Only after being reborn did I realize that I was the white moonlight of a powerful minister.

Inside the inner palace, only the Empress's confidants were present.

At this moment, the Empress's face was extremely pale. The palace maid beside her relayed the news to her, "Madam Xie, it's all been found out. It's said that the驸马爷's mistress is pregnant. The He family is probably pulling this stunt to make us accept that mistress."

"A mistress?" Ye Wanning had never heard of this.

"Yes," the Empress said. "I never expected He Jinming to be so bold as to keep a mistress. It was one thing for him to have an affair with a maid in the mansion, since Xihe has no children, but to keep a mistress who is a singer in a brothel. Now it seems that He Jinming's mother's broken teeth were caused by her own actions. Everyone knows that Xihe has a bad temper, and they have ruined Xihe's reputation. They thought that in order to protect his reputation and consolidate the court, the Emperor would definitely try to be on good terms with the He family. When the He family proposed to take a concubine, the Emperor and I would definitely agree."

Ye Wanning understood, "It matches what I was thinking."

"If the He family really wants to take a concubine, I won't stop them. But He Jinming is keeping a courtesan as a mistress, and the He family even dares to slander Xihe. I can't tolerate this. Wan Ning, you are the most intelligent. What do you think we should do about this?" The Empress looked at Ye Wan Ning.

Ye Wanning lowered her head in deep thought.

"The purpose is definitely to let the world know that Consort He is keeping a mistress, and then expose Madam He for deliberately framing His Highness. If you send people directly, the people and court officials will not be convinced; they need evidence. The mistress is easy to deal with; the child is in her womb, she can't escape. The most difficult thing is how to get someone close to Madam He to come forward and identify her," Ye Wanning said.

"Indeed, you are right." The Empress asked Ye Wanning if she had any solutions.

“Threat or bribery, one of them will work; everyone has a weakness,” Ye Wanning said.

The Empress immediately understood, "Xie Bohuai is truly blessed to have such a wise wife."

Ye Wanning smiled, and now that things were looking promising, she left the palace.

Upon arriving at the palace gate, she saw the green hills and waited for Xie Bohuai to return together.

Xie Bohuai emerged into the afterglow of the setting sun and boarded the carriage. Before he could speak, Ye Wanning began to recount the events that had transpired in the palace over the past few days.

"If you ask me, the He family has gone down a dangerous path. There's no need for them to do this and drive themselves into a dead end," Ye Wanning said. "I just don't know what the people around Madam He will say. If they find out, things will be difficult to resolve."

"You really want to help Princess Xihe?" Xie Bohuai asked.

Ye Wanning said yes.

“Madam He is a believer in the gods. Rather than letting her discover that something is wrong with the people around her, it’s better to let her tell us herself.” Xie Bohuai leaned closer, his breath tickling Ye Wanning’s cheek.

Ye Wanning's eyes lit up instantly, and after returning, she sent someone to deliver a message to the palace.

She provided the solution; the Empress would handle the rest.

In fact, just as Xie Bohuai said, after Madam He felt a little better, she went to the temple to offer incense.

When ladies from prominent families offer incense, they will make prior arrangements with the temple to reserve a designated area for themselves.

When Madam He offered incense, they asked someone to perform some supernatural tricks. Madam He thought it was a sign of divine intervention and told the truth.

Just then, the people behind the Buddha statue who were helping the abbot and the empress heard Madam He's words and immediately took her to the palace.

Madam He never imagined that it would be a fake deity appearing. When she learned that her secret had been exposed and she was taken to Kunning Palace, she was so frightened that she wet herself.

"Wang, do you know your crime?" The Empress sat in the hall, wishing she could immediately beat Madam He to a pulp.

Knowing that there was no way to salvage the situation, Madam He knelt down and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, please spare my life. I was just confused for a moment. Please, I beg you."

"Let you go? Do you know that because of your mess, the reputation of the royal family has been affected? Xihe is being talked about. Do you think I will let you off so easily?" The Empress had already sent people to bring He Jinming and his son away, and had also invited the Emperor.

As they were talking, the Emperor arrived.

Upon seeing the Emperor, Madam He hurriedly declared, "It was my own idea, and I deserve to die. This matter has nothing to do with anyone else in the He family."

At this point, Madam He could no longer protect herself and had to take all the blame upon herself.

The Emperor said coldly, "Your He family is so audacious, do you really think you can get away with this? Your son's mistress is pregnant, and I've already arrested her. Do you know what she said?"

Madam He was stunned and dared not reply.

"She said the child in her womb isn't He Jinming's!" The Emperor almost laughed in anger. "He Jinming himself is in poor health, yet your family makes things difficult for Xihe at every turn. Wang Shi, you are utterly unworthy of being a mother!"

The Empress had only just learned of this matter. When she turned to look at him, the Emperor nodded in confirmation that it was true.

When Madam He heard that Yao Niang's child was someone else's, her mind went blank; she couldn't accept this outcome. She could die, but her son couldn't!

Soon, He Jinming and his son were also brought in. Upon learning that Yao Niang had cheated on him, He Jinming immediately knelt on the ground, exclaiming, "How could this happen?"

This family risked everything to create a princess for this child.

What did I say to him?

The Emperor said, “He Jinming, you have outsmarted yourself. I am very disappointed in you.”

The Empress felt this was retribution. Normally, even the royal family couldn't do anything to He Jinming by keeping a mistress; at most, they could remove the mother and leave the child. But the He family was so audacious as to dare to scheme against the princess's reputation, which was intolerable.

He Tangyu wanted to plead for mercy, but the Emperor didn't want to listen to their nonsense.

"Wang is wicked and will be beheaded at the Meridian Gate in three days. The He family father and son will be dismissed from their posts and exiled to Sichuan, never to return to the capital. As for this marriage, it is hereby called off, and they shall have no further connection with each other in their future marriages!" The Emperor issued the decree and ordered the He family to be taken away.

"Your Majesty, this old minister was unaware of this!" He Tangyu tried to argue.

The Emperor and Empress were already holding their breath. They doted on Xihe and had made her endure as much as she could, which was already the limit. But with the He family's scheming, there was no way they could let the He family off the hook.

After being dragged to the door, He Jinming suddenly burst into laughter.

He lost his official position, was exiled, and in the end, the child wasn't even his.

He Jinming laughed uncontrollably, as if he had lost his mind.

The news quickly spread throughout the capital. With the monks in the temple testifying, the people believed that the He family was behind it all, since monks do not lie.

That afternoon, Ye Wanning also heard about this and silently breathed a sigh of relief for Princess Xihe, who had finally escaped the misery of the He family. As a princess, Princess Xihe didn't need to worry about her future marriage; plenty of men were waiting to propose to her.

On the same day, news came from the front lines that King Xian had been assassinated and King Cheng was leading his troops to continue north.