"How is this possible?" Xing Beiluo asked in great astonishment.
"With the Empress Dowager around, it is possible."
The Grand Princess slowly revealed the truth. "Before entering the palace, the Empress Dowager had a sweetheart, but her family sent her into the palace as a consort. As for the Prince Consort, he is the illegitimate child she bore in secret back then! To cover it all up, she secretly swapped him with the child of a Jieyu who had been favored by the Emperor—which is to say, me. If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. But she even cruelly murdered my mother and my kinsfolk, simply to eliminate all future trouble! Later, relying on His Majesty, she rose to the position of Empress Dowager. She seems to constantly shower me with favors, but in reality, she can't wait to let her sweetheart's child enjoy supreme wealth and glory! She engineered my marriage to the Prince Consort, yet secretly drugged me while I was pregnant, deliberately causing me to die of anger so she could rightfully inherit everything belonging to the Princess's Estate. Fortunately, the Prince Consort is a fool; when faced with my questioning, he was utterly unrepentant and confident, which made me guess he had a backer. The only people with a status higher than mine are His Majesty and the Empress Dowager! So I claimed illness to enter the palace and secretly investigated the truth."
Chapter 130