime minister's wife lying on the stretcher.

"Ms. Wang, tell me what exactly happened?"

Of all those present, only Wang knew the inside story.

Prime Minister Ye said that the two children were switched by Wang herself back then.

Just now, she was awakened by the imperial physician's sharp needles outside the palace. When the imperial guards carried her in, Wang Shi was trembling with pain.

Besides the pain in my face, the acupoints that the imperial physician had needled were also throbbing with pain.

Only then did he recover somewhat, and with great effort, he climbed up from the stretcher and knelt down in the direction of the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I was confused back then and switched my daughter with the princess. I am guilty."

"The fault lies entirely with me, Your Majesty. Please do not blame the Ye family; the rest of the Ye family were unaware of the situation."

After saying this, Wang endured the pain on her body and face and lay prostrate on the ground.

Consort De disregarded her own image and went over to grab Lady Wang.

"Is what you said true? Did you really switch my daughter with yours back then?"