The Princess of Jin's face turned pale with anger, stroking her hair while questioning the Imperial Consort: "Since you had intended to recommend your own niece as my daughter-in-law, why didn't you say so earlier? Now that my good daughter-in-law has already entered our household and spent a year here, what kind of intention is this to play such a trick?"

  "Your Highness, this is absolutely impossible!" Cui Guifei was so angry that she could have pinched her niece to death. It was still tolerable for Cui Xianlian to let Song Yixiao give up her seat to others, but it just had to be the Fourth Miss of Hengshan Wangfu! Lu Ke'er was after all the noble and legitimate niece of the imperial concubine!

  Can Princess Chang of Jin State not suspect that this matter was orchestrated by the Noble Consort?

  After all, as a mere crown prince's concubine, where did she get the guts and courage to defy the imperial edict that had already been bestowed upon her?!

  There must be someone backing him up!

  As Cui Jianli's daughter, who else could this mountain rely on besides the current Guifei and future Empress Dowager?

  Cui Guifei suppressed the urge to spit blood and said urgently, "Although Lu Ke'er is my late sister's daughter, she hasn't really met me since childhood. Moreover, her grandmother and father are still alive, and since her stepmother can raise a virtuous woman like Yan Guo Furen, it's clear that she also knows what's important. So why would the child's lifelong matters need my involvement?"

  Her words, however, were laced with hidden meaning: Lu Ke'er's stepmother, Wei Mengying, was Song Yixiao's biological mother. Song Yixiao would naturally not speak ill of her own mother, but Wei Mengying had abandoned her husband and remarried, and had poor relationships with both her mothers-in-law, earning her a reputation for being unvirtuous. As the daughter she had raised herself, Song Yixiao's character was also suspect!

  She was just a princess of the state of Jin who had married one more time than her own family members, and she didn't buy this at all. Upon hearing this, she coldly laughed and said: "So, Yixiao also said that this child is not familiar with your niece at all! In this lively and noisy occasion, you falsely claimed to be the mother of someone's natal family and had them come here, what are you plotting?!"

  "Reporting to the Princess and the Noble Consort!" Xiao Man was still in a state of panic, but finally came to her senses, suddenly knelt down and kowtowed, crying out, "The Imperial Concubine and Madame Yan of the State of Yan indeed had something going on, but absolutely nothing about being demoted or not! They were talking about... they were talking about their past grievances!"

  It's not her fault that she was confused before. The development of the whole thing was beyond anyone's expectation!

  Originally, according to her and her master's plan, Song Yixiao's clothes had Yu Qingchun's handiwork, and it was impossible to pass the inspection!

  In this case, Cui Jianliang was naturally at a loss for words in front of everyone, wondering how he had offended the lady of Yan State to the point where she would poison his own child. Xiao Man came out again to remind him of the events from seven years ago.

  Naturally framing Song Yiliao with the crime of revenge and harming people!

  Neither the master nor the servant expected that Song Yixiao had already detected Yu Qingchun's betrayal and didn't leave any evidence in the search! Moreover, she seized the point that Cui Jianliu actively made an appointment with her, openly slandering Cui Jianliu as a ruthless and crazy person who forced herself to be demoted!

  If things go on like this, Xiaoman's own life will be in danger, let alone Cui Jianliang!

  But now it's time to tell the truth!

  Seven years ago, the concubine was still studying at the Hengshan Wangfu Girls' School. One day, she heard someone mention Tibetan mastiffs and became curious, ordering someone to bring two of them to the backyard for her to see. Who would have thought that the servants watching the dogs were careless, allowing the two Tibetan mastiffs to escape and bite one of the maids of the Yan State's wife, causing serious injury? The Yan State's wife was also greatly frightened!

  Xiao Man choked with sobs, "After the incident, Ce Fei felt extremely guilty and apologized several times, but was unable to appease Wei Wangfei and Yan Guo Furen. Ashamed, Ce Fei returned to Cui Fu and never went back to the palace's women's school again."

  "What is it that Lian'er wants to see Lady Yan for this time?" Cui Guifei asked with narrowed eyes.

  "It's to apologize again to the Lady of Yan!" Xiao Man said immediately, "The concubine has been thinking about this matter since she became pregnant and couldn't sleep at night - it's become a worry! Although the Crown Princess has taken good care of her during this time, the concubine is still frowning and not intentionally making things difficult for the Crown Princess, but feels guilty towards the Lady of Yan!"

  "However, the lady of Yan State had just left her boudoir and was already in charge of a household, presumably busy with many matters. The imperial concubine didn't dare to invite her to the Eastern Palace without permission, fearing that she would disturb her!"

  "Tonight, taking advantage of the Lantern Festival banquet at the palace, I'll ask Lady Yan to meet with me in private, so we can put past misunderstandings behind us!"

  He also said, "The reason why I asked Princess Wei to make an excuse is that I'm afraid the lady of Yan State still has lingering anger and won't agree to meet if she knows it's the concubine who invited her!"

  Song Yi smiled faintly and glanced at her - no wonder she could always serve Cui Jianliang, this maid was not as stupid as she thought!

  This remark not only refuted Song Yixiao's "lower hall" statement, but also subtly explained to Yu Guo that Cui Jianliang absolutely did not despise the crown prince's wife because of her pregnancy, and everything was due to her kind heart and guilt over an accidental incident in her childhood, even filling in the gaps for the maid who transmitted the message!

  Cui Guifei's frown between her eyebrows slightly dispersed, and she spoke warmly: "Madam of the State of Yan, I don't know whether your past misunderstanding with Lian'er is true or false?"

  The imperial concubine was also thoughtful and listened to Xiao Man's words, without asking Song Yi Xiao and Xiao Man who was telling the truth or falsehood. She avoided provoking Jin Guo's long princess on the spot and evaded the question of why Xiao Man had brought it up so late. Instead, she directly pointed out the core of Xiao Man's words - did Song Yi Xiao and Cui Jian Liang have any past grievances?

  As soon as Song Yixiao said so, she firmly stated that Cui Jianliang forced her to step down, which is questionable!

  The Princess of Jin and the Duchess of Qingjiang exchanged a glance, slightly furrowed their brows, and looked at Song Yi with a hint of worry in their eyes: as his mother and daughter, they were both very concerned about Jian Xuebai, how could they not investigate thoroughly?

  Not to mention the grudges between Song Yixiao and Cui Jianliang, Jian Yu Bai had also intervened in the aftermath back then!

  Just as they were turning their minds, considering how to pull the bias, Song Yi laughed calmly and said: "Your Majesty, seven years ago, I was only eight years old, and Xiaoman this maid should be about the same! So whether it's me or Xiaoman, what we think and say, even if we didn't intentionally tell lies, may not necessarily be true! In my opinion, why don't we ask for advice from Queen Hengshan?"

  "Empress Dowager of Mount Heng?" Cui Guifei was taken aback.

  Hengshan Wang Taifei dislikes her daughter-in-law, it's not a secret. Song Yixiao hates her to the bone, that's also not a secret - but this time she doesn't mention her own mother Wei Mengying, only asks for her advice, isn't she afraid that she'll help Cui Jianliang kick her while she's down?

  Especially Song Yixiao just said that Cui Jianlian forced her to give up her position to Lu Ke'er!

  Even if it's for her granddaughter's sake, wouldn't Queen Wang of Hengshan spare her?

  Although Cui Guifei had been in the palace for many years and was familiar with all kinds of situations, she couldn't figure out Song Yiliao's intention this time!

  But also because of these reasons, Cui Guifei couldn't find a reason to oppose it.

  A moment later, Princess Hengshan was invited to come over. Consort Cui deliberately didn't mention the details and only said: "Auntie, I heard that seven years ago, Lian'er had some misunderstandings with Madame Yan, is it true or not?"

  Princess Wang of Mount Heng heard this and was taken aback, glancing at Song Yi Xiao before saying: "What misunderstanding? The servants bullied her because she's young and easy to talk to, then framed her for their mistakes - I'd already made it clear to Wei Shi and her daughter, but that child has a soft heart and actually believed them! From then on, she refused to go to the Wang estate, making me worry for nothing all these years!"

  This remark made Cui Guifei and Jin Guo Zhang Gongzhu both very surprised: "What is this?"

  "Have you heard that the mastiff, which is almost as tall as a grown woman, can be taken into the backyard at will?" The imperial concubine said calmly, "Especially since Rong'er is just a little girl, she would have been fine if she had only wanted to pick flowers or grass. How could she possibly want a mastiff? It was actually several new slaves who were taking the mastiff to the kennel when they took a wrong turn and mistakenly entered the backyard, causing trouble. Coincidentally, some of their relatives were serving in the women's school at the time, and they reckoned that Rong'er was a relative of the imperial family, simple-minded and easy to deceive, so they cried and wailed, and she ended up taking the blame!"

  She also said, "Wei's family has always been meticulous, and the one who suffered was her own daughter. How could she not investigate thoroughly? So, after finding out the truth, those few servants would naturally have no good ending - unfortunately, Lian'er was muddle-headed and really thought she had done something wrong!"

  She glanced at Song Yishiao and said indifferently, "The truth about this matter, didn't your mother tell you long ago? I remember that two years ago when you came to pay your respects to me, you even asked why Cui sister, who gave you the silver ankle bracelet, hadn't come to the Wang residence. Why are you bringing it up again now?"

  She explained the tinkling ankle bracelet, "Lian'er didn't go to the palace later on, but occasionally she would send some small things to her sisters. I remember that there was a pair of tinkling ankle bracelets among them?"

  The stepmother indeed had it - but actually, it was given to Yuan Xueying, who then gave it to Song Yixiao. But the Empress Dowager said so, and Song Yixiao wouldn't dare to contradict her: "I also think that there's no grudge between me and Cui Ce Fei, but this little servant girl insists that there is! Now, thinking back to when we were young, our memories may not be accurate, so I can only ask you to come and testify!"

  The Queen Mother of Mount Heng furrowed her brow and said, "Alright then, let me tell you the truth: neither of the two children are troublemakers, and apart from attending classes together at school, they basically don't interact with each other. How could they possibly have a grudge against each other? Their distant relationship is true, but as for any grievances, there really aren't any! Although I'm old and haven't been involved in things for many years, the girls' school has always been personally overseen by me, so this point is absolutely correct!"

  This imperial concubine has a high status in the palace, and even the empress dowager is very polite to her. Now that she has personally guaranteed it, how can Consort Cui still believe those rumors?

  Moreover, Princess Hengshan's attitude towards Song Yiliao was clearly not close, and no matter how you looked at it, she didn't seem like the type to deliberately cover up for her!

  The Empress was just a bit hard to swallow - so seeing the Grand Consort showing signs of leaving, she thought for a moment and said: "Since the Grand Consort has come, there is one more thing, I would like to ask you to be my witness!"

  The Empress Dowager looked at her in surprise and said: "I don't know what you are talking about."

  "The child just said that Lian'er, under the name of Wei Wangfei, asked her to come here privately, but it was actually to force her to step down and make way for Ke'er's child!" Cui Guifei looked embarrassed and said, "I've never heard of this! But the Empress Dowager thinks that Lian'er alone may not have the guts to do this, so she suspects me of planning a future for my niece. However, I've never interfered with Ke'er's lifelong matters! You must give me an accurate account, otherwise, I really don't know how to explain it to the Empress Dowager!"

  As she said this, both the Princess of Jin and the Princess of Qingjiang looked at Song Yixiao - Song Yixiao was calm and composed, without any intention of stopping or explaining.

  The Empress Dowager listened and nodded after a moment of contemplation, saying: "Your Highness, the Imperial Consort is right. Gu'er was raised by my side since childhood, although the Imperial Consort dotes on her, she has never mentioned anything about her lifelong matters."

  She frowned and glanced at Song Yishao, "But Ke'er has never mentioned the Prince of Yan! That child grew up under my watch, although I dare not say that he is talented and virtuous, but he is not shameless! On this point, I think if it's not that the Princess of Yan heard wrongly, then Lian'er must have been deceived!"

  Song Yi Xiao finally spoke up: "Your Highness is absolutely right! That's why I just told the Imperial Consort that this little barbarian is highly suspicious!"

  Looking at Xiao Man's pale face, she subtly curled up the corners of her mouth - this maid had just made a random response, although it was already very thorough, but still forgot a key point: seven years ago, Cui Jianliang's reason for harming Song Yiliao!

  Even if the little tyrant distorted the facts, deliberately framing others as incompetent subordinates, this would deceive others but could never deceive the wise and all-knowing Queen Mother of Mount Hengshan!

  Whether it was seven years ago or seven years later, Cui Jianli's determination to put Song Yixiao to death had a great deal to do with Lu Guanlun!

  But she is already the crown prince's concubine, and both of her twins are about to be born prematurely. How dare the imperial consort let her have any contact with Lu Guanlun?!

  So Song Yixiao wasn't afraid that Cui Guifei wouldn't tell the Empress Dowager about today's events, and directly asked about things from seven years ago - because as soon as the Empress Dowager heard "seven years ago", she would absolutely not admit it!

  Not only will she not admit it, even if it would cost her mentioning that Song Yixiao had wronged Lu Qinger, the Empress Dowager, no matter how much she hated and was angry at Song Yixiao, must first ensure her safety!

  Otherwise, once Song Yixiao breaks the jar and spills everything out, what will her beloved grandson do?!

  "It's fortunate that the Empress Dowager doesn't know, or rather, doesn't believe that I'm actually incapable of harming Lu Guanlun. That's why she asked the Imperial Consort to come and see me!" Song Yi sighed inwardly, "Otherwise, given Cui Xianli's infatuation with Lu Guanlun, if I had directly used Lu Guanlun as leverage against her, perhaps she would have been speaking on my behalf instead of accusing me of harming her!"

  But now is not the time to lament, Song Yi smiled ambiguously at the trembling little servant girl: she had risked her life and gone through so much trouble, not just to deal with a mere maid!

  Revenge for Zhiqin has just begun!