Forced to be a concubine? I turned around and married the scumbag's father.

Consort Yu was stunned for a long time.

"She wouldn't stoop to harming my son? Who is it then? Who is it!"

Duan Yu?

No way, his affection for her was genuine.

He said he liked her gentleness and obedience, and her intelligence and wit. He said that if it weren't for the Empress's sake, he would definitely promote her to the position of Empress.

Were they all lies to her?

Consort Yu cried out, frantically shaking the wooden fence and shouting at the top of her lungs, "Your Majesty, I want to see Your Majesty! Guards! I want to see Your Majesty!"

An impatient jailer rushed over and stepped on her hand that was gripping the wooden bars, causing her to scream in pain and let go.

The jailer spat, "You want to see the king? I can't even see him. If you keep making noise, you'll die!"

Ignoring the pain in her hand, Consort Yu rushed forward again: "Please, let me see the King. Once I see him, I will regain his favor, and I will repay you handsomely."

The jailer sneered, turned and walked away, and a moment later brought a basin of cold water and splashed it at her.

"what!"

Consort Yu screamed and curled up, but a basin of cold water was poured over her.

In the dead of winter, the prison cell was damp and cold. She was only wearing a thin shirt, and now that she was soaked to the bone, she would freeze instantly.

The jailer sneered, "The Princess Consort said that if you disobey, you'll die right here. If you want to live, tell the truth honestly. Want to see the King? Dream on!"

Consort Yu hugged herself tightly with her arms, but the biting cold gradually made her lose consciousness.

Before everything went black, she had only a sliver of consciousness left, and she didn't want to die.

She wanted to find out from Duan Yu where her son had gone.

When she slowly opened her eyes, she found herself lying in bed, covered with a blanket.

She sat up abruptly and found that she was still locked up, only in a different room.

The conditions were better than before when she was imprisoned. She was wearing a cotton robe, and the bed had bedding and a chamber pot.

When the jailer sitting outside saw that she was awake, he immediately got up and went out.

A short while later, Zhao Luoxuan appeared in the cell.

Consort Yu stared at her in a daze.

The jailers carried in a grand chair, and a maid laid out a soft cushion. Zhao Luoxuan sat down properly.

"You want to live?"

Consort Yu nodded frantically, threw off the covers, and scrambled toward the prison door.

He kowtowed three times forcefully to Zhao Luoxuan.

He opened his mouth to speak, but found that no sound came out.

My throat is hoarse.

Zhao Luoxuan nodded, her face expressionless, and said, "It's not difficult to keep your life. Trade it with what you know. Write down the names of all your spies in the harem, not one of them can be left out. Otherwise, if I find out even one of them, they will die with you."

Consort Yu nodded vigorously.

The maid handed the jailer a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, which the jailer took inside and spread on the table.

Consort Yu trembled as she got up and, with shaky hands, picked up a pen and wrote down one name after another.

Zhao Luoxuan took the list, glanced at it, and smiled faintly: "You can continue thinking about whether there are any omissions. I will go and interrogate these people first. If they implicate new people, your life will be in danger."

She handed the list to the maid and turned to leave.

Consort Yu clung to the wooden fence and shook it desperately.

Just as the jailer was about to kick her, Zhao Luoxuan raised her hand to stop him and turned to look at her.

"You don't believe Duan Qi isn't your son?"

Consort Yu shook her head vigorously, her empty, desperate eyes fixed on her.

Zhao Luoxuan was not soft-hearted. After all, she had seen what the Cold Palace was like, where many people were fighting to the death with the Empress Dowager.

Her mother told her that if she wasn't ruthless, she would be the one going in.

"The wet nurse next to Duan Qi is not your son's wet nurse, because she is from the Duke of Yong's mansion. She has been with Duan Qi since he was born. She also accompanied Duan Qi to Juzhou and then entered the palace."

Consort Yu almost fainted.

But she still didn't believe it and kept staring intently at Zhao Luoxuan.

Zhao Luoxuan smiled and said, "Do you know why the King wanted to bring Duan Qi to Dali, and why he wanted to register him under my name?"

Consort Yu nodded vigorously.

"Because Duan Qi's mother is Gu Hua's older sister, and his father is the King's cousin. He is the only bloodline of the Queen Dowager's nephew."

Consort Yu stared wide-eyed in fear, patting her chest hard with her hands.

"As for your son, you shall ask the king."

After Zhao Luoxuan finished speaking, she turned and left.

That night, all the servants in Consort Yu's courtyard, as well as about ten people from various parts of the palace, were arrested and thrown into prison. They were severely tortured, and their lives could be spared if they could name an accomplice.

Zhao Luoxuan brewed warm tea and chatted with the maids.

A maid entered and said, "Your Highness, the King went to Consort Bai's place tonight."

Zhao Luoxuan remained completely calm: "Okay."

Gently touching her lower abdomen, her thoughts were in turmoil, but she gradually came to understand her mother.

While helping Duan Yu change his clothes, Consort Bai mentioned that some people in the harem were gossiping that the princess was too cold-blooded.

"After all, Consort Yu was sent by the Empress of Liang. Isn't this a blatant slap in the face to the Empress of Liang? Everyone in the palace is saying that the Princess is doing this on purpose to show her mother."

Upon hearing that Zhao Luoxuan possessed such an iron-fisted approach, Duan Yu couldn't help but laugh: "I wasn't wrong about her; she's a woman of great courage."

Consort Bai observed the smile on his face and realized it wasn't fake.

"Your Majesty, I also think you are very capable. You have completely uprooted the foundation that Consort Yu has worked so hard to build over the past year. People in the harem used to think that Your Majesty was a delicate and fragile princess."

Duan Yu changed into a white robe and sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed. "She was willing to relinquish her princess title and marry into a distant state of Juzhou to become a widow for Qi Jun. She was also able to independently build her fiefdom into a vast farm interwoven with tung oil trees and crops. Later, she assisted Gu Hua in building an academy and other institutions. Tell me, how could she be a weak woman?"

Consort Bai's expression became even more cautious.

It turns out that Zhao Luoxuan held such a high position in Duan Yu's heart.

but……

Zhao Luoxuan had told her that if she gave birth to a legitimate prince, she would ask the king to allow her to leave Dali.

She was quite shocked when she heard that.

Zhao Luoxuan also said that she was the only one who could succeed to the position of princess, so she asked Duan Yu to favor her.

During her two months of pregnancy, she used the excuse of needing to rest and recuperate to entrust many affairs of the harem to her.

But she couldn't quite understand why Zhao Luoxuan was like that.

Isn't she worried that the legitimate prince she gave birth to won't be able to inherit the throne?

Duan Yu took Bai Concubine's hand and said, "You should learn from her. After all, the princesses taught by the Empress of Liang have a better perspective and more knowledge than you."

Consort Bai nodded respectfully: "Yes, Your Highness, I will certainly learn from you."

But she had her doubts.

Does the King also know that the Queen wants to leave the palace?

What a strange couple.

In any case, if Zhao Luoxuan really leaves the palace and Consort Yu is removed, she will be the only one qualified to be the Queen Consort, which would be a good thing for her.

Three days later, as they pulled out the radish, they also found mud, and uncovered more than fifty spies planted by Consort Yu.

Consort Yu was taken to the main hall where the princess handled affairs. Besides Zhao Luoxuan, Duan Yu was also there.

She could barely speak anymore, and excitedly kowtowed to Duan Yu.

With a hoarse voice, she pleaded, "Your Majesty, I am loyal to you! I did not harm the Queen..."

Zhao Luoxuan interrupted her: "Yuqing. I have already made it very clear to you in prison that as long as you vomit less than one person, your death is imminent. I have brought you here today not to plead your innocence, but to fulfill your wish to see the King before you die, since you have always wanted to see him."

After saying that, she stood up and curtsied to Duan Yu: "Your Majesty, I shall take my leave."

Duan Yu stopped her: "You don't have to leave. Everyone else, step back."

All the maids and servants withdrew and gently closed the door.

Duan Yu pressed Zhao Luoxuan into a chair, then turned and looked coldly at Yu Qing.

"You want to ask about your son, right? He is indeed dead; he was strangled to death shortly after birth."

Yuqing's face was ashen: "Your Majesty, he is your bloodline! He has done nothing wrong, why should he die?"

"Because he is not my son."

Duan Yu's words surprised both Yu Qing and Zhao Luoxuan.

Yuqing couldn't believe it at all and shook her head desperately: "Your Majesty, I have not done anything to betray you. Who is slandering me!"

She glared at Zhao Luoxuan, her eyes flashing with malice: "It's you, it must be you! Your mother and your own brother don't trust you, so you take it out on me!"

Zhao Luoxuan was speechless and could not defend herself: "It has nothing to do with me."

Duan Yu said calmly, "Indeed, it has nothing to do with the princess. It was because I didn't want to touch you that you had relations with the only guard. And this guard was also your spy."

Zhao Luoxuan was speechless.

Yuqing felt all her strength give way and slumped to the ground, muttering, "Impossible, my son is a prince, a prince!"

After watching Yuqing, who was pale and silent, being dragged out, Zhao Luoxuan turned to look at Duan Yu.

"Is what Your Majesty says true?"

Duan Yu took her hands in his large hands and said, "It's true. You are my first woman. Consort Bai, you are the one I favored, so she is the second."

Zhao Luoxuan's heart skipped a beat.

But why?