Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

Emerging from Kunning Palace, Su Zhi's face was frighteningly pale. Consort Liang's men carried her in a palanquin and invited her to sit down.

Su Zhi was surprised; they were still there?

The palanquin moved smoothly and finally stopped at the entrance of Mengxi Palace. She glanced at the plaque and understood.

Consort Liang wants to see her.

Upon entering the hall, before she could even pay her respects, the imperial physician came forward to take her pulse. Consort Liang raised her hand, telling her not to panic.

"His Majesty has not revoked my power to assist in the management of the six palaces. If anything happens to you and the child in the palace, I cannot bear the responsibility. Let the imperial physician examine you first, and we can talk about this later."

Su Zhi nodded, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After examining her pulse, the imperial physician said that she had only suffered from the bumpy ride and would be fine after resting for a while.

The head maid saw him out and called away the others in the main hall. Just as Su Zhi was about to get up, she saw Consort Liang curtsy to her.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

She hurriedly tried to stop him, but her slender hand was caught by the other person.

"Madam Xiao, I did this for the sake of Prince Jin."

Su Zhi blushed. "My husband and I were misled and misunderstood you and Prince Jin. I am sorry for what happened to you both and should apologize."

As she spoke, she bent down and knelt, but her knees did not touch the ground. The other person exerted force with their wrist and pulled her up.

"It's the Empress, isn't it? The mastermind behind your investigation."

"Yes."

"Madam Xiao, please don't be nervous. I invited you here today not to interrogate you. Throughout history, the struggle for the crown prince has always been bloody. Compared to the fate of Prince Yong, it is fortunate that Prince Jin was able to keep his life. He has only lost some reputation. I should thank you for saving him."

"...Your Majesty, I am utterly ashamed of myself for saying such things."

Liang Fei patted her hand, "I'm serious, and my gratitude is genuine."

What goes around comes around; if the outcome is good, why worry about the original intention?

Su Zhi felt ashamed to look at her, racking her brains for a way to make amends.

"If Your Majesty requires it, the Xiao and Chu families are willing to serve as Prince Jin's vanguard!"

"No." Consort Liang shook her head. "I invited you here today to make it clear that Prince Jin will never vie for the throne."

"Xin'er and I were indeed tempted before, and we tried our best to win her over, but as you have seen, the Empress will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. I cannot risk Xin'er's life. I have spoken with Xin'er, and from now on, I only want to live a peaceful life and no longer covet that position."

Su Zhi lowered her eyes, "This subject understands."

She paused, then suddenly remembered something, looked up and asked, "The accusation of the Ninth Thousand Years..."

Consort Liang gave her a reassuring look. "His Majesty has secretly executed the man and destroyed all the testimonies."

Su Zhi nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "The Empress and Prince Jin have no interest in the position of Crown Prince, but His Majesty thinks differently. Do you have any solutions?"

Consort Liang did not speak explicitly, but instead brought up another matter.

"The Empress is too hasty. It is unwise to offend the An family at this time. The Left Prime Minister has already submitted a memorial to His Majesty, stating that with the New Year approaching, the border generals need to return to the capital to report on their duties."

"General Zhao is currently allied with the southern border and intends to attack the capital. Why would he obediently surrender and return to the capital for trial?"

Consort Liang smiled faintly: "The Left Prime Minister is not a new official. How could he not understand such a simple principle? What he wants is General Zhao's daughter, Zhao Xuanguang."

Su Zhi's eyes narrowed. "The Left Prime Minister used the same methods against him. His actions are shrewd and admirable."

If General Zhao insists on the principle that "a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders," then he is a treacherous minister who betrays the emperor and the country. Even if he leads the southern border army into the capital, the eldest grandson's succession to the throne will still be illegitimate and unjustified.

That seat was impossible to hold.

With Xiao Zong overseeing the battlefield, General Zhao dared not be careless and had no choice but to send his daughter back to the capital. However, this move was like throwing a lamb to the slaughter; a hostage had no chance to control her own destiny.

The Left Chancellor's move of "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes" reveals that beneath the official hats and robes, there are no ordinary people, only unpredictable and elusive human hearts.

Su Zhi understood even though Consort Liang didn't answer.

With Zhao Xuanguang's return to the capital, the Empress's scheme was already half-defeated. His Majesty had long wanted to reclaim military power and would surely detain this female general who had been away from home for many years. At that time, he would arrange a marriage for her, thus completely severing the Zhao family's influence.

After today's ordeal, and considering the future of the Zhao family, the Empress will surely fight the Emperor to the death.

The one who truly reaped the benefits was Consort Liang, who naturally had no need to worry about her own safety or that of Prince Jin.

As for those platitudes about being indifferent to worldly affairs, just listen to them and let them go. Su Zhi smiled and thought they were too fake.

Seeing her smile, Consort Liang knew she had gotten the hint.

"Does Madam Xiao understand what I mean?"

"Understood." Su Zhi raised her watery eyes. "I will send people to protect Grand Tutor Mu. After all, if he dies, the first person everyone will suspect will be Prince Jin. To be a carefree prince, one cannot have the burden of a life on one's shoulders!"

Consort Liang's lips twitched slightly, then she agreed, "You're right."

She originally intended to use the conflict between the Emperor and Empress to involve Grand Tutor Mu in the power struggle of the eldest grandson of the Emperor, and then use His Majesty to eliminate him. After that, she could then justifiably clarify the matter of Prince Jin's homosexuality.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin suddenly appeared.

Consort Liang suddenly regretted it; she shouldn't have invited Su Zhi to Mengxi Palace in order to win over the Chu family!

There was no conversation between the two parties. Su Zhi bowed respectfully and said, "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

Consort Liang smiled faintly, "Madam Xiao, please take care of yourself and take care on your journey."

The palace gates slowly closed behind her. Su Zhi stepped into the carriage, suddenly relieved of her exhaustion, and fell asleep.

Su Ziyuan paced back and forth at the door, his heart burning as if it were being cooked in hot oil. The two maids advised him to sit inside and wait, but he flicked his sleeves, thinking, "How can I sit still now?"

The Chu family is not here. They are not at Weiyan Tower, nor at the Xiao residence. It's almost dark and they still haven't returned. Where could they be?

He would wait a moment longer; if they didn't appear, he would send a message to Xiao Zong!

As the sound of horses' hooves drew closer, Su Ziyuan turned around, looked up, and saw the bronze plaque with the character "Xiao" hanging on the front of the carriage. His eyes welled up with tears.

He went up to her, muttering to himself, his tone full of concern.

"Where have you been? Your husband's not home, so you've been running around outside, haven't you? Don't you even look how big your belly is? Even if you wanted to change men, you should have done it sooner. It's too late to regret it now..."

The two maids giggled as they listened.

Su Ziyuan lifted the carriage curtain and saw that Su Zhi was still fast asleep, so he carefully carried her down.

"Still laughing? Hurry up and make your master's bed!"

The two maids covered their mouths, one went back to fold the quilt and make the bed, and the other put the cloak in her hand on the lady to keep her from catching a cold.

Su Zhi slept for a long time, waking up the next morning. She had barely eaten or drunk anything since breakfast the previous day, and was now so hungry that she felt dizzy and had to get up to find something to eat.

"Good heavens, you're finally awake!"

Su Ziyuan called out.

Su Zhi grabbed the two doors and saw Su Ziyuan looking disheveled, thinking that he was still asleep.

"I'm hallucinating from hunger, how come I see my older brother?"

"You're not mistaken, it's me."

Su Zhi's eyes suddenly lit up, "Big brother! It really is you, what brings you to the capital?"

Su Ziyuan said resentfully, "Thanks to your husband! I traveled all night without stopping, and finally arrived in the capital, but I couldn't find you anywhere. I was almost about to write to Xiao Zong and ask him to come back!"

Su Zhi was very embarrassed. "I went to the palace yesterday."

The man sighed, looked her up and down, and said earnestly, "It's good that you're alright. I had the kitchen prepare a lot of your favorite dishes. You must be hungry after a long day."

Su Zhi felt a lump in her throat and softly hummed in agreement.

Su Ziyuan saw through it and said casually, "Then hurry up, don't let my niece go hungry!"

"Huh? The baby hasn't even been born yet, and my older brother already doesn't dote on me anymore!"

"Competing for the child's affection, Su Zhi, how old are you?"

"Even if it's bigger, it's still smaller than you!"

"That's true."

……