Unfortunately, Liao Tingyan moved too slowly, and those two drama-exposing waitresses spoke too quickly. Before she could take two steps out, the other two had already revealed the key points.

  "Who would have thought that Your Majesty was actually not born to Empress Duan, but rather because of the special circumstances of your birth mother, you were recorded under Empress Duans name."

  "Whats so special about it?"

  "In fact, Your Majestys birth mother was not any of the beauties in the late Emperors harem, but rather the deceased Ci Yun Princess from before."

  "Is that Princess Ci Yun?! Isnt she the younger sister of the previous emperor?! Then, Your Majesty, arent you the product of an incestuous relationship between siblings?!"

  Ah——

  Liao Tingyan supported her forehead and cursed, "Damn it! This is a big secret! If someone hears this secret, something will definitely happen. So, lets take the person away before anything happens!"

  With a determined look, she raised her head to see Sima Jiao standing expressionless not far away, clearly having heard the previous few words, as the palace servants behind him seemed like they were about to be scared to death.

  Liao Tingyan: "......"

  Its as if the law that whats said behind someones back will eventually be heard by them, and the law that secrets will inevitably be exposed have both come into play! So why did the timing of this card seem so coincidental? It was filled with a sense of discord, as if it had all been arranged by someone.

  Two female attendants who were separated by a wall were still talking, "When Princess Ci Yu got sick and lived in Shunhua Hall not far from this plum garden, one day a big fire suddenly broke out, the entire palace was burned to death along with the princess and dozens of palace maids."

  "What?!"

  "Not long after that, the Taiji Temple incident occurred."

  As Sima Jiaos expression became more and more terrifying, Liao Tingyan almost wanted to shout "shut up" at the two female servants who had spoiled the plot. This time it was really going to be a dead end, Liao Tingyan looked at Sima Jiaos frightening face, the hairs on the back of her neck stood upright.

  She was witnessing Si Ma Jiaos illness for the first time while he was conscious, and it was more terrifying than any other time she had seen him before. His eyes were covered in bloody threads, and at a glance, they looked strange and frightening. His expression also turned ferocious and violent, as if suppressing some kind of pain, panting constantly. He was enraged, his face devoid of the harmless smile he used to have when facing her, replaced by pure anger and murderous intent.

  "Go." Sima Jiao squeezed out this one word from between his teeth, raised his hand and pointed to the flower window beside Liao Tingyan, "Drag those two over here for me."

  As soon as the words were spoken, two eunuchs with their heads bowed emerged from behind him and quickly ran down the corridor, turning around to grab the two maids who had been talking. Liao Tingyan only heard two cries of alarm before the two terrified maids were dragged in front of Sima Jiao.

  Simar Jiao stepped on the maids finger with one foot, his voice cold and stern, "Who told you to say this here?"

  The maid cried out in pain, "Your Majesty, theres no one... I was just talking nonsense, ah..."

  Simars eyes turned red, his feet slipped, and a series of ear-piercing screeches and off-key wails filled the air, entering the ears of everyone present.

  Liao Tingyan closed her eyes and turned away, but the mournful cry became even clearer. At the same time, Sima Jiaos icy voice rang out, saying: "For some time now, I have been too lenient, letting these dogs forget who they are. Take them down to interrogate them clearly. If they refuse to speak, flay their skin and hang it in front of the Taiji Temple as before."

  After a rustling sound, the two people were gagged and dragged away. Liao Tingyan only saw a patch of bright red blood left on the snowy ground, Sima Jiao didnt look at her, turned his head and walked away.

  The plum blossom forest returned to calmness, Liao Tingyan was at a loss for what to do, but heard the voice of Gui Ye beside her, sobbing: "Guifei, save me, I dont want to die!"

  Liao Tingyan found her face full of fear, with tears in her eyes, and was shocked. "Whats wrong? Didnt the Emperor say he wouldnt kill you?"

  Although she was also frightened by Sima Jiao just now and couldnt recover her senses, she didnt feel the extreme fear that Gui Ye did.

  "Gui Ye shook his head and cried, No, after hearing these things, Your Majesty will definitely deal with us."

  Liao Tingyan looked at the other maids and palace ladies who had accompanied her, all of whom had a look of despair on their faces. She saw that the two maids who had intentionally or unintentionally led her here were also trembling with fear, and frowned, saying: "Go back first."

  As soon as she returned to the Furuong Hall, Liao Tingyan saw a eunuch in green clothes leading a team of palace staff standing at the door waiting for her.

  "Your Majestys concubine, I have come under His Majestys orders to escort someone." The eunuch in green attire stepped forward and said.

  Liao Tingyan asked: "Including me?"

  The eunuch in blue hurriedly smiled and said, "Your Highness is joking, of course there are only these palace maids behind you. Dont worry, a new batch of palace maids have been selected to serve you, these newcomers will be even more obedient and to your liking." He bowed his waist, with an extremely respectful attitude.

  Liao Tingyan fell silent for a moment, hearing the desperate sobbing of the people behind her. She pinched her own fingers and pointed at the two flower-bearing maidens, "Just take them away, Ill keep the others..."

  The eunuch in blue hesitated and said: "But this... has always been the case, there is no such rule..."

  Liao Tingyan: "Leave them here, I will personally tell Your Majesty."

  In the palace, no one has ever disobeyed Sima Jiaos decisions. If it were someone else, the eunuchs wouldnt have to think twice and would simply ignore them, dragging them away by force if necessary. However, Liao Tingyan was different. In recent days, her interactions with the Emperor had been observed by these attendants, who couldnt gauge whether the Emperor would pardon this noble consort or grant her request, so they were extremely hesitant.

  The eunuch in the green robe gritted his teeth and finally chose to follow Liao Tingyans orders, allowing the eunuchs behind him to take away only two flower-bearing female attendants.

  As soon as they left, Gui Ye and others felt like they had escaped with their lives. They immediately knelt down and thanked her: "Thank you, Imperial Consort! Thank you, Imperial Consort!"

  Liao Tingyan waved her hand and silently walked through the pearl curtain into the hall. The parted and fallen pearl curtain collided, making a soft "dang" sound.

  The eunuch in blue returned to the Taiji Temple to report, at this time the back hall of the Taiji Temple was in a mess, Sima Jiao sat in the center, with his hair scattered, his pale fingers pressed against his forehead with bulging veins.

  Upon hearing the eunuchs response, Sima Jiao raised an eyebrow, "Oh, so you only brought two people back?"

  "Yes." The eunuch in green attire replied tensely, not daring to look him in the eye.

  Simarou twitched the corner of his mouth, "Since the noble consort is unwilling, then forget it..."

  The eunuch in blue heard this and finally relaxed his tense heart. However, the next moment, he heard Sima Jiao say: "But I think its necessary to kill so many people. Since those people escaped, the ones who should die will be chosen from among the ones you brought with you. After all, since you handled things poorly, you must take responsibility."

  After the eunuch in blue clothes went out, High General Gao walked in. Seeing Sima Jiaos appearance, he showed some worried expression, "Your Majesty, do you need to take some medicine?"

  "Taking medicine... taking medicine? The kind that will make me a dead man if I take it?" Sima Jiao suddenly burst out, kicking over the only remaining intact desk and lamp stand in front of him. Gao Taibao was used to this sort of thing and didnt even bat an eyelid, waiting for him to finish venting before continuing: "If Your Majesty doesnt want to take medicine, why not go see the Imperial Consort?"

  Simar Jiaos expression was gloomy, "No need, she has been frightened by me, let her calm down for a while."

  "Found out who it was, did you? Who deliberately sent this special gift to Gu?"

  Gao Taibao: "Although its still uncertain, but it cant be unrelated to the Duan family."

  "Haha, the Duan family." Sima Jiaos face twisted, "I had expected it to be the Duan family. They still remember their deceased empress from years ago and that crown prince who didnt get to grow up... how could they bear to see me have an heir?... Theyre intentionally reminding me, also warning those around me... Ha, the Duan family."

  "Gong Zhen has endured them for too long." Sima Jiaos face was full of murderous intent, without any concealment.

  Even Gao Taibao, who had watched him grow up, was shocked and cautiously advised: "Your Majesty, Duan Taifu is a man who has always been devoted to the prosperity of his family, and it doesnt seem like he would do something so impulsive. Besides, there are flaws everywhere in this matter, it doesnt look like Duan Taifus usual handwriting."

  Simar clenched the wooden beads on his wrist, "I know it wasnt him, but the stupid things the Duan family did, if we cant find the one responsible, then hell have to take the blame."

  He said this as he gave a sudden tug to the string of wooden beads, which snapped instantly, and the beads scattered in all directions, bouncing and rolling away across the floor.

  "The Duan family must die."

  …………

  Duans master house, Duan Taifu slapped his second son to the ground with a loud slap, "You ungrateful thing."

  Duan Songfeng struggled to his feet and knelt before his father, his face expressionless.

  Duan Taifu had always been good at hiding his emotions, but seeing his son like this, he couldnt help but feel a surge of anger and asked, "Was it you who did it?"

  "Father already knows, why bother asking the son?" Duan Songfeng sneered in response: "The son doesnt think hes done anything earth-shattering either, just reminding His Majesty that his bloodline is quite dirty."

  As he spoke, his expression became increasingly indignant. "Such a bastard, and we still have to bow down to him! If the previous emperor hadnt gone mad and killed all the other princes, it would never have come to this. The throne would never have belonged to him! That lunatic of an emperor! He killed my sister, he killed the rightful heir of the Segments family, all for the sake of this little beast. And now that this little beast is triumphant, does he think he can continue his bloodline? Bah!"

  Duan Taifu looked at his sons frantic appearance, and in a fit of rage, he kicked him again. "A thing that cant even accomplish anything but only causes trouble! The emperors of the Sima family are all madmen, and this emperor is even more insane than the previous one. Since you know this, why do you still want to provoke him? Do you think our Duan family is living too peacefully now?"

  Duan Songfeng sat on the ground, one hand pressing against his chest, and was not bothered by his fathers anger. "He is mad, but not stupid, would he really dare to take action against our Duan family? Ha! He dares not, he only dares to kill a few palace servants to vent his anger, that useless little beast. I just want to see him cut off from having children, isnt he favored by one woman? Id like to see which woman would dare give birth to a child for him, knowing his secret. He deserves to be cut off from having children, hahaha!"

  Shaking his head, Duan Taifu looked at his son in disappointment, "Youve done too many wrong things over the years."

  Duan Songfeng looked at his father with the same disappointed eyes, "I dont think I did anything wrong, on the contrary, Father and Big Brother were the ones who did wrong. I just cant understand why after Sima Yu killed my sister and her child, you could still continue to be loyal to him without any qualms, and even now want to continue supporting this mongrel as Emperor, tolerating everything. Isnt that ridiculous?!"

  Duan Taifu simply looked at him, shook his head calmly, "Song Er, you are not suitable to be a member of the Duan family." After that, he turned and walked out.

  Outside the door stood a middle-aged man with a long beard. Seeing Duan Taifu come out, he said: "Father doesnt have to be so angry, second brother has always been like this, reckless and arbitrary. Now the most important thing is how to solve this matter."

  Duan Taifus expression was cold and indifferent, "What else can be done? With Gao Tai protecting Sima Jiao, its only a matter of time before they come knocking on our door."

  "What does Father mean?"

  "Song Er has really disappointed me, all these years I have given him countless opportunities, but he is still indulging in his personal hatred, unable to see the chaotic situation at hand. If we let him continue to cause trouble, one day he will stir up even bigger problems. Our SEG family does not need such an existence, and he should take responsibility for his own foolishness."

  "The son understood." Abandoning the chariot to save the general was inevitable.

  The father and son stood under the corridor, Duan Taifu raised his hand to catch a falling leaf, and said quietly: "The cold wind of Luojing is biting, but I dont know if the spring breeze from the south can cross over?"

  Southern, restless Qin Nan Wang.

  ……

  Liao Tingyan did not go to Sima Jiaos bedroom that night, she slept in her own Furan Hall. No one came from Sima Jiaos side to summon her. Tonight, the palace was quieter than usual.

  In the middle of the night, Liao Tingyan was startled awake by a gust of wind and rain, suddenly opening her eyes to see a dark figure sitting beside her bed.