"The decree to depose the empress will arrive soon. You'd better behave yourself!"
Accompanied by the somewhat staggering footsteps of the person behind her, the spacious hall soon contained only one person again.
The boundless, ethereal voice of a young girl echoed in her ears once more:
"Xin sister, look at this hairpin—isn't it beautiful? I specially designed this pattern for you and had it made by the capital's finest master!"
"Xin sister, don't listen to them. Everyone has their strengths, and besides, your chess skills are so excellent, unlike my brain that still can't grasp it after studying for so long!"
In the endless darkness, the empress opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
She understood that even if given countless chances to relive that day, her choice would never change in the slightest.
From the very beginning, there had been no solution.
With the collapse of the Duke of Cheng'en's faction, everyone expected the court to quiet down, but who could have predicted that His Majesty showed no intention of stopping there?
What happened to the Fifth Prince was no different from the others.
Only now did everyone vaguely realize that all these years, they had merely been weapons in their father's hands—disposable tools to be discarded after use, and even stepped on for good measure.
The princes who finally understood: "......"
Wait, is this really our biological father?
But practically every single son has been punished—what exactly is he trying to do?
However, by this point, the clever ones in the court already had a bad premonition.
Take Yang Yuanze himself, for example. Considering today's near-explicit hint from His Majesty in the imperial study about the Minister position, then looking at his daughter holding his son with that foolish expression, showing not the slightest improvement.
His gaze moved between the two adults and one child whose faces bore obvious resemblance, and Yang Yuanze took a deep breath of turbid air...
But the most pressing matter now:
In the study, looking at his second daughter who had changed dramatically after just a few years apart—no, Jiang Yuan, former wife of the Young Master of the Duke of Cheng'en's household.
Due to her merits in reporting and providing evidence, she had been exempted from the death penalty, avoiding the fate of being executed alongside the Duke of Cheng'en's household under the executioner's blade at the market square.
Of course, this was only the official explanation. Someone as shrewd as Yang Yuanze naturally understood that regardless of whether this person before him had merits, anyone involved in the "smuggling" incident—with its mysterious and inexplicable methods—was destined to never be easily released by those in power.
Clearly, Jiang Yuan understood this principle too, which was why she took advantage of the chaos in the Duke of Cheng'en's household to escape.
Even Yang Yuanze had to admit that this second daughter of his was quite clever.
Whether it was managing to completely destroy the entire Duke of Cheng'en's household, including the leading Second Prince faction, while under heavy surveillance and without any relatives to rely on.
Or cleanly seizing the opportunity to escape during the chaos.
An Ning, who was secretly observing, shared the same sentiment.
Taking a light sip of the clear dew in her hand, An Ning composed herself and continued watching:
When the servants brought Jiang Yuan in, she was dressed in the attire of a household maid, clearly having slipped in unnoticed. Thinking of the guards at the west corner gate who had obviously been drugged unconscious.
Yang Yuanze's eyes turned cold as he spoke without any courtesy:
"Speak. Why have you come here today?"
His answer was an almost imperceptible light laugh from the other party.
"Father, your words are truly amusing. Isn't this my home?"
"Can a daughter simply wanting to return home somehow become an unforgivable crime against heaven's principles?"
A sarcastic curve appeared on Jiang Yuan's pale lips.
Yang Yuanze's expression showed no change as he said calmly:
"At this time and place, are you certain you want to waste what little patience I have left?"
"Heh, father remains so perfectly rational. May I assume it's because I'm standing here that you can be rational to the point of coldness?"
Yang Yuanze didn't respond to this, merely picking up a book from the nearby shelf.
Perhaps he found it utterly meaningless!
See, this was her biological father!
No matter how much she accomplished, she never occupied the slightest space in his eyes.
A trace of desolation flashed through Yang Yuan's eyes, and only after a moment did a faint self-mockery appear on her pale, paper-thin face:
"Father, did you know that your daughter doesn't have long to live now!"
"Host, I know about this!"
Within her consciousness, the system rarely showed complex emotions:
"The Duke of Cheng'en's household, including the Second Prince, only developed their ambitious desires and got involved in weapon affairs because Second Sister Yang secretly lured them into it. Even that smelting formula was something she forcibly memorized from the previous system."
"But to gain their trust, she first secretly disposed of the problematic daily meals, then spent half a year using various nutritional supplements to somewhat recover her health, before pretending to accidentally become pregnant."
She even made the pregnancy exceptionally difficult to appear authentic and prove she was completely unaware and ignorant of medical matters.
"This formula was offered after she became pregnant..."
According to most people's views in this world, once a woman becomes pregnant, her heart naturally turns toward her child and even her husband's family. No matter how suspicious the Duke of Cheng'en's household might be, they wouldn't doubt her intentions.
Some of the more arrogant might even think that offering such treasure from the bottom of her chest at this time was nothing but proving her value to protect the child in her womb.
What a pity. Because of this contemptuous arrogance toward women, the entire Duke of Cheng'en's household—with generations of inheritance—along with all their followers, was destroyed overnight.
Who could have imagined that from the very beginning, Yang Yuan never intended to keep the child? She knew her body couldn't sustain it.
Even the arrival of this child was nothing but carefully crafted bait.
Looking at Second Miss Yang, whose complexion had grown increasingly pale and whose figure had thinned considerably more after the miscarriage, even An Ning couldn't help but gasp at the other's ruthlessness and determination.
She would rather harm herself and her body to drag her enemies down into eternal damnation with her.
Facing such a ruthless person, one could only say that the original young girl didn't lose unjustly in her previous life.