Xue Wenjie, embracing Noble Consort Zhao's slender waist, sighed, "It was my oversight. I truly did not expect her to dare to take Zixuan out. She deserves a lesson."
His gaze deepened, cold and menacing.
"Your Majesty, you cannot enter."
"Insolent! Do I need your permission to go wherever I please?"
Before the words fully registered, a figure appeared at the doorway.
The young woman, clad in a vibrant red riding outfit, entered, covered in the dust of travel.
Clearly, she had come in haste, not even changing her riding attire.
"Your Majesty, this is my residence. For you to enter without my consent, is that not inappropriate?" Noble Consort Zhao's expression soured.
Hearing this, the young woman smiled, looking meaningfully at Noble Consort Zhao, and said slowly, "If I had not arrived so abruptly, how would I have known that Noble Consort Zhao and the Regent King are so..."
Noble Consort Zhao and Xue Wenjie stiffened, instinctively realizing that Xue Wenjie's hand, which had been around her waist, had not yet been withdrawn.
Xue Wenjie pulled his hand away from Noble Consort Zhao's waist. At this moment, an aura of fierce aggression emanated from him.
His eyes were filled with a sinister glint.
The young woman found it difficult to raise her head under the oppressive aura, but she met the pressure with all her might, looking at Xue Wenjie and slowly stating, "How my Imperial Uncle and the Noble Consort conduct themselves is not my concern, nor do I wish to know. However, is it not excessive for my Imperial Uncle to have taken Hua Yunjin?"
"Your Majesty, speak with caution. The King and Noble Consort Zhao have no relation. It is simply that Noble Consort Zhao was worried about the young prince's safety just now, and momentarily lost control. I merely offered Noble Consort Zhao support."
Offered support? That was an insult to one's intelligence. But she wasn't here to question their illicit affair. Her sole purpose in coming was to rescue Hua Yunjin, nothing more.
"So that is the case. I have mistaken my Imperial Uncle and Noble Consort Zhao. I apologize here." With that, the young woman curtsied to make amends.
"Your Majesty, you humiliate your subject." Xue Wenjie said coldly. Even with his ambition, he did not want to openly be known as someone who oppressed the Empress in this manner.
The young woman straightened from her half-bow. She hadn't intended to apologize to them anyway.
Xue Wenjie's gaze grew colder. "Your Majesty, you would not have come here merely to apologize to me, would you?"
The young woman smiled at his words, "As expected, my Imperial Uncle understands my thoughts. I have come only to ask what offense Prime Minister Hua committed to be imprisoned by my Imperial Uncle?"
Xue Wenjie's expression turned grim. He said coldly, "Hua Yunjin kidnapped the young prince. Should I not arrest him and imprison him for such a crime?"
"Imperial Uncle, have you made a mistake? Why would Prime Minister Hua kidnap the young prince?"
Before Xue Wenjie could speak, the young woman continued, "Just as I mistook my Imperial Uncle and Noble Consort Zhao just now..."
The young woman drew out the end of her sentence, inviting speculation. Soon, she continued, "Perhaps my Imperial Uncle also mistook Prime Minister Hua and Zixuan? In fact, perhaps the Prime Minister did not kidnap Zixuan, but was playing with him?"
The young woman tilted her head, her gaze as clear as a deep, untainted spring.
Xue Wenjie's eyes were now as cold as the grave, and a powerful oppressive force emanated from him.
However, the young woman did not flinch, meeting the pressure head-on.
"Imperial Uncle, did you perhaps mistake them?" the young woman repeated.
Her delicate face bore an expression of nobility, cold beauty, superiority, and the bearing of a ruler returned.
And the young woman had the right to this bearing. Behind her stood Feng Yin, capable of instantly killing anything, and she held his leverage.
Xue Wenjie knew that at this moment, he could only concede.
"Yes, I may have mistaken them." Xue Wenjie lowered his gaze, but his clasped hands were clenched so tightly that his bones seemed to stand out, veins bulging.