She was buried alive at the start, but she's determined to smash her ex-husband's head in

This is essentially pushing Shen Yushu to the brink of despair. As long as the Crown Prince refuses to acknowledge that the child is his, Shen Yushu can only be accused of adultery and defiling the harem. Moreover, she is still in mourning, and doing such a thing without regard for propriety would only aggravate her crime.

Even if Emperor Xuande considered that she was the only son of Prince Yong, he could not show her favoritism, as so many eyes had witnessed what happened today.

The only and best way is to have Qi Yanzhi and Shen Yushu get married to cover up this scandal.

Unfortunately, Qi Yanzhi and Yi Yang are mutually in love, making things extremely difficult.

Shen Yushu had also thought of this, but she did not want to implicate anyone. The Crown Prince was wary of her like a thief, and even though she knew that her father's death was related to him, she had no evidence to bring him down completely.

She gripped the hairpin tightly, wanting nothing more than to die together with the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was standing diagonally in front of her; if she could just pounce on him, she was confident she could kill him.

But at this moment, Qi Yanzhi said, "It is my child. Yu Shu is carrying my child."

"Are you crazy? No!" Shen Yushu immediately explained to Zhao Yiyang, "Don't listen to his nonsense. He has never betrayed you. The only person he loves is you."

Zhao Yiyang knew it, but when she heard Qi Yanzhi say those words, her heart was still deeply pierced.

Qi Yanzhi couldn't just stand by and watch Shen Yushu die. She was his master's only child. His master had died unjustly, and now all of this was just going to be forgotten, with a random culprit being found to take the blame?

It would be foolish of him not to realize something at this point.

Everything was not as simple as it seemed. If he did not protect Shen Yushu, she would surely die. It was all his fault. He thought it would be better for Shen Yushu to stay in the East Palace. After all, they had grown up with the Crown Prince since childhood, and their friendship would never change.

But he and Yu Shu were probably wrong. Once anyone has desires, they become unlike themselves.

He could indeed be selfish and say that it was all a setup by others, but the world is too lenient towards men and too harsh on women. If he stays out of it, Yu Shu will have to bear all the blame.

No one cares about the truth behind it; they only believe what they see with their own eyes.

"Yu Shu and I have been together for a long time. It was my greed for wealth and glory that made me cling to the princess and refuse to let go. It's all my fault."

Zhao Yiyang closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew what Qi Yanzhi was going to do: "I'll give you another chance. Tell the truth. Father is here. He will find out the truth and not wrong any good person."

"I'm telling the truth. The person I like is Yu Shu, not Your Highness. I..." He couldn't even finish his lie.

The Crown Prince's lips curled slightly upward, but he feigned surprise and anger: "Ayan! You are such a person! Yu Shu and Yi Yang are the most important people to me, and I never expected you to have them both so easily manipulated! This is simply too much!"

“You don’t need to do this. I won’t be grateful to you. There’s nothing between us. My child isn’t yours.” Shen Yushu looked at Qi Yanzhi anxiously. “You should explain this to Her Highness the Princess.”

"There's nothing to explain. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let you bear it all alone." Qi Yanzhi kowtowed to Emperor Xuande and the Empress.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please punish me!"

Emperor Xuande sighed deeply. He had watched these two children grow up, and he was utterly helpless to stop them from making such a mistake. Did the details of the matter even matter? Perhaps, but if he investigated further, it would hurt far more than just these few people.

He glanced at the Crown Prince, then finally fixed his gaze on Zhao Yiyang: "What does Yiyang think?"

"I think that since they are in love, we should let them be together. There was never any official decree regarding the marriage between me and the Crown Prince, so let's just treat it as a joke."

After saying this, Zhao Yiyang didn't even want to look at Qi Yanzhi. After bowing to Emperor Xuande and the Empress, he turned and left.

Yes, she knew Qi Yanzhi had no choice in the matter, but she was still very angry and sad. She had so firmly chosen Qi Yanzhi and planned everything for the future. She thought she could trust him, but this was the result.

Qi Yanzhi is such a good person, which means he has a strong sense of responsibility, something she shouldn't expect from a so-called devoted person.

The Duke and Duchess were waiting outside the hall. When they saw Zhao Yiyang come out, they walked up to him anxiously and asked, "How are they? Ayan and Yushu?"

She forced a smile: "It's alright, His Majesty will probably grant them a marriage."

"A...a marriage decree?" Both of them were full of doubt, and before they could ask for more details, Zhao Yiyang had already walked away.

When she returned to Huayang Palace, Peizhi came up with a long face, saying that it was all her fault for being careless and giving the villains an opportunity. She was glad that the princess was not in any danger, otherwise she would have been guilty of a thousand deaths!

Zhao Yiyang touched her face. She looked tired, but still smiled and said it was okay.

"This is a letter that the young prince asked me to deliver to the princess. Judging by the time, he has probably already left the city."

After taking the letter, Zhao Yiyang dismissed everyone and lay down on the bed. She didn't want to do anything or see anyone. She was so tired that she didn't even have the strength to read the letter, and she couldn't fall asleep even when she closed her eyes.

The light in the hall gradually disappeared, and she lay there watching.

For several days in a row, I couldn't eat and lost weight. But to say that I was in excruciating pain and sadness was an exaggeration; I just felt very tired.

So tired, so very tired...

Shen Yushu and Qi Yanzhi have visited Huayang Palace several times, but Zhao Yiyang has not met them; there's no need for them to.

She could stop these people, but she couldn't stop others, such as Zhao Yuanjia. In fact, after regaining his identity, he had always kept his distance from Consort An and the others, not wanting to cause trouble.

I really didn't expect that the first person to comfort me, despite my awkwardness, would be Zhao Yuanjia.

"Hey! There's nothing to be sad about. Qi Yanzhi is actually quite ordinary!" Zhao Yuanjia sat down in front of her bed and leaned over to look at her. "You're a princess now, what don't you want? Just tell me what you like, and I'll get it for you."

"Don't you dislike me?" Zhao Yiyang was telling the truth.

Zhao Yuanjia shook his head and said, "No, the only person I've ever really hated is that imposter Zhao Huarong! She's really annoying, but you're alright. Thinking about it this way, it's probably because we're blood relatives."

Blood relatives? She was amused.

I always thought that the Crown Prince and the Empress were my closest blood relatives, but I never expected that it was these very blood relatives who would be so ruthless.

She remembered everything; all her previous suspicions came back to her in the last few days.

They threw themselves away.