"All right."
Su Qiao nodded sweetly and obediently.
She rather missed the snacks she had eaten during the Lantern Festival.
When Ye Jinghua faced Su Qiao, he was as gentle as a spring breeze, but when he turned to the Empress, he became a world of ice and snow, of bloody rain and gore-laden winds.
"Empress, what exactly do you intend to do to my Princess Consort?"
"P-Prince Jing, you... you and my sister..."
Su Yue had assumed that, at most, Su Qiao had merely caught Ye Jinghua's passing interest.
Given his mercurial temperament, perhaps he would behave as he had before—fond of someone one moment, then swinging his sword to cut them down the next.
Yet she had just witnessed it with her own eyes: Ye Jinghua indulged Su Qiao in almost everything.
He had even... even sworn, just as Prime Minister Su once had, that she would be his only woman in this life.
How could she not be jealous?
How could she not be furious?
Ye Jinghua, however, had no patience for her performance, much less any interest in whether she was so furious she might vomit blood.
"Empress, I recall that at His Majesty's birthday banquet, my Princess Consort already said that she was not your sister.
"And my subsequent investigation confirmed that Prime Minister Su had only one legitimate daughter—my Princess Consort."
"I do not care whether you were a maidservant attending my mother-in-law. From this day forward, you had best stop reaching your hands toward my Princess Consort. Otherwise, do not blame me for refusing to spare His Majesty's dignity."
"His Majesty has arrived!"
A figure in bright imperial yellow appeared at the courtyard entrance.
The Jade Serenity Courtyard was certainly lively today. Even the Emperor had come.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Everyone, silent as