Yang Yan held up his head, staring blankly at the lush leaves in the trees. He said as if he was talking to himself, “Do you think we are doing the right thing, betting more than ten lives in our family for an oral promise?”

I thought for a while and answered, “He won’t kill you for the sake of General Mai. And don’t forget, you’ve still got me. I won’t let any one of you die.”

“You?” Yang Yan scornfully raised the corner of his mouth. “You keep delivering kids for Qi Sheng, so how are you planning to help?”

I stared at him. I only had two kids. What did he mean by “keep delivering kids”?

Yang Yan went silent for a while, then he said in a low voice, “Sometimes I don’t understand you guys, you, the ninth elder brother, and my father, especially the ninth elder brother and my father. I don’t know why they would risk their life for such a dangerous game. If it were me, I would rather strike him with all my power and die with him rather than compromise like this.”

Looking at his young and swanking face. I sighed heavily, “Actually, they are choosing to strike him with all their power but they are doing it in a different form. Put themselves in the danger of death first, then they’ll fight to live.”

Yang Yan only sneered, “If I don’t make my moves first, I will always be suppressed by someone else. Putting themselves in the danger of death first is no better than waiting for death. It would be better if we take some actions now.”

Xie Yi carried the tea to us and respectfully put the cup beside Yang Yan.

I shot a glance at Xie Yi, then something came to my mind. I smiled and asked him, “You said that a lot of people were trying to set a match for you?”

Yang Yan nodded, “Quite some.”

I asked him again, “Do you fancy any one of them?”

Yang Yan shook his head.

I pointed to Xie Yi, who was standing next to us, asking with a smile, “What do you think about my maid?”

Yang Yan had a reputation for being cheeky. At hearing my words, he turned around and inspected Xie Yi, which made her blush and embarrassed. She hung her head as low as she could, as if she wanted to bite her own chest.

After the inspection, Yang Yan nodded in a serious way and replied, “Good.”

Xie Yi blushed and even her ear turned red. She couldn’t stay here any longer, hastily bent her knees towards me, and excused herself as if she was avoiding a hooligan.

Yang Yan girded as he watched Xie Yi leaving, then he turned to me and asked, “Do you think I should get married now? So when the time arrives, we will still be here as a family. How lively it will be!”

I smiled, “Okay. Have a look at whoever annoys you and marry his daughter.”

Yang Yan sneered and said, “Then I should marry Princess Weiyuan!”

Princess Weiyuan was Wei’er’s title. Everyone could tell how much she mattered to Qi Sheng only by looking at the name.

I always felt I was an open-minded parent and age difference didn’t matter. Above all, I used to be a man. I didn’t get enraged as I heard what he proposed. I only shrugged and answered, “I don’t mind. As long as you keep workout and stay healthy, if Wei’er is willing to marry you twenty years later, I won’t stand between you. As a mother-in-law, I’m sure I will grow to be fond of you.”

Then I squinted and looked at him from head to toe.

Yang Yan was choked speechless, and his handsome face now looked like a palette. At first it turned red, then green and finally it turned pale. He fumed, “I’ve never seen a mother like you!”

I smiled and asked the maid to pour some more tea for Yang Yan.

Before the maid approached, Yang Yan stood up, tidied up his gown, and threatened me, “You know what I am capable of. I hope you can stick to your words, or else I won’t spare you.”

I didn’t even raise my head. I only rocked Qi Hao on my laps and taunted, “What are you capable of? Climbing the trees or walls?”

“You!” Yang Yan was about to get mad but managed to contain his anger. He bent down and looked at me with his head tilting aside, still wearing a smile, “I will steal you from the palace, and throw you into the Wan River, and you will be floating in the river for hundreds of miles.”

It reminded me of the time when I fell into Wan River, and it made me shiver.

Yang Yan finally felt he had restored some of his esteems. He laughed and left.

In the tenth lunar month, when the Yang Family was having their best time in Sheng City, some imperial officials reported Yang Yu to be arrogant and complacent, that he had kept slaves in his house, robbed citizens of their land, bullied and oppressed people and he was brutal and tyrannical.

Qi Sheng turned a blind eye to more than ten documents over this matter but it didn’t go away, instead, the imperial officials became increasingly more raged towards this.

On the eleventh day of the tenth lunar month, the first two imperial officials who reported on Yang Yu were killed at home, and everyone in or out the imperial court was shocked. On the thirteenth day, the two imperial officials of the Court of Censors marched to the Han Yuan Hall of Da Ming Palace with hundreds of their subordinates. They all knelt down in front the Xuan Zheng Hall of Da Ming Palace, requiring Qi Sheng to conduct a thorough investigation over this case.

Under the press of bureaucracy, Qi Sheng had to command Dali Temple, Ministry of Penalty, and the Court of Censor to conduct the investigation.

And every piece of evidence they found in the investigation led to that Marquis Pingxi Yang Yu was behind the murder, and all illegitimate conducts of Yang Yu in the army were revealed as well… the accusations kept growing, and soon enough, the evidence led to Chu wang, who was close to Yang Yu’s youngest son. After that, Zhang Ling, Chu wang’s father-in-law was implicated as well.

Dali Temple, Ministry of Penalty, and the Court of Censor were all stunned. No one said it but everyone knew where it would lead to if they traced it back. If they kept digging, they would get to the Minister of War, Zhang Fang, one of whose daughters married another elite family of the army, the He Family, and the other one married the Emperor, Qi Sheng.

Unless they wanted to eradicate me as well, otherwise they should stop digging on this case.

I guess none of the imperial officials of the Court of Censor would have thought about this when they first knelt down in front of the Palace. And now all three of the giants in the army were involved, and with me as an Empress, we could sit by the table playing mahjong. Even Chu wang wouldn’t get qualified for the game and he could only sit beside and read the cards.

It was said that the Left Imperial Official of Court of Censor was so anxious that he got herpes on his mouth. The Official of Dali Temple was in no better condition. Every day when he combed, he lost hair and soon enough, he would turn bald.

Lv Li looked relaxed when she told me about this, but some subconscious behaviors suggested she was indeed nervous. In the last, she might have found it painstaking to force out a smile so she gave up the attempt and asked me anxiously, “Your Majesty, is His Majesty trying to suppress the Zhang Family by using this case as an excuse? As soon as we are accused of rebellion, not only everyone in the family will die, Your Majesty will be implicated as well.”

I lazily leaned against the soft bed in the bedroom, and answered absent-mindedly, “He’s not planning to eradicate the Empress at the moment, so we won’t be involved in rebellion.”

As long as it was not a rebellion, no matter how serious the case sounded, the sentence wouldn’t be as grueling as it should be.

Yang Yu was the eldest son of General Mai, and for the sake of Emperor Cheng, Qi Sheng wouldn’t dare to kill a descendant of General Mai. So the Yang Family would be fine. And Bathroom Lord was his brother, the only son of the Empress Dowager. And if he killed Bathroom Lord, the Empress Dowager would hang herself in Han Yuan Hall of Da Ming Palace, let along she still had the imperial edict from the late emperor that forbade Qi Sheng from killing his own siblings. Therefore, Bathroom Lord would have to live.

Then what was left here was the Zhang Family. But I was an Empress who gave birth to the eldest son of Qi Sheng, so if Qi Sheng was not intended to eradicate the Empress, then he couldn’t kill the Zhang Family.

Having thought about these, I felt that Qi Sheng should’ve felt defeated as he made such an effort to set a game for all of his enemies, he couldn’t kill any of them because of the complicated relationship.

Sometimes I wondered what I would do if I were Qi Sheng.

I wouldn’t be as tenacious as him and I wouldn’t consider so many factors. The most possible scenario was that I made up my mind and eliminated them once for all. I would care nothing about General Mai, filial duty, or imperial edict, and I would kill them first!

As expected, the investigation halted as soon as it reached Zhang Ling.

After interrogation, the report was handed to Qi Sheng. There were all kinds of accusations and it was even mentioned in the report that one of the subordinates of Zhang Ling forced a widow into marriage, but no one had ever mentioned rebellion.

Since the case was already investigated, it was time to decide on the sentence.

Though Yang Yu had committed murder, he had military merits, so in the end, his title and reward were all stripped off and his whole family moved to Lingnan.

Bathroom Lord was demoted from Chu wang to a duke, and was also punished for three years of salary.

And the punishment for Zhang Ling was even easier. He was dismissed from the army and never should he return.

The result was a lot worse than what Bathroom Lord had anticipated but it didn’t divert from the main direction. After all kinds of messes, the “murder case of imperial officials” finally came to an end in the third lunar month the year after.

The twelfth day of the third lunar month was Qi Hao’s one-year birthday.

Since so many people were involved in the “murder case of imperial officials” and nearly everyone in the imperial court was occupied in the lawsuit, Qi Sheng seemed to be sorry for this and tried to take this chance to smooth the edges in the imperial court. So he sent an imperial edict to have a massive party for his son’s birthday.

Actually, I like this kind of crowds and excitement. However, I was the Empress so I had to play virtuous and I tried persuade Qi Sheng in Da Ming Palace that he should be frugal and there was no need to throw a party for Qi Hao’s birthday.

Qi Sheng was imitating calligraphy in front of the desk. He only shot me a glance after hearing my words, “Is this really what you are thinking?”

I always stick to the rule of “staying honest over petty facts, and lying over major matters”, so I shook my head and answered, “I want it to be big and lively as well. It is even better if you arrange an amnesty to show everyone how you value Hao’er.”

Qi Sheng let out a scoff, “So why did you ask?”