The Legend of Zhen Huan: Year after year, we share the spring breeze

A trace of panic flashed in Mu Jingqiu's eyes: "Your Majesty, I am wise. Everything I said is true!"

"Oh? Then tell me why you were coerced by Concubine Duan?"

"I...I have my own reasons..."

"Hardship?" An Lingrong suddenly sneered, turned to Caiyue and held out her hand: "A letter."

Caiyue immediately presented the letter.

An Lingrong accurately pulled out a piece of paper from a thick stack and threw it in front of Mu Jingqiu.

"Is this your 'hardship'?"

The paper fluttered down, and Mu Jingqiu picked it up with trembling hands. After just one glance, her face paled. She looked up in disbelief: "Madam... you... how could you have these things..."

An Lingrong leaned forward, lifted Mu Jingqiu's chin, and forced him to look directly into her eyes. "Do you think you're so clever that you can manipulate everyone?"

Mu Jingqiu was forced to look up, meeting those piercing eyes. She saw her own distorted reflection shrinking in those dark pupils, and her carefully painted eyebrows had long since lost their shape.

She hastily avoided his gaze: "I dare not..."

"Don't dare?" An Lingrong suddenly chuckled, her fingertips exerting force, leaving several red marks on Mu Jingqiu's chin. Her breath was as sweet as orchid, but every word was poisonous. "I'm telling you, the reason your plan has been able to proceed this far isn't because you're so clever, but because I wanted to see what you were really planning!"

She let go of his hand, slowly stood up, picked up the handkerchief on the table and slowly wiped her fingertips, saying, "What a pity, your performance is so disappointing."

She loosened her fingers and the handkerchief fluttered down to Mu Jingqiu's feet.

The hall was eerily quiet, with only the ticking of the second hand of the clock as the sound.

"My Lady, I don't understand what you mean..."

An Lingrong curled her lips into a cold smile:

"Concubine Duan has evidence of your father's corruption and is using it to threaten you, trying to pin the blame for the miscarriage on me. You're afraid that if the accusation succeeds, Imperial Noble Concubine and Concubine Hui won't let it go and will surely uncover the secret of your pregnancy. By then, you won't even have your last resort, so you don't dare.

"Having the Emperor confine me for a month buys you some time to blame the miscarriage on the Emperor. That way, even if your father's crime is exposed, the Emperor will be lenient out of consideration for your father's actions. The evidence in Concubine Duan's hands will be useless. And you, now, want to use us to deal with Concubine Duan and completely eliminate this hidden danger, right?"

Mu Jingqiu clutched the piece of paper tightly, and she suddenly realized that the nail polish she had carefully applied had been rubbed off due to trembling, just like the disguise she had painstakingly built up, which collapsed at this moment.

"Your Majesty, I, your concubine..."

An Lingrong turned around and smiled sarcastically, "Doctor Wu is a good doctor. It would be a shame to kill him. What do you think?"

Since he wants to return to Jiangning Prefecture, I sent someone to take him back, saving you the trouble of sending someone all this way."

Just ten miles out of the capital, Imperial Physician Wu's carriage was "accidentally" encountered robbers on the official road. If she hadn't instructed the men sent by Wei Lin to secretly rescue him, Imperial Physician Wu would have already entered the cycle of reincarnation.

Hearing this, Mu Jingqiu collapsed to the ground, beads of sweat oozing from her forehead. She finally realized that everything she had done was completely exposed in the eyes of this seemingly weak person.

"You have indeed received the emperor's pity. I admire you very much. You are scheming, resourceful, and able to make choices, and you can be cruel to yourself. But you are too self-righteous!" An Lingrong turned and walked to the window. The sunlight shone through the window lattice, casting mottled shadows on her face.

"Your Majesty!" Her voice was filled with tears. "Everything I have done is for my father! Please, for the sake of my filial piety..."

"If you are truly filial, you should write a good letter to persuade him to turn back in time."

"My father has already admitted his mistakes. Every word in the letter he wrote to me is a confession..."

"Admit your mistake?" An Lingrong suddenly turned around, looking her straight in the eye, her voice rising three points. "It's been a year since Concubine Duan got hold of you. If he truly knew he was wrong, he would have sold off his property to make up for the shortfall. But what did your father do? He paid less than half of the salt tax this year, and he used the rest to curry favor! Does this mean he knows he's wrong? This clearly means he's scared!"

Mu Jingqiu froze in place. She opened her mouth, but found that all her words of excuse seemed so pale and powerless.

In the end, I could only lower my head in dejection.

An Lingrong stared coldly at the kneeling figure. "You know your father's temper better than anyone. Getting him to stop is harder than climbing to heaven. That's why you've gone to such lengths to win the Emperor's pity, isn't it?"

Mu Jingqiu stammered, her voice as thin as a mosquito: "I am truly desperate, so I resorted to this desperate measure."

"You're too modest. This isn't a bad plan at all. It's clearly the best plan. Unfortunately... I'm afraid the result will disappoint you!"

Mu Jingqiu shuddered, her eyes filled with fear as she looked up. She understood what An Lingrong meant: she was going to expose the Mu family's crimes to the public!

"Your Majesty!" She suddenly rushed forward, not caring about her manners, and tightly grasped the hem of An Lingrong's skirt, "Please have mercy on me!"

"No matter how deep the grudge between you and me, I will not implicate my family," An Lingrong said, emphasizing each word. "But this is a matter of state! It concerns the stability of the world! How can I stand by and watch such a pest continue to erode the foundations of our country?"

After saying that, she looked at Mu Jingqiu again: "Haven't you expected this day a long time ago? I won't tell anyone about what you did to the emperor. Just open your eyes and see how much the emperor's 'guilt' that you worked so hard to obtain is worth!"

After saying this, An Lingrong added: "If you are disappointed with the emperor's decision, you can come to me."

Mu Jingqiu's entire body trembled violently, her carefully applied makeup smudged by tears. She wanted to say something else, but An Lingrong had already turned away, leaving her with a resolute look.

"see a visitor out."

When the hall returned to silence, An Lingrong rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Sister, did your second brother secretly gather this evidence?"

Shen Meizhuang nodded.

"These things may be able to help Sister Zhen."

"Oh?" Shen Meizhuang's eyes lit up and she leaned forward: "How can I help?"

An Lingrong knocked on the envelope and said, "Originally, presenting this evidence to the Emperor would have been a great achievement. Now we have to hand it over to someone else. Your second brother has worked so hard for so many days in vain!"

"This is not important. The Shen family should keep a low profile now. The less they appear before the emperor, the better. What you mean is..."

"Let's do this first. Whether it will succeed later depends on the Emperor's performance."