That Imperial Concubine is both wicked and cunning! Your Majesty, wake up!

The second prince burst into tears, crying, "It's...it's Consort Jiang!"

"My mother said that as long as I listen to her, I can go back to her side and won't have to stay with my mother anymore. I can eat my favorite pastries and won't be forced to study and learn to read anymore."

"I don't want my tongue cut out, sister. I don't want to become mute. It was all Jiang's mother who made me do this. Sister, please protect me."

The second prince crawled forward, grabbing the hem of the eldest princess's skirt, staring fearfully at the tongueless eunuch, afraid that he would suffer the same fate as him, having his tongue cut out.

The eldest princess looked at him with disappointment. "Did you also push down my third brother?"

The second prince dared not lie any longer and nodded repeatedly.

"Was this also ordered by Jiang's mother to push down your third brother?"

The second prince, his face streaked with snot and tears, wailed, "It was Consort Jiang who made me push my third brother down. I hate my third brother too; he never plays with me and only knows how to study."

"My mother, Consort Jiang, also said that it was Consort Yuan who caused my separation from her. Waaah, sister, I hate Consort Yuan too. I've already told the truth, please don't cut out my tongue." The Second Prince blurted out everything incoherently.

All of this, this unreserved breakdown and confession of the child, clearly pierced through the heavy palace doors, falling into the ears of everyone outside who was listening intently.

The veins on Xiao Yan's forehead throbbed, and his eyes were as deep as a cold pool.

The Empress felt heartbroken and sorrowful. She had planned for his future and secured his position, but all she got in return was that he harbored resentment towards her because of a few words of instigation from others and a few pieces of pastry, and was determined to escape.

Consort Qing said, "So it was Consort Jiang. Consort Jiang is so vicious. She actually instigated a child to harm her own brother."

Consort Shen glanced at Consort Qing, who had just been kicking someone when they were down in the palace.

Shen Jieyu also said, "What a clever trick! Even a child's purest innocence can be used as a stepping stone."

Several other concubines echoed this sentiment.

Song Shuangning glanced at them.

Yes, the palace is never short of opportunists; as soon as the wind blows, they all bend to the other side.

Consort Xu broke free from the support of the palace maids and rushed towards Consort Jiang.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, loud slap.

Consort Jiang fell to the ground.

Xu Jieyu trembled with rage. "What did my Cheng'er do wrong that you would want to hurt him like this! You vicious woman!"

The Empress spoke up to stop her, then looked at Consort Jiang who had fallen to the ground.

The anger in his eyes gradually turned into heartache.

"Consort Jiang, you and Lady Yun are close friends, and Tai'er is, after all, Lady Yun's child. How could you take advantage of Tai'er's naivety and teach him to hurt his own brother? You are turning him into a bad child you don't even recognize! How can you do this to Lady Yun?"

Consort Jiang suddenly sneered, then hysterically roared, "So he was a good child before?"

"I really feel sorry for Amu (Yun Shi). How could Amu give birth to such a cold-blooded thing? Amu cherished him more than her own life, but when Amu was banished to the Cold Palace, he was fine. In just a few days, he adapted to life in the Phoenix Palace and treated the Empress as his own mother. He didn't cry or make a fuss. Does he have no heart at all?"

"No, he's a heartless ingrate. Amu wasted his affection on him."

Consort Jiang's eyes were red-rimmed as she looked at Xiao Yan with disdain.

"I thought this time I would definitely be able to kill Consort Yuan, but I calculated everything, except for one thing—"

She stared intently into Xiao Yan's eyes, questioning him with near-hysterical intensity:

"Your Majesty, you don't believe your own son's words. You'd rather believe a concubine's explanation than your son's. You value a woman more than the royal bloodline. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the whole world if word gets out? Hahahaha, it's truly ridiculous."

Song Shuangning looked at Consort Jiang with a complex expression, a mixture of pity and sorrow.

In this palace, it's common for people to leave and for the tea to cool. To have such a sentimental heart willing to risk everything for the other should have been a blessing. Unfortunately, this rare sincerity slowly turned into an obsession.

In the end, it will only 'burn' yourself.

Li Fuquan: "How dare you!"

Consort Rong shook her head silently. What a madman! She must have been bewitched to cooperate with this madman.

How dare you offend the emperor in public!

Xiao Yan smiled silently.

"Every decision I make could affect the lives of thousands. If I trust the wrong person, the price could be rivers of blood. I don't trust anyone; I only trust my own judgment."

The way of the emperor is based on solitude.

The Empress said, "Your Majesty, she has gone mad."

Xiao Yan didn't bother to look at Consort Jiang again; his voice was devoid of warmth, as if he were dealing with an insignificant person.

"Jiang is malicious and wicked; she has bewitched and harmed the prince. Her crime deserves death. She is hereby demoted to commoner status and sentenced to death."

Jiang was dragged away, her hair disheveled, her gorgeous clothes torn and messy, and she looked extremely disheveled.

However, she smiled.

At first, it was just a few giggles, but it quickly turned into a sharp and manic laugh.

She laughed and cried at the same time.

"I curse you all, I curse Consort Yuan, I curse the Empress! May all of you who stood by and watched suffer a terrible end! Even if I, the Jiang family, become a vengeful ghost, I will not let you go!"

When Jiang saw the Second Prince peeking through the crack in the door, her laughter stopped abruptly, and each word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

"And you, you heartless ingrate. I curse you to be a complete failure, a useless piece of trash who can be manipulated by others forever."

Xiao Yan said, "Kill him on the spot with a stick."

The sound of the cane striking her body was mixed with Jiang's curses, and soon, Jiang breathed her last.

Qiu Cai Ren whispered in her ear, "What does this have to do with you? Such a vicious curse is truly bad luck."

Song Shuangning looked in the direction Jiang Shi was dragged away and shook her head:

"A curse is the last and most powerless act of a loser when they are at their wit's end. It can't hurt anyone; it can only comfort their own resentment."

Qiu Cairen looked like she was learning something.

Xiao Yan withdrew his gaze from the chaotic scene and landed on Song Shuangning, who had remained silent to the side.

He said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry you had to go through this today."

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, he immediately ordered Li Dequan: "By imperial decree, promote Consort Yuan to the rank of Jieyu."

The color drained from Consort Rong's face instantly, as if she had been slapped in the face in public. Her meticulously planned scheme not only failed to bring Song Shuangning down, but instead became a stepping stone for her own advancement!

Consort Rong barely managed to maintain the stiff, polite smile on her face.