Every time I made delicacies in the past, Lu You was always by my side.

And she would always highly praise them.

Now suddenly I wonder, what that girl is up to.

Is she feeling lonely, gloomy, and without anything delicious to eat?

"Xiaowu." Ye Qichi called to Xiaowu, who was relishing the meat.

"Mhm." Xiaowu’s mouth was stuffed with meat.

All filled with the fragrance of meat.

So satisfying.

He looked at the Princess.

"If anything ever happens to me... remember to take good care of Lu You," Ye Qichi suddenly said.

Xiaowu hurriedly swallowed the meat in his mouth before saying, "What could possibly happen to the Princess?"

"I don’t know." Ye Qichi smiled, "Life is always unpredictable, in any case, take care of Lu You for me in the future."

"Don’t worry, Princess, as long as Xiaowu is here, no one would dare to bully Miss Lu You," Xiaowu ensured.

"Mhm." Ye Qichi nodded.

Xie Ruotong and Gu Xingchuan both glanced at Ye Qichi.

Ye Qichi felt a tingling on his scalp from their stares, "Aren’t you going to eat? Or am I going to finish it all?"

The two shifted their gaze and continued eating the meat.

"Speaking of which, when can we return? Xiaowu, did you hear anything from your Prince?" Ye Qichi asked Xiaowu.

The battle has already been won.

And the victory feast has been held.

It’s time to return to the court, right?!

Xiaowu shook his head, "I don’t know, the Prince hasn’t mentioned it. The other day, I seemed to hear him telling General Bai, that is, General Bai Wenwu, that the Prince still has military matters to consult with General Bai. The Prince probably has further arrangements. If the Princess wants to know, you can ask the Prince."

"Let’s wait for a couple more days," Ye Qichi said.

Wait and see if Xiao Jinxing will talk about leaving.

The four of them sat in the room, eating and drinking, in a harmonious atmosphere.

No one noticed.

Someone came to the door, then left.

...

Imperial Palace.

The Concubine’s Palace.

Xiao Jinsen and Zhao Mengyu both looked extremely upset.

Today, news of victory came from the border.

Xiao Jinxing led the Bai Family’s army to break out of the encirclement, killing tens of thousands of Beimu’s army, driving them out of Daxuan Kingdom’s territory, reclaiming the lost Gujiang City, and even the skull of the Great General of Beimu Country was chopped off.

It could be said.

It was a total victory!

Today, in front of all the civil and military officials, Xiao Zhanping lavishly praised Xiao Jinxing.

The respect and spontaneous pride for Xiao Jinxing made Xiao Jinsen almost lose his composure on the spot.

Now, in his mother concubine’s bedroom, he was also gritting his teeth with hatred.

How could Xiao Jinxing conquer the city and drive out the foreign enemies from the border in just three months.

How did he do it?!

The Bai Family’s army had been stationed at the border for many years, with extensive combat experience, yet suffered consecutive defeats. And with Xiao Jinxing’s arrival, the tide was turned!

He began to feel jealous of Xiao Jinxing’s capabilities.

"This can’t go on," Zhao Mengyu spoke as if she had made up her mind.

In Xiao Jinsen’s heart, he had a plan as well.

"If this continues, we will truly die at the hands of Xiao Jinxing," Zhao Mengyu said fiercely. "The key issue is that the Emperor is becoming colder towards me day by day. That wench Qin Junsheng’s belly is getting bigger and bigger with child! I’ve secretly asked the Imperial Physician, and they said that it’s almost certain that the child in Qin Junsheng’s belly is a son."

The more she spoke, the angrier she became.

She couldn’t stand the thought of another Prince being born.

She couldn’t stand being overlooked by the Emperor more and more.

"What does Mother Consort suggest?" Xiao Jinsen asked.

Zhao Mengyu’s eyes tightened, "First, we kill the child in Qin Junsheng’s belly."

"Good," Xiao Jinsen didn’t hesitate anymore.

He nodded his head.

He also knew they couldn’t wait any longer.

If they waited, everything would be gone.

"If Qin Junsheng’s child has a miscarriage, the person the Emperor will suspect first might be Mother Consort."

"As long as there is no evidence, Father Emperor wouldn’t dare to do anything to me."

"I’m afraid that someone might have evidence," Xiao Jinsen said. "I’m starting to suspect that there might be spies planted around us."

Zhao Mengyu’s eyes tightened again.

What Xiao Jinsen said wasn’t impossible.

"Since we’re going to make a move, we must have a comprehensive plan."

"What’s your plan?"

"If Father Emperor really finds out it was our doing, he would certainly not spare Mother Consort, nor me. After all, the reason he tolerated the Empress in the past was because she had special privileges and controlled the power within the Imperial Palace. Father Emperor didn’t dare to act rashly. However, Father Emperor has no such concerns about us, and I’m worried that even if Father Emperor has no evidence, he might still accuse Mother Consort and depose her."

"Why would he depose me?!" Zhao Mengyu couldn’t accept this.

"Over the past few months, hasn’t Mother Consort often been advising Father Emperor, telling him not to indulge in the harem, to manage the affairs of the state more, even interfering in Father Emperor’s favoritism towards the concubines?" Xiao Jinsen asked.

Zhao Mengyu gritted her teeth and admitted, "I really can’t stand it, your Father Emperor spending every night with those wretches."

For so many years.

Because of health reasons, Xiao Zhanping had never allowed any concubines other than her to serve him at night, but now, he flips the card every day for different concubines. She was angry and couldn’t bear it.

Therefore, she took advantage of her status to admonish the concubines in the harem, preventing those whom Xiao Zhanping wished to spend the night with from fulfilling his desires.

"Even if Father Emperor hasn’t pursued the matter now, he definitely has opinions about Mother Consort. The moment he has any leverage, he might not show mercy to Mother Consort," Xiao Jinsen analyzed.

Zhao Mengyu gritted her teeth.

She didn’t believe that Xiao Zhanping could be so cold-hearted and ruthless.

To think that after so many years of affection, he would really take action against her.

But she couldn’t disregard her son’s words either.

After all, in the Imperial Palace, caution is the priority.

"Therefore, we need to prepare ourselves. If Qin Junsheng has a miscarriage, and Father Emperor blames us, we need to know how to exonerate ourselves."

"How do we exonerate ourselves?" Zhao Mengyu asked.

"Just like the Empress did last time," Xiao Jinsen, carefully enunciating each word.

"Forcing an abdication?" When Zhao Mengyu said it, she scared herself.

Xiao Jinsen nodded firmly.

"The Empress didn’t succeed last time, can we... really do it?" Zhao Mengyu was apprehensive.

There was still some fear regarding this matter.

"We can," Xiao Jinsen said. "As long as we consider everything thoroughly, anything is possible."

Zhao Mengyu looked at her son’s determined eyes.

Thinking about what might happen.

She shook her head, "This matter still needs further consideration. Father Emperor still holds you in the highest regard at the moment, and compared to Xiao Jinxing, you have a greater chance of winning. There’s no need to take such a big risk."

"It is precisely because of such matters that Father Emperor wouldn’t be on guard against us. If we wait until he plans to promote Xiao Jinxing, it will be impossible for us to take action!"

"But..."

"Now is the best opportunity," Xiao Jinsen insisted.