Chapter 400 Conspiracy
This was the first snow since the beginning of winter, and it continued to snow for three days without stopping.

The cold wind was howling outside, and the fire in Chonghua Hall was burning hot. The hall was quiet, with only the continuous "crackling" sound of the silver carbon in the furnace.

Madam Li sat quietly on the warm couch, her eyes fixed on her daughter who had just turned one year old.

"My lady, look how soundly the little princess is sleeping."

Facing the maid's words, Madam Li did not respond, but only asked, "Is your majesty in the Qinzheng Palace for meetings? Or in the Jiaofang Palace?"

The maid lowered her eyes upon hearing this and replied in a low voice: "He is currently in the Qinzheng Palace, but for the past two days, His Majesty has been staying in the Pepper Room Palace to accompany the Queen."

The maid thought her master would be jealous when she heard that the emperor favored the young queen one after another, but unexpectedly, Lady Li just laughed it off.

The master has always been very cunning, and even her personal maid couldn't understand her. When the maid saw that the master asked a question and stopped talking, she also shut up tactfully. At this moment, the little princess who was sleeping soundly began to cry.

Lady Li picked up her little daughter, and the child stopped crying. The maid smiled and said, "The little princess likes it best when you hold her."

Madam Li looked down at her daughter, smiled bitterly and murmured to herself, "She was born a princess, so she is naturally free from worries. My child, do you know how much risk your mother took to give birth to you, but you were born a girl."

As she said this, Madam Li sighed and said, "Because you are a girl, I have to take another risk."

Seeing that her mistress was worried, the maid hurriedly tried to comfort her: "Didn't the imperial physician say that your pulse is steady? Your pregnancy is guaranteed to be a prince."

Lady Li smiled when she heard this, and handed her daughter to the maid: "The princess is hungry, take her to the nurse to feed her."

The maid reached out to take it, but the child clung to her mother's clothes with her little hands and refused to let go. The maid stopped her hand. Madam Li winked at the maid and said, "Take the princess away. Her fussing will affect my pregnancy."

The maid got the order and came over to hold the child, but the child cried even louder. The maid couldn't force it, so Madam Li frowned and stuffed her daughter into the maid's arms. She waved her hand and said, "Take her away. Don't hold her here too much in the future. I need to take good care of my pregnancy for the time being."

The maid hurriedly agreed and carried the crying child out of the hall.

Just as Lady Li was about to lie down to rest, she heard the eunuch's voice outside, saying "hello", "The emperor has arrived."

Madam Li hurriedly got off the warm couch with the help of her maid, quickly tidied her clothes, and then walked out with steady steps to greet him.

The young emperor had already entered the inner hall. Seeing his favorite concubine bowing to him, he raised his hand to stop her: "Get up quickly."

Madam Li personally stepped forward to take off the emperor's cloak, and said gently: "It's snowing heavily outside. Your Majesty, why did you come here in the snow?"

Zhao Pan warmed his hands in front of the stove and replied with a smile: "I was worried about you, so I came to check on you."

The maid brought hot tea, and Madam Li took it and handed it to Zhao Pan, smiling and saying, "What's there to worry about? Didn't the imperial physician say that the pulse is steady and our child is fine?"

Zhao Pan took a sip of hot tea and sat down on the warm couch: "Has mother not caused you any trouble recently?"

"No." Lady Li replied straightforwardly, and then she tried to comfort Zhao Pan: "Your Majesty, don't worry. The Queen Mother has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. How can she really not care about her own grandson?"

The woman looked so calm and composed that Zhao Pan felt sorry for her.

He raised his hand and pulled his beloved concubine to his side, calling her by her maiden name in a gentle voice, and said, "Li'er, don't worry, I will definitely protect you." Upon hearing this, Madam Li looked at Zhao Pan, sniffed, and choked up: "As long as our child is safe and sound, I will be satisfied."

As she spoke, she shed tears: "As for me, after I give birth to the child, I will let them do whatever they want with me."

"Don't say stupid things."

Seeing the beauty crying, Zhao Pan felt even more unbearable and raised his hand to wipe her tears. Lady Li then fell into Zhao Pan's arms and began to sob.

"Your Majesty, I have already sinned by causing you to feel estranged from the Queen Mother because of me. I beg you, please do not make plans for me anymore. Once we give birth to our child, I will die without regrets."

Zhao Pan was so heartbroken by her crying that he gritted his teeth and said, "If I can't even protect my own woman, then what's the point of being an emperor?"

"Your Majesty..." Madam Li called softly, and quickly raised her hand to cover Zhao Pan's mouth: "It's not easy for you to sit on the throne of the emperor. Now you are married, and in a few years, the Lu family should give up power. At this critical juncture, you must not offend the Lu family."

The woman cried as she spoke, sobbing, "As long as Your Majesty and the child can be well, I will gladly accept the punishment even if it means being tortured to death."

Zhao Pan fell silent for a long while. He looked at the woman in his arms and said word by word, "Li'er, there's no need to wait."

Upon hearing this, Lady Li stopped crying and just looked at Zhao Pan pretending to be confused.

Zhao Pan sighed: "I have made up my mind."

Madam Li couldn't help but ask, "What has your majesty decided?"

"I have decided to get rid of Lu Ji and take back power." Zhao Pan said word by word.

"Your Majesty——" Lady Li covered her mouth in shock.

Zhao Pan's emotions suddenly became agitated, and he almost growled, "That Lu Ji is ambitious to begin with. When I first ascended the throne, I was still young, and it was fine for him to monopolize government affairs. Now that I am about to reach adulthood, he still refuses to give up power, and he even forced the daughter of the Lu family to be my queen. If I continue to tolerate this, won't the Great Zhou Dynasty fall into his hands sooner or later?"

Zhao Pan roared, "I don't want to endure it anymore. I can't endure it anymore!"

Seeing Zhao Pan like this, Madam Li showed a barely perceptible smile at the corner of her mouth, but she concealed it in an instant.

"But the Queen Mother." She stepped forward and hugged Zhao Pan: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother will not agree to you doing this. You must know that the Queen Mother is also a member of the Lu family. How can she agree to deal with Lu Ji and the Lu family?"

Hearing the mention of Empress Dowager Lu, Zhao Pan became even more excited: "She is the daughter of the Lu family, but she is also the wife of my Zhao family. The thieves are in power, shouldn't she kill her relatives for the sake of justice?"

As he spoke, Zhao Pan slammed his hand on the table, his eyes and teeth clenched: "In short, I must kill this Lu Ji."

After he had vented his anger and calmed down, Madam Li spoke slowly, "Your Majesty is ambitious and unwilling to be controlled by others. It is reasonable for you to want to eliminate the traitors."

She paused and said, "But Lu Ji is definitely not an ordinary person. If Your Majesty wants to get rid of him, you must be cautious."

Zhao Pan smiled upon hearing this and replied, "I plan to surprise him."

"I have appeased him during this period. Tomorrow morning, Chen Xiuyuan and the Zhao clan will expose his crimes in the court. At that time, I will directly convict him and execute him on the spot."