“Eunuch Li will give the decree to that person and tell them that whoever takes it will be the next Emperor.” Ruan Qiu smiled, saying, “By the way, my goal tonight is to leave the palace. Naturally, I can’t let anyone follow me, so I had to use the paper shadow trick to buy some time.”

Being the Emperor was too dangerous; the palace was full of intrigues. It was better to leave early.

[Ruan Qiu is not going to be the Emperor anymore?]

[I kind of want to know who the next unlucky person to be Emperor is, haha.]

[Ruan Qiu is amazing. I can’t believe I find this reasonable coming from her…]

[Sister Ruan is the best, I’m tired of saying it.]

Director: … I knew it!!

Ruan Qiu thought that the previous time she and Xue Wu ran away, the director didn’t say anything. This palace fight was over, she even arranged for the next Emperor, so the plot should be complete. If she ran now, the director probably wouldn’t say anything either.

Speaking of Xue Wu… She decided to explain to him the next day. After all, they would video call during meals.

With this in mind, Ruan Qiu felt more justified.

Getting off work early, hooray.

Director: … Thank you very much.

He numbly put on his headset and instructed the armed guards and soldiers to hurry to the Cold Palace. No matter what, they had to bring Ruan Qiu back.

By then, Ruan Qiu had arrived at the entrance of the Cold Palace. This time, there were lights inside, so she smoothly walked in and immediately saw Empress Wan by the bed, eating sunflower seeds.

Empress Wan quickly put down the sunflower seeds in her hands, staring at Ruan Qiu in shock. “Why are you wearing the Emperor’s robes!”

Her gaze was peculiar, scrutinizing Ruan Qiu from head to toe, as if she was wearing someone else’s clothes.

“Because I am now the Son of Heaven in the Great Zhou,” Ruan Qiu said as she approached, “I have some unresolved questions, so I came to ask you.”

Ruan Qiu, dressed in the imperial robe, had an expressionless face as she slowly went closer to Empress Wan. Empress Wan inexplicably felt that if she didn’t answer properly, Ruan Qiu might say something like “execute your entire family” in the next second. She quickly nodded, “Okay, okay, I will tell you everything I know.”

“Good,” Ruan Qiu smiled, “So, my question is, since you said you overheard the Fourth Prince’s conversation about taking the throne in the garden, and they found out that you knew, why didn’t they kill you?”

Empress Wan was stunned for a moment, thinking that the director didn’t provide a script for this part. Hesitating, she answered, “I… I am the Empress, they wouldn’t dare…”

“You’re lying,” Ruan Qiu interrupted mercilessly. “The Empress Dowager initially let you become the Empress because your family wouldn’t support you, making it easy for her to control you while ensuring the Emperor had no support from other noble families to resist her. But as the Empress Dowager’s power grew, she no longer needed you.”

“So she allowed Princess Xingyu to propose poisoning you, making you go mad. Even if the poison could kill you, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t care.”

“Moreover, if you died, the Fourth Prince could collaborate with other noble families, push other concubines to the Empress position, and gradually seize the throne from the Empress Dowager.”

“But the Fourth Prince and his allies chose the riskiest method with the highest chance of failure — making someone else the Emperor with a forged Imperial Decree.” Ruan Qiu stared into Empress Wan’s eyes as she continued, “Why didn’t they kill you? Do you have other leverage against them?”

Empress Wan couldn’t help but take a step back, shaking her head frantically, “No, absolutely not!”

She really didn’t know this part of the script! Director, help her!

[Hmm, something seems off, doesn’t it?]

[No way! Is there really a twist?]

[How did Ruan Qiu figure this out? She hasn’t even acted in a palace drama before, has she?]

[Let me boldly guess, Empress Wan and the Fourth Prince were having an affair!]

“And this madness-inducing drug even has an antidote,” Ruan Qiu smiled, “This indicates that the person who poisoned you never intended for you to die but rather used another method to keep you safe.”

Empress Wan’s face turned pale. She seemed at a loss for words, her eyes darting around as she tried to come up with an explanation. Meanwhile, the live stream audience was on the edge of their seats, eager to see what would happen next.

“Let’s think this through,” Ruan Qiu said, pressing Empress Wan step by step to speak. “If the Fourth Prince launched a rebellion tonight and succeeded in seizing the throne, the previous concubines would naturally suffer. But the Empress in the Cold Palace might not. That palace maid wanted to take you out of the palace, right? Why did it happen just before the rebellion?”

Backstage, the director was sweating profusely.

This was a plot hole!

He had arranged for Empress Wan to provide clues for the guests. His original plan was that after the guests got the antidote and extracted this clue, Empress Wan would go mad and hang herself to create some horror. He hadn’t thought this far ahead!

The palace maid was also a last-minute arrangement to prevent Ruan Qiu and Xue Wu from getting this clue. He had deliberately sent an actress to silence Empress Wan. Who would have thought Ruan Qiu would become suspicious and ask such logically sound questions? Normally, who would suspect the identity of an extra!

The director bitterly thought this was his comeuppance. Had he lost? Couldn’t Ruan Qiu spare his script?

The director’s mind began working frantically. An idea struck him, and he provided Empress Wan with a very melodramatic but useful excuse.

Empress Wan, after receiving the director’s instruction, hesitated and then said to Ruan Qiu, “Because I’m pregnant with the Fourth Prince’s child.”

Ruan Qiu: ?

The people watching: ??

Ruan Qiu’s face went blank for a moment. She repeated, “You’re pregnant with the Fourth Prince’s child?”

“Yes,” Empress Wan nodded.