“Your Majesty, spare my life, Your Majesty, spare my life… It’s all the maid’s fault for not taking good care of the princess. It’s all my fault.”

The Empress realized that the wet nurse was taking the blame for Hua Fei!

So, she looked at the wet nurse and said sharply, “Wet nurse, is this just about not taking good care of the princess?”

“The princess has just turned one year old. If no one fed her, do you expect her to have taken the soothing medicine on her own?”

Upon hearing the Empress’s question, the wet nurse raised her head and glanced at Hua Fei.

Hua Fei was glaring at the wet nurse with warning eyes, but was interrupted by the Empress:

“Wet nurse, I’m asking you, why are you looking at Hua Fei?”

“Do you know that secretly feeding the princess soothing medicine is a capital offense?”

This matter had already crossed the Emperor’s bottom line.

In the Emperor’s heart, he deeply loved his daughter, Wen Yi.

Now, someone dared to drug his beloved daughter. How could he tolerate that?

“If you don’t answer the Empress honestly, not only will I kill you, but I’ll also kill your family!”

This kind of statement was effective anywhere.

Because no one could afford to disregard their family.

“Yes… Yes, it was Hua Fei who found the princess crying at night and personally gave her the soothing medicine prescribed by the Imperial Physician.”

The wet nurse trembled as she spoke, then immediately dropped her body to the ground, not daring to look at Hua Fei again.

“Hua Fei, what have you done!”

The Empress spoke in a tone full of grief:

“Wen Yi is so small, how could you be so cruel?”

Hua Fei ignored the Empress and directly knelt before the Emperor.

She grabbed the Emperor’s robe and said:

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty, this matter was my mistake. I promise I won’t dare to do it again.”

The Emperor fell silent for a while, as if trying to calm his emotions.

“Poisonous woman!”

The Emperor flung Hua Fei’s hand off his sleeve:

“If you found Wen Yi noisy and disturbing your rest, why did you beg me to raise her in the first place?”

“Since you raised her, why are you treating my daughter this way?”

“Your Majesty, it was my moment of foolishness, please forgive me this time!”

Seeing Hua Fei crying and begging for forgiveness, the Emperor’s heart softened a little.

But what she did this time was simply too much. The Emperor had no choice but to punish her.

“Forgive you? First, there was the matter of An Changzai, and now this with Wen Yi. How can you expect me to forgive you?”

“At first, with the An Changzai matter, I didn’t quite believe you could be so vicious!”

“Now, it’s clear. It’s all you! All of it!”

“Your Majesty, I really didn’t push An Changzai, I only did this one thing…”

“I don’t want to hear your nonsense anymore, Su Peisheng!”

At this moment, when the Emperor called for Su Peisheng, it meant no good would come of it.

“Remove Hua Fei’s authority to manage the Six Palaces and lock her up in the Qingliang Palace for a month. Without my decree, she is not allowed to see me.”

When the Empress heard this, she felt as though the pain in her arm had faded!

If not for her self-control, she might have burst out laughing.

In the palace, Hua Fei had relied on the Emperor’s favoritism and her family’s power to offend anyone she liked.

Now that she had been punished, no one felt unhappy about it.

Only Zhen Huan felt a bit conflicted inside.

After all, she had lived through two lifetimes and had seen how Hua Fei climbed to the top, only to fall in the end.

Now, Zhen Huan not only felt wary of Hua Fei but also a certain sympathy.

Because she was, after all, a pitiful woman.

Compared to the authority over the Six Palaces, what Hua Fei valued more was the Emperor.

As soon as she heard that she would not be allowed to see him, she was terrified.

She cried, looking at the Emperor: “Your Majesty, are you really this heartless?”

“It’s not that I’m heartless, it’s that you are too reckless!”

The Emperor said, telling Hua Fei to leave quickly because he didn’t want to see her.

Hua Fei, hearing the Emperor’s words, looked completely despondent, allowing Song Zhi to help her out.

As for who would raise Wen Yi, the Emperor decided that he would wait until they returned to the palace and ask the Empress Dowager before making a decision.

The Emperor ordered Zhang Mi to prescribe some medicine for Wen Yi to help her recover.

He also instructed the wet nurse to report any problems immediately in the future.

If there was any concealment next time, there would be no mercy.

The wet nurse, terrified and trembling, hurriedly kowtowed in thanks upon hearing the Emperor’s command.

After dealing with all these matters, the Emperor said he was tired and allowed the concubines to leave.

When the group left the Peach Blossom Grove, the Empress finally felt the pain in her arm.

Jian Qiu, seeing her distressed and in pain, looked at her with a heart full of sympathy:

“Your Majesty, why did you let yourself suffer like this? It hurts me to see it.”

“You are the Empress, there is no need for you to risk your safety.”

“If something really happened to you, even if I died a thousand times, it wouldn’t make up for my guilt!”

The Empress, holding her injured arm, smiled:

“Compared to what Hua Fei went through today, this little injury is nothing.”

Hua Fei had pressed her down for so many years. As long as Hua Fei suffered, she was happier than anything else.

“Even if you weren’t injured today, the Emperor would still have lashed out at Hua Fei because of Wen Yi.”

“But today’s banquet was organized by me. If I weren’t injured, do you think the Emperor wouldn’t suspect me?”

The Empress gritted her teeth in pain, but her face still showed a very relaxed and joyful expression.

“You really thought things through, Your Majesty. I have learned a lot from you.”

“I didn’t even feel pain just now.”

“Your Majesty, you were completely focused on Hua Fei. With her as your painkiller, of course, you wouldn’t feel pain.”

Jian Qiu smiled wryly at the Empress:

“Now that Hua Fei has lost her authority over the Six Palaces and is locked in the Qingliang Palace, Your Majesty can finally breathe a sigh of relief.”

The Empress sneered, as if to say: Hua Fei wants to compete with me? She’s still too immature!

But then she seemed to remember something and frowned tightly:

“Did you clean up all those flowers?”

Jian Qiu nodded:

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Everything has been cleaned up.”

“Too bad about An Changzai…”

“Some things need to be planned slowly. You can’t rush.”

The Empress gave Jian Qiu a meaningful look:

“Doesn’t she still have Bao Juan with her…”

After speaking, the two of them exchanged a knowing look and smiled triumphantly.

The Empress had been injured, Hua Fei lost her authority over the Six Palaces, and the Emperor instructed Shen Mei Zhuang to help manage the matters of the Six Palaces.

Shen Mei Zhuang, seeing she could not refuse, reluctantly agreed.

Zhen Huan told her not to be too frugal, as doing so might offend everyone in the palace.

Even though she was still learning how to manage the Six Palaces, the Emperor wouldn’t be too harsh on her if she made mistakes.

But if, in an attempt to please the Emperor, she offended everyone in the palace, her future would be very difficult.

An Lingrong, having been frightened, seemed emotionally unstable.

She had been constantly worried that someone would harm her and her unborn child.

Zhen Huan sent all the servants away, making sure Bao Juan wouldn’t overhear their conversation.

“Lingrong, don’t be scared. After such a big incident today, even if someone wants to make a move, they have to be more cautious.”

She glanced at the door to make sure no one was around, then cautiously said to An Lingrong: “You need to keep a close eye on Bao Juan…”