The heavy vermilion-lacquered doors of Linhua Hall were shoved open with immense force!

Squad after squad of spearmen and axe-bearers clad in heavy armor filed inside, instantly sealing off the entire hall until not even a drop of water could leak through.

They exuded a chilling murderous aura!

At their head was a burly general wearing a dark iron cloak, striding into the hall with a hand resting on his saber.

This was the signal prearranged between Huo Linyuan and Commander Han Yuan.

The moment the cup shattered, the Imperial Guards lurking outside Linhua Hall were supposed to charge in.

But before the smile on his face could fully spread, it froze completely the instant he caught sight of the newcomer's face!

The person who entered was not the Imperial Guard Commander, Commander Han Yuan, at all!

It was the eldest son of the Marquis Zhenbei's Estate, full elder brother to Noble Consort Qin Zhaoyue, and Vice Commander of the Imperial Guard—Qin Yao!

Without straying his gaze, Qin Yao walked straight to the center of the hall, removed his helmet, and dropped to one knee before Yu Wantang, his voice resounding like a bronze bell:

"Your subject, Qin Yao, pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress!"

"May Her Majesty enjoy boundless peace and fortune!"

Two hundred heavily armored Imperial Guards dropped to one knee simultaneously, slamming their spears against the ground so hard that the entire hall quaked rumble. "Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress!"

This scene left the assembled civil and military officials utterly dumbfounded.

Huo Linyuan's mind buzzed loudly. Veins bulged on his forehead as he pointed at Qin Yao and demanded sternly:

"Qin Yao! Who gave you the audacity to lead heavy troops into the main hall without permission? Where is Commander Han Yuan?!"

Qin Yao slowly stood up, his stature towering like an iron tower.

He turned his head coldly to look at the ghastly-faced Huo Linyuan, cupped his hands, and said without a ripple of emotion, "In reply to Your Majesty."

"Commander Han has been lawfully apprehended by your subject for unauthorizedly mobilizing troops without an imperial decree to besiege Linhua Hall."

"As for myself..." Qin Yao raised his eyes to look at Yu Wantang seated high above, each word ringing with conviction: "I came to the palace specifically to protect the Sovereign upon Her Majesty the Empress's royal decree!"

"I am right here! Why would the Empress need to protect the Sovereign?"

"Someone intended to harm imperial offspring and frame the Empress. Naturally, your subject had to come."

Qin Yao stood tall and waved his hand.

Two Imperial Guards dragged Commander Han Yuan into the hall.

Commander Han Yuan's hands were bound behind his back, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and most of his armor stripped away.

Huo Linyuan glared intently at Commander Han Yuan, then looked at Qin Yao. "Qin Yao, you dare detain the Imperial Guard Commander without authorization?"

"It was not without authorization."

Qin Yao pulled a signed confession from his robe. "Commander Han was ordered to mobilize three hundred Imperial Guards to besiege Linhua Hall, yet he could not produce the tally token for military deployment. According to the Dayan Dynasty's military law, deploying troops without authority is deemed high treason."

Huo Linyuan gritted his teeth. "The order was given by ME!"

"Your Majesty's verbal decree can only deploy the guards on duty inside the inner palace."

Qin Yao placed the confession onto the table.

"For the Imperial Guard to leave camp, both halves of the tiger tally must be presented. These rules were established by the Grand Ancestor, and your subject dares not violate them."

Noble Consort Qin Zhaoyue dropped the grape she was holding into a dish, stood up, and walked over to her brother's side. "Your Majesty hasn't forgotten, have you? Anyone who privately mobilizes the Imperial Guard without the tiger tally is subject to execution under the law."

Huo Linyuan looked around the hall. The palace attendants standing by the doors kept their heads bowed, not even shifting their feet.

From the moment the Imperial Guard burst in until now, the imperial concubines sat at their tables without a trace of panic on their faces.

Only the court officials on either side showed varying expressions.

An official whispered, "The palace banquet is held in the inner court, which by rule requires only eighty guards on duty. His Majesty deployed the Imperial Guard in advance... could he have known something would go wrong at the banquet?"

Zhao Chong, the Minister of War, held his wine goblet and took a slow, deliberate sip. "Why? Isn't it obvious?"

"Does Lord Zhao mean His Majesty did this intentionally? Then this bird's nest soup..."

"Lord Sun."

Zhao Chong interrupted him, his tone indifferent. "I said nothing. You were the one who said it."

Huo Linyuan's chest heaved violently.

He whipped around to face Yu Wantang.

"Yu Wantang! You knew all along!"

Yu Wantang picked up the wine goblet that had rolled near her feet and set it back on the table.

"Knew what?"

"Knew that Your Majesty, in order to bring me down, wouldn't hesitate to poison a pregnant favored concubine with safflower?"

"Fortunately, this bowl of bird's nest soup was fake, and Consort Shu didn't actually drink it. Otherwise, to frame me, you would have even sacrificed your own child as a pawn in your game."

The corner of her lips twitched into a smirk.

"Even a tiger does not devour its own cubs. Your Majesty is truly a 'loving father.'"

Huo Linyuan was left speechless by her words.

He turned around and grabbed Shen Qingrou's shoulders.

"Rou'er, don't listen to her nonsense."

"I only wanted to weed out the person harming you and the child. I would never use you two as pawns in a scheme."

Shen Qingrou raised her eyes and looked at him quietly. "Your Majesty knew all along that there was safflower in it."

It was not a question, but a statement of fact.

Huo Linyuan's fingers tightened.

"I..."

"That's why when I said my stomach hurt earlier, Your Majesty wasn't worried at all."

A faint smile flickered on Shen Qingrou's lips. "You were only focused on condemning Her Majesty the Empress."

Huo Linyuan felt a sudden pang of panic under her gaze.

"Rou'er, everything I did was for you."

"The Empress cannot tolerate the child in your womb, so I had to strike first. Once she is eliminated, you will be the Empress."

He reached out to pull Shen Qingrou into his embrace, softening his tone.

"Haven't you always wanted the throne of the Empress?"

Shen Qingrou let him hold her.

Her face rested against Huo Linyuan's shoulder, her gaze cutting past him to meet Yu Wantang's eyes.

Yu Wantang raised an eyebrow at her.

Shen Qingrou lowered her eyes and slipped her hand into the lapel of Huo Linyuan's robe, her movement gentle and filled with apparent affection.

Believing she had bought his words, Huo Linyuan's tense shoulders relaxed.

"Rou'er, I would never lie to you."

"Once the Yu Family hands over their military power, I will depose her."

"I promised you that I would make you the Empress."

"Your concubine knows."

She pulled back out of Huo Linyuan's embrace.

Before Huo Linyuan could react, Shen Qingrou had already stepped around the table and walked over to stand in front of Yu Wantang.

She opened her palm.

A brass key lay upon her fair palm, engraved with the small character "Inner" at the base.

"Your Majesty, here is the key to His Majesty's private treasury."

Yu Wantang picked up the key and twirled it around her fingertips. "Thank you for your hard work."

Shen Qingrou lowered her eyes with a smile.

"It was merely my duty, Your Majesty."

Looking at his empty arms, then at the key now in Yu Wantang's hands, Huo Linyuan's eyes turned bloodshot.

"Consort Shu! How dare you betray me?!"

Shen Qingrou turned around.

She reached up, plucked out the golden hair hairpin that Huo Linyuan had personally bestowed upon her, and casually tossed it onto the banquet table. The pearls and jade clinked crisply against a porcelain dish.

The eyes of every official in the hall landed on her simultaneously.

Shen Qingrou stared at Huo Linyuan, the facade of weakness in her eyes fading away completely.

"Your Majesty, I have truly endured this for a very long time."

Huo Linyuan's lips twitched a few times.

"What did you say?"

"Your concubine said that the poetry you write is terrible."

Shen Qingrou raised her hand to rub her temples.

"Every time I received one, pretending to be touched was truly exhausting."

Noble Consort Qin Zhaoyue couldn't hold back and burst into laughter; Su Wanyue turned her head aside, hiding her smile behind a teacup; and Yu Wantang nodded in deep agreement.

Huo Linyuan's face flushed blue and pale in rapid succession.

He pointed a trembling finger at Shen Qingrou.

"I have favored you for years, even willing to make your child the Crown Prince, yet you dare treat me like this?!"

The last trace of a smile vanished from Shen Qingrou's lips.

"Favored me? You merely treated me as a plaything, teasing me whenever you were in the mood. If it weren't for you, Huaizhou and I would have long been together as a couple."

She cast a glance down at her abdomen.

"As for the child..."

Huo Linyuan followed her gaze, an ominous feeling suddenly creeping into his heart.

"What about the child?"

Shen Qingrou stroked her flat belly.

"The pregnancy pulse diagnosed by the imperial physician was fake. I was never pregnant to begin with!"