The more Qin Xianfei thought about it, the more uneasy she became, and she subconsciously glanced at Lu Mingyu.

Lu Mingyu smiled coldly at Qin Xianfei.

Empress Dowager Zhao was biased and believed in the words. After a little instigation, she was convinced that the knife was a good one.

However, this knife was not so easy to use. It was double-edged, and it was hard to say who would be hurt.

Qin Xianfei felt a chill on her back, and the strings in her mind suddenly tightened.

Empress Dowager Zhao was filled with rage and said nothing. No one in the main hall spoke, and there was a suffocating silence.

About two incense sticks passed.

Emperor Yongjia, wearing a dragon robe, walked with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.

Empress Qiao had prepared herself for punishment within these two incense sticks, and now she was much calmer. She was the first to stand up and salute Emperor Yongjia.

As a daughter-in-law, Lu Mingyu would not be impolite and stood up to greet them.

Qin Xianfei was a little slower. Before she could finish her greetings, Empress Dowager Zhao spoke out angrily, “Your Majesty, please judge for me. What’s the point of me being the Empress Dowager? My daughter-in-law didn’t take me seriously, and now my granddaughter-in-law doesn’t take me seriously either…”

In Empress Dowager Zhao’s words, she was merely giving a few words of advice to her granddaughter-in-law but was instead rebuffed. The granddaughter-in-law repeatedly mocked and ridiculed her by referring to her as a second wife or concubine.

Empress Dowager Zhao was filled with anger, which turned into a torrent of accusations: “…At my age, I still have to look after my grandson’s wife. I can’t live with this kind of aggrieved life any longer. Since the Emperor is here, you must give me an explanation today. Otherwise, I would rather move out of the palace.”

Emperor Yongjia was very unhappy that his morning court was interrupted, and he was even more upset by his own mother’s unreasonable complaints.

The quarrels in the harem spread to the court and even the morning court was interrupted.

How annoying!

What about the second wife and the concubine? It was even more indecent to say such words in public!

Emperor Yongjia frowned slightly, and his eyes swept across the faces of the people with different expressions, and finally fell on Empress Qiao’s face: “Empress, what’s going on?”

As a father-in-law, it was not convenient for him to directly blame his daughter-in-law. Even if he wanted to blame her, he had to ask Empress Qiao.

Empress Qiao did not explain, but bowed her head and admitted her fault: “It is all my fault, Your Majesty, please punish me!”

Yes! Whenever the mother-in-law got angry, it was always the daughter-in-law’s fault.

It was your fault, no matter what.

Filial piety was greater than heaven. A son couldn’t always be at the side of his mother. After marrying a wife, she must of course be filial to his mother on his behalf. His mother was old and had a muddle-headed temper. Couldn’t she just give in and coax her?

This was probably the common understanding and thought of all men in the world.

Emperor Yongjia was no exception.

Empress Qiao admitted her fault straightforwardly, which calmed Emperor Yongjia’s anger. Emperor Yongjia glanced at his daughter-in-law Lu Mingyu.

Lu Mingyu was pregnant, so she should keep calm and take care of the baby. It was better not to punish her. Just punish Empress Qiao and let Empress Dowager Zhao vent her anger.

…

What Emperor Yongjia was thinking was almost written on his face.

Lu Mingyu did not feel relieved that she was about to escape the disaster.

Empress Qiao admitted her fault, and Emperor Yongjia naturally thought it was Empress Qiao’s fault. This scene was so similar to the scene in her memory that it almost instantly aroused her anger.

“Royal Father, please allow your daughter-in-law to say a few words.” Lu Mingyu suddenly opened his mouth.

Emperor Yongjia did not comment, and his expression was obviously not very good.

Empress Qiao was startled and tried to stop Lu Mingyu from talking: “Lu Shi, you have no right to speak in this situation. You…”

“Let her speak!” Emperor Yongjia said in a deep voice, “I also want to hear what she has to say.”

The Empress Dowager Zhao’s depression was swept away, and she was replaced by the satisfaction of having her son’s support. She glanced at Lu Mingyu with contempt.

Qin Xianfei also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Mingyu’s words attracted all the anger of Emperor Yongjia. It seemed that she would not be the punching bag today.

Before she could finish her gloating thoughts, Lu Mingyu’s voice rang out: “My daughter-in-law’s pregnancy was not made public, and only my Royal father and mother knew about it. My daughter-in-law is very confused, how did the Royal Grandmother guess that I was pregnant?”

Qin Xianfei: “…”

Emperor Yongjia glanced over with a cold gaze.

Qin Xianfei’s knees went weak and she almost fell to her knees.

Lu Mingyu continued, “Grandmother is always kind-hearted and most considerate of the younger generation. Knowing that I was expecting, she wouldn’t hastily summon me to the palace. Yet today, not only did Grandmother summon me, but she also immediately said that this child must be a boy.”

“Mother was afraid that I might get upset and affect the pregnancy, so she said that blossoming first and bearing fruit later is also a joyous event.”

“But Royal Grandmother said that the guìfēi, xiánfēi, and sūfēi all gave birth to sons. She despised the Royal mother’s belly for being useless. As your daughter-in-law, I couldn’t bear to see Royal Mother embarrassed, so I spoke up to defend her, saying that concubines cannot be compared to the main wife. Words like ‘second wife’ and ‘concubine’ were spoken without intention and were indeed inappropriate.”

“It is only natural for my daughter-in-law to apologize to the Royal Grandmother for her careless words. What makes my daughter-in-law angry is that someone deliberately instigated the Royal Grandmother. It was originally a happy event, but it turned out like this.”

Emperor Yongjia looked at Qin Xianfei with an increasingly gloomy gaze.

Qin Xianfei Xian was so anxious that a cold sweat broke out on her forehead: “Your Majesty, please calm down. Lu Shi is disobedient and disrespectful to her elders. She even has the nerve to turn the tables and put the blame on me…”

Emperor Yongjia sneered, “Isn’t what Lu Shi said right? If you hadn’t been gossiping in my mother’s ear, why would she suddenly summon Lu Shi to the palace? Lu Shi is pregnant, which is a happy event in the palace. With my mother’s temper, she would only reward Lu Shi generously, why would she start a verbal dispute for no reason?”

Empress Dowager Zhao was definitely not wrong.

Empress Qiao was innocent.

It was definitely true that Lu Mingyu was pregnant.

The only wrong person was Qin Xianfei.

Emperor Yongjia was furious, and Qin Xianfei could no longer sit still. She immediately knelt down with red eyes and said, “I am really wronged. Your Majesty didn’t ask for the truth but blamed me for everything. I wish I could tell Your Majesty about my heart.”

Emperor Yongjia sneered again: “You know best what you said and did.”

Lu Mingyu chuckled in her heart.

Emperor Yongjia was indeed a wise ruler. However, he also shared the common flaw of all men. When there was turmoil in the inner palace, he neither wanted to nor intended to delve into the root of the matter. He only wished to quickly extinguish the flames and restore peace.

The source of today’s dispute was indeed the petty-minded and calculating Qin Xianfei who loved to whisper in someone’s ear. Emperor Yongjia was filled with anger, and it would be strange if he didn’t go after her.

Empress Dowager Zhao did not expect the situation to take a sudden turn for the worse, so she went to Qin Xianfei and glared at Lu Mingyu in shock and anger: “Your Majesty, don’t listen to Lu Shi’s distortion of right and wrong. Today’s matter was my own idea, and it has nothing to do with Xianfei.”

Lu Mingyu suddenly sighed: “Empress Xianfei was wrong, but she couldn’t kill the mouse and damage the jade bottle. Father, please punish your daughter-in-law!”

(End of this chapter)