Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

However, Gao Yan stopped abruptly after taking only a few steps.

Consort Shu was standing at the corner, staring wide-eyed at Gao Yan.

She looked completely astonished, and it was unclear how long she had been listening.

Gao Yan's expression changed slightly.

"Mother, when did you come out?"

When he came out, his mother was still in the late emperor's bedroom with other people.

Consort Shu replied, "Just now..."

Not long after Gao Yan came out, Consort Shu followed him out, wanting to say a few words to him. Little did she know that she would accidentally overhear Gao Yan's conversation with Cao Dong.

Gao Yan looked at Consort Shu and asked again, "What did you hear?"

Consort Shu did not answer but asked a question instead.

"You said you were going to bring Ning'er to the palace. Who is Ning'er?"

She looked thoughtful, her voice fading: "I remember... Consort Qi's given name seems to be just the single character Ning."

Upon hearing this, Gao Yan knew that his mother had overheard his conversation with Cao Dong.

Gao Yan originally planned to bring Qi Ning into the palace first, and then tell his mother about their affair.

But unexpectedly, his mother overheard it beforehand, which disrupted Gao Yan's plans.

Fortunately, he had already prepared his response.

Seeing that his mother had already guessed that it was Qi Ning, Gao Yan had no choice but to explain things to her first before going to pick up Qi Ning.

"Mother, let's talk somewhere else."

Just as Gao Yan was explaining to Consort Shu that he was being held up and unable to leave the palace, on the other side, Qi Ning had already left a letter. She quietly jumped out of the bedroom window with her bundle on her back, without alerting the maids guarding outside.

Qi Ning evaded the people in the mansion and went to the mansion's stables. She picked out a good horse, then used a sleeping potion to knock out the two servants guarding the back gate, before leading the horse out through the back gate.

Because of Gao Yun and the Third Prince's plot to rebel with troops, the people were in a state of panic. There were few people on the streets, shops along the way were closed, and the city gates were heavily guarded, making it impossible to enter or leave at will.

Qi Ning rode his horse at full speed, passing by the former residence of the Minister of Revenue.

The once glamorous and prestigious residence of the Minister of Revenue has been ransacked and is now deserted, with seals affixed to the gates, giving it a desolate appearance.

Qi Ning glanced at it, then looked away and continued riding his horse toward the city gate.

When she arrived at the city gate, she was stopped by the guards.

"Who are you? You are not allowed to leave the city at this time!" the guard said menacingly.

Qi Ning, mounted on her horse, took out Gao Yan's token from her bosom with a cold expression.

"I have been ordered to leave the city on important business. You must let me through immediately and do not delay my business, or you will all suffer the consequences!"

The guard was startled when he saw the token in Qi Ning's hand.

He recognized it as Gao Yan's prince's token, of course.

The news of Gao Yan's ascension to the throne and becoming the new emperor had just arrived. Although the formal enthronement ceremony had not yet been held, Gao Yan was already a foregone conclusion that he would become the new emperor.

Since Gao Yan has not yet officially ascended the throne and this is a secret order, it is normal to continue using the prince's token for the time being.

The guard dared not offend him and immediately waved for them to pass.

"Open the door!"

He then cupped his hands to Qi Ning, smiling apologetically, and said, "Sir, please forgive me!"

Qi Ning didn't say much. She put away her token, gave a shout, and immediately rode her horse out of the city gate, disappearing from the city entrance.

At the same time, inside the palace.

Gao Yan was unaware that Qi Ning had already left. He and Consort Shu were in an empty palace, mother and son standing facing each other.

Consort Shu had just overheard Gao Yan and Cao Dong's conversation, and she only had suspicions, thinking that she had guessed wrong.

But Gao Yan's reaction made Consort Shu realize that she seemed to have guessed correctly.

Consort Shu looked at Gao Yan and asked repeatedly, "Before your father passed away, he clearly told you not to harm Consort Qi and to let her live out her remaining years in the palace. But you had Cao Dong announce to the outside world that Consort Qi had hanged herself and that there was no longer any Consort Qi in the palace. Why is that?"

"You said 'go to fetch Ning'er to the palace,' and the Ning'er you mentioned is Consort Qi, right?"

"Consort Qi is not in the palace at the moment. Where is she? In the Prince's residence outside your palace?"

Gao Yan sighed softly and admitted frankly, "Mother, you guessed right. The person I was talking about is indeed her, and she is not in the palace at the moment, but in the Prince's residence."

When Consort Shu heard Gao Yan admit it himself, she was utterly stunned.

She took a step closer to Gao Yan: "What exactly is going on between you and Consort Qi?"

Gao Yan, with his hands behind his back, said, "It's exactly what you think."

"You and Qi Ning, you two... you have an affair?" Consort Shu asked with difficulty.

Gao Yan nodded: "That's right."

"what?"

Consort Shu thought she had misheard.

How can this be?

How could her son, whom she had always been so proud of, possibly have an affair with his father's concubine?

Consort Shu felt as if the sky had fallen.

Her lips trembled as she asked, "When did you two start?"

“A few months ago,” Gao Yan said directly.

"months ago……"

Consort Shu uttered these words softly, her face growing increasingly grim.

Gao Yan didn't want Consort Shu to misunderstand Qi Ning, so he immediately said, "Mother, it's all my fault. I was in love with her and forced her."

"She is your father's concubine!" Consort Shu said sternly.

"I know."

"Since you know this, how could you and she have an affair?"

Consort Shu looked at Gao Yan in front of her and felt as if she didn't recognize him anymore.

This was something that Consort Shu could not accept. She clutched her chest and almost lost her balance.

Gao Yan quickly said, "Mother, please don't get agitated. Let me explain. Ning'er and Father Emperor have no such relationship at all."

"What do you mean?"

Gao Yan remained expressionless and delivered the speech he had prepared beforehand.

"In fact, Father Emperor had long suspected Gao Yun's wolfish ambitions and had long suspected that he was colluding with the Jiang family to plot a rebellion, but there was no evidence."

"As you know, Ning'er has a blood feud with the Jiang family. She approached the Emperor, wanting to use him to take revenge. The Emperor, because Ning'er is the Jiang family's adopted daughter, also wants to use her to expose Gao Yun and the Jiang family's weaknesses."

"The two of them were actually in a relationship of mutual exploitation."

Gao Yan's words were half true and half false. Of course, Qi Ning's intentions were true. She did use the emperor to take revenge, but the late emperor took Qi Ning as a concubine purely out of lust, not because he wanted to use her for anything.

"Really?"

Consort Shu was somewhat skeptical.

"of course it's true."

Gao Yan continued, "Think about it, ever since Ning'er became the Emperor's concubine, Gao Yun and the Jiang family have seemingly benefited, but in reality they have suffered repeated setbacks."

"When Father found the irrefutable evidence of Gao Yun's treason and his dragon robe in Gao Yun's study, Ning'er accompanied him there."

Consort Shu carefully recalled the events that had occurred before, and it seemed that this was indeed the case.

"This...is it really so?"

Gao Yan observed Consort Shu's expression and knew that she had believed it to a great extent.

“Of course,” Gao Yan said. “It’s just that Father Emperor didn’t expect that Gao Yun would dare to join forces with the Third Prince to force the emperor to abdicate after being imprisoned.”

"Although Ning'er did those things for revenge, the benefits that Gao Yun and the Jiang family's defeat brought me need not be elaborated. Ning'er's contribution was indispensable in enabling me to obtain the throne."

Consort Shu frowned: "Even so, Qi Ning is still your father's concubine. How could you have an affair with your father's concubine?"

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