Since the child has been born, it is not considered a bloody room at this time. The blood and gas in the delivery room have not yet dissipated, mixed with warm steam blowing towards them, making it very stuffy even in winter. The palace maids had already put down the curtains, and Empress Xiang's quilt was tightly covered, two midwives knelt on the ground wiping clean, while the imperial physicians behind the screen bowed to the emperor and retreated.

  Tuoba Hong turned around and glanced at Yao Fusheng, who understood and waved his hand to dismiss the attendants serving in front of him. He then looked at the busy palace maids in Empress Xiang's bedroom and ordered: "All the rough-serving palace maids, get out! And you three second-grade palace maids, go out and wait, Her Majesty only needs Mu Shuang and Lan to serve her."

  Until all the people inside had dispersed, Tuoba Hong slowly walked towards the woman lying on the bed.

  The woman's thin body was wrapped tightly, she lay motionless, from a distance it seemed like a withered leaf embedded in the mud, devoid of vitality. Tuoba Hong slowly approached, Shangguan Li seemed to have heard the footsteps, her pale cheek moved slightly, her eyes opened, looking blankly and hollowly at the person who came: "Child, child...?"

  Tuoba Hong suddenly burst out laughing coldly, his chest heaving with rage: "Children? You're still worried about children? Why don't you beg me to promote you one rank instead?"

  The emperor spoke harshly, but Shangguan Li still remained calm. She smiled miserably and said: "Your Majesty, if I say that I was framed, would you believe me......" As she spoke, she gasped repeatedly, her face even paler.

  Shangguan Li's words were left unspoken, her chin already firmly grasped. Tuoba Hong's eyes bore into hers, his voice cold and detached: "I always thought you were different from others. I thought you wouldn't scheme against me for the sake of your clan, or plot against me for power, but you've been scheming against me all along! You always put on a nonchalant air in front of me, and I actually believed it... I didn't even give you the medicine to ensure you'd never bear children!"

  "You know that Empress Xiao cannot bear children, and after Shen gave birth to Prince Zhao, I didn't allow her to have any more. Only you... You are an exception! Because I believe you won't play with power..."

  "But what have you all done! You've chilled my heart. The medicine 'Tang Ling Zhi' has been extinct for many years, I had people searching everywhere for it even for the sake of the imperial children... who would have thought that your family is so capable!"

  Tuoba Hong's palm tightened, and Shangguan Li's face twisted in pain, but she still stared at him, refusing to look away. Tuoba Hong finally let go of his hand, his voice calm and cold: "Since you can find the sugar spirit fat, a secret medicine for having children, I'm afraid you have other good things in your hands too. It's also true that the Blue Clan is famous for its poisonous medicine, with them serving you, what kind of extraordinary good medicine can't be brought out? I ask you, was it also due to the power of medicine that you gave birth to twins?"

  "Your Majesty!" Shangguan Li exclaimed, but her tone immediately dropped: "As expected, Your Majesty would think this way. If the prescription for having a child is known to Your Majesty, you will suspect everything about me. Even if I tell the truth, will Your Majesty believe it?"

  "I just want to hear you admit it in person." Tuoba Hong's gaze had already shifted elsewhere.

  "Your Majesty, I am not that kind of person." Shangguan Li's breathing was already very heavy, but she still struggled to get up. She grasped onto Tuoba Hong's sleeve, as if grabbing a lifeline: "The prescription for the child was indeed given to me by Lanyu, but it wasn't what Your Majesty imagined. I once had a child, a boy, and I always felt that he would come back, so I took the sugar spirit pill, wanting to give birth to another boy. Didn't I already promise Your Majesty that if it's a prince, I would hand him over to my sister, Cheng Wangfei, to raise, making him lose his qualification for the throne..."

  "That's enough!" Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei flung her away: "You're indeed a good strategist. Giving birth to twins, you want me to be helpless, is that right? You're forcing me..."

  "No, it's not like that!" Shangguan Li closed her eyes in pain: "When I was four months pregnant, Imperial Physician Wang told me that I might be having twins. I was so scared at the time... because of fear, I've been worried and anxious every day, which made my pregnancy unstable later on. Then, my fertility charm was stolen, and I became even more afraid. I knew this day would come. I'm not afraid of Your Majesty's wrath, but I'm afraid that my child will have no place to settle down. That's not my calculation. If I had a choice, I only hope to give birth to an ordinary child, not twins."

  Shangguan Li only wanted to return to the child she was in those years. But she clearly knew that if it were twins, her children wouldn't just be sent into the Cheng Wang Fu, they might not even be able to keep their lives.

  Today, Tuoba Hong's furious anger was within Lüshi's expectations. She didn't know who had stolen the Fangzi, nor did she know why she would become pregnant with twins - but through Lanruo's diagnosis, she vaguely felt that having twins wasn't entirely an accident. In this world, there were medicinal herbs like Sugar Spirit Fat that made it easier to conceive male fetuses; surely there must be other herbs that made it easier for people to conceive twins.

  Tuoba Hong's suspicion was not unfounded, even Shangguan Li herself had such suspicions. Lan Tui also said that her pulse was not normal and there were signs of twin births medicine.

  But Lan Ruo is not a god, she can't even diagnose what medicine Shangguan Li took to cause the twins. The situation is confusing and unclear, Shangguan Li can't find any clues, nor can she figure out who secretly gave her the medicine. Calculating the days, she became pregnant in the third month of Qianwu 8th year, it should have been before that when she was given the medicine. She has many enemies in the palace, and the other party's methods are so clever without leaving any traces, she is completely helpless.

  She felt an unprecedented threat after the shock - the enemy hiding in the dark was stronger than any previous opponent. Not to mention how difficult it is to take action in the heavily guarded Linzhi Palace, just finding those rare medicinal materials is not something that ordinary families can do. The most frightening thing is that this person has guessed the emperor's mind.

  She guessed that the emperor would not like Officer Ruri's child, and if it was twins, it would be even more troublesome for the emperor.

  So she targeted him for harm and struck with a single blow.

  Compared with this, the methods used by Shen Fei in the palace to harm the concubines and make them infertile were simply too inferior.

  Shangguan Li began to suspect everyone in the palace, including Xiao Huanghou, Shen Yunrong and Lin Wan. But Lin Wan was first ruled out by her, as she had only just gained favor in the third month of Qianwu 8th year and her foundation was not stable, so she shouldn't have such great ability. Shen Yunrong and Xiao Huanghou were possible, but couldn't be completely confirmed.

  Later, the prescription for having a child was stolen, and Shangguan Li was certain that the person who stole the prescription and the person who poisoned her were the same. But today, the prescription appeared in Empress Xiao's hands - after a brief moment of anger, Shangguan Li calmed down, she couldn't be sure that it was indeed Empress Xiao. If the Xiao family really had an extraordinary good medicine, they would have taken large quantities every day to cure their infertility. But Xiaoyueyi's illness has not improved over the years and has even worsened recently, probably because she doesn't have any secret medicine for having children after all.

  "All these years, I've been flying high in the palace, ruining my own reputation, just to cut off my own path and make it impossible for the Emperor to make me Empress." Shangguan Li began to cry: "Isn't all this enough to make the Emperor believe me? All the women in the palace are virtuous and gentle, only I have a notorious reputation. Is the Emperor still not at ease?"

  Taohong was not moved, but instead became even more enraged: "Yes! I have been deceived by you! I tolerated everything from you because you did not contend. A person without virtue cannot be the model for the world, so I could not tolerate the Shen family, but I could tolerate you! I thought you were a good person, but it turns out..."

  Tuoba Hong only now realized how wrong he was. What's the point of not being an empress? With the position of crown prince in hand, future plans are what matter most, and present benefits are nothing to fight over!

  Shen Yunrong's actions have opened Taobao Hong's eyes, and he realizes that once a woman has ambition, she can be more terrifying than a man! Even Xiangfei, who had always been trustworthy, turned out to be rotten inside despite her beautiful appearance.

  "You've been assuring me with your words." Tuoba Hong turned around, no longer looking at her: "Since you've already admitted to taking the fertility medicine, I'll only ask you one more thing, have you ever taken any twin-inducing medication?"

  Shangguan Li covered her chest with her hand, grasping the ivory-white bed frame and struggling, panting, but didn't know how to respond.

  Tuoba Hong saw her silence, Hehe coldly laughed twice, and with one hand grabbed Lan Ting who was kneeling beside the bed serving, loudly asked: "Speak! Did Shanggui ever take the Double Born Medicine?"

  Lan Ruo's collar was grasped by the Emperor, she was young and petite, her entire body almost lifted off the ground like a small chicken. She was so scared that tears streamed down her face, but she shook her head desperately: "No, no! My master has no intention of usurping the throne, please believe my master, please..."

  Tuoba Hong's eyes blazed with anger as he listened to the words, his fury unabated: "You unscrupulous thing!" He slammed Lan Hui's back against a palace pillar, saying venomously: "I know your medical skills are unparalleled! Under heaven, no one but you can diagnose the signs of taking secret medicine. If you obstinately deny it, I'll have no choice but to let it go! I granted honors and titles to the Lan family, yet you still refuse to be loyal to me, instead clinging to the Up Official's faction like a dying man grasping at a tree branch! I know you're devoted to Empress Xiang, but you should understand that under heaven, there is no one who is not subject to the ruler. Heaven, earth, sovereign, and parents are all above! You should be most loyal to the sovereign!"

  "Bring the medical officer, Lan Shi, to the Imperial Prison and detain her with the six other medical officers from the Lin Chi Palace. Hand them over to the Empress for interrogation." Emperor Tuoba Hong issued the decree, ignoring the pleas of Consort Xiang behind him.

  "Shangguan Li, you'd better remember this." Tuoba Hong stood with his hands behind his back, his tone devoid of any warmth: "Even if they're twins, what's the point? If you want these two children to inherit the throne, unless your Shangguan and Shen families are willing to be destroyed like ours!"

  He finished speaking and walked away without looking back.

  Behind him, Shangguan Li finally collapsed. She used up all her strength and shouted hoarsely: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty... Please spare the lives of my children! I don't want a title, I don't want glory, I beg you not to take their lives..."