The Empress was unwilling to accept it. From the moment she was escorted back to the Jiaofang Palace, she began smashing things. In less than fifteen minutes, the once splendid Jiaofang Palace was turned into a place where there was not even a spot to step. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽 There were porcelain shards scattered all over the ground. A group of servants, including Nanny Li, couldn’t persuade her to stop. Thanks to the strong backing of her family and her own resources as the Empress, she dared to act . Otherwise, with such an outburst, it would take several days to recover from the loss. Once she was exhausted from the smashing, the Empress finally calmed down. She panted while clutching her chest, saying, "Nanny Li, quickly investigate for me. Find out exactly who that little brat is, and why the Emperor protects him so fiercely? Protecting to the extent of disregarding even my dignity?" In the past, for matters , Emperor Yongning, out of respect for her family, would only reprimand her verbally and would certainly not confine her nor strip away her authority over the harem. But this time, Emperor Yongning’s sudden actions... Thinking it over, the Empress realized it must be related not only to her refusal to admit wrong but also significantly to that little brat Yi Yi. She even thought that Yi Yi was the primary reason. For if Yi Yi were any ordinary child serving as a companion for the seventeenth prince, the Emperor would not be so keen on solving the issue. But this time, the Emperor even took action against her, the Empress, indicating it wasn’t simply because she had angered him. To say otherwise would be hard for anyone to believe. Nanny Li advised the Empress a bit further and then went to investigate. The investigation led only to the fact that Yi Yi’s appearance was related to the Cold Palace. As for the events occurring when Yi Yi was taken out of the Cold Palace, anyone who knew about it had either been sold or silenced. The Empress’s people could only find superficial information about those who had been sold or dealt with, but nothing more. Nanny Li could only report to the Empress that Yi Yi’s appearance was related to the Cold Palace. Upon hearing this, the Empress suddenly thought of a possibility. Was Yi Yi possibly Qiong Hua’s son? Qiong Hua in the Cold Palace had a son with her; as the Queen of the harem, how could she not know? Yet, in everyone’s eyes, Qiong Hua’s son had long been considered dead due to congenital deficiencies, so she never paid it any mind, only instructing the guards of the Cold Palace to make their lives difficult, unbelieving that Qiong Hua’s congenitally challenged son could survive to adulthood. Unexpectedly, so unexpectedly, not only did a congenitally challenged child live to two and a half years, but he dared to escape the Cold Palace, catching the Emperor’s attention and acknowledging him. The Empress quickly pieced together the sequence of events. At this moment, aside from blaming the matron in charge of the Cold Palace for not efficiently dealing with the mother and son duo, she also felt a bit regretful. She shouldn’t have only taken the seventeenth prince to raise herself. As soon as she knew that the eighteenth prince, indeed Yi Yi, was still alive, she should have brought Yi Yi to raise alongside his brother. Indeed, Jun Yu and Jun Ning are twins... no... the most correct description should be dragon-phoenix twins... However, since Jun Ning was not breathing at birth, no one paid much attention to his true gender, leaving him aside. And Qiong Hua’s pregnancy was diagnosed by the Imperial Physician as twin brothers, thus everyone assumed she bore twin brothers. The Empress, too, firmly believed thus, a belief unshaken until now. "If I had both Princes by my side, wouldn’t my future position be more secure?" "It’s merely an extra mouth to feed; why did I, at that time, absurdly come to let the eighteenth prince fend for himself?"