1 Has she gone insane?

In her sorry state, Empress Zhao Yunqing raises her head to look at the faces of those accusing her of such a preposterous act. Empress Zhao Yunqing had never suffered a prejudice worse than this. She was, after all, the Empress to the Unruly Emperor Yuan Jingli of BeiMing State.

She would never harm a soul, let alone poisoning the Crown Prince of the nation.

"Your majesty, y-you have to believe me, I would never harm the Crown Prince," Empress Yunqing pleaded, grappling at the emperor trying to assuage his anger.

"Sister Yunqing, but... But you said last night that you needed to take care of whatever would hinder Prince Jun's position to the throne. I-I never... never thought that you would do something as terrible as this," Noble Consort Liu Jinghua said with a tearful face while glancing towards the emperor to gauge if he believed her words or not.

The grave expression that was gradually building on the emperor's face only signified her ploy's success.

"I-I never...…" Empress Yunqing stuttered as she tried to speak for herself but was rudely interrupted and prevented from saying anything favouring herself.

"Sister Yunqing, why…? Why did you do this, please tell me? Though he was not birthed by you, Prince Kei was still the first son of the emperor. Imperial Concubine Xue even lost her life giving birth to him," Noble Consort Jinghua continued with her crying façade while throwing aside a sneer at Empress Yunqing. She refused to let the empress say a word in fear of her foiling her plans.

"I remember you promise Jiaying that you would take care of Prince Jun, and you too were close. Could it be that you want to help my sister make Prince Jun…? No, it can't be, y-you…," Noble Consort Jinghua acted as though shocked while planting a seed of discord and misgiving about the empress's relationships with the deceased Consort Liu Jiaying (elder sister of Noble Consort Jinghua, who was born from the legal wife of State Teacher Liu Feng) and her son in the mind of those present.

'Huh?!' Empress Yunqing's face paled out in shock when she caught the sneer Noble Consort Jinghua threw at her.

She looked down in disbelief and wondered how stupid she was to have never realised the despicable nature of Noble Consort Jinghua and even taken her as a friend.

'How have I never noticed this snake all along? So this was all your schemes. You think you can get the empress's seat by doing these cheap tricks,' Empress Yunqing thought to herself, half self-loathing and half self-pitying herself, for being stupid enough to think Noble Consort Jinghua was someone she could call a friend and also someone she could trust.

She had to admit Jinghua was smart in her dealings. It had only been her, Jiaying, and Jinghua present when she had made that promise to Jiaying before she died. It was mainly because the young Prince Jun was barely a year old then. Now, no one would believe anything she says; Jinghua was quite cunning.

As the saying goes, 'disaster from mouth exists'* (A Chinese wise saying meaning that 'disaster comes from careless talks').

"Enough!!!" Emperor Jingli snapped, crinkling up his nose, feeling repulsed at the mention of the empress's atrocious questionable act being laid out.

"Seeing that look on your face, you must have thought no one would be able to catch you," Emperor Jingli said furiously as he pushed the empress away. He had stood with his hands clasped behind his back for a while now and was getting more and more enraged by all the happenings before him. He almost went on a rampage hearing the words of Noble Consort Jinghua.

"Never have we ever imagined that you can be this cruel."

Hearing the words come out from the emperor's mouth, Yunqing's mind went blank for a split second.

'Cruel… Cruel… Cruel…' were the only thing being chanted in her head like it would magically create a spell that would make all the pain she felt go away. Her mind went awry.

On the spur of the moment, she smiled and threw her head back, bursting into a fit of laughter while ignoring the jab of pain she felt in her stomach when she was pushed by the emperor.

'Has she finally lost her mind? Now, she's just digging her grave,' Noble Consort Jinghua thought to herself.

Empress Yunqing's laughter gradually reduced until it ended in a chortle like she was laughing at herself.

Has she gone insane? Was she mad?

'Yes!!! Yes!! Yes! She was completely insane!'

She had always remained loyal to the emperor and BeiMing State, but then again, so was her Zhao family. What was the result of such loyalty? Every one of them was gutted down like criminals without even as much as a fair trial. Not a single life spared, not even the servants working in their household lived.

"Ah! Cruel?" she scoffed.

Here she was being described as 'cruel' accused of something she dare not to do even if she had nine lives. If her being innocent is described as cruel, then... what was the justification of what they did to her family?

Did they not think they were cruel then? And what are they doing to her now?

"You killed my entire clan just because you heard a tale from one side. You spared my life only because I am the empress. I was grateful to you then, but… I guess you only spared my life for it to come to an end this way. And yet I'm the cruel one for still loving you all this time and remaining loyal. I'm truly pitiful," Empress Yunqing lamented mournfully as tears welled up in her eyes.

She told herself she wouldn't shed a tear, but the pain in her heart was becoming unbearable.

"Your majesty never trusted my family or me, and you always wanted a reason for the end of my family, and you got it. Father never wanted to go to war against Qing State, but you and your court termed it as disloyalty to the throne and treason. He lost his life there, but instead of his prowess being recognized, he became a scapegoat used to teach the rest of the court a lesson. During the ravaged wartime, they stood by you, but it didn't stop you from being wary of my family because of the powers behind them. You eventually got the Zhao clan's military power once you exterminated the rest of them after the death of my father," Empress Yunqing continued in an aggrieved tone.