The Empress Dowager's gaze was like a knife, shooting towards Fan Yu. Fan Yu hastily hid behind the Emperor, not daring to meet her gaze at all. Seeing this, Tuoba Hong disliked the Empress Dowager even more and scolded: "Empress Dowager, there is no need to bully a child! As the dignified Empress, what kind of wrong have you done, you know it in your heart!"

  The emperor scolded the empress because of a fan made of jade, which was something that had never happened before.

  The queen's complexion gradually changed from pale blue to deathly white.

  She realized that tonight's Tuoba Hong was really angry with her! This is completely different from what she had expected!

  Although her treatment of Xiang Fei was excessive, even if those palace people pushed and shoved Xiang Fei and caused her to miscarry, Emperor Taizong shouldn't have been so furious! That child would have been a huge trouble for Emperor Taizong anyway, and if something unexpected happened to it, wouldn't that be a good thing for everyone?! It was precisely because of this that she dared to order Xiang Fei to be taken away on the spot.

  But Lin Wan... she wasn't even pregnant, what's the big deal about pouring her with the liquid made from Huang Quan flower? Even if Tuoba Hong was dissatisfied, in order to break the curse of the witchcraft, Ye had no choice but to make some sacrifices.

  The empress's body swayed and was about to collapse, finally unable to withstand the coldness in Tuoba Hong's eyes, she knelt down.

  Xiao Yueyi hadn't knelt in a long time.

  "I, your concubine, have erred. It is my incompetence that has delayed the elimination of the evil cult's chaos..." Empress Xiao racked her brains to think where she had gone wrong, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't come up with anything. In desperation, she could only humble herself and admit fault.

  "You're wrong!" Taohong slapped the incense burner on the green jade table in front of him to the ground. He looked up and saw Xiangfei's expression, then ordered his attendants, "Send Xiangfei back to the palace first."

  "Your Majesty!" The Empress was shocked. She hastily took a few plain paper notes from Wang Qiu's hand and presented them to Emperor Tuoba Hong with both hands: "The concubine's crime against Zhen Fei is not without reason! Your Majesty, take a look at this, it's the verdict of the Ministry of Justice. The concubine had the puppet made by the officer in charge of prisons for examination, and the result was that the fabric used to make the puppet came from Linzhi Palace. Even if the Buddhist and Taoist theories are confusing and unreliable, this verdict is ironclad evidence that cannot be faked! Moreover, Zhen Fei and Ye Shi were pregnant at the same time. If she could get rid of Ye Shi's child and give birth to her own child safely, she would be the only one in power in the harem. Using witchcraft to curse Ye Shi is a matter of great benefit to Zhen Fei, it's not surprising that she would take such a risk!"

  The queen was exhausted from explaining, but Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei ignored her and refused to accept the things she handed over. Instead, he ordered Yao Fusheng to take care of it. With the emperor's order, Yao Fusheng and other eunuchs would not listen to the queen's words. Two palace maids immediately came forward to support Empress Shang, and several eunuchs carried a sedan chair outside the palace gate. In an instant, they had sent Empress Shang away.

  "The Empress is indeed incompetent, you've said it exactly right." Tuoba Hong's face revealed a sneer as he looked at the Empress. The eunuch beside him moved a bright yellow dragon chair to invite him to take a seat, while the Empress remained kneeling in front of him.

  "How the Empress arrived at the conclusion that the voodoo doll originated from Xiang Fei's hands, I don't want to hear. All I know is that tonight, while the Empress was conducting a grand ritual here, another doll was found in Lin Zhi Palace, and on its head were carved the birthdate of Shangguan Li. Empress, what do you think - why would Shangguan make a voodoo doll to harm herself?"

  As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room was shocked.

  The eunuchs behind the emperor knelt down and presented a red silk package, which was carefully opened to reveal a white cloth doll with silver needles inserted into its head.

  From a distance, that thing and the figurine Hui Ci had just placed on the green jade table were almost identical in size and style.

  At the same time, several yellow-robed guards with swords escorted two small eunuchs who were tightly bound forward. Yao Fusheng bowed and reported to the empresses in front of him: "Tonight, the emperor was accompanying Ye Xiao Zhu in Changxin Palace. At the second watch, a servant came to report that Linzhi Palace had been robbed." He pointed to the two kneeling prisoners beside him: "At that time, the palace staff who came to report said that Empress Sheng had already left Linzhi Palace and was summoned by Empress Dowager to Jingyue Pavilion. This matter was not a big deal and did not alarm the emperor. Only Liu Gong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, led his men to catch the thieves. However, when Liu Gong finally caught these two thieves after much hard work, he found that they were burying something at the corner gate of Linzhi Palace. When the thing was dug up, it shocked everyone..."

  "These two dog slaves are also spineless, and after a few slaps, they confessed that they were instructed by someone to bury a curse in the Linzhi Palace, intending to secretly harm Empress Sheng's dragon fetus. The wooden puppet buried in the Jingyue Pavilion a few days ago to harm Ye Xiaozhu was also done by these two men, but because Ye Xiaozhu's residence in the Changxin Palace is heavily guarded, they were unable to carry out their plan and could only bury it elsewhere..."

  Yao Fu Sheng's voice was low and melancholic, but in the desolate stillness of the black night, it sounded exceptionally clear. The empress was already shocked beyond recognition, she could never have imagined that things would develop to this point.

  She had painstakingly woven a huge web, thinking that Xiang Fei would have no way to escape, but she didn't think it would be easily broken! The Empress was filled with anger and frustration, but even more so with shock and fear. She didn't know where she had gone wrong, why at the same time she was making a big show of going to Jingyue Pavilion, two eunuchs had also gone to Linzhu Palace to bury dolls? The dolls in Jingyue Pavilion were indeed moved by her order, but she hadn't touched Linzhu Palace...

  Xiang Fei's pregnancy was unbearable for Tuoba Hong, and the fetus had been getting worse over the past few months. Now Xiang Fei was at her weakest point, which was a great opportunity for the Empress. But unexpectedly, Tuoba Hong actually protected Xiang Fei. Did he really want to see the birth of a second crown prince? Or did he want to see Shangguan Da Jiangjun being promoted and awarded a higher title?

  Is it that the Emperor is even more unwilling to see the Xiang family's power grow heavier... so he would let off Shang Fei and turn this matter into an opportunity to strike at himself.

  The queen's heart was instantly as cold as frost and could no longer be warmed. She felt an unprecedented fear.

  "The Emperor's teachings are that this matter is indeed not investigated by the concubine... I dare to ask the Emperor, who is the mastermind behind the scenes?" The Empress Xiao asked this question with her teeth chattering.

  Is it already at that time? Is Tuoba Hong already prepared...

  Tuoba Hong was ruthless and unscrupulous, and the Xiao family, who had helped him ascend to the throne, had long been a thorn in his side. Empress Xiao was not unaware of this, but she was powerless; a woman unable to bear children could only cling tightly to power, what other way out did she have?

  Even if she knew that the Xiao family would be disliked by the Emperor, she had no choice but to go with her clansmen to fight for it. The only way out for the Xiao family was to become strong, strong enough to overpower the imperial power, strong enough that even Emperor Taizong of Tang couldn't touch the Xiao family. Such things were not without precedent, Qin had Zhao Gao, Han had Wang Mang, Sui had Li Yuan, Song had Zhao Kuangyin.

  Xiao Huanghou was very afraid. She felt that what she had been worried about all along was finally going to happen. But... it shouldn't be now, it shouldn't be so soon.

  Tuoba Hong looked at her coldly.

  After a while, he pointed to the crowd and said coldly: "Zhao Yuan Shen used evil magic to disturb the harem and collude with the court. Come on, take her away and imprison her in the Cold Palace to await execution."

  Tuoba Hong's voice was devoid of any warmth, each word blooming like a bloodthirsty yellow spring flower. Before his words had even fallen, warriors had already stepped forward to seize Shen Yunrong, dragging her from her chair to Tuoba Hong's presence. Not only Shen Yunrong, but all the concubines present couldn't have anticipated such a sudden turn of events. Shen was forced into an almost prostrate position on the ground, her bright rose-purple cloud-patterned brocade dress now covered in dust, her hair disheveled and scattered everywhere, looking utterly disheveled.

  A shrill cry burst out in the dark night, and Crown Prince Tuoba Yan rushed forward to hug Shen Yunrong, who was kneeling on the ground: "Mother, mother!" Tuoba Hong looked at Shen with disgust and ordered his attendants: "Pull the King of Zhao away."

  Tuoba Yan struggled to push away the people who were pulling him, turned his head and hugged Tuoba Hong's dragon robe again, crying: "Father Emperor, why do you want Empress Dowager to die? What crime did she commit, I cannot live without her..."

  "Eldest son!" Emperor Taizong's tone was already very severe: "You are my eldest son, the one I personally appointed as King of Zhao, the heir to the imperial family! And she is just a concubine. What you should be thinking about is this country, this world, not her life or death!"

  "But, Your Majesty, she is my mother!" Tuoba Jiaoren usually kept a distance from his father's majesty and didn't dare to get close. However, today he took a step forward: "Your Majesty, please, I beg of you, for the sake of your son, no matter what crime my mother has committed, please don't kill her. Your son can't bear to watch her die..."

  "Shut up!" Tuoba Hong interrupted him with displeasure: "A concubine cannot be called a mother. Your mother is Empress Xiao, you should remember the rules." He then coldly sneered in disappointment and anger: "Raised by a woman's hand, indeed has no grandeur. Does Prince Zhao want to spend his whole life being a child dependent on Shen?"

  Tuoba Yan was stunned, his mind echoing with the word "rules" like a perpetual nightmare that could never be awakened.

  At this moment, Shen Yunrong was already being dragged out of the palace gate. She stretched out her two hands and grabbed forward randomly, shouting in a sharp and mournful voice: "Your Majesty! It's not me, it's not me who did it, I'm innocent! Your Majesty, I'm innocent..." As the soldiers moved further away, such cries grew weaker and weaker, until they were almost inaudible.

  "Bring Zhao Wang back to Ganxi Wusuo." Tuoba Hong gave his final order.

  After the seven-year-old child was taken away crying and making a fuss, everyone was still shocked and had not yet come back to their senses.

  Xiao Huanghou seemed to have returned from hell, her whole body relaxed, and the clothes on her back were already soaked with sweat. She nodded and said: "Fortunately, the emperor found out the real culprit, it was my fault for not doing things well, and wrongly accused Xiang Fei..."