Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"Empress, what a coincidence!" A gentle voice was heard, and Concubine Qin walked over gracefully.

"Unfortunately, I am waiting for you here." Queen Su Yue'e sat on the stone bench in the pavilion, her face slightly pale, but her eyes revealed a cold and majestic look.

Upon hearing this, Concubine Qin was slightly startled, then waved her hand, signaling the palace maids and eunuchs following her to retreat far away.

Then, she walked lightly into the pavilion alone and came in front of Su Yue'e.

Concubine Qin looked Su Yue'e up and down. When her eyes touched her pale face, a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "Empress, you must not rely on your youth to be so willful. Although you are now out of confinement, you still need to take good care of your body. After all, only by taking good care of your body can you have a chance to conceive a Dragonborn in the future, right?"

As she spoke, her gaze fell on Su Yue'e's abdomen intentionally or unintentionally, and a barely perceptible smug look flashed in her eyes.

However, facing Concubine Qin's words, Su Yue'e did not get angry. Her expression remained calm as she slowly spoke, "We are all His Majesty's women. Whether His Majesty is still able to conceive a woman, I believe Concubine Qin should know as well as I do."

Concubine Qin smiled softly, reached out to pick up the handkerchief beside her, and covered her lips with it. "Alas, I know nothing about this. I now have a son and a daughter. Even without Your Majesty's favor, I can still live a carefree life. But Your Majesty, you must be careful not to lose Your Majesty's heart. Besides, since you can even do such a thing as switching children, the identity of the father of this unborn child does not seem to be that important."

Concubine Qin was hinting that Su Yue'e could just find a random man to get herself pregnant, since this was His Majesty's child.

When Su Yue'e heard this, she glared at Concubine Qin fiercely, with rage burning in her eyes.

But after just a moment, she suppressed her anger and responded coldly: "Noble Concubine Qin, some things are easier said than done. Noble Concubine Qin came up with this idea, has she done this before?"

Concubine Qin slowly retracted the slightly upward curve of her lips, but a faint smile was still clearly visible between her beautiful eyebrows.

She said softly, "Oh, it's all my fault. I was only thinking about the Empress, but I didn't expect that the Empress would not appreciate it."

Just as Su Yue'e said, the current emperor Jingdi is now impotent, and sometimes even after taking medicine, it is difficult for him to complete sexual activities.

Su Yue'e only gave birth to one princess for Emperor Jing, and Emperor Jing always had doubts about the princess's background.

Looking back at herself, Concubine Qin not only has Xiao Yuanlang, but also Xiao Jinhuan. Naturally, she will no longer be afraid of the empress in front of her who is just a figurehead.

Concubine Qin was seen staring at Su Yue'e quietly with a smile on her face, secretly wondering what the other party was doing.

However, Su Yue'e did not seem to intend to state her purpose directly, and the two of them just went around in circles tacitly.

Time passed minute by minute, and finally, Su Yue'e, who was already lacking in confidence, lost her temper and asked, "Does Concubine Qin hope that the Third Prince can return to the capital soon?"

Hearing this, Concubine Qin's eyes suddenly widened with disbelief, and she eagerly asked, "Does Your Majesty have a way to get Yuan Lang back to the capital?"

However, after just a moment, the fire of hope that had just ignited in Concubine Qin's eyes was quickly extinguished as if blown by a gust of cold wind, and her eyes became dim again.

After all, if it were the former Su Yue'e, perhaps with her family power and status in Emperor Jing's mind, she might have been able to successfully persuade Emperor Jing to recall Xiao Yuanlang back to the capital.

But things are different now. Su Huaian has resigned from his post and retired due to illness, and Su Yue'e has lost the trust of Emperor Jing. Under such circumstances, how can she easily convince Emperor Jing to change his mind?

All that was heard was Concubine Qin's sneer of contempt: "Her Majesty, have you still not understood the current situation? You have nothing now, so how can you let Yuan Lang return to the capital?"

Faced with such sarcasm, Su Yue'e simply smiled softly and spoke slowly, "Noble Concubine Qin is right. I am indeed still in my youth. If I want to regain the emperor's favor, it will be a piece of cake for me. Even if I fail to regain the emperor's favor, I will still be the most honorable empress of the Great Yong Dynasty! Moreover, although my grandfather has resigned and retired, he has been operating in the court for many years, and his influence is already deeply rooted. For so long, no one dared to speak up for the Third Prince. I guess it's because the Third Prince has been unable to find a way out for so long. Haha, coincidentally, these ways are in my hands!"

Su Yue'e knew very well that the culprit for the exposure of this incident was the fifth prince Xiao Yuanyi.

At present, it seems that the only princes qualified to inherit the throne are Xiao Yuanlang and Xiao Yuanyi.

She and Xiao Yuanyi have an irreconcilable feud. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so she is determined to fully support the third prince to ascend to the throne.

The third prince's maternal family is a noble family with no real power and no say in the court.

Therefore, Su Yue'e knew very well that she must seize this key point and cooperate with Concubine Qin.

As for Concubine Qin, how could she refuse the benefits that were offered to her?

After all, Emperor Jing's health is deteriorating, and no one can predict when he will pass away.

In the capital, there is only one prince, Xiao Yuanyi. If Emperor Jing died suddenly, the ministers in the court would definitely support Xiao Yuanyi to ascend the throne.

In this way, any further action Xiao Yuanlang wants to take will become illegal.

Therefore, the most urgent thing at the moment is to find ways to get Xiao Yuanlang back to the capital as soon as possible.

"Why would the Queen help us, mother and son, for no reason? What benefit do you want?" Concubine Qin asked with a suspicious look on her face.

Su Yue'e took a deep breath and answered decisively, "I want the position of Queen!"