"Your servant greets Your Majesty, greets Your Majesty the Empress."
Yun Yirou stepped into Splendid Radiance Hall. Her face was calm, as if she had no idea what had happened.
Ding!
At that moment, the system's voice echoed in Yang Cheng's mind.
[Consort Xian, Yun Yirou, is the host's aunt by blood, but has betrayed the host.]
[The current Western Empress Dowager Yun Yirou is deeply trusted by Emperor Yang Xiu and handles many dirty deeds for him. She is effectively Yang Xiu's right hand in the harem.]
[If the host wants to fight Yang Xiu, he must gradually cut off Yang Xiu's wings. The host is requested to take action against Yun Yirou.]
[Note: This is an achievement mission with a time limit of five years. The more severe the harm the host inflicts on Yun Yirou during this period, the greater the achievement and the higher the reward.]
[Mission reward: 50 grams of Earth Spirit Divine Milk (quality ranges from low-grade to top-grade).]
An achievement mission?
Yang Cheng was slightly surprised. Earth Spirit Divine Milk was a divine-level treasure, usually sold by the drop. Yet the system was offering him 50 grams right away, and of potentially top-grade quality. Truly generous.
At the same time—
"Consort Xian, do you know your crime?" Emperor Qian Yuan asked directly.
Yun Yirou looked stunned. "Your Majesty, what crime have I committed?"
Emperor Qian Yuan's face revealed nothing of his emotions. His voice was calm. "Look at who's kneeling next to you."
Yun Yirou turned her head. The moment her eyes fell on Qiu Yun, her pupils shrank violently. But she reacted quickly, forcing a confused expression. "Your Majesty, why is Qiu Yun here? I haven't seen her these past few days."
Emperor Qian Yuan said, "Qiu Yun told me and the empress that you ordered her to contact the Seven Kill Society to assassinate the crown prince."
"Your Majesty, I've been wronged!" Yun Yirou's face changed dramatically. "I am the crown prince's aunt—his honor is my honor, his disgrace my disgrace. How could I possibly harm him? Your Majesty, Sister, this wretch must be framing me!"
"Is that so?" Emperor Qian Yuan's voice remained flat. "Then why did you take the Yin-Yang Rebirth Pill from the Duke Wei's estate?"
Hearing this, Yun Yirou looked as if she had been struck by lightning.
"Produce the Yin-Yang Rebirth Pill now, and I will believe you had nothing to do with this—that it was the servant's scheme alone," Emperor Qian Yuan said.
Yun Yirou's face turned deathly pale. She had already given the pill to the Seven Kill Society. There was no way she could produce it now.
Quickly, she turned to Yun Liyue. "Sister, it was this vile servant! She stole the Yin-Yang Rebirth Pill in my name and contacted the Seven Kill Society. I was kept in the dark the entire time—I truly knew nothing of it!"
Yun Liyue's face was cold. "She is your personal maid. How could you know nothing of what she did?"
"Sister, do you still not trust me?" Yun Yirou pleaded. "I am your sister, the crown prince's own aunt. How could I harm him? There's no reason—I'd gain nothing!"
As she spoke, the guards of Splendid Radiance Hall brought in two more palace maids. They, too, were from Universal Peace Hall.
Yun Yirou's expression changed completely. Only now did she realize her own palace had already been fully infiltrated by Yun Liyue.
The two maids knelt. "Reporting to Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress: a month ago, Consort Xian had already struck a deal with the Seven Kill Society."
Emperor Qian Yuan narrowed his eyes. "I am curious: what did she buy from them at that time?"
The two maids trembled. One of them stammered out four words: "Myriad Despair Divine Water."
"Lies! All of it is slander!" Yun Yirou's face twisted with rage. "You wretched servants, why are you framing me?!"
"Consort Xian," Yun Liyue said coldly, "tell me how you made contact with the Seven Kill Society, and how you were able to purchase Myriad Despair Divine Water from them. Perhaps then I will consider showing you mercy."
She knew perfectly well Yun Yirou had no such connections on her own. Myriad Despair Divine Water was incredibly rare. The Seven Kill Society did have it—but they never sold it easily.
For Yun Yirou to get Myriad Despair Divine Water from the Seven Kill Society, she must have known someone at their core. So this entire scheme against the crown prince couldn't have been masterminded by Yun Yirou alone. The true mastermind was someone else.
"Sister, you've really misunderstood me," Yun Yirou said bitterly. "Your Majesty, I don't know why my sister thinks this of me. The palace maids in Universal Peace Hall must have been forced by my sister. What they said can't be trusted."
Yun Liyue sighed, completely losing hope in this sister. She truly wanted to give Yun Yirou a chance. If Yun Yirou had cooperated and helped find the person behind all this, Yun Liyue wouldn't have spared her, but at least she could have left her a way to live.
But Yun Yirou's stubbornness, even trying to shift blame onto Yun Liyue, was only pushing herself closer to death.
Then Emperor Qian Yuan spoke. "Consort Xian, if you and the empress share such sisterly affection, why did you secretly tell Heng'er to only pretend to get along with the crown prince, not to truly treat him well?"
Yun Yirou had been good at pretending. But Emperor Qian Yuan trusted the words children spoke without realizing their meaning far more than any adult's excuses.
Yun Yirou's face stiffened, and she could only stammer, "Your… Your Majesty, children's nonsense shouldn't be taken seriously."
Suddenly, Emperor Qian Yuan grabbed a teacup and smashed it at Yun Yirou. No one present, Yun Yirou included, expected it. Blood instantly trickled down her forehead where the cup struck.
"Consort Xian, do you take me for a fool?" Emperor Qian Yuan roared. "There's evidence everywhere, yet you keep talking about misunderstandings and jokes. Do you think you're so important to me that I'll ignore everything and just believe your words?"
He'd appeared calm until now, but his voice boomed like thunder. As a Martial Emperor, his fury carried a terrifying pressure. Yun Yirou's mind went completely blank under that weight.
Then Emperor Qian Yuan did something no one expected. He turned to Yang Cheng. "Cheng'er, what do you think we should do with Consort Xian?"
Yun Liyue frowned. Giving Yang Cheng this question was putting him on the spot. No matter how he answered, it would upset someone. If he said to be lenient, it would look weak. But if he was too harsh, it would seem cruel.
In that moment, Yang Cheng also understood what it meant for an emperor's heart to be unpredictable. Emperor Qian Yuan was his father, but above all, he was the emperor of Great Zhou.
For an adult crown prince, this question would have been a trap—no answer would have been right. But for a baby, it was surprisingly simple.
Yang Cheng looked innocent as he asked, "Father, did Aunt really try to hurt me?"
Emperor Qian Yuan's face was dark. "Based on the evidence we have, it seems so."
Yang Cheng said, "Then the evidence isn't clear enough. Since it's like that, I think Father should investigate carefully to clear Aunt's name."
His words didn't actually answer the emperor's question. But no one could say he was wrong. And for a child his age, such a response was impressive.
Most importantly, if Yang Cheng were an adult, people might think he was just avoiding responsibility. But as a baby, no one could blame him.