The other woman looked resentful, while Chu Qing's expression froze slightly.
Being called a little girl by this woman, she felt rather complicated inside.
However, Chu Qing knew that this was not the time to be in a daze. After a brief moment of stupefaction, she nodded seriously.
The purpose of their visit this time was to find out what secret the empress dowager was hiding.
After she nodded, Qin Zhen suddenly smiled.
But in this gloomy secret chamber, her smile looked extremely eerie.
"Little girl, what's the relationship between... the current emperor and Empress Dowager Xiao... like?"
Chu Qing frowned and then said truthfully, "Not good."
After hearing this, Qin Zhen let out a shrill laugh. "Humph! Xiao Ran must be regretting it to death now!"
Neither Chu Qing nor Hong Ling said a word. They waited silently for the woman to continue.
Qin Zhen looked at them, took a deep breath, and after calming her rather excited emotions for a while, she finally spoke:
"Xiao Ran, the current empress dowager, she... is not the current emperor's biological mother! I... I am... that child's... biological mother!"
Chu Qing and Hong Ling were so shocked that they couldn't say a word.
Especially Chu Qing. It was like a thunderbolt striking her head.
After the initial shock, her heart was filled with anger.
Xiao Ran was really cunning! She had managed to deceive the late emperor and even her!
Seeing their expressions, Qin Zhen began to slowly reveal the truth.
It turned out that back then, both Qin Zhen and Xiao Ran were pregnant.
But Xiao Ran had a miscarriage a month after she found out she was pregnant, while Qin Zhen was in good health. Xiao Ran was unwilling to accept this, so she devised a plan to hide the fact of her miscarriage. It wasn't until Qin Zhen gave birth to a prince smoothly that Xiao Ran swapped the baby. Then... she replaced Qin Zhen's baby with a stillborn one and staged a scene where Qin Zhen had an affair. Naturally, the late emperor was furious after being cuckolded. Without giving Qin Zhen a chance to prove her innocence, she was sentenced to death. However, the result was that she was secretly replaced by Xiao Ran and hidden away.
By the time Chu Qing heard this, her face had turned extremely pale.
How could she not be angry that Xiao Ran had played them all like this?
Even though Chu Qing didn't particularly like her son, the fact that her own son had been deceived like this made the fire in her heart almost explode.
At this moment, Qin Zhen changed her expression and whispered, "Is he... okay?"
Chu Qing naturally knew who she was referring to.
After thinking for a while, Chu Qing said expressionlessly, "The emperor is not doing well at all. Xiao Ran seems to be fearless. Since the emperor is not her own son, she has only been trying every means to exploit him. She doesn't even bother to pretend. It can be said that the emperor has always been despised and suppressed by her."
Sure enough, Chu Qing's words rekindled the anger in Qin Zhen, who had just calmed down.
"She..." Qin Zhen was so angry that she couldn't speak.
Chu Qing looked at her and said seriously, "You... must be unwilling, right?"
Qin Zhen bit her lower lip hard until she bit it through and tasted the blood. Then she said angrily, "Of course I'm unwilling!"
"Since you're unwilling, then do as I say."
...
Yuan Rui was lying alone on the couch, wide awake.
For some reason, he always had a feeling that something was about to happen.
Just as he was staring blankly into the darkness, a shadow suddenly appeared beside him.
Then, the shadow said, "Your Majesty, there seems to be something wrong in the Hall of Everlasting Joy."
Yuan Rui still showed no expression on his face as he said, "What is the empress dowager up to this time?"
The shadow continued, "It's not the empress dowager... A mysterious person broke into the Hall of Everlasting Joy and alerted that expert. Now the two of them have chased each other out of the palace. More importantly, the mysterious person is not alone. His accomplice has sneaked into the empress dowager's bedroom. Then... they entered that secret chamber..."
Yuan Rui finally sat up, his eyebrows showing a hint of surprise. "They actually entered the secret chamber? Where is the empress dowager?"
"She was drugged and is in a deep sleep."
"What about those two people?"
"I didn't dare to get too close for fear of being detected. But... I found out that... those two people... are two women."
Yuan Rui frowned and fell into deep thought.
It seemed that he wasn't the only one trying to investigate the empress dowager's secret chamber.
He wondered who the other people... could be...
And at this moment... a figure suddenly appeared in Yuan Rui's mind.
Could it be...
...
In Chuanzhou City at this moment, Wei Ying and the others had already learned about the situation of everyone in the city.
It wasn't optimistic.
In the next few days, Wu Ya studied the prescription to cure the strange disease day and night.
And Anduo Zebu returned to Xiliang.
At this moment, he had more important things to do.
Just as Wei Ying was about to write a letter to Chu Qing, Wei Yi came to him and reported that two groups of people had come to Chuanzhou.
When he saw who they were, Wei Ying was a bit stunned.
These two groups of people were Wen Yi and Gerile.
When Gerile saw him, she smiled slightly. "Your Highness, the Prince of Ning, I'm here to offer assistance by the order of the Lord of the Grasslands. I hope I can be of some help."
On the other hand, Wen Yi's face looked a bit strange, and he said stiffly, "I... was sent by my father. He insisted that I come. I... couldn't refuse."
What he meant was that coming to Chuanzhou wasn't his idea. He didn't want to come.
Wei Ying just nodded expressionlessly and then turned around to talk to Gerile.
Seeing this, Wen Yi, who was left aside, immediately sank his face.
After giving a cold snort, he lifted his foot and was about to enter the city.
Unexpectedly, Wei Ying, who had been talking to Gerile, suddenly blocked his way, holding something in his hand.
"If you don't want your father to have no descendants, put this on." After saying that, regardless of Wen Yi's reaction, Wei Ying stuffed the thing in his hand into Wen Yi's hand very forcefully.
Wen Yi lowered his head and saw that it was a wet handkerchief. He immediately wanted to throw it away in disgust.
This time, however, he was stopped by his subordinate, who then pointed to the other people coming out of the city.
Without exception, they all wore such handkerchiefs.
It seemed that...
Wei Ying wasn't joking with him.
Wen Yi coughed awkwardly a few times and obediently covered his mouth and nose with the handkerchief.
It was a bit stuffy... and there was a strange smell...
But...
He felt inexplicably at ease.
After Wei Ying ordered the soldiers guarding the city gate to let him in, Wen Yi entered the closed Chuanzhou City expressionlessly.
However, when he came out again, his face had turned extremely pale.
Wei Ying glanced at him without any emotion, and surprisingly, he didn't say anything.
It was just because...
What he saw after entering the city was really too shocking.
The outside of the city was already depressing enough, but inside the city... it was suffocating despair.
It was like a lifeless hell.
Everyone had empty eyes, as if...
They were waiting for death.
Only a few strong men who seemed to be in relatively good condition waved to him.
Although he had traveled outside when he was in Dongyi and knew that some people were rich while others were suffering, he had never seen such a sight that left him unable to calm down for a long time.
It was like a huge mountain pressing on his heart.
And at this moment, an excited voice broke the silence.
"Your Highness! I seem to have worked out a prescription to cure this strange disease!"