Time Travel: Pampered by the Aloof Prince
Chapter 321: The Fetus in the Empress’s Womb is Her Achilles’ Heel

Chapter 321: Chapter 321: The Fetus in the Empress’s Womb is Her Achilles’ Heel

"What method? What method are you talking about?" When An Ruoya heard this, she wasn’t happy but full of confusion.

First of all, she was a Princess; what method could she possibly have to overthrow the Empress? The very idea of her willing to save herself was already bizarre enough.

Qi Yu knew she didn’t believe her, but it didn’t matter. Once she finished what she was saying, even if she didn’t mention it, An Ruoya would know what to do.

She chuckled lightly, her tone indifferent, "As long as the Empress is eliminated, you could not only leave the Cold Palace but also regain His Majesty’s favor. How about it? Would you take this deal?"

An Ruoya abruptly looked up at her, disgust and a touch of disbelief in her eyes as she spoke with a quivering voice, "Are you saying you want me to eliminate the Empress?"

Qi Yu smiled, her eyes twinkling, and nodded, "Yes."

At her words, An Ruoya suddenly burst into laughter. Her laughter echoed within the desolate palace, sounding somewhat terrifying.

An Ruoya sneered disdainfully, holding back from rolling her eyes, and spoke with sarcasm, "I thought it was some good idea, eliminating the Empress? Do you think I have not wanted to? Back then, I put in so much effort, and I still couldn’t bring down that wretch. Now, she is pregnant, and His Majesty values her greatly. How would I eliminate her?"

Qi Yu patiently listened to her finish, the smile still present on her face.

Seeing Qi Yu’s confident demeanor, An Ruoya frowned, "Do you really have a way to eliminate the Empress?"

Although she didn’t quite trust the person in front of her to have her best interests at heart, if it meant getting out of the Cold Palace, she was willing to pay any price.

Qi Yu nodded again, "Naturally, otherwise why would I have come to you?"

An Ruoya somewhat believed her now and pressed impatiently, "What method?"

Seeing that she had taken the bait, Qi Yu scoffed softly, suggesting something with her words, "The child in the Empress’ womb is her Achilles’ heel."

An Ruoya hadn’t thought that far; she assumed that Qi Yu was proposing she target the child in the Empress’ womb.

"You want me to eliminate that child? You’re mistaken then. The Empress guards that child more dearly than her life. Me, a criminal confined to the Cold Palace, how could I get close enough to her?"

Qi Yu smiled slightly, "You don’t need to get close to her to eliminate the child."

An Ruoya raised an eyebrow, showing some interest, "What do you mean?"

Qi Yu lowered her voice, whispering something into her ear.

An Ruoya’s pupils shrank, her complexion turning deathly pale. She completely collapsed to the ground, a picture of utter despair.

Qi Yu stood up, her tone casual, "I have said all I needed to, the rest is up to you."

An Ruoya remained in her stunned state, it was unclear whether she had taken in Qi Yu’s words.

Qi Yu chuckled softly, adding, "I hope you remember one thing, I can save you, but I can also kill you."

She paused for a moment, and in An Ruoya’s fearful expression, she finished her sentence, "So, you did not see me today, understand?"

An Ruoya nodded subconsciously.

Satisfied, Qi Yu pulled out a silver needle from her sleeve to release her from the paralysis, then left the Cold Palace.

As she stepped outside the palace, the nanny was still sweeping the fallen leaves from the ground.

Qi Yu looked down and noticed the ground was already spotless, a sneer forming on her lips.

She advanced a few steps, and indeed, the nanny dropped the broom and kneeled respectfully before her, "If Princess Qi Yu ever needs this old servant, just give a signal, and I would brave any dangers."

Qi Yu gave her a glance, suppressing her discomfort, and spoke coldly, "What if this Princess wants you to die?"

"This..." the nanny’s legs weakened, trembling, she replied, "Princess Qi Yu jests."

Qi Yu raised an eyebrow, "Then treat it as if this Princess was jesting."

Without another word, she left, not glancing back once.

Inside the palace, An Ruoya had been sitting on the floor for quite a while before she slowly climbed to her feet.

She returned to her room, sat in front of her vanity, and stared at the person in the mirror for a moment before suddenly letting out a piercing scream.

Following that, there was the sound of shattering, as the mirror was knocked over onto the floor.

An Ruoya’s hands trembled as she held her own face, tears unconsciously streaming down her eyes.

No, the person just now wasn’t her!

How could she possibly have become such a sight!

She was clearly still young, wrinkles couldn’t possibly appear on her face.

The nanny, hearing the noise, came in to check, noticed the shattered mirror scattered all over the floor, frowned displeasedly, and spat, "You really think you’re some kind of noble, in the Cold Palace there’s only this one mirror, and no one will replace it if you break it!"

Usually, upon hearing these mocking words, An Ruoya would stare fiercely at her and then scold her.

But today, she didn’t know why, she just stood there, lost in thought, silent.

The nanny swept away the fragments, huffed a sound, and then left.

It took An Ruoya a long time to calm her emotions, she wiped the tears from her face, and a hint of mockery slowly emerged in her eyes.

Meanwhile, after returning to the Prince Residence, Qi Yu was not idle.

When she left the Imperial Palace, she brought Mo Qingshan with her.

Alone, she couldn’t deal with the epidemic in Qingzhou.

Mo Qingshan, having a wealth of knowledge and experience, would make things much smoother with his presence.

Mo Qingshan had already heard about this from Chen Shi, and this morning the Emperor had decreed they come up with a way to combat the epidemic.

But just sitting in the Imperial Hospital, they would definitely not think of a solution.

Lou Qingming had already requested to follow Prince Qi to Qingzhou.

Chen Shi naturally wanted to go as well, but he was still restricted by the Empress, unable to leave the Imperial Palace temporarily.

Mo Qingshan consoled him a few words, then hurriedly left the palace.

"I heard from Chen Shi that initially, it was just a locust plague, if we could have killed the locusts in time, we wouldn’t have this many people starve to death," Mo Qingshan sighed, then continued, "But Qingzhou’s Gu You couldn’t manage affairs, and with Li Ming’an also there, disregarding the lives of the people and instead ransacking Qingzhou’s food supplies, lining his own pockets!"

Listening, Qi Yu also felt uneasy.

If she had known earlier that Li Ming’an was capable of harrowing the common people, she should have let him die in the capital city, sparing the trouble he caused everywhere.

Mo Qingshan had not returned to the capital city for several years, and his impression of Li Ming’an still lingered back when he was causing trouble in the capital city.

Before, he had realized that this man was not upright, full of evil tricks.

So, when Li Tianze suggested that he take Li Ming’an as an apprentice too, he tactfully declined.

He did not want to take on an apprentice who would bring him a bad name for generations.

Now, it seemed, his decision was utterly correct.

Unfortunately, the people of Qingzhou still suffered.

Remembering Chen Shi’s words, Mo Qingshan’s tone grew even heavier, "Later, with no food, the common people had to kill the rats in the fields to eat, which led to an outbreak of the plague; this was also what doomed Qingzhou."

Qi Yu rubbed her temples weakly, exhausted, "Over in Qingzhou, Prince and Minister Shen have already started making moves. For now, Master should come up with a way to deal with the ’Poisonous Insect’ in the Empress’s belly