Mei quickly reached out and pulled her, choking back tears. "Your Highness, what are you doing? This servant will definitely help you. I just went to the Jiaofang Palace and got some news. There's someone in the palace now. Why don't Your Highness ask him for help?"
"Who?"
Upon hearing Mei's words, Ye Suxue's eyes lit up with excitement, and she gripped Mei's hand tightly.
"Leng Yue, Young Master Leng. I heard he's at Qingfeng Pavilion now. Shall this servant go ask him for some medicine?"
"Leng Yue?"
Ye Suxue shivered. Leng Yue was on very good terms with the Emperor. How could he possibly help them? Wouldn't going there be seeking death?
"Your Highness, this servant knows what you're worried about. But this servant heard from people in Jingfu Palace that Leng Yue's relationship with the Emperor is not good, and he has a peculiar and cold personality. As long as he agrees to give us medicine, he certainly won't go running to the Emperor. This is the only way now. Otherwise, we can only watch as that Consort Xian ascends to the throne. Even if this servant finds a way to get medicine from outside the palace, ordinary medicine won't work. Only those undetectable medicines can be used. Even if the pregnancy is terminated, no one will know. Besides Leng Yue, no one else can produce such medicine."
"But if you say it's to get medicine to harm someone, Leng Yue definitely won't give it, will he?"
Ye Suxue was still worried. Mei frowned, and an idea struck her. "This servant has a plan. Without saying anything else, just say that Your Highness, because she hates the Emperor for demoting the Ye family, is now carrying the imperial dragon seed and wants to abort it secretly without alarming the imperial physicians."
As soon as Mei finished speaking, Ye Suxue immediately agreed. This plan was excellent. Even if Leng Yue ran to the Emperor later, she could pretend that she didn't want to be pregnant and got the medicine beforehand. In this way, even if the Emperor hated her, he couldn't do anything to her.
"Alright, let's do it this way. But how do we get there?"
Ye Suxue was worried about this matter. Since Leng Yue was in the palace, he was surely at Qingfeng Pavilion. Going there openly was impossible; it would just be courting death.
"Your Highness, don't worry. Leave this matter to this servant. Tonight, this servant will wear a eunuch's uniform to go. The palace is so vast, who would pay attention to a small eunuch?"
"Yes, good. Mei, I've troubled you."
Ye Suxue held Mei's hand and began to cry. Fortunately, she had Mei.
Meanwhile, in Changxin Palace, things were heating up.
In the grand hall, Ye Qingtian stared at the woman standing in the high seat with an unprecedented coldness, his face flickering with unspeakable pain. What he had thought of as a lifetime commitment in his youth was gradually being eroded. Looking at the aging woman, he suddenly realized that so-called love was nothing more than this. If he had let go back then, perhaps he would have gained many things. Now, he still looked handsome, but this woman had grown old. Her black hair had turned white, wrinkles etched around her eyes, and her skin was as pale as paper. At this moment, she looked like an old woman. If not for the jewels piled on her head and the luxurious robes she wore, she would have been no different from an ordinary village woman. And for such a woman, how much had he lost? He had gained a son, but he wasn't even his own. For imperial power, he had even changed his surname. Back then, he had disagreed with his son ascending the throne; he would have preferred him to stay by his side. He had always relied on and admired him, but ever since she started constantly watching him, he had gradually lost him. He had reached such a point of no return, and yet this woman had pulled this stunt on him. She had hidden the uncrowned prince, causing Jing Yi to fly into a rage after finding him and ordering him to enter the palace immediately to persuade her to hand over the real Shangguan Yao, or else his son would be harmed. In the hall, apart from Ping An, there was no one. The eunuchs and palace maids had all retreated. As for Ping An, she knew everything about them, and Ye Qingtian did not hide anything from her.
"Ye Lanzhi, give me an answer today. Are you going to hand over that person or not?" Ye Qingtian's eyes were fierce, and his lips curled up. His handsome and mature features lacked their usual tenderness, appearing filled with a strange ferocity as he coldly glared at the Empress Dowager on the upper seat. The Empress Dowager, sitting at the head of the hall, trembled like a sieve with anger, unable to utter a complete sentence. Was all the love she had always believed in being destroyed because of this? Men were truly terrifying. It was just because she had grown old and frail that this man's gaze and words had changed so completely.
"Ye Qingtian, what are you saying?" The Empress Dowager gasped desperately, feeling as if she were about to faint. Ping An, standing beside her, quickly helped her sit down and couldn't help but speak to Ye Qingtian at the front of the hall, "Sir, please say whatever you have to say properly." Ye Qingtian still respected Ping An. Her character was not bad; she had just followed a wicked master. Ye Qingtian's gaze softened as he looked at Ping An, his tone becoming gentler. "Ping An, you know that this was all her idea. I tried to stop her from doing this, but she insisted on replacing Jing Yi on the throne. Now that you have pushed Jing Yi into this position, why are you doing this? You must be resolute and hand over that person."
Ping An's heart trembled. She was truly afraid that the Empress would hand over the Crown Prince because of her love for Lord Ye. She couldn't help but cry out, "Empress?" The Empress Dowager, seeing that Ye Qingtian treated a maid better than her, became enraged. She flung Ping An's hand away and laughed desolately. "Ye Qingtian, aren't you just looking at me because I'm old? Have you forgotten the vows you made back then, saying you would accompany me even to hell? But I'm not dead yet, and you've already changed your mind." After saying this, she laughed again. As she laughed, she couldn't breathe properly, and a sweet scent emanated from her, spilling from the corners of her lips. Ping An was terrified. Forgetting her annoyance with the Empress, she cried out to Ye Qingtian below, "Lord Ye, please, don't anger the Empress anymore. The Empress is spitting blood from anger."
"If she hands over that person today, I will let it go. Otherwise, our relationship will be severed from this day forward." Ye Qingtian spoke resolutely. In his heart, he still had feelings for the Empress Dowager, but he wanted to force her to hand over that person, otherwise, it would only harm Jing Yi. To his surprise, the Empress Dowager did not react to his words. Her eyes widened, and she gasped desperately, collapsing straight onto the phoenix couch behind her, motionless. Ping An burst into tears, ignoring Ye Qingtian, and shouted towards the hall doors, "Help! Help! Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has fainted! Immediately send for an imperial physician!" Ye Qingtian hadn't expected that this woman would rather die than hand over that person. He knew that she valued the feelings between them, otherwise, she wouldn't have been angered to the point of spitting blood.