The Eldest Daughter Reborn: She Provoked the Obsessive Crown Prince and Couldn't Escape

When Cuiyun first entered the palace, Mei'er still held a sliver of hope, after all, Xu Shi was Cuiyun's biological mother, and Cuiyun had no reason to side with outsiders;

But now that Mei'er saw that Yuan Li was completely on Fu Luan's side and that Pang Zhaoyuan and the others were doomed, she spilled everything she knew.

How Madam Yaozhang and Consort Pang bullied Qian Chonghua, how Madam Yaozhang beat Qian Chonghua causing her miscarriage, how they framed Fu Luan, and even murdered her to cover it up...

Mei'er recounted everything, big and small, one by one.

Mei'er said, "That's how it happened... Lady Yaozhang was resentful that the Grand Chamberlain could ride a horse in the palace. Qian Chonghua said a few words in defense of the Grand Chamberlain and was slapped by Lady Yaozhang. That one slap was all it took to lose the child..."

"The two women forced Qian Chonghua to pin the blame on the Empress, saying that if she didn't comply, she would be unable to stay in the palace and would never see the Emperor again! Qian Chonghua had no choice but to..."

"But who knew they would be so vicious! Qian Chonghua did as they said, but she still couldn't escape death... They even forced me to say that Qian Chonghua had something on the Empress."

"Let alone the fact that Her Majesty the Empress is innocent; even if she had something with Marquis Yongning before entering the palace, how would our Consort Hua know? She has never even met Marquis Yongning!"

"You lowly servant! Just as despicable as your mistress!" Upon hearing this, Madam Yaozhang was filled with rage.

She pulled out the hairpin, intending to stab Mei'er, but was stopped by Hua Luo, Yang Jin, and others.

Yuan Li frowned and said, "You've already become one of the 'Third Consorts,' what more could you want? You dared to kill someone right under my nose, and the person you killed was Qian Chonghua, who was also a concubine. Qingtan, you're really bold!"

Fu Luan sneered, "I'm afraid Lady Yao Zhang's audacity goes far beyond this."

Upon hearing this, Consort Pang abruptly looked up. Ignoring her own heavy pregnancy, she quickly crawled to Fu Luan's side and said, "Your Majesty is right! Lady Yao Zhang... she had an affair with Yuan and Zhang Liu!"

"Zhang Liu" was Yuan Lu's final name. Although the emperor changed his name after he was imprisoned, people mostly still refer to him as "Yuan Lu"...

"You vile woman, what nonsense are you spouting?" Madam Yaozhang's eyes flashed with ferocity. If Hua Luo and Yang Jin hadn't held her back tightly, she probably would have torn the pregnant Pang Zhaoyuan to pieces!

Fu Luan smiled insincerely and said, "It's really kind of Consort Pang to still remember the name of my former husband!"

Seeing that Yuan Li was greatly puzzled, Consort Pang ignored Fu Luan's mockery and explained in a grand manner: "Your Majesty, back when Zhang Liu was still called 'Yuan Lu' and was still the Crown Prince, he was already having an affair with Lady Yao Zhang!"

“He would often use ‘paying respects’ as an excuse to enter the inner palace, but in reality, he was having an affair with Lady Yaozhang; later, Zhang Liu was deposed and lost his position as crown prince, and besides…”

Pang Zhaoyuan glanced at Fu Luan, bit her lip, and continued, "Besides, for some reason, Zhang Liu suddenly became useless in bed and could no longer please the madam, so the two of them broke up..."

When Fu Ling heard her say this, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself—Zhang Liu's inability to have sex must be due to the effects of her medicine.

Yuan Li coldly replied, "If the two of them are having an affair, how do you know? Besides, there's no proof..."

The palace servants exchanged glances privately, wanting to laugh but daring not to, all waiting to see the joke unfold!

I wonder if Consort Pang was eavesdropping at the door or helping Lady Yaozhang with her back?

Consort Pang, suppressing her shame, said, "I was merely stating what I knew; as for the evidence..."

“Consort Pang has no evidence, but I do! Someone, bring it up!” Fu Luan clapped her hands, and a palace maid brought out a pair of boots.

Fu Luan smiled and asked, "Does Lady Yaozhang still recognize these gold-embroidered jade boots?"

Lady Yaozhang frowned: "These boots are inlaid with gold and jade, extremely luxurious, and are indeed fine items. But what does that have to do with me? I've never even seen them before! How can I 'recognize' them?"

Fu Luan sneered, "You don't recognize it? That's truly strange! This was 'gifted' to me by you last year when I, a commoner, was bestowed the title of Lady of Yuanshi County by the Emperor. It hasn't even been a year, and you don't remember it?"

Lady Yaozhang said disdainfully, "Your Majesty the Empress is to receive this as a reward from your concubine? I don't understand what you mean!"

"Last year, the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion held a family banquet to celebrate the Empress's being granted the title of County Lady. It was at that time that Lady Yaozhang bestowed these gold-embroidered jade boots upon the Empress!" Hua Luo added.

The events at the family banquet were still vivid in her mind. All the concubines and princesses in the palace had given gifts, but only Yuan Rui used the word "gift" to address Fu Luan.

The others used either "reward" or "bestow," even if it was just a single word. Even though Fu Luan had just won glory for the Great Wei at the horse racing competition, they still wanted to outdo Fu Luan!

At the time, probably no one could have imagined that Fu Luan, who had married a prince and was willing to exchange her top honor for Xiao Jiu's freedom, would actually marry the current emperor!

Lady Yao Zhang continued to feign ignorance, saying, "It's possible that someone is impersonating me to deliver this gift! Your Majesty, I truly don't recognize this 'gold-threaded jade boots'!"

"Madam, you are mistaken! Last year, your personal maid, A-Yang, and I went to the Marquis of Chang'an's residence to deliver gifts."

"Madam, you are a woman of high status and have a bad memory, but I remember it very well!" Before she finished speaking, everyone saw Yuan Rui stagger into the hall, and the one who had just spoken was her lady-in-waiting, Rouge!

Lady Yao Zhang spat, "What business is it of yours, you lowly servant, to speak with your mistresses?! Even if I am stopped by someone, it is not something you, a lowly servant, can do..."

Fu Luan smiled and said, "Rouge has reminded me. Your Majesty, I am willing to hand over the records of the Chang'an Marquis's treasury."

"Adding the records of the Yaozhang Palace Treasury and the records of the Yaozhang Palace ladies entering and leaving the palace on that day last year is enough to see who is lying!"

Yuan Li frowned and said, "I naturally trust A-Luan's words! But... even if it can be proven that these gold-embroidered jade boots were a gift from Qing Tan to you, so what? What does this have to do with personal feelings?"

Fu Luan said softly, "Back then at the horse racing event, Zhang Liu, who had just been demoted from Crown Prince to Prince of Youbeiping, wore the same gold-embroidered jade boots as these!"

Fu Luan never expected that the events at the horse racing convention would still resonate nearly a year later; and that these "resonance" could even help her eliminate trouble!

On that day, "Zhang Liu" arrived at the horse racing event wearing the gold-embroidered jade boots given to him by his old flame. He could have changed into riding boots before the race.

But in order to please Fu Luan, he insisted on wearing these ugly and useless shoes and mounting the horse.

That was the beginning of his downfall. From that day on, he never had a single good day!

Lady Yaozhang said disdainfully, "Hmph, who doesn't know how amazing Her Majesty the Empress is, winning first place on horseback? There's no need for her to keep trying to curry favor with the Emperor!"

"If I remember correctly, Her Majesty the Empress had already divorced Zhang Liu at that time, yet you remember exactly what shoes he was wearing back then, truly..."

"Not only Your Majesty the Empress, but I also clearly remember that the Prince of Youbeiping at that time was not wearing riding boots!" A sense of unease rippled through the hall, while another person approached from outside...