After returning to the wang fu, Hua Xi Wan took a comfortable hot bath and then curled up in the warm blankets. The servants of the wang fu spent the night putting away some of the overly bright decorations in the fu and changed them all into dull uniforms.
When Hua Xi Wan woke up in Yan Jinqiu's arms the next morning, she saw that the entire wang fu had changed. It was like a beauty without makeup. It was still beautiful, but it lacked some of its usual beauty.
Yan Jinqiu saw that she had changed into a snow-white palace dress with blue flowers. Even the coral and rubies that she usually liked had been replaced with jade, silver, and pearls. He said: "This month, I'll have to trouble you."
The Crown Prince had passed away at a very bad time. It was the transition between the old year and the new year. For no reason, there was winter thunder on a snowy day. If news of this spread among the people, who knew what kind of panic it would cause?
Perhaps in the hearts of the commoners, this Crown Prince was a scourge when he was alive. Even if he died, he would not find a good day. Why did he have to find bad luck on such a festive day? Wasn't this deliberately causing a bad omen for everyone next year?
Xian Wang Fu was so peaceful, but it didn't mean that the other fu were so smooth. For example, Ning Wang, Count Jingping, Princess Minhye, and the others of the Crown Prince's faction didn't sleep the entire night after returning home from the palace. The next day, they had to go to the palace to mourn for the Crown Prince. It was a double test of both physical and mental health.
An imperial censor wrote a memorial saying that the Crown Prince was of the younger generation. His uncles shouldn't mourn for him. The result was that he was beaten to death by the angry Emperor. He said to the civil and military officials: "Although the Crown Prince is of the younger generation, he is the heir apparent. He is different from normal princes. Other than the Empress Dowager and his birth mother, everyone in the world is mourning for him."
Perhaps it was because an imperial censor had been beaten to death. In addition, no matter how disappointing the Crown Prince was, the Emperor only had one son. If he wanted to mourn, then so be it. In any case, it was the Crown Prince who was losing good fortune, not them.
In Jing, all of the second-rank officials and above entered the palace to keep vigil at the Crown Prince's coffin. Funeral speeches from all over the country were also sent to Jing at top speed. Just when everyone thought that the Emperor would stop tormenting, the Qilong Emperor let out another shocking thunder.
The Emperor wanted to confer the Crown Prince the posthumous title of Pingxiao Emperor, which immediately caused an uproar among the civil and military officials. Since ancient times, they had seen sons conferring the title of Emperor on their fathers, but how could there be a case where the father was still alive and conferred the title of Emperor on his dead son?
This was related to the system of the ancestors of the rivers and mountains, from top to bottom, there were many people who opposed it. Many ministers knelt in front of the Palace gate and did not get up, only begging the Emperor to withdraw the order. However, the Qilong Emperor was determined not to take back his decision. Thus, the Qilong Emperor and the courtiers began to confront each other.
In order to support the Emperor's decision, the Empress' paternal family, the Fang Clan, and the Crown Prince's bloodline ran everywhere. As long as the Crown Prince was conferred the title of Emperor, then as long as the child in the Crown Princess' womb was a boy, then the Crown Prince's line would not be without an heir.
The Qilong Emperor's intention was this. He didn't want the throne to fall into the hands of others after his death. So what he wanted to do now was to pave the way for the child in the Crown Princess' womb.
The neutral faction and those who supported the Crown Prince's coffin stood vigil for six days. The Qilong Emperor fought a tug of war with the opposition for six days. Hua Xi Wan even heard that there were officials from two dynasties who had died in front of the East Gate because of their opposition to this matter. Blood spilled everywhere and the scene was very bloody.
After returning to the wang fu, she asked hesitantly: "This old official killed himself in front of the Palace gate. Isn't he afraid that the Emperor will punish his descendants?"
"He doesn't have a son and has been engrossed in writing in the recent years," Yan Jinqiu said with a mirthless smile, "I heard that this daren once praised Prince Sheng's conduct in public."
Hua Xi Wan rubbed her chin and asked curiously: "You mean that this was Prince Sheng's idea?"
Yan Jinqiu leaned over and pressed his forehead against hers: "What do you think?"
Reaching out with her index finger to push his forehead away, Hua Xi Wan rubbed her neck. She hadn't had a good rest in the past few days of standing vigil at Zhu Que Palace, "It's fine if you don't say it. I'm too lazy to think about it."
"If you're so lazy, what will you do in the future?" Yan Jinqiu smiled helplessly and sat down next to her, "In these hundred days, we can't invite an opera troupe or a storyteller. I've already had the servants find some interesting books for you to pass the time. Bear with it for a while."
"This is an accident that can't be prevented. It's not your fault. What's there to be aggrieved about?" Hua Xi Wan drank a mouthful of stomach warming tea, "Right now, it's so chaotic outside. The people of Jing are in a panic. It's better to be low-key."
Ever since the Crown Prince had committed the crime, even Princess Duan He, who had always held her chin high, had become much more restrained, much less the Imperial Family that appeared to be glorious but was actually suspected by the Emperor. She would be satisfied if her paternal family wasn't involved in this matter.
"Don't worry, things will pass." Yan Jinqiu knew what she was worried about and comforted her: "Father-in-law is a smart person and won't interfere in this matter. What's more, the Fahrenheit Family is a distinguished family that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Others won't easily offend them. Don't worry too much. "
Hua Xi Wan forced a smile. "I know what you say is reasonable, but that is the family that raised me for more than a decade. I do not ask for my paternal family to be illustrious. I only ask for my family to be safe and sound, and be satisfied if there is no sickness or disaster."
Yan Jinqiu gently pulled her into his arms: "I know."
The two's words may have contained other meanings. Fortunately, the two reached a consensus and eliminated the most basic doubts.
Because of the chaos in the Imperial Court, even if Yan Jinqiu was an idle Wang Ye, he had to be busy. Hua Xi Wan closed the gates of the wang fu and declined all visits. After hearing that the Hua family wasn't involved in this matter, she sighed in relief.
Their Hua family was originally a normal aristocratic family. They had a good reputation, but they definitely didn't want to pursue a hundred years of fame. As for things like using death to persuade, the Hua family would never do that. They would choose a more reliable method to obtain the best and most stable results.
After a few days of bloody rain, the sky finally cleared. Hua Xi Wan curled up on the warm soft couch. Seeing the bright sunlight outside, she finally decided to walk out of the courtyard and walk around the wang fu.
The golden sunlight of the winter day fell on the body. Even though it wasn't especially warm, there was still some warmth. Hua Xi Wan walked around the houyuan. Just as she prepared to return to her room, she suddenly heard a commotion coming from the direction of the study. Her brow furrowed: "What's the commotion in the study?"
If Yan Jinqiu was in the fu, she wouldn't care about this matter. But now that the commotion was coming from the study, as wang fei, she had to care.
"Wang fei," The guard guarding the study saw Hua Xi Wan come with people and had a troubled expression. But with such a loud commotion, he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.
"What's going on inside?" Hua Xi Wan stood outside the moon door and could faintly see a dozen strong guards surrounding two people. Her brow furrowed and she said coolly, "Move."
The guard didn't dare to stop her and silently took a step back. Hua Xi Wan walked into the yard. When she saw the scene inside, her brow furrowed even tighter. The person surrounded by the guards was a young man with an unremarkable appearance. He was still wearing the manservant uniform of the wang fu. It was a pity that it was stained brown and he looked very disheveled. He held a knife in his hand and was holding it against the neck of the person he was holding.
Hua Xi Wan recognized the person being held hostage. It was one of Yan Jinqiu's taijian. But because of the presence of Mutong, this taijian was not very important to Yan Jinqiu.
"Wang fei, this person is a spy that the wang fu caught a few days ago. Who knew that he would be pulled out today." The guard walked to Hua Xi Wan and raised his hands, "What do you think … …"
Hua Xi Wan did not ask where this person had been locked up. She looked silently at the spy and hostage surrounded by the guards.
"Wang fei, this small one is innocent. Wang Ye set up a private prison and tortured this small one many times. There are people locked up under the study. That is hell for the living. Please be merciful and let us innocent people out." The spy saw that he couldn't escape. Seeing the wang fei that Wang Ye loved so much appear, he decided to go all out and try to cause a rift between the husband and wife. "The person next to you isn't a gentleman, he's a bloodthirsty demon. You can't be fooled by him!"
Hua Xi Wan tilted her head and said to the guard, "Close the door." After the door was closed, she turned back to look at the servant girls that had hurried over with her. She lowered her eyes slightly, "Other than my personal servant girls, lock up everyone else. We will make plans after Wang Ye returns."
No matter how true or false the spy's words were, what he said could not be spread. Otherwise, all of Xian Wang Fu would be finished. So she had to make this choice.
Hearing this, the guard released a breath inside. What he was most afraid of was that this wang fei only cared about the spy's words and did not care about anything else. Then Xian Wang Fu would really be in trouble.
"What, you don't believe me?" The spy had a crazy expression. He looked at the people around him, "Why don't I tell this charming wang fei what the elegant Wang Ye next to you has done?"
"Why should this wang fei listen to your nonsense?" Hua Xi Wan smiled coldly, "What I want to know is what your relationship is with this taijian that you are holding hostage. Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental that you were able to escape and become a hostage?"
Hua Xi Wan's eyes swept sharply across the trembling taijian. She snorted, "You appear to be very afraid, but you are cooperating with this spy. You have been held hostage for so long, but there isn't a red mark on your neck. Are all the bad people and hostages good friends?"
After saying this, Hua Xi Wan turned and said to the guard, "Do as you see fit. Keep your mouths shut."
Bai Xia and Red Tassel went forward to open the door and followed Hua Xi Wan out. The servant girls were locked inside.
After walking a few steps, Hua Xi Wan heard faint screams coming from the yard. Hua Xi Wan quickened her steps and hurried back to the room. She waved her hand and broke a few things on the shelf, overturned the table, and messed up the furnishings in the room. She steeled her heart and made a shallow cut on the back of her hand. She said slowly, "Bai Xia, there is an assassin."
Many people in the wang fu had heard the commotion just now. The situation in Jing City was so tense, and Xian Wang Fu was being watched by many people. Since it had started, she might as well make things more chaotic.
"Someone come, catch the assassin. Wang fei is injured!" Bai Xia steeled her heart and also made a cut on her thigh. Blood immediately flowed out. Then she smeared the blood on herself and Red Tassel. "Catch the assassin!"
Red Tassel banged her head against the corner of the table and then grabbed her hair and outer garment. She shielded Hua Xi Wan who was sitting on the ground and said in a shrill and terrified voice, "There is an assassin!"
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