Deep Palace Pet Peach Blossom Flawless

After receiving the imperial edict, one must meet the emperor and kneel down to thank him for his grace. When the concubines in the harem saw the empress arrive at the Qianzheng Hall in a grand procession, they all knew that the empress had been released from house arrest, and the Fengqi Palace would be reopened. The concubines in the six palaces had to go and pay their respects to the masters of the six palaces.

Lan Qingwu looked at the purple mark on his collarbone left by Emperor Shenwu, feeling both ashamed and annoyed, and quickly lifted up his collar.

Not long after Emperor Shenwu returned to Qianzheng Palace, the crown prince arrived with the seventh prince and the third princess.

This strategy was not very clever; it simply took advantage of the convenience of Chunfeng Tower and the Seventh Prince's unguardedness.

The Crown Prince had thoroughly investigated the matter in less than half an hour. The woman wasn't a formidable figure, not to mention the weak maidservant. The Crown Prince neatly collected the confessions, witnesses, testimonies, and evidence and placed them on the Emperor Shenwu's desk.

The Shenwu Emperor was furious. His rage was undeniable, yet it was all to be expected. He had placed his ambitious son in the imperial mausoleum, hoping he would give up his ambition and lust for power, thus saving his life in the future. What a pity! The Fourth Prince had wasted his efforts.

Emperor Shenwu was naturally more worried about his youngest son's health besides being angry. Lan Qingwu valued his youngest son's health the most. If he knew about this, he would be even more angry and sad.

"Asshole! How dare you attempt to confuse the royal bloodline! How audacious! You deserve to be killed!"

The prince stood in the Qianzheng Hall: "Father, perhaps that is the royal bloodline!"

Emperor Shenwu's eyes were deep.

The Crown Prince continued, "The servants at Chunfeng Tower were bribed and, while working, replaced the incense and tea in the room. These two substances alone only cause drowsiness, but when combined, they can cause extreme arousal. The woman in question is the legitimate daughter of a fourth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites, named Qin Yushu. She and her maid confessed that the father of her unborn child is the Fourth Prince, who is buried in the Imperial Mausoleum!"

"This plan is crude but brilliant. Only our family knows the details of Chunfeng Tower. We've lured the guards away, bribed the servants, and drugged the personal eunuchs. Most importantly, there's a noblewoman from an imperial family who obeys the Fourth Prince's every word. She and the Fourth Prince are secretly pregnant, and she's actually willing to blame another man for her unborn child!"

"If that woman had gotten away today, given Xiao Qi's character and my mother's temperament, she would have married him off one day! Poor Xiao Qi, who suffered such an unprovoked disaster. And his painting friend was even more innocent. His legs were broken and he was thrown into the street. He screamed at the top of his lungs, but no one came to his rescue. I had people search every street before I finally rescued him!"

Emperor Shenwu's face was as gloomy as water. He had finally reached this point: "Li Xiang, go summon Wei Yanting and order him to escort the Fourth Prince back to the capital!"

"What's going on with your third sister?"

The Crown Prince said coldly, "The Third Princess and Young Master Song are watching the show in broad daylight! She and the Fourth Princess are in constant contact, and I believe she knows about this! The Third Princess was watching the developments from Chunfeng Tower, and after being caught by me, she immediately entered the palace and is now waiting in a side hall for an audience with my father!"

The prince complained without hesitation, saying, "In a fit of rage, I chopped off her maidservant!"

Emperor Shenwu paused for a moment and said, "Go check on Xiaoqi first. Someone, bring in the Third Princess!"

The third princess was feeling uneasy when she came in. Ever since her maternal family's power was mostly destroyed in the previous dynasty, the third princess has experienced all the ups and downs of life. She has become low-key and docile from her previous ignorance. In recent years, she has rarely even met with Emperor Shenwu alone.

"My daughter greets my father!"

Emperor Shenwu looked coldly at the third princess, her mother, and her mother's family. Everything they did made Emperor Shenwu slowly lose all his patience.

The Third Princess felt her father's cold gaze, and her heart grew colder. She managed to calm herself down and looked up at the Shenwu Emperor: "Father, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince killed someone for no reason in Chunfeng Tower today, including my daughter's maid. Father..."

Emperor Shenwu asked directly, "What are you doing there?"

The Third Princess felt helpless and aggrieved. The neglect and grievances she had received since she was a child had not been in the past two or three years. It was all because of the Emperor Shenwu's vague indifference. The people below were all looking down on her. "Father, I'm just playing the zither and drinking tea in Chunfeng Tower!"

"I'm asking you again, what are you doing there? Are you acting as Qin Yushu's accomplice? Or are you having an affair with the young master of the Song family?"

The Third Princess's cheeks suddenly turned red. "Father, why do you only believe what the Crown Prince says?"

"The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, and you are his subject! You must not disrespect the Crown Prince! You ask me why, do you really think I don't know that you and the Fourth Prince have been secretly exchanging letters?"

"You can't even be at peace in your princess's mansion. Today, this minister's son is paying you a visit, and tomorrow you're going out with that general's son... As a princess, what do you want to do? You always feel that I'm ignoring you, but why don't you take a look at what you've done first!"

The Third Princess's blood froze. "So, Father, you saw everything your daughter did? You've been sending people to monitor her?"

Emperor Shenwu no longer felt disappointed with his daughter. "So when you say you didn't do what happened today, I don't believe you! I asked you in person, but I didn't expect you to still be full of lies!"

The Third Princess's emotions briefly collapsed. She suddenly looked up and asked word by word, "Father, do you still remember my mother? She's become invisible in the palace. Have you ever thought of her all these years? Yes! Today, I know exactly what Fourth Prince is going to do. I just want to know how you would react if your beloved youngest son encountered such a thing! I want to see if you have any bias in your heart! But I absolutely did not interfere in this matter!"

She was just watching from the sidelines.

The Third Princess's men did not take action openly. Even if Emperor Shenwu had doubts, he would at most think that the Third Princess was gloating and had no brotherly love for the Seventh Prince, and at most he would dislike her even more.

A hint of annoyance flashed across the eyes of the Emperor Shenwu. He walked down the stairs and said, "So you watched your own brother being plotted against! Watched him get hurt!"

The Third Princess thought of her pale, aging mother in Wenhua Palace, and her anger rose again. She was already a hot-tempered woman, and immediately she tore off the years of forbearance and concession she had disguised: "No! He is not my biological brother! He is the Crown Prince's brother! I am the only daughter of my mother, and he is the Queen's son!"

Emperor Shenwu raised his hand, wanting to slap the third princess mercilessly, but he tried his best to calm the anger in his heart and withdrew his hand.

The third princess couldn't bear it anymore when she saw her father's raised hand.

"Father, my eldest sister is the eldest princess, and you have given her far more honor than I have. My seventh sister is the daughter of your beloved queen, and you have raised her with your care. I have never been favored by you, but I never thought you would want to hit me! I am willful and spoiled, but I am still your daughter!"

Emperor Shenwu couldn't help but scold: "You are selfish and cold-blooded, with no brotherly love! This is the last time I, as a father, will discipline you! From now on, you are just someone else's wife! I will issue an order to the Jiang family, asking them to properly restrain you!"

The Third Princess' tears fell drop by drop. She was unwilling to give up and shouted, "Father, don't you want your daughter anymore? You imprisoned my mother and didn't allow her to see me. Now you don't care about me either? Then why did you and my mother give birth to me in the first place? And now you want to leave me alone!"

Emperor Shenwu said coldly, "Now I am very glad that your mother gave birth to a princess. Even so, she kept making trouble. If she had given birth to a prince, who knows what kind of trouble she would have caused to the harem!"

"Heshun, your entrance token to the palace is invalid. From now on, without my permission, you must stay in your princess residence and not move around freely. You are not allowed to enter the palace without my permission!"