"Bring the person, and I will interrogate this servant girl thoroughly!" Now that things have come to this point, Empress Cui knew that it was no longer possible to hold Song Yiliao accountable for anything - even if Song Yiliao had just personally admitted that her words were somewhat provocative towards Cui Xianlian. As a formal imperial decree of the first rank, she was actually asked by the Crown Prince's consort to step down and yield, who wouldn't be annoyed?

  If this gets out, no one will blame Song Yixiao for being too kind and magnanimous, they'll just think Cui Jianliang got what was coming to him!

  So where can Cui Guifei still find trouble with Song Yixiao now? Think of a way to coax her into letting the matter drop, that's more like it!

  "This time, however, she still couldn't drag Xiaoman down - the Princess of Jin State said indifferently: "Why bother? With so many of us here, we can settle this on the spot and report to the Empress Dowager and the Queen afterwards. Isn't that more convenient?"

  Although the Princess of Jin State never interferes in politics and is not as overbearing as the Princess of Dai State, she is not someone to be trifled with!

  Before that, Princess Changxing privately troubled Song Yixiao, who had not yet passed the door. The Grand Duchess of Jin forced Empress Su to take out the original Xiang Guang Yu Yue Huan, which was originally intended as a dowry for her daughter, as an apology gift. How could she easily let go of the aunt and niece of the Cui family this time?

  Cui Guifei originally had a grudge against the Princess of Dai, and now the Princes of Wei and Zhao were both eyeing the Eastern Palace covetously. As the birth mother of the Crown Prince, how could she dare to offend the Princess of Jin again?

  Although he was anxious, he couldn't help but force a smile and say: "Your Highness, why use an ox knife to kill a chicken? Today is the Lantern Festival, it's not worth ruining the mood for something like this!"

  "You've all seen the blood, what's there to discuss about being interested or not?" The Grand Princess of Jin sneered, "Moreover, I'm also very curious: this servant girl's master isn't very familiar with my daughter-in-law, so what grudge could this servant girl have against my daughter-in-law that would lead her to instigate her master to slander my daughter-in-law?"

  She kept calling her "my daughter-in-law", the implication of which was clear, and Consort Cui looked at Song Yi who was unscathed and thought about her own niece who was still obedient to fate. She held back a breath in her chest, unable to speak for a long time before saying: "The prince has given an order, how dare I not obey?"

  Xiao Man was already paralyzed on the ground at this time, and when she was pulled over to ask, where could she still speak?

  Cui Guifei saw the situation and wanted to call for punishment, but before her people could step forward, Jin Guo's long princess said: "I remember that the old aunts in front of you are best at teaching these disobedient servants. Since they are all here, let them handle this matter!"

  The imperial concubine saw Xiao Man's eyes flicker and forced herself to calm down, saying: "Such a thing, how can it be worth troubling the people in front of the empress dowager?"

  But Princess Chang insisted - even the old aunt who served beside the Empress Dowager had to give face to her master's own daughter, and immediately dragged down Little Man.

  It was the Empress Dowager who had ordered this, and after a moment, Xiaoman was dragged forward again. Although she still couldn't stand up, she began to speak truthfully. As soon as she entered the door, she burst into tears and confessed: "Your servant knows her crime! It was actually your servant who harmed the Consort, your servant was afraid that if the truth came out, her life would be in danger, so she took advantage of the Consort's trust in her and misled her into thinking that the Lady of Yan was the real culprit!"

  The Princess of Jin furrowed her brow and said: "But did Consort Cui treat you harshly? Otherwise, you've been serving her since childhood, why would you want to harm her?"

  "As for the palace, the concubine has never been cruel to the slaves!" Xiaoman kowtowed on the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably, and choked out: "It's me... I was foolishly thinking... wanting the concubine to recommend me to... to the Crown Prince! But the concubine... said that this matter needs to be asked of the Crown Princess first, I thought the concubine was intentionally stalling, and for a moment I was confused..."

  "You're just a slave, and I've already brought you into the Eastern Palace out of consideration for your years of service!" Concubine Cui's face turned red with rage as she stood up, her voice shrill. "You actually dare to have designs on the Crown Prince!!! You can't even achieve your desires, yet you don't reflect on your own lowly and vulgar status. Not only did you plot against the imperial bloodline, but you also slandered the imperial edict! You're simply ungrateful!"

  Song Yixiao stood quietly behind her mother-in-law, coldly watching Cui Guifei's outburst - in fact, everyone present knew that Xiaoman's current words were 100% taught by those few old aunts just now!

  The reason is very simple: not only does Empress Cui fear that having a falling out with the Princess of Jin will be bad for the Crown Prince, but the Princess of Jin also needs to consider the future prospects of her children after Emperor Xian passes away.

  Yu Guo and the elderly aunts who represented Empress Dowager also supported Crown Prince's stance and did not want the two sides to become enemies!

  In other words, apart from Fang Yu sent by the Empress, everyone present had reached a tacit understanding: push out a scapegoat that would not affect the relationship between the two sides, and remove Cui Jianliang and Song Yixiao completely!

  That's why Consort Cui didn't want those old aunts to teach Xiao Man "rules" just now, it was because she guessed that today's matter would be disadvantageous to her own niece, and Empress Dowager originally wasn't very satisfied with Cui Xian, after knowing the truth, she would dislike this imperial concubine even more!

  But she didn't insist too much - because sooner or later she would have to be taken in anyway, and now eliminating misunderstandings with the Princess of Jin was the most important thing; compared to that, if her niece could be saved then so be it, but if not, then she could only wish her good luck!

  "Concubine, please calm down!" After Concubine Cui had a fit for a while, Princess Hengshan finally interjected, "To be honest, I should have left just now. However, since you mentioned the name of my daughter-in-law, I must get to the bottom of this: after all, my legitimate daughter-in-law has only one legitimate daughter left, if she suffers injustice, when I die and go underground, I will not have the face to account for it to my wife!"

  As she spoke, she asked Xiao Man, "What did Cui Ce Fei say when she invited Yan Guo Furen over earlier?"

  Xiao Man was speechless for a long time, and Song Yi smiled, guessing that she didn't know what to say. The old aunt who had taken her down earlier hurried over and said, "It seems that the etiquette I taught her earlier wasn't enough!"

  After getting the promise of Princess Chang and Consort Cui, he dragged Xiaoman down again, and when he brought her back up, she indeed said: "Although Concubine Yan was wrongly accused in the past, I have always felt sorry for Madame Yan! Today at the banquet, I also had the intention of apologizing to Madame Yan again, so I used the name of Princess Wei to meet with Madame Yan!"

  As for why Song Yixiao said that Cui Ce Fei forced her to step down, "It's actually a misunderstanding! Ce Fei and the Yan Guo lady are not familiar with each other, they just met face-to-face, and at first didn't know what to say. So she thought of mentioning the female classmates from Hengshan Wang Fu, to get closer to each other - who would have thought that the Yan Guo lady was originally going to meet Wei Wang Fei's appointment, but came and saw it was Ce Fei, first had doubts, then listened to Ce Fei talk about the Fourth Princess, and misunderstood!"

  The Princess of Jin State heard this and looked at Song Yi with a smile: "Good child, is that so? If it's not you, just say so!"

  The Empress Dowager's words seemed to encourage her daughter-in-law, but in fact she was dissatisfied with this remark - what is meant by saying that my daughter-in-law misunderstood? If this gets out, won't others say that my young daughter-in-law has a petty and narrow-minded attitude?

  And Song Yixiao grew up in the Hengshan Wangfu, Lu Qinger is one of her benefactors. If it weren't for the evidence being conclusive and the situation being severe, according to public opinion, she should have given way to Lu Qinger. How could she still be suspicious of Lu Qinger at the slightest rumor?

  Isn't this just repaying kindness with enmity!

  Song Yi Xiao couldn't help but hear the bias in her mother-in-law's words, and upon hearing them, her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she held back tears. She said, "What she said about the past is one thing, but when the concubine mentioned the Fourth Princess, her original words were: 'You eat what the Hengshan Wangfu provides, wear what the Hengshan Wangfu provides, live in the Hengshan Wangfu, and even your marriage was arranged by the Hengshan Wangfu. Without the Hengshan Wangfu, where would you be today? The Hengshan Wangfu's kindness to you is something you can't repay in this lifetime. Now that your cousin Qian'er has a crush on the Yan Guo Gong, why are you still reluctant to let go? Is this what it means to know how to repay kindness?'!"

  At this point, it's only natural that tears fall, "Otherwise, how dare I guess the meaning of the imperial concubine?!"

  The whole house fell silent.

  Cui Jianlian is still struggling to survive, while Xiao Man has already confessed that she was the one who harmed her master - at this moment, Song Yixiao's words have naturally become the most credible evidence!

  But Imperial Consort Cui absolutely did not want Cui Xian to bear the reputation of being forced into a marriage by imperial decree!

  It's not that she can't bear to part with her niece, but if Cui Jianli falls into this crime, the entire Cui family, including herself as the imperial consort, will not have a good ending! At this time, she is impossible to concede!

  "The words of the Princess of Yan, I also believe!" After the arrival of the mother and daughter of the Jin State's Grand Duchess, Cui Guifei changed her self-address from "Ben Gong" to "I", showing humility. However, she switched back again, which was a subtle expression of her determination. "But, Lian'er this child, I have watched her grow up, and I think that she would absolutely not do such an absurd thing!"

  "So, was it that little slave girl who spoke ill of you in front of Lian'er, saying something like you did something unbecoming of the Lady of Yan?"

  "What does it mean for Her Highness to say such a thing when even the maid didn't mention it just now?" The Princess of Jin Country interrupted, displeased.

  "Your Highness, don't misunderstand!" Cui Guifei said calmly. "But Your Highness, think about it: Lian'er isn't crazy, how could she not know that a first-rank imperial edict is something even the Empress Dowager and the Empress would give to a respectable noblewoman? With her being just a small concubine, she's already lucky to have gotten a courtesy visit from the Lady of Yan Country. How dare she force the Lady of Yan Country to leave? I really don't believe there's no inside story here!"

  The Princess of Jin raised an eyebrow and said: "So I just asked you, if you intend to marry your niece to my youngest son, why not say it earlier?"

  These two people usually don't like to put on airs, but now they both call themselves "Ben Gong". The former had just speculated that Song Yixiao had done something wrong, and the latter immediately brought up Cui Guifei as the real mastermind behind the scenes.

  Yu Guo slightly furrowed her brow, but Fang Yu turned her eyes and said: "Two ladies, please calm down! I dare to say a word: Why not wait until Concubine Xi is stable, ask Concubine Xi about the situation, and then make a conclusion?"

  Although what she said made sense, Concubine Cui and Princess of Jin exchanged a glance, but they unanimously vetoed: "A dignified imperial concubine was actually harmed by a small maid to the point of inducing labor. If this gets out, how will people think of the imperial family? As the saying goes, 'family shame must not be made public', this matter cannot be delayed!"

  What a joke! The two of them are now at odds, and what they're after is to settle things once and for all on the spot!

  Choi Ji-yeon, who is giving birth for the first time, has had an unexpected emergency and needs to be induced. It's uncertain whether she'll make it through childbirth, and even if she does, she'll need time to recover before being questioned again. That means it'll be at least tomorrow or the day after tomorrow! With this delay, who knows how many rumors will spread?!

  The master behind the curtain, Empress Su, would suddenly send someone to spread rumors and cause discord between Princess Chang of Jin and the Crown Prince.

  "In my humble opinion..." Yu Guo also understood this truth, and after a moment of contemplation, she slowly began to speak - but just as she had only spoken halfway, a small eunuch rushed in from outside the door and reported: "Several noble ladies, just now Warm Shu people hastily bumped into His Majesty, saying that they had heard about the dispute between Cui Ce Fei and Yan Guo Fu Ren, and were so shocked that they lost their composure!"

  Everyone was shocked upon hearing this!