Arrogant and domineering because of his good looks: His Majesty always pretends to be righteous

"This humble servant greets Your Majesty the Empress Dowager."

Early in the morning, the ladies of the various palaces came to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.

Everyone rushed to the main hall, dressed in flamboyant clothes and wearing magnificent headdresses. No one wanted to be inferior to anyone else. Everyone pretended to be friendly on the surface, but in reality, they were fighting fiercely behind the scenes.

Every woman in the palace was as beautiful as a flower, and they all tried their best to outshine each other in every aspect of their lives.

The Empress Dowager swept her kind gaze over everyone, her eyes filled with warmth.

"I am truly happy to see all my sisters come to pay their respects to me."

"Since everyone has greeted us with a good morning, and there's nothing else, you ladies can leave now. Imperial Noble Consort, please stay. I have a few words I'd like to say to you."

Xia Rongliu's heart tightened suddenly. She was not surprised by the Empress Dowager's words and actions; in fact, she had expected them. She just hadn't expected everything to happen so quickly.

The sisters all left, leaving only the two of them staring at each other in the vast palace.

"Xia Rongliu, you are truly beautiful, and I feel that your every smile and frown reminds me of an old friend of mine. You two look like twins, cut from the same mold."

Xia Rongliu wore a forced smile, trying her best to appear easygoing and not wanting to reveal any flaws.

"Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. There are many similar people in the world, so it is only natural that I look somewhat like one."

"If you don't have anything else, I'll be going now..."

After saying that, Xia Rongliu wanted to leave, wishing she could get away from this place of trouble as soon as possible.

"wait……"

Her step froze in mid-air, and when she looked directly at the Empress Dowager again, a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Have you seen a child? To be precise, an infant?"

"I think you are a very intelligent girl. If you really see something, it's best to forget it. There are some things you'd better not get involved in, so as not to get burned in the end."

The Empress Dowager's face turned murderous, and the grim look on her face was terrifying.

Xia Rongliu blinked her bright, lively eyes, feigning an innocent look.

"Your Majesty, what are you saying? I have never seen any child, let alone an infant in swaddling clothes. If you don't believe me, you can search my room."

"If a woman in this palace gives birth to a child without permission, and the child is not the emperor's, that's a serious crime..."

The Empress Dowager gazed at her meaningfully, her eyes holding a deep meaning.

Her lips trembled slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she ultimately held it back, and a hint of gentleness softened her cold gaze.

"Never mind, I was just saying..."

"Since you say no, then no. I was just asking casually. I was just teaching you a lesson, so don't take it too seriously."

The two exchanged a few polite, forced smiles, and Xia Rongliu walked out of the main hall with trepidation.

She couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Luckily, she had the composure to keep her head down, otherwise she really would have lost her composure.

In the stillness of the night, Lord Wei entered the room and bowed respectfully.

"Your humble servant pays respects to the Imperial Noble Consort."

“I have found out everything you asked me to look into these past few days. It is a particularly potent poison, and a slow-acting one at that. In addition to the ingredients I mentioned last time, it also contains musk, which can cause women to miscarry.”

“Long-term use of these things can lead to birth defects or even stillbirth, resulting in the death of both the fetus and the baby. This is an extremely vicious method.”

As Xia Rongliu listened to those words, her heart grew even heavier, as if a stone was pressing down on it.

His relaxed brows gradually furrowed together.

“Look at these medicines I have in my hand. I got them from the Empress Dowager. I took them while we were talking yesterday.”

"It seems that this matter is inextricably linked to the Empress Dowager."

"I think this time we should go and expose this to the Emperor..."

Lord Wei's face turned ashen, and he stumbled several times, nearly falling to the ground.

"Your Highness, you absolutely cannot do that. If you do, it will be like throwing an egg against a rock, and you will suffer more losses than gains."

"The Empress Dowager has a powerful force behind her and controls many things. She probably didn't want the Emperor to have an heir, and this was a long-planned scheme."

"Nowadays, more than half of the civil and military officials in the court are her eyes and ears... Your Majesty, you must be careful in the future."

He hesitated, swallowing back what he was about to say.

The two looked at each other and immediately understood each other's thoughts. Even if there was evidence, so what?

The emperor is incompetent and cowardly, and the empress dowager has such a powerful backing that it's not so easy to overthrow him in a short time.

Such a powerful force behind them could not have been built up overnight, and who would believe these things if they weren't presented with solid evidence?

Xia Rongliu secretly resolved to send the child away, so that the bloodline could be preserved and the Empress Dowager could be identified later.

"Your Majesty, are you listening to me?"

"Miss!"

Lord Wei raised his hand and waved it across her face for a moment.

She snapped out of her daze, a embarrassed smile appearing on her face.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking about something and lost my composure for a moment."

"No one else knows that we met late at night, right? You should go back quietly and pretend that nothing happened and that we didn't meet today."

"You absolutely cannot let a third person know about this, otherwise you might not be the only one who dies."

She spoke with a serious expression, giving instructions word by word. This was no joke; if word got out, it would be a capital offense.

Lord Wei nodded solemnly. He naturally knew the seriousness of the matter, but the whole country was currently teetering on the brink of collapse and the emperor was corrupt and incompetent, barely paying attention to national affairs.

Now the Empress Dowager's family controls everything. If this continues, the entire dynasty will likely be tottering in the storm.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Now that I have done so much, I will live a simple life. I will never tell anyone about this until I die."

"And if you ever need my help in the future, I will continue to serve you! I hope that with our combined efforts, we can expose the Empress Dowager's true colors soon."

"Although we can't be completely certain that this matter is related to her, I don't think these things are as simple as they seem when connected."