The general's eldest daughter has a spatial ability

Consort De was thrilled by the Empress's words: Eat up, eat up! After this meal, you will all be my prisoners!

Consort De glanced at Nangong Yu, who nodded. The two understood each other perfectly, and then everyone drew their greatswords and went to their respective pre-arranged rooms.

After the Empress left, Consort De, unusually, did not bow to the Noble Consort to take her leave, nor did she go with the Noble Consort. Instead, she turned around and went to the side room ahead of the Noble Consort!

This scene infuriated Consort Liu. Supporting the palace maid beside her, she pointed at Consort De's departing figure and said, "What is she? Her rank is below mine, yet she dares to walk in front of me!"

The guards stopped Consort De, and I must teach her a lesson! She has no family background, no favor from the emperor, and now she doesn't even have her only son to rely on!

To put it bluntly, she's just a commoner, a peasant, yet she dares to be so arrogant towards me! If I don't teach her a lesson today, she won't even know why the flowers are so red!

The head palace maid beside her quickly advised, "Your Highness, please calm down. This is, after all, a sacred Buddhist site. Noble ladies from prominent families are watching. The Empress just punished Miss Biao today!"

If you go and cause trouble for Consort De again, it will inevitably give rise to gossip and make people think that the Duke's Mansion is using this as an excuse to cause trouble! It's better to be patient for now, since the Empress will be staying here until the end of the month anyway.

Once we return to the palace, Consort De will be completely at your mercy. We can find any fault she has and punish her severely! Let her know that in this harem, you are second only to the emperor, and who cares about the life or death of a powerless concubine!

Upon hearing the palace maid's words, Consort Liu gritted her teeth and said, "You're right. I'll let her off the hook today, but when we return to the palace, I will punish her severely!"

Consort De's trusted confidante had warned her: "Your Majesty, we have thoroughly offended the Empress and the Noble Consort today! The days ahead will probably be difficult! Especially the Noble Consort, who is more petty than a pinhead!"

And why did you agree to give the prince to the empress for adoption today? No matter how unfavored the prince is, he is still your own son, and he will be your support in the future!

Consort De sneered: "So what if I've offended her completely? From today onwards, I will be the Empress Dowager, above all others. I just didn't expect that Liu Ling to be so stupid! How can such a person be worthy of the position of Empress of a country?"

Moreover, she was slapped in public by the Empress today; if Yu'er marries her, she certainly won't be accepted by the public! Oh well, the Duke of Dingguo's mansion has more than just Liu Ling as a young lady; if it doesn't work out, Yu'er can just find another one. It doesn't matter who she marries; it's all just to temporarily consolidate her power.

Once news arrives from the Southern Frontier that the two countries have formed an alliance, no one will dare to bully me anymore. At that time, I will crush them as easily as crushing an ant! Even Nangong Huan will be mine alone!

So what if I adopt Yu'er into her family? Once Yu'er ascends the throne, she will only recognize me as her mother! Besides, I have the Mother-Child Gu in my possession; she has no choice but to accept it, whether she likes it or not!

"But, Your Majesty, relying on the Mother-Child Gu to control His Highness isn't a long-term solution. After all, it's not like no one can cure the Mother-Child Gu. What if His Highness secretly finds someone to remove the Gu after ascending the throne? And what about what happened sixteen years ago? If His Highness finds out, it will be very difficult for you to control him again!"

"What are you afraid of? And don't forget, even if Nangong Yu is freed from the curse and learns about that matter, I still have an ace up my sleeve that I can use to control him! Unless he truly doesn't care about that person's life or death!"

Besides, he's so filial. Even after all these years of tormenting him, he's never wavered in his loyalty. Moreover, I've given him the throne; even if he's a puppet emperor, he'll still be second only to me, above all others! Who wouldn't value such supreme power?

The trusted palace maid thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Your Majesty is truly wise, strategizing and winning from afar!"

Consort De smiled and nodded: "How could I possibly fail after planning for so many years? By the way, keep a close eye on the news from the Southern Frontier these next few days!"

"I have a feeling things aren't going well in the Southern Frontier, and there's still no news of my senior brother. Why haven't we heard from him yet? What if his plans fail, and the Xiao family army rises up on the border to return to the capital to defend the emperor? Without the Southern Frontier to restrain them, the Duke of Dingguo's mere 50,000 troops will likely be insufficient to resist!"

"Yes! I understand. After returning to the palace, I will have someone send a message to the Southern Frontier!"

"Let's go! Hurry back to the room. My knees are almost ruined after kneeling for more than an hour. I need to rest well. There's a big show to come later!"

The palace maid nodded, helped Consort De quicken her pace, and headed towards the side room.

Nangong escorted the Empress back to her room. Li Liuyun and Li Liujin were about to head to the side room when Nangong Yu blocked their way.

"Third sister-in-law, please wait a moment, I have something to say."

Li Liuyun nodded and pulled Li Liujin toward the side hall.

The three arrived at the side hall, and Nangong Yu looked around.

Li Liuyun smiled and said, "Don't worry, there's no one around! Just say what you need to say, we'll be having dinner with them later!"

Hearing Li Liuyun's words, Nangong Yu was somewhat amused and exasperated: "Third Sister-in-law, please don't say that, okay? If the medicine in the vegetarian meal were useful to you, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths to let you leave. To make a long story short, the Duke of Dingguo has already arrived, but he's hiding in the shadows. We already agreed to move all the hostages to my villa!"

I've already had most of the hostages disguised, intending to switch them out. However, I couldn't find the young prince to take his place. I was planning to have someone secretly protect him!

Now that my third sister-in-law and third brother are both here, I'm relieved. It's just that I'll have to trouble the young master to cooperate with a little act!

Li Liuyun nodded: "Is it because the Duke of Dingguo wants revenge for his grandson that he wants to kill Ajin?!"

Nangong Yu nodded: "They probably want to torture the young prince..."

Li Liuyun waved his hand, stopping Nangong Yu from speaking: "Just call him Ajin, like your third brother!"

Nangong Yu smiled and nodded: "He only told me to hand Ajin over to him. In addition, Consort De knows that Third Sister-in-law's medical skills are superb, and that little bit of sleeping potion will definitely not be a problem for you, so I plan to give them a chance to take Ajin away later!"

Then I'll tell Third Sister-in-law about Ah Jin's disappearance. Naturally, she'll leave to look for Ah Jin, and I'll use that opportunity to drug everyone and switch them out!

Li Liuyun shook his head: "No need for such trouble. You don't need to replace the hostages anymore. Just follow your plan and send all the drugged hostages to the other courtyard! As for Ajin and me, just tell us where the Duke of Dingguo is. We plan to use a counter-strategy to lure the enemy out!"