Chapter 372: Chapter 372

"Oh dear, the road is extremely slippery, Your Highness, please be careful..."

Several hours later, witnessing with their own eyes that graceful figure emerging from Qianqing Palace under Liang Jiugong's attentive service, completely unaffected from start to finish.

Under the heavy snowfall, even the imperial princes who were frozen stiff couldn't help but stare blankly.

This time, it wasn't just Prince Zhi—even Third Prince, who had been slow to realize the situation, suddenly paled.

Earlier, he had only wanted to completely overthrow his eldest brother, without giving much thought to whether this would affect the Imperial Noble Consort's reputation. The fact that the Imperial Noble Consort remained completely unaffected showed just how deeply she had captured the Emperor's heart.

He had truly seen a flash of killing intent in the Emperor's eyes just moments ago—directed at his eldest brother. Though it vanished as quickly as it appeared, it had thoroughly frightened Third Prince and all the other princes present.

Belatedly, Third Prince suddenly realized he had probably completely offended the Imperial Noble Consort...

At this thought, darkness suddenly clouded Third Prince's vision.

But what made everyone's hearts pound even more fearfully was that soon after, an imperial decree came from Qianqing Palace.

In just one move, the Eldest Young Master—who had been smug and whose prestige had soared since the Crown Prince's deposition—instantly became a discarded piece.

This move struck like a thunderbolt, leaving all the princes momentarily stunned and unable to process what had happened.

Fourth Beile's Mansion

After returning home still shaken, Yin Zhen immediately went to his study, legs trembling, and personally retrieved a painting hidden in a secret compartment.

In the painting, under bright lantern lights on a bustling street, only the faint outline of a tall man dressed in white robes was visible. Even though it was just a slender silhouette with indistinguishable facial features, making it impossible to recognize who it depicted.

Only the carefree aura captured between the brushstrokes seemed to leap off the paper in a certain moment.

Even so, Fourth Beile only managed to take one more glance before personally throwing the scroll into the brazier in the next moment.

Only when the painting before him completely disappeared, turning into a pile of flying ashes, did Fourth Prince finally breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

Yet the severity of the situation extended far beyond this.

"Addicted to treacherous schemes, harboring sinister intentions! Truly just like your malicious mother—utterly vicious, always fond of engaging in shady, underhanded tactics behind people's backs!"

One day, in Qianqing Palace, Kangxi at the head of the hall was seen in extreme rage, violently throwing a whole stack of memorials at Eighth Prince.

The sharp paper edges instantly cut blood marks on the temple of the man kneeling below.

Yet Kangxi above seemed completely unaware, pointing at the man's nose and continuously cursing angrily.

Including but not limited to framing brothers, petty behavior, ambitions reaching for the heavens while coveting the throne, and even taking the opportunity to criticize Consort Shu of Yonghe Palace.

But wait, framing brothers?

Could it be about Eldest Brother's matter? Could it be that the Emperor wasn't just angry because many people had recommended Eighth Prince as Crown Prince this time?

Indeed, although some had recommended Old Eighth this time, it wasn't enough to anger the Emperor to this extent.

Tsk, who would have thought Old Eighth could be this sneaky! And this mother-son pair specifically targeted the Imperial Noble Consort for harassment.

Destroying her fertility wasn't enough, they still wanted to...

In the great hall, all the brothers instantly cast strange looks, momentarily even forgetting to plead for mercy.

Kneeling in the main hall, Yin Si was truly in a predicament where he couldn't speak of his suffering. Had he been involved in that matter back then? Naturally, he had.

Otherwise, with such a deadly affair, Eldest Brother hadn't been foolish enough to that extent—he had naturally hidden the person extremely securely. With Third Brother's capabilities...

But heavens bear witness, he had only accidentally discovered this secret and reasonably tipped off Third Brother who was looking for Eldest Brother's faults—he never expected Third Brother to be this fierce!

It really wasn't a trap he specifically set for Eldest Brother.

Moreover, he had been so discreet back then, yet the Emperor had still discovered it and misunderstood...

At this moment, looking at the enraged Imperial Father before him and that gaze that seemed to view him as some kind of stain, Yin Si truly felt an indescribable sense of powerlessness...

At the same time, Yonghe Palace

Looking at her daughter-in-law who once again didn't bother to conceal her sarcasm, unfortunately Lady Guargiya no longer had the strength to argue about anything.

Her mind was completely filled with this morning's words: "Inherently malicious and vicious! Shady and underhanded..."

Since the news hadn't been deliberately suppressed, and there had been many people in Qianqing Palace at the time, it had already spread like wildfire, accompanied by the news that Eighth Prince's Beizi title had been stripped.

Like a bolt from the blue, when she learned the news, Lady Guargiya's mind went completely blank.

After dismissing all the palace servants, Guo Luoluo was still sneering beside her:

"Mother, you see? If not for your inherently vicious behavior that earned the Emperor's disgust, how could my husband have suffered the Emperor's cold treatment for so many years, depressed and unfulfilled, and how could he have suffered such unprecedented humiliation today!"

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense! If it were because of me, his mother, Yin Si would have been scolded long ago, why wait until today!"

"Other things aside, framing brothers—did I, his mother, teach him that too!"

"It was clearly himself!" "Himself!"

Why, why was she the one being implicated this time, yet all the responsibility was being pushed onto her!

Perhaps having endured enough cold treatment from everyone, including her daughter-in-law, over these years, Lady Guargiya was terrifyingly calm at this moment. In this small room, she almost screamed hoarsely:

"Clearly, he was the one who caused the trouble!"

But before the last two words could leave her mouth, Lady Guargiya herself began trembling all over.

Thinking of her own confident assertions back then, that pill she personally placed in the tea, and that young girl who had come to pay respects to her superior with an anxious expression!

At this moment, Lady Guargiya suddenly felt an immense sense of absurdity.

Staring fixedly at her daughter-in-law who still wanted to mock her, Consort Shu just waved her hand wearily.

Almost woodenly, she said:

"Believe it or not, all these years your failure to conceive wasn't my doing!"

Unfortunately, after witnessing that problematic handkerchief, this so-called mother-in-law had zero trustworthiness left in Guo Luoluo's eyes.

Seeing her pale complexion now, she just snorted coldly, the mockery in her eyes completely unchanged, even growing more intense.

For years, the shadow of infertility had nearly suffocated her, especially this year with two new pregnancies in the mansion, making Eighth Princess Consort hate this woman before her to death.

Yet at this moment, Lady Guargiya found it utterly ridiculous:

"Over these years, there haven't been few women in Yin Si's mansion, and you're not the only one. You know perfectly well whether he shows you exclusive favor.

So far, only two have become pregnant—don't you think there might be another problem here?"

Why not suspect your own husband? Is it because he shares your fortunes and misfortunes, because he's the one who can bring you power, even everything?

At this moment, Lady Guargiya asked in her heart, yet didn't know who she was asking...

Somehow, a voice told her: Stop deceiving yourself, you clearly know all this...

Just like that Shi Jia back then—the illegitimate daughter who had to remain in the shadows, looked down upon since childhood, existing as little more than an invisible person in that wealthy, powerful family.

For a long time after returning to the old residence, Shi Jia had been full of hatred.

She hated her impoverished mother for giving birth to her, hated her for making her so humble and awkward, forever inferior to others.

But why hadn't she hated that irresponsible man back then? Because he had power and money, because he possessed all the resources she needed, because he was someone Shi Jia had to rely on at that time?

Just as the two women were confronting each other, a palace servant came to report from outside:

"Master, His... His Majesty just... just suddenly issued an imperial decree, saying he's going to establish an Empress!"

Establish an Empress? Establishing an Empress! So a daughter of a convicted official with nothing could actually reach such heights.

She hated her impoverished mother for giving birth to her, hated her for making her so humble and awkward, forever inferior to others.

"Jiajia, you don't know this, but your mother was an excellent dancer when she was young, almost making it into the national team. If only back then... ah, what a pity!"