My apologies, I will write less these days. I am truly sorry. There is something wrong with my mental state, and I keep feeling my heart palpitate. I don't know why. It should be a mental problem, not a physical problem. I wish everyone a happy weekend.
…
…
There was a fire in the Imperial Palace. Although it was raining heavily that day, and the fire came out of nowhere, intentionally or unintentionally, the Crown Prince's tutors and others all saw the Crown Prince, who had been frightened and was not very willing to speak.
Thus, in the following days, the Crown Prince did not listen in at the side of the royal study. There was a good reason. Not many people would suspect that there was something fishy hidden in it.
The royal courtyard was where Lin Wan 'er had prepared to get married and moved out of the Royal Palace to live. It was also where Fan Xian had climbed the wall countless times. However, if he wanted to climb it again, he would certainly be shot into a hedgehog by countless crossbow arrows.
The defense around the courtyard was tight. The four streets along the courtyard had long been sealed off. It was like a large square. The courtyard was the small circle inside, and the outside was the Overwatch Council's tight blockade.
Nominally, it was the Eldest Princess who was recuperating in that small circle, but the officials in court knew that this princess was imprisoned here by the Emperor. The Overwatch Council watched her very closely. Not even a mosquito could fly in, so news could not come out.
How long would she be imprisoned for?
A carriage, accompanied by guards, slowly approached from the east. The owner of this carriage had entered the Palace earlier but had not received any news. Thus, he was taking a great risk and coming to the royal courtyard in the west of the city.
The driver was Teng Zijing. This carriage, with the Fan family's square and circle insignia, was coldly stopped half a street from the courtyard.
The curtain was lifted slightly, revealing Lin Wan 'er's tired and slightly sorrowful face. She had entered the Palace to see the empress dowager but did not see the empress. Although the empress dowager did not say anything, the atmosphere in the Palace and the strangeness of certain details had already confirmed the suspicions in her heart.
Regardless of whether it was from Fan Xian's point of view or the royal family's point of view, she should not have come to the courtyard today, even though it was her mother who was imprisoned inside.
She could not help but come. She had a very inauspicious feeling that if she did not see that woman again, she would probably never have the opportunity to see her again in this life.
How many years?
…
…
"Madam, the edict is clear. No one is allowed to disturb His Highness's rest," an official of the Overwatch Council said calmly. "Why don't you go ask for an edict?"
After a few rounds of negotiations, Fan Manor's carriage still could not go any further. Lin Wan 'er sighed and returned to the carriage. She knew that she should not have come, but … she shook her head and said, "I understand."
The Overwatch Council official let out a sigh of relief and quickly bowed to express his thanks. If it had been any other official or noble who wanted to come to the courtyard to see the Eldest Princess, the people of the Overwatch Council would have long taken sticks and chased them out. However, the woman in the carriage was the Eldest Princess' own daughter. Most importantly, she was the wife of the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council, Fan Xian.
This latter identity made it so that no one in the Overwatch Council dared to be the slightest bit rude.
Lin Wan 'er didn't seem to hear what he was saying. She stared blankly at the familiar garden in the distance and slowly lowered her head. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes as she silently prayed for her mother.
— —
The fact that the Eldest Princess had been placed under house arrest naturally caused a great shock in the court.
No one would underestimate the secret influence this woman had over the Qing court politics during these dozen years, as well as the control she and the people around her had over the court.
Since the Eldest Princess had not died, no one knew what would happen in the future. Fortunately, the Emperor had swiftly and decisively cleaned out the Eldest Princess' faction and perfectly displayed an Emperor's terrifying control and killing power. Not many people were worried that there would be any major changes in court politics.
Some factions felt happy from the depths of their hearts, such as the Overwatch Council, the Hall of Governmental Affairs, and Taichang Temple. Many people felt afraid. They didn't know when they would be invited to the Overwatch Council for tea. Many people felt excited. They felt that it was not a waste of their lives to be able to see the Emperor and Princess, brother and sister, fall out with each other.
There were also some people who felt sad and hurt. Sad and hurt for different reasons. For example, Lin Wan 'er was sad because of her mother-daughter relationship. For others, it was because they had lost many opportunities to climb higher.
However, everyone had a common understanding. Of all the factions, it should be the Second Prince who was the most terrified and sad.
Fan Xian had used two years to bring the connection between the Eldest Princess and the Second Prince to the surface and beat the Second Prince's faction into a frenzy. Everyone knew that the Second Prince's true support was the Eldest Princess. Now that the Eldest Princess had lost power and been placed under house arrest, what would the Second Prince do?
Not many people knew the relationship between the Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince.
Including the Second Prince.
Thus, in the manor, the Second Prince was just as everyone guessed. He was shocked, sad, disappointed, hurt, and terrified. He crouched on the chair and unconsciously held a piece of pastry in his hand. He didn't send it into his mouth. His fingers tightened and squeezed the pastry loosely. His eyes unconsciously looked at the manor's front door. It seemed that at any moment, the eunuchs in the Palace and officials of Taichang Temple would charge into the manor and capture him to house arrest.
No matter what, the Second Prince could not understand why his father would suddenly attack his aunt. Furthermore, he was even more shocked by his father's silent attack and thunderous power. It was not until this moment that he finally understood that just because the Emperor had not moved didn't mean he didn't have the power to move. It was just that he had been too lazy to move before.
When the Emperor moved, heaven and earth changed color. Silently, after a thunderstorm, the situation in Jingdou changed.
The Second Prince didn't know what he was about to face. The Emperor was very clear about his relationship with the Eldest Princess. Perhaps he would never have a chance to rise again in this life.
He sighed and placed the pastry on the plate beside him. With a pained smile, he accepted the handkerchief and wiped his hands. Gazing at wangfei Ye Ling 'er beside him, he said, "If there are any problems, presumably, for the sake of your great-uncle, father won't make things difficult for you."
There was a faint layer of worry in Ye Ling 'er's bright eyes. She knew why her husband had been obediently staying in the manor these few days, constantly preparing to be captured.
However, she couldn't comfort him, nor could she do anything to help him.
The power in the Second Prince's hands that he could rely on was the Ye family. In the days after the Eldest Princess was imprisoned, he didn't have any open or secret communication with the Ye family. He knew that each and every one of his actions was being watched by the Palace.
He was not prepared. More accurately, after his aunt was suddenly beaten into the dust, he didn't have the courage to do anything. He was worried that his strange actions would make his father even angrier.
For the sake of his own life, it was better to be quiet. Imprisonment, at least, was not death.
…
…
The Second Prince obediently waited for the arrival of the end in his manor. The people of Jingdou, up and down the court, were also waiting for the day the Second Prince was finished. Everyone waited for a long time, but there was still no edict from the Royal Palace. This reality inevitably made everyone feel puzzled and endlessly speculate.
At this moment, an edict came out of the Palace.
Everyone was so shocked that they couldn't say a word. The news reached the manor. The Second Prince was so shaken by this edict that he fell straight off his chair. Boundless unexpected joy and boundless puzzlement turned into boundless shock in his mind. Why was this?
The edict was written very clearly. The King of Nanzhao had just passed away. The Emperor had specially ordered the Crown Prince, Li Chengqian, to go out on a tour on behalf of the Emperor and to seal Nanzhao.
Nanzhao? This was a vassal country that had been forcefully taken down by the Qing army seven years ago. Its location was remote, there was a lot of poisonous miasma, and the roads were difficult to traverse. It was thousands of li away. A round trip would take at least four months.
Although Nanzhao had been peaceful these years and saw the Qing Kingdom as its master, the two countries had a close relationship. When the King of Nanzhao passed away, the Qing Kingdom had to send a person of considerable status to mourn and attend the ceremony. But, why the Crown Prince? This was completely against common etiquette.
Why not the Great Prince?
Why not Hu the Scholar?
Why not Fan Xian?
At such a sensitive time, the Crown Prince was suddenly sent thousands of li away to Nanzhao. What did this mean? Could it be a form of exile?
The Eldest Princess had been placed under house arrest. Everyone had thought that the second unlucky person would be the Second Prince. No one had expected it to be the Crown Prince.
Did the Emperor finally have the thought of dethroning the Crown Prince?
Although the details of the current situation were not enough to support this judgment, the crafty officials in court all sensed that there was something strange in the wind. However, they could not understand it.
The Second Prince himself was the person who could not understand it the most. He only felt a chill run through his entire body. His father's actions were always so unexpected and chilling. The way he did things was like flowing clouds in the sky. No matter how hard he tried, he could not figure out the traces.
After the Second Prince's shock, he became even more well-behaved.
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