When I opened my eyes, Zhen Huan knelt in front of me and had a miscarriage

When she said this, her voice was as thin as a mosquito, and it was obvious that she knew it was difficult to justify this matter.

Nian Shilan sneered and interrupted Yan Ruofan: "Noble Lady Yan, I'm afraid that what you said you saw with your own eyes is nothing but a figment of your imagination."

Then she turned around and faced Yixiu's face, looking into his eyes with an oppressive look.

There was a kind of courage in that look, as if he could easily kill the other person with just his eyes.

"There is only a pure mother-son relationship between me and the Fourth Prince, and there is absolutely no illicit affair. What is your intention in accusing me like this?"

These words were obviously directed to Yan Ruofan, but it was obvious that she wanted to say them to the Queen.

Her words were sharp, and each one hit Yan Ruofan's soft spot, leaving Yan Ruofan speechless for a moment and his face even paler.

Yinzhen looked at this scene and made some judgment in his mind.

This matter is so absurd, and besides, Nian Shilan is like this...

He knew very well that Nian Shilan had a strong personality, and if this was not true, she would never admit defeat so easily.

The collaboration between the Queen and Concubine Yan seemed more like a premeditated frame-up.

What's more, now that things have come to this point, Yinzhen cannot let it settle, whether it is true or not.

"Your Majesty, even if Concubine Hua tries to argue in every possible way, the evidence is now solid and there are witnesses. Your Majesty must not let her off so easily!"

"Enough!" Yinzhen suddenly shouted, and the entire Yangxin Palace fell silent in an instant.

"The matter has not yet been clarified, and the Queen is arguing here. How shameful!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Nian Shilan, with a complex emotion flashing in his eyes: "My Lady, how do you think we should deal with this matter?"

Nian Shilan lowered her eyes and bowed, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, this matter is so absurd that it cannot be caused by one person's words. Concubine Yan slandered the imperial concubine and spread rumors about the prince. According to the law..."

She paused, then uttered two words.

"Death with a stick!"

Yan Ruofan's face turned pale with fright. He fell to his knees and looked in front of him in disbelief.

"no, do not want……"

Her lips were trembling and her eyes were dull, and it seemed that she would faint in the next second, but she knew that this was her last chance to survive.

She begged desperately.

"No, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please save me. Your Majesty, I apologize to you. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Nian Shilan sneered, "If I had known this would happen, I would not have done it in the first place, Lady Yan, I have never treated you harshly. It is really ridiculous that you are so blind."

"My Lady, please don't!"

Yinzhen closed his eyes. Although he had experienced such a thing, his mind was still a mess.

But he is the emperor after all, and at this time he has to consider the forces of all parties.

Especially the Yan family.

"Your father Yan Ruofu and your brother Yan Ruolin are both my capable and good ministers, but you are so foolish and have committed such a heinous crime. My concubine and I are unwilling to forgive you, but considering that your father and brother have served the Qing Dynasty..."

Yinzhen slowly opened his eyes and looked at Yan Ruofan, "Someone come here."

Su Peisheng immediately stepped forward, "The servant is here."

"Send Concubine Yan to the cold palace."

Soon, three or five eunuchs came forward and dragged Yan Ruofan.

Yan Ruofan's cries echoed in the empty Yangxin Palace, filled with despair and unwillingness.

She clutched the cold ground with both hands, her nails turning white from the force, tears falling like pearls from a broken string, but she received no sympathy. She repeated it over and over again with a trembling voice.

"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I beg you to have mercy on me, and I beg the Imperial Concubine to have mercy on me..."

Nian Shilan watched coldly. Although she felt happy, she also knew that such an ending was definitely not enough.

She glanced at Yixiu's pale face and curled her lips in a sneer.

Unexpectedly, he raised his hand and stopped the eunuchs' behavior.

He turned and bowed to Yinzhen, his voice calm and firm.

"Your Majesty, I just heard you say that the Yan family has made outstanding contributions. I think that although I have been wronged, the peace of the harem is more important than anything else. I dare to ask Your Majesty to hand this matter over to the Empress to handle it, to show fairness and at the same time to clear my name and that of the Fourth Prince."

When these words were spoken, everyone in the hall was shocked.

After all, everyone knows that the queen's power has been hollowed out and is as useless as a formality, so why let her continue to sit in that position?

It's just to give her the Ulanara surname some face.

Therefore, when Emperor Yixiu heard this, his expression changed slightly, obviously he did not expect Nian Shilan to act in this way.

She opened her red lips and was about to speak, but Yinzhen beat her to the punch.

"What the imperial concubine said makes sense. I will follow your advice." Yinzhen pondered for a moment, his eyes moving between the empress and Nian Shilan, and finally falling on Yixiu.

"Queen, this matter will be handed over to you. You must be fair and strict. You must demonstrate the majesty of the royal family and also take into account the face of the Yan family."

The queen bowed slightly and replied, "I obey your order."

But he secretly thought in his heart that although Nian Shilan's move seemed magnanimous, it actually put himself in a dog-eat-dog situation. It was really a good move.

"Your Majesty, you are the one who arranged for me to do all this, Your Majesty..."

Yan Ruofan was indeed panicked. He thought he had found a life-saving straw and immediately climbed up. However, he did not expect that his words would directly drag the queen into his own abyss.

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen's brows furrowed and his eyes were as sharp as torches.

His dark eyes swept towards Yan Ruofan, and he said in a deep voice: "Noble Yan, what do you mean by this? Do you have any evidence?"

Yan Ruofan had given up hope at this point. She knew she had no way out, so she just went for it.

She said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, I...I do have evidence. The Empress summoned me in private and promised that if I could overthrow Concubine Hua, she would help me to rise in rank and...and promised my family more glory. I was bewildered for a moment and made such a big mistake."

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the palace. Queen Yixiu's face turned pale instantly. She never expected that Yan Ruofan would bite back at this critical moment.

The reason why Yan Ruofan dared to bite back like this.

That's because Yinzhen just said that he would not kill her for the sake of her status as a meritorious official of the Yan family.

Now that there is no need to worry about the lives of my family members, all I have to do is to remove myself from this matter.

This is also why Nian Shilan deliberately asked Yixiu to handle this matter.

There was a faint smile on Nian Shilan's lips.

It was only less than half an incense stick of time, and the roles of the fish and the butcher in the hall had changed again and again.

Su Peisheng, who was standing behind Concubine Yan, looked at Nian Shilan with quite a bit of admiration in his eyes.

Under such powerful oppression, if Nian Shilan didn't know what would happen today, then this turnaround would have been a brilliant one.

Yixiu was already defeated at this point, but she was unwilling to accept it. She forced herself to remain calm and said sternly, "Noble Lady Yan, you are slandering me! When did I ever say such a thing? You are obviously making up such a ridiculous thing just to get away with it!"

"Someone, come! Hurry and drag Concubine Yan away and banish her to the cold palace."

At this time, Nian Shilan spoke again, "Empress, don't be anxious. Since Concubine Yan said there was an injustice, and since it is necessary to investigate, and since the Queen is unwilling to investigate, then let me investigate for you."

Nian Shilan raised her slender jade hand, and in Yixiu's eyes, that hand looked like the devil's claws of Yama.

Soon, Songzhi came in.

"Your servant greets His Majesty, Your Majesty."

Yi Xiu sneered, "What does your Highness mean by this?"

Nian Shilan did not speak. It was Songzhi who took over the conversation, "Replying to the Queen, I, under the order of the Royal Concubine, have arrested Jiang Fuhai from Jingren Palace and taken him to the Ministry of Punishment for a thorough investigation."

Yixiu's face turned pale and then blue. She never expected that Nian Shilan was well prepared and even Jiang Fuhai had been controlled.

"Nian Shilan! You..."

"Don't you want to know what Jiang Fuhai vomited out?"

Nian Shilan raised her hand again, and Songzhi immediately took out a piece of paper.

"Your Majesty, here are the charges Jiang Fuhai has made."

Nian Shilan then bowed to Yinzhen and said, "Your Majesty, I have always suspected the Queen and wanted to investigate this matter. I started preparing before today. I didn't know that the Queen wanted to frame me like this, but today it seems that it is a coincidence that I have found evidence of the Queen's guilt. Would Your Majesty like to see it?"

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen's eyes shuttled back and forth between Nian Shilan and Yixiu, like a hunter watching the fight between jackals, tigers and leopards.

He spoke slowly, his voice filled with unquestionable authority: "Bring it here."

Songzhi handed it forward and showed it to Yinzhen.

The more he looked at the certificate of guilt, the darker Yinzhen's face became.

The paper was filled with her sins, how many of her children had died at Yixiu's hands, how much blood, tears and lives had been lost.

He looked at the queen, his eyes full of disappointment and anger: "Queen, as the head of the six palaces, you should be the mother of the country, but you did such a sinister and cunning thing, which really makes me sad!"

Yixiu fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face, but she was too weak to defend herself. She knew that this was her last defeat.

"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I was blinded for a moment, so I did such a reckless thing. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Yinzhen took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "The queen has lost her moral integrity. From today on, the Phoenix Seal will be removed and she will be demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in Chunshengtai. Concubine Yan will be banished to the cold palace."

Following Yinzhen's order, the entire Yangxin Palace seemed to be shrouded in a heavy chill.

The moment she heard the verdict, Yixiu's body felt like it was struck by lightning. She collapsed to the ground, tears and despair blurring her vision.

The opportunity she once thought of, at this moment, burst like a bubble, leaving only fragments on the ground.

"Your Majesty..." She murmured to herself, her voice full of disbelief and deep sorrow, "Your Majesty... I have served Your Majesty for many years, Your Majesty cannot treat me like this..."

Her voice gradually became choked, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from the bottom of her heart, carrying with it endless pain and unwillingness.

Nian Shilan stood aside, watching the scene coldly, feeling an indescribable joy in her heart.

A faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, which contained both the pride of victory and disdain for Yixiu's past actions.

She slowly took a few steps forward and looked at Yixiu with cold eyes, as if she wanted to deeply imprint this humiliation and despair into the other's heart.

"Empress, if you had stopped earlier, perhaps I could have let you go." Nian Shilan's voice was soft, but as cold as ice.

"In this Forbidden City, if you don't want others to know, you better not do it. You will have to pay the price for the dirty things you have done."

Yixiu's face turned even paler when she heard this. She trembled her lips and wanted to refute, but she found that she had lost all her strength and courage. She could only close her eyes helplessly, letting the tears flow freely, her heart filled with fear and despair about the future.

Even Yan Ruofan didn't expect that he would end up like this.

Yinzhen looked at the queen in this state, and his heart was filled with anger and disappointment. He waved his hand, signaling the guards to take Yixiu and He Yanruofan away.

Several eunuchs came forward, roughly lifted up Yixiu and Yan Ruofan, and dragged them out of the Yangxin Palace.

Her final struggle and cry only brought more indifference and ruthlessness.

As Yixiu was taken away, peace returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Nian Shilan turned and looked at Yinzhen, a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.

"I beg Your Majesty to calm down for the sake of your health."

When Nian Shilan said this, Yinzhen finally felt that his body was shaking uncontrollably.

He thought he was too angry, but he didn't know that it was because the drugs were reacting in his body.

Hinting at the precious life that had passed away within him.

Yinzhen looked at Nian Shilan, his black eyes were like an eagle, terrifying.

"I have deposed the Queen. Tomorrow the court will be in turmoil. What do you think I should do next?"

Nian Shilan knew that this was a trap set by Yinzhen for her.

If she recommended herself at this time, she would become a prisoner like the queen.

So, she knelt down and said, "I am just a concubine in the harem. How can I understand the affairs of the emperor's previous dynasty? It's just..."

Yinzhen said coldly, "Just what?"

"I dare to ask Your Majesty to give more consideration to Concubine Duan and Concubine Jing. Although their ranks are lower than mine, I am not as good as your two sisters in other aspects. So if Your Majesty wants to consider a candidate for the Queen, please choose between the two sisters." Nian Shilan's voice returned to its usual calm and firmness.

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen nodded slightly and his eyes relaxed.

"Your Highness, what you said makes sense. I will consider it." He said after a moment's silence.

Afterwards, Yinzhen turned his gaze to the silent Fourth Prince, and a barely perceptible complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

He said, "Fourth Prince, although you were not directly involved, as a descendant of the royal family, this incident has also affected you. I punish you to confine yourself to reflect on your mistakes for a month. During this period, you must study the classics, history, and literature to cultivate your character. In the future, you must be more careful in what you say and do, and do not let me down."

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince immediately knelt down to express his gratitude, "Thank you, Father Emperor."

"In fact, just before you came, Yixiu mentioned to me the marriage of my niece Qingying. You are getting old, and Qingying is about the same age as you, so we are a good match. I will betroth Qingying to you as my concubine. What do you think?"

After saying this, although Nian Shilan did not turn around, she slightly side-glanced and glanced at the Fourth Prince out of the corner of her eye.

She thought to herself that if he dared to say no, she would slap his face immediately.