Transmigrated Female Official

The Empress nodded in approval.

At that moment, nine women carrying babies rushed in from the outer hall.

Chu Qingluo had the wet nurse carry Tianyun and join the nine of them. Then, Chu Qingluo brought in another person from the outer hall, a young woman with a very haggard face.

Seeing so many outsiders suddenly in the inner palace, the Empress was even more confused about Chu Qingluo's intentions. Chu Qingluo quickly explained to the Empress that the only young woman not holding a baby had given birth to a baby girl two months ago, and that the baby had been taken away.

Suddenly, the Empress had a very bad premonition, and all sorts of absurd assumptions surfaced in her mind...

However, the Empress remained outwardly calm, keeping her lips tightly closed and refusing to ask any questions.

Chu Qingluo spoke first, asking the young woman, "Do you remember what your child looked like?"

A deep sorrow filled the young woman's eyes, but behind that sorrow lay a resolute determination. She replied, "I will never forget this!"

"Okay." Chu Qingluo gently patted her shoulder and said, "There are ten baby girls here right now. Take a look at them one by one."

The young woman was taken aback at first, then nodded to Chu Qingluo. Following Chu Qingluo's instructions, she slowly walked towards the ten babies standing to the side...

These baby girls were all between two and three months old. Ji Qiran had gone to considerable trouble to gather them together.

The young woman's loving gaze slowly fell on the little faces of the adorable babies. After looking at the first six babies, she shook her head and remained silent.

The moment she saw Tianyun, the young woman's eyes welled up with tears! Even her lips trembled: "It's her! She's my child—!" Overwhelmed with emotion, the young woman tried to take Tianyun from the wet nurse's arms.

The wet nurse was startled by the young woman's actions and quickly dodged to the side to prevent the young woman from touching Tianyun.

"Get out of my way! She's my daughter!" The Eighth Princess was also alarmed, scrambling to her feet and forcefully shoving the young woman away. "Where did this shrew come from?! Daring to trespass on my destiny?!"

Despite hearing the Eighth Princess's words, the young woman did not flinch in the slightest and immediately clung to her. "This is my child! My lord—this is my daughter!"

"Let me go!"

"It's her—! It's her—!"

The young woman's persistent pursuit caused quite a commotion inside the hall.

Tianyun, who had been fast asleep, was startled awake by the shouts and immediately burst into tears. Tianyun's crying triggered the wailing of several other babies, plunging the scene into chaos...

"Please calm down!" Chu Qingluo went over and pulled the young woman aside, saying forcefully, "You say this is your daughter? Then let me ask you, is the red birthmark on this baby's foot on the left or the right?"

"This is impossible!" The young woman, unable to control her emotions, wailed, "I personally bathed her, there's no birthmark at all!" As she spoke, she tried to pull back Tianyun's blanket to take a closer look at her feet.

Chu Qingluo intervened in time to stop her, sternly reminding her: "You are not allowed to be presumptuous in front of the Emperor."

Upon hearing Chu Qingluo's warning, the young woman's body instinctively stiffened. She stole a glance at the Empress on the high throne and noticed that the Empress's face had turned extremely gloomy. Only then did she calm down and weakly say, "My lord, this really is my daughter..."

To control the situation, Chu Qingluo asked the nine women to take the babies away first, and the wet nurse also took Tianyun away to comfort him. Then, she said to the young woman in a sincere tone, "Listen to me, go down and wait patiently. I will definitely give you an explanation."

"..." The young woman looked at Chu Qingluo with a conflicted expression, but did not move.

"Please trust me." Chu Qingluo turned her face to the side, subtly implying again, "This is in front of the high and mighty Empress..."

The young woman had no choice but to swallow her emotions, bow, and leave.

"Your Majesty, that madwoman must be desperate for a child! You must not believe her ravings!" The Eighth Princess knelt down before the Empress again, pleading with her to believe her.

Looking at the hopeless Eighth Princess, Chu Qingluo coldly said, "Even I, a female official who frequently moves around the palace, only had the honor of seeing the Little Princess's true face today. And that woman outside the palace just now, among so many babies in front of her, only reacted to the Little Princess."

"That's because Tianyun is more noble than the other babies! That crazy woman just saw that my Tianyun was dressed so elegantly..."

"Shut up!" The Empress couldn't take it anymore and roared at the Eighth Princess, "Stand aside! You are not allowed to speak without my permission!"

The Eighth Princess was completely stunned by the Empress. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she forced herself to remain silent. She bit her lower lip tightly, not daring to utter another sound.

In an instant, the Phoenix Palace fell into an eerie silence.

Chu Qingluo gasped, forcing herself to break the silence: "Your Majesty, as a mother, it is understandable that she lost her composure when her newborn child was forcibly taken away. Please forgive this mother's disrespect."

"..." The Empress's expression remained grim, but she still said, "Fine! However, I must remind you that you must be extremely careful in your every word and action from now on!"

The Empress's words clearly indicated that she already knew what Chu Qingluo was about to say, and she was warning Chu Qingluo that she should never speak recklessly without solid evidence.

"I will keep this in mind and will never dare to speak recklessly." Chu Qingluo leaned forward slightly, then calmly said, "Please grant me permission to summon one more person."

If she weren't absolutely certain, Chu Qingluo wouldn't be standing in the Phoenix Palace today. Besides, the sword has already been drawn, the tension is high, and there's no turning back.

The Empress sighed softly and called out loudly, "Send word—!"

This last summons brought in another woman holding a baby. Unlike the previous ones, she was a relative of Li Yan, whom Li Yan called Aunt Hong.

When Aunt Hong entered the hall, she saw Li Yan kneeling on the ground, so she quickly knelt down next to her.

Aunt Hong's kneeling allowed the Empress to clearly see the baby in her arms. It was an exceptionally handsome infant, fair-skinned, with large, round, bright eyes full of life…

The Empress stood up almost immediately. She quickly went to Aunt Hong and examined the baby closely...

“This child…”

The Empress didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she angrily walked to the Eighth Princess's side, pointed at her, and shouted, "You rebellious daughter—!"

Seeing the Empress's strong reaction, Chu Qinglu guessed that the Empress must have figured something out. "Your Majesty, the baby boy that Aunt Hong is holding was smuggled out of the palace by Li Yan on the day Princess Xile gave birth." After saying this, Chu Qinglu looked at Li Yan, indicating that Li Yan should explain herself.