“Wha… what?”

Shen Yan Huan shuddered, her face turning deathly pale in an instant.

She had anticipated that Empress Zhou might suspect her, but she hadn't expected the empress to deal with her in this manner.

Empress Zhou was actually targeting her for the sake of the Yu family?

Shen Yan Huan's lips trembled slightly, her eyes filled with astonishment.

Seeing her expression and looking at Empress Zhou's eyes filled with pity, Yu Qing Wu immediately understood the empress's intention in summoning her to Fengzao Palace. She raised her eyes to meet Empress Zhou's gaze, and the apprehension in her heart instantly dissipated. She immediately looked at Shen Yan Huan, whose facial muscles were even trembling, and asked with a frown, "Aunt Shen, what's with your reaction? Are you unwilling to take care of Lady Yu Mo?"

"But, I heard from the Empress Mother that you and Lady Yu Mo are the closest. Could it be that all the rumors in the palace are false?"

Yu Qing Wu looked utterly perplexed, but the words she spoke were aggressive.

Before Shen Yan Huan could retort, she was immediately silenced.

You see, although Yu Qing Wu questioned whether the rumors in the palace were false, the previous sentence stated that these words came from Empress Zhou's mouth.

Would the dignified mother of the nation lie to make things difficult for an unfavored, lowly Baolin, especially Empress Zhou, who was consistently seen as a 'kind and soft-hearted' virtuous empress?

Shen Yan Huan gritted her teeth, so angry that her eyes almost popped out.

She could only swallow the bitter pill, forcing a smile as she replied to Yu Qing Wu, "Crown Princess, please don't misunderstand. It's not that this concubine is unwilling; this concubine is just too surprised. This concubine did not expect that Her Majesty would be so concerned about a mere maidservant, which proves that Yu Mo is loyal to the Empress."

Shen Yan Huan was flattering the Empress with her words, but the fingers clutching the silk handkerchief tightened even more.

Yu Qing Wu saw it all and roughly guessed that this Shen Baolin was the one who incited Xiao Yu Mo.

This Shen family was truly impatient to see her dead.

However, their methods were indeed too clumsy. Perhaps they hadn't expected that the two lecherous thieves would die at her hands.

But, since the mastermind was the Shen family, how could she let Xiao Yu Mo and those two lecherous thieves bear the consequences alone? Everyone should have a share…

Her gaze swept over Shen Yan Huan's flickering eyes, and Yu Qing Wu smiled. She stepped forward, took her hand, and hurriedly revealed a face full of guilt, replying, "Aunt Shen, it was my misunderstanding; I was being petty."

"How about this? I'll accompany Aunt Shen to see Lady Yu Mo, and then we'll have lunch together at the East Palace. I'll cook some dishes as an apology to Aunt."

As she spoke, Yu Qing Wu looked up at Empress Zhou with a coquettish tone, asking, "Empress Mother, may I ask Aunt not to go to Lady Yu Mo's room this afternoon? I want to talk to Aunt."

"You don't know, when we were in the Shen family, Aunt treated my mother and me well. Although Aunt is probably already estranged from me now, I still want to have a good chat with her."

Yu Qing Wu's words were sincere, and Shen Yan Huan's already pale face became even paler as she listened to her affectionate words.

She subconsciously struggled, wanting to pull her hand back.

But Yu Qing Wu held onto her tightly.

Empress Zhou's gaze secretly swept over Shen Yan Huan's trembling hand, then looked at Yu Qing Wu, her eyes filled with satisfaction.

This Yu girl, although not very obedient, was much smarter than Xiao Yu Mo; she understood with just a hint.

It seemed that she wouldn't have to clean up the mess for them later.

She glanced at Shen Yan Huan with a cold smile, nodded, waved her hand, and said softly, "Alright, if Shen Baolin is willing, you can chat with her all night if you want."

"This concubine thanks Empress Mother for her grace." As soon as Empress Zhou finished speaking, Yu Qing Wu immediately kowtowed to thank her.

Without giving Shen Yan Huan a chance to retort, Yu Qing Wu dragged her out of Fengzao Palace and headed towards Xiao Yu Mo's residence.

The closer they got, the more distinct the horrifying, ghost-like wails became.

Shen Yan Huan felt guilty for the bad things she had done, and cold sweat broke out all over her body. When she reached the door, she suddenly froze, seemingly unwilling to go inside.

Heh, with so little courage, she dared to do bad things?

Yu Qing Wu slowly released Shen Yan Huan's hand. Seeing that there was no one around, she no longer pretended, let out a cold laugh, and called out to her, "Shen Baolin, why aren't you going in? Are you scared?"

She tilted her head, her beautiful and delicate face no longer showing any of the naivety she had displayed in Fengzao Palace. Her bewitching peach blossom eyes were filled with ruthlessness as she looked at Shen Yan Huan and mocked, "You have the guts to harm people, but not the guts to take a look? Is this how the Qiu family taught you?"

Shen Yan Huan was terrified by Xiao Yu Mo's screams and hadn't regained her composure. Hearing Yu Qing Wu's words, the fear in her eyes deepened even more, and she was even more astonished.

She couldn't believe that Yu Qing Wu could change her face so quickly, and even said it directly.

That was a matter involving human lives; wasn't the Yu girl afraid at all?

Shen Yan Huan's forehead was dripping with sweat, her pupils trembling as she stammered, "Crown Princess, this concubine doesn't know what you're talking about."

"Doesn't know?" Yu Qing Wu snorted coldly, then glanced around again. Then, she slowly took out a clay pot from her sleeve, leisurely opened it, and handed it to Shen Yan Huan.

"Ah!!!" Shen Yan Huan screamed in fright with just one look, retreating several steps and falling directly to the ground.

Inside the clay pot were none other than the poisonous ants that had bitten the two thieves to death last night. The dark red poisonous ants swarmed in the pot, their movements identical to when they were wriggling on the two corpses.

Shen Yan Huan's eyes widened, so frightened that tears fell.

But soon, she tried to calm herself down and raised her eyes, looking at Yu Qing Wu with a threatening gaze, and coldly snorted, "So it was you, you raised poisonous ants to kill people! Yu Qing Wu, I admit that I instigated Xiao Yu Mo to harm you, but guess what, if I tell His Majesty now that you're raising poisonous ants in the palace to harm people, do you think you'll still be able to wait for Eunuch Yu to return? When Yang Cheng died, countless snakes devoured his corpse. Since you can raise poisonous ants, you should naturally also be able to raise snakes. So, do we even need to investigate your murder?"

Threatening her?

Did this Shen Yan Huan have a problem with her brain? Since she had already shouldered the infamy of murder and confessed her guilt, it was just a matter of dying sooner or later; would she still be afraid of threats?

Yu Qing Wu curled her lips, looking at her with the eyes one would use to look at an idiot, and said with a cold smile, "Shen Baolin, guess what will happen if I stuff these poisonous ants into your mouth right now?"

Hearing this, Shen Yan Huan shuddered, and subconsciously covered her mouth.

Yu Qing Wu smiled faintly, looked at her coldly, and said, "Shen Baolin, since I can deal with Xiao Yu Mo, I can naturally also deal with you."

"Do you want to live?" Slowly squatting down, she gently patted Shen Yan Huan's trembling shoulder, Yu Qing Wu leaned closer to her ear and said, "Do one thing for me, otherwise, I'll let you die. Ants, snakes, or even rats, as long as I want, you might die even more horribly than those two thieves."