Qi Xiao got up and put on his clothes. Princess Dunsu anxiously said, "Your wound is still bleeding! What are you doing?!"

Qi Xiao shook his head. "It's alright, let him come in... I have something to ask him."

Princess Dunsu couldn't go against Qi Xiao's wishes, so she had to let the person enter the inner chamber. The young eunuch was startled upon seeing Qi Xiao's condition, but then kowtowed and said, "Greetings to Your Highness, greetings to Princess Dunsu. Your Highness... This servant followed your orders and kept watch at the city gate, waiting for military reports from Lingnan. Finally received them this morning. A few of us servants rushed to follow up and were fortunate that Your Highness has great influence, allowing us to inquire about the situation."

"That day after Your Highness let the heir go, he didn't delay and immediately headed south. He charged into the Lingnan capital overnight. Fortunately, the heir had made thorough plans and there were people inside the city to coordinate. They launched an inside-outside attack, catching the second prince completely off guard."

"However..." The young eunuch paused and said in a low voice, "It's said that more than half of the heir's few hundred men were lost. By the time they stormed into the Lingnan prince's manor, there were less than a hundred left. The heir was also injured..."

Qi Xiao's eyes darkened upon hearing this. "Where was he injured?!"

The young eunuch knew how much Qi Xiao had doted on Bairen in the past. Seeing this, he quickly said, "It's nothing serious, seems he was injured on the arm, no big deal."

Qi Xiao remained silent. The young eunuch continued, "The heir is a brilliant strategist. After entering the Lingnan capital, he took advantage of the night before anyone noticed. They first attacked the Xia manor, surrounding it on all sides and setting it on fire.

"The Xia household was caught completely by surprise, unable to employ any strategies. The heir had his men guard all exits strictly. Anyone who tried to escape was killed. Finally, the fire was put out by those inside the Xia manor. The heir and his men broke in, meeting no resistance. Afterwards... the heir personally killed all 37 members of the Xia family."

Princess Dunsu gasped upon hearing this, but Qi Xiao let out a bloodthirsty laugh. This was his Bairen.

Princess Dunsu tightly gripped her handkerchief and couldn't help asking, "And then what happened?"

The young eunuch continued, "With General Xia dead, the Lingnan soldiers were leaderless. The heir also had people continuously shout from the city walls that the Emperor had lent 50,000 soldiers to the heir to allow him to return and clean house.

"The people in the capital panicked. It was the middle of the night and the commoners and soldiers were all frightened senseless by the commotion. They had nowhere to hide and all cowered in their homes, not daring to come out. Only then did the heir lead his men to the Lingnan prince's manor."

"The people in the prince's manor also got word. The second young prince and Consort Xia hurriedly got dressed in a fluster and repeatedly ordered people to get the Queen... Oh, Your Highness doesn't know, after the Lingnan prince died, the second prince had been saying the Queen was gravely ill and had her under house arrest in her own courtyard.

"But when they rushed into the Queen' courtyard, they found it empty. The Queen was long gone. The second prince collapsed on the ground in fright. Consort Xia had to pull him and Princess Kangtai to flee in a hurry. By the time they had hastily packed their bags and stumbled their way to the side gate of the prince's manor... the gate opened and there stood the heir, staring at them!"

The young eunuch kept shaking his head as he continued, "The prince's manor only had a few dozen guards to begin with and half of them had fled. The remaining ones were no match for the heir. In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, the heir's men had subdued everyone and tied them up tightly. The heir sent people to look for the Queen but couldn't find any trace of her... Actually, as soon as the heir entered the city, he had ordered people to search for the Queen. But that person disappeared without a trace, as if vanishing into thin air.

"The heir was convinced that Consort Xia and the second prince had hidden the Queen somewhere. Even after interrogation and torture, they couldn't say anything. By then, the heir was already in a murderous frenzy. Seeing that the Queen couldn't be found, his anger reached the heavens. He immediately hacked Consort Xia to death with a few slashes of his blade."

Princess Dunsu frowned. "Then where exactly is the Queen?!"

The young eunuch chuckled. "Well... the heir was about to kill the second prince next when suddenly an old maidservant came tiptoeing out. It was none other than Granny Yan! Granny Yan had met the heir before. She originally came out to investigate. As soon as she saw that it was Bairen who had returned, she quickly came over, pulling the heir while crying and laughing. It turned out the person the heir had sent to the prince's manor had indeed found the Queen.

"But by the time he explained the situation to the Queen and Granny Yan, a commotion had already started outside. The heir's man wanted to take the Queen away but Granny Yan was worried and wouldn't let them go. As they were arguing, they heard the sounds of blades clashing and people shouting outside. Granny Yan made a decisive move and led everyone into the prince's manor's wine cellar. They hid in the wine cellar for about half an hour. Hearing no movement outside, Granny Yan then crawled out to take a look. Sure enough, she saw the heir. Amitabha, the heir was finally reunited with the Queen."

Jiang Deqing let out a sigh of relief. "That was close..."

The young eunuch continued, "The rest was easy to handle. Bairen showed the golden seal and no one dared to disobey. The heir confiscated weapons and reorganized the rebel troops. He was decisive in his killings. That very night, he executed several dozen people, beheading all the ringleaders who had assisted the second prince in his rebellion! Only then did he subdue everyone. By dawn, the heir had taken over the Lingnan prince's manor and written a memorial to the Emperor. That memorial has finally reached the imperial city."

Jiang Deqing was very worried and turned to look at Qi Xiao. "Crown Prince... what will the Emperor do? He won't punish the heir again, right?"

Qi Xiao smiled faintly. "The heir? In a few days, he should be called the Lingnan King."

Jiang Deqing's eyes lit up. "Really? Good, good... if Your Highness says there's no problem, then there definitely won't be any issues."

There would certainly be some repercussions, but at this juncture, the Emperor definitely wouldn't dare to send troops again. This could be considered a perfect resolution. However... Qi Xiao took a deep breath. The young eunuch had described it simply in a few words, but the situation at the time definitely wasn't that easy...

Princess Dunsu sighed. "That's good then... If he can smoothly take the throne, then all the hardships you've suffered won't be in vain. Just hope that he remembers your kindness and can lend some assistance in the future..."

Qi Xiao smiled without saying anything. Princess Dunsu said, "This way, my nephew and niece-in-law can also be at ease. These past few days, not to mention Roujia, even my sister-in-law has been on tenterhooks all day long, sigh..."

Only then did Qi Xiao remember Roujia. He asked, "How is Roujia? Has the pregnancy been affecting her?"

Princess Dunsu smiled bitterly, "How could she not be affected? First, she received the news of her father's death, then suddenly heard that Wenyu had rebelled, and in a blink of an eye, she was told that Bairen had returned to Lingnan, his life and death unknown. She was frightened repeatedly, causing her fetus to be greatly disturbed. A few days ago, she even saw blood, and it seemed that she was about to miscarry.

"Fortunately, that child Zichen is a responsible one, guarding her day after day, persuading and coaxing her with kind words. Her mother-in-law also sought the best imperial physician, who took care of her for several days before she could barely be saved. Now, Zichen has closed the door to visitors, refusing to see anyone except the He family, for fear that others would disturb her mind. He also doesn't allow Roujia to get out of bed, treating her with good food and drink, and she has slowly recovered."

Qi Xiao said in a low voice, "She is his only sister. Now that they can't see each other, north or south, and I can't take care of her, I still hope that Aunt will take good care of her."

Upon hearing this, Dunsu couldn't help but feel anxious in her heart. What does he mean by "she is his only sister"?

Dunsu thought about reprimanding him, but seeing his injured body, she couldn't bear to say anything. She could only say, "Don't worry, not to mention anything else, she is also my niece-in-law, and the child she is carrying is the flesh and blood of the He family. How could I not take care of her?"

Qi Xiao nodded, "Jiang Deqing... find some good tonics for Aunt to bring."

"I have plenty of tonics, you don't need to think about it," Dunsu took a deep breath and tidied her hair bun, saying, "Besides, I don't have time to visit Roujia now. If there's nothing else here, I still have to go and talk about other matters."

Jiang Deqing frowned, "Other matters?"

Dunsu sneered, "I beat the crown prince like this, do you think the Emperor will not question it?"

Before she finished speaking, a senior maid from outside came in, bowed, and said, "Princess, someone from the palace has come to invite you to the palace."

Dunsu snorted, "Well, speak of the devil."

Qi Xiao frowned, "Aunt..."

"Don't worry," Dunsu smiled, "I have my own words to reply to him."

In the inner hall of the Ganqing Palace, Empress Feng wore a worried expression and asked repeatedly, "Princess, how is Xiao'er?"

Princess Dunsu sighed, lowered her eyes to wipe her tears, and choked out, "I only wanted to teach him a lesson, who knew, who knew... This child only looks strong on the outside, but I hit him too hard, and he, he fainted. I thought he was pretending to be unconscious to make me stop, so I kept hitting him. Now he’s in a coma, and I don't know if he can be saved..."

Empress Feng was overjoyed, pinching her finger inside her sleeve to keep from laughing, but outwardly she still looked very worried: "That's terrible! Have you had the imperial physician see him?"

Princess Dunsu nodded, her tears falling: "Yes, but I'm just a woman, I don't understand medical matters, so I don’t know the exact situation..."

Empress Feng didn't know, but the Emperor did. He said coldly, "Why have I heard... that you drove away the imperial physician I sent?"

"Don't mention it..." Princess Dunsu shook her head with a sigh, "He had woken up at that time. I pulled the imperial physician and told him, 'Look at your father emperor, you committed such a heinous mistake, and your father didn't say anything. He heard you were injured and even specifically came to stop me from hitting you and sent an imperial physician. How will you repay such kindness?' The Crown Prince was infuriatingly silent, and I got angry again and drove the physician away, refusing to let him treat the Prince. Empress..."

Princess Dunsu grabbed Empress Feng's hand and cried, "You also have a son, you should understand my pain, right? It's not that I don't love him, it's that I love him too much, that's why I hate him for not living up to expectations..."

Empress Feng was confused but responded anyway. The Emperor’s anger grew, and he said sternly, "I have already punished him by ordering him to reflect behind closed doors. Why did you need to cause such a commotion? It might lead to gossip, and people will say you overstepped your bounds."

The Emperor always respected Princess Dunsu in public, but this was the first time he spoke so harshly. However, Princess Dunsu seemed not to catch the warning in his words. She raised her face and said, "The Emperor does not need to shield him!"

The Emperor was stunned. Princess Dunsu wiped her tears, held Empress Feng’s hand affectionately, and said, "I understand the hardships of the Emperor and Empress, others might not, but I do. Because of Xiao'er's background... The Emperor and Empress have always cherished him, thinking of him first for good food and fun. When he made mistakes, other princes would be punished, but he would be let off because you pitied his lack of birth parents."

Princess Dunsu sighed, "So many people knew about the events of those years. We know it was the Emperor and Empress teaching a child, but the foolish ones thought you couldn't tolerate him and were deliberately mistreating him! People say it's hard to be a stepmother, that’s exactly what they mean. How could I not understand your difficulties? So, I decided, from now on, I will be the bad guy!"

Princess Dunsu spoke resolutely, "I have been headstrong all my life, what am I afraid of? From now on, the Emperor and Empress should continue to cherish him, but if he misbehaves, let me discipline him! I will keep the family rules so he knows what he should and shouldn't do! If the clan disapproves, let them come to me! No matter how big the mistake, I will take the blame. When I meet our ancestors after death, I will confess my sins!"

Princess Dunsu turned to the Emperor and comforted him softly, "If the Crown Prince angers you again, just come to me. Anyway, he hates me, his aunt, already. As long as the Emperor and Crown Prince maintain a father-son bond, I will endure anything."

Empress Feng was completely bewildered by Princess Dunsu and muttered, "Princess, you’ve suffered..."

Princess Dunsu shook her head and sighed, "What suffering? It's all for Great Xiang. I just hope my efforts will be understood by future generations..."

The Emperor was speechless, breathing heavily. Hearing Empress Feng’s foolish words, he almost spat blood in anger.

Suddenly, he remembered a few days ago when Qi Xiao had skillfully defended himself in court. At the time, he wondered how Qi Xiao, with parents known for their reticence and gentleness, had turned out so sharp-tongued. Now he understood, he knew exactly whom Qi Xiao took after!