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Gu Youyou smiled slightly and, looking at those so-called witnesses, said, "So you planted so many spies in our residence to surveil us, is that it?"

The maids, upon hearing this, were scared out of their wits; being disloyal to their master was a taboo.

Similarly, the Empress arranging people to spy on the Crown Prince Residence was also a taboo.

The Empress’s expression changed slightly, and she said sternly, "Don’t spout nonsense. The one who reported to me that you used surrogacy to have a child was Miss Yue from the Yue Family. You know very well how you drove her out."

Grinding her back teeth, Gu Youyou cursed Yue Ruxue thoroughly and continued, "Yue Ruxue has been away from Beijing for many days now. Why didn’t my royal mother come earlier, but waited until now?"

Because today, they had just deceived Jin Zijin to go out; naturally, she couldn’t say that, so she said, "The matter of surrogacy is serious.

Naturally, I could not just believe it blindly; hence, I conducted covert investigations.

These maids were all the objects of my secret investigation, and only last night when a woman giving birth was reported in your residence did I feel the evidence was irrefutable! "

Gu Youyou smiled and said, "It indeed was a worry for my royal mother, but fortunately, the truth is now revealed, proving that your son did not use surrogacy."

"Hmph..." The Empress sneered, "Whether it’s true or not remains to be seen. What about Miss Du, you bearing a child out of wedlock, how do you explain that? If there isn’t a reasonable explanation, both your newborn child and you yourself may not survive."

Back to it again, Miss Du’s face turned pale, and she instinctively glanced inside the room.

Her newborn son, so adorable—she would not let him die unjustly no matter what.

"Whose bastard child? Miss Du, if you confess honestly now, you might still keep your whole body."

Gu Youyou stood up, stood in front of Miss Du, and said to the Empress, "My royal mother, you being the mother of the nation, questioning a common woman about such private matters, might be inappropriate?"

The Emperor rubbed his somewhat tired temples and said, "Let the Governor’s Office handle Miss Du. Empress, you should not get involved in this matter. I am also tired today, let’s return to the palace!"

"Your Majesty, what about Gu Youyou?" The Empress, having instigated this affair, aimed at Gu Youyou, and seeing her well, was far from satisfied.

The Emperor quietly looked at the Empress and said, "Then what do you propose? The Imperial Physician can prove that the child was born by Gu Youyou. She took in Miss Du out of friendship. As for both children being born on the same day, they have explained the reasons. Whereas you claim that Youyou used unknown methods to fake the childbirth, what evidence do you have? Empress, I hope you understand the principle of stopping while you’re ahead. "

Having been here so long and still not seeing Jin Zijin return, the Emperor couldn’t help but worry.

Thinking it over, he sat back down, deciding to let her continue making absurd accusations, delaying time, waiting for Zijin to return and personally hand over his wife and child to him.

It would also teach him a lesson not to react rashly at every rumor and fall for someone’s stratagem of luring the tiger away from the mountain.

Seeing that she could not take down Gu Youyou today, the Empress was infuriated to the point of turning ashen.

She simply could not believe that the child was birthed by Gu Youyou, especially seeing Miss Du, who looked fragile as if she’d just given birth, whereas Gu Youyou, despite acting as a midwife all night, appeared as if nothing had happened, even claiming she had given birth herself - it just seemed too easy.

Given that Gu Youyou originally had poor health, she simply refused to believe it.

Outside, guards rushed in, anxious and flustered.