"Wang Fei, Wang Ye is here. "Wang Fei."
Shi shi covered her mouth and coughed a few times. "I know."
Prince He walked into the room and saw Shi shi's pale face. He stopped as he prepared to leave. "Has the grand doctor taken a look?" When he was sending Fuhuang to the burial, Shi shi had suddenly felt unwell. He could only send someone to send her back.
Now that it was getting late, he hesitated and decided to come take a look. Even though he did not agree with many of Shi shi's actions, they had shared the same bed for many years. He could not ignore her.
"Qie is fine now. I've made Tai … … Wang Ye worry." Shi shi looked at the cloak he was wearing. She had never seen him wear this cloak before.
"It's good that you are fine." The room became quiet. Prince He and Shi shi had nothing to say. Prince He knew that Shi shi did not want to marry him, but the crown prince, the future emperor. He was the last crown prince, a wang ye who was struggling at death's door under the new regime. He was not the man she wanted.
Seeing the Crown Prince's cold attitude, Shi shi suddenly felt wronged. After she married him, who didn't praise her for being dignified and virtuous? Now that he was estranged from her, what was she trying to achieve by scheming against him?
A day as husband and wife, a hundred days of grace. They had been married for so many years, did they not have this bit of friendship?
However, Shi shi's personality had always been steady. Even though she was discontent inside, she would not say these things in front of the servants.
"Wang Fei." A servant ran in with a panicked expression. He did not even notice Prince He who was standing in the corner of the room.
"Wang Fei, we did not manage to buy the things you had us buy."
"What did you say?!" Shi shi stood and walked in front of the servant. "Didn't you say it would be foolproof?"
"The shopkeeper is too smart. This subordinate did not expect this. What should we do now?" The servant knelt on the ground. His expression was uglier than Shi shi's. If this matter was exposed, they would undoubtedly die.
Shi shi stood up in confusion. A beat later, she thought of Prince He who was standing in the corner. She opened her mouth to say something, but the implications of this matter were too great. She did not dare to speak.
Prince He could see from her expression that something must have happened that he did not know about and was very serious. Thinking that Shi might have done something daring behind his back, Prince He took a deep breath. "What happened?"
Your highness, I … … "Shi shi's shoulders trembled slightly. She looked down, not daring to look into Prince He's eyes.
"His Majesty has ordered Prince He to enter the palace."
When she heard this report, Shi Shi was so frightened that her entire body went limp and she sat down on the ground.
"Tell me, what have you done?!" The crown prince grabbed her shoulders and stared sharply at Shi shi, wanting to get an answer from her.
Shi Shi shook her head in fear and broke down into tears.
"Prince He." Wang De stepped into the room and ignored Shi shi who was sitting on the ground crying. He said expressionlessly, "His Majesty has ordered for Wang Ye to immediately enter the palace for an audience."
Prince He let go of Shi Shi and stood up to tidy his robes. "I accept the decree."
In the Great Moon Palace, Ban Han had the palace maids comb her hair into a new bun. After making sure that all the broken hair was hidden inside, her mood turned from bad to good.
"Niangniang, this flying immortal bun is so beautiful." Ru Yi held a mirror for Ban Han to see the bun she had combed. "Just like the immortals in the murals."
"Your mouth is still so sweet." Ban Han stood and looked at the sky that was dyed red by the setting sun. She walked out of the hall and prepared to stroll around the Imperial Gardens.
When she came out of the hall, she saw Wang De take Prince He in the direction of the Imperial Study. She frowned and turned to the palace maids behind her, saying, "Wait here, I'll go take a look."
"Niangniang," Ru Yi spoke, "You are not going to stroll around the Imperial Gardens?"
Ban Han looked and smiled. "I'm going to live in the palace for a few decades, when can't I go take a look? Also, it's late now and there's nothing to see in the Imperial Gardens. "
Ru Yi couldn't stop her and could only bow and retreat.
Prince He followed Wang De into the inner hall. Seeing Rong Xia sitting in front of the Imperial desk, he went forward and respectfully bowed.
If it was in the past, Rong Xia would have already opened her mouth and dismissed him. But today, Rong Xia didn't speak. She just looked at him quietly as though she was sizing him up or weighing something.
After a long silence in the room, Rong Xia finally spoke: "Have a seat."
The layout of the Imperial Study hadn't changed much, but every object inside was new. For Prince He, this place was both familiar and strange. He raised his hands in a bow towards Rong Xia. "Why has Your Majesty summoned this subject?"
Rong Xia put down the book in her hand, her face filled with gratitude. "Wang Ye is wise and is willing to abdicate the throne to zhen. Zhen is very grateful. Ever since I ascended the throne, I haven't dared to treat Wang Ye lightly. If there is anything lacking, please point it out, Wang Ye. "
Prince He felt that Rong Xia's words weren't right. He stood and bowed to Rong Xia: "Your Majesty is very good to this subject. This subject is not dissatisfied."
"Since Wang Ye isn't dissatisfied with zhen, then why did you send people to assassinate zhen's Empress and use the Empress as bait to lure zhen?!" Rong Xia threw the teacup on the table to the ground. This was the first time he didn't care about his image and lost his temper in front of an outsider. "Even if zhen took your throne and you are dissatisfied with zhen, you can come at zhen. But you shouldn't have attacked Huahua!"
Prince He looked at Rong Xia in shock. What was going on? Huahua was attacked?
"The, the Empress was attacked?!" Prince He's voice was slightly anxious, "How is the Empress now?"
Rong Xia glanced at him and sneered: "At this time, Wang Ye still remembers the sibling relationship between you and Huahua. This world is already in zhen's pocket. If it wasn't for Huahua's face, zhen wouldn't have spared your lives and given you titles. And you people, what do you think Huahua is? "
Ever since he ascended the throne, although Rong Xia didn't put many officials of the previous dynasty in important positions, he didn't take their lives. But Rong Xia didn't think that his moment of benevolence would make these people greedy and make them collude with the Crown Prince again in an attempt to kill him and take back the throne.
"Your Majesty, this subject definitely doesn't have such intentions," Prince He stood, "The great cause is long gone. This subject knows his own limitations, how could I have the heart to take back the throne? Your Majesty, please tell this subject how Huahua is. "
This time, he didn't call Ban Han Empress. Instead, he called her childhood nickname, Huahua.
In a moment of desperation, he didn't care about etiquette anymore. Prince He didn't understand. Everything had been fine before. How come in just a few hours, such a big thing had happened?
"The Empress is fine," Rong Xia didn't miss any emotion on Prince He's face, "Wang Ye said this matter has nothing to do with you, but many of the captured assassins were your former subordinates. These people are loyal to you, and even now, they insist that they are Li Wang's people. If Wang Ye isn't busy, come with zhen to the Heavenly Prison. "
"This subject is willing to go."
The door to the imperial study opened. Rong Xia's expression changed slightly: "Huahua?"
Prince He saw that Ban Han's face was ruddy and didn't seem to be injured. He instantly relaxed. He bowed to Ban Han, "This subject greets the Empress."
"Wang Ye doesn't need to be so courteous," Ban Han smiled at him.
Rong Xia saw her smile was normal and thought that she hadn't heard the conversation in the study. He was about to relax when Ban Han spoke.
"I also want to take a look at the Heavenly Prison. Take me with you."
Rong Xia: … …
He turned his head to look at Du Jiu, who was standing at the door. Du Jiu shrank his head back. The Empress didn't let him speak, how could he dare to make a sound? Your Majesty, you have to do all you can to please the Empress. What can these poor guards do?
"I can't go?" Ban Han raised an eyebrow at Rong Xia.
"Alright, let's go together."
Seeing the way the two interacted, Prince He's tense jaw relaxed a bit.
The Heavenly Prison was jointly managed by the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice. All of the important prisoners were locked up here. This place was heavily guarded. Unless there was a decree from His Majesty, the relatives and friends of the prisoners were not allowed to visit.
Ban Han found that the guards here all had serious expressions, with a bit of fierceness on their faces. The words "unauthorized people do not enter" were written all over their faces.
Even when the Emperor and Empress came, they only bowed respectfully and didn't impatiently go up to curry favor. After Ban Han walked in, she turned back to look at the guards who were standing properly with wide shoulders and long legs.
Rong Xia noticed her small movements and squeezed her hand to stop her eyes from wandering.
Were these men better looking than him?
Ban Han blinked innocently at him with a look that said, "Why are you squeezing me?"
Rong Xia's heart itched from this look. He squeezed her hand a few more times before he managed to suppress the emotions in his heart.
When they were going down the steps, Rong Xia looked at the magnificent dress behind Ban Han. He bent down and lifted up her dress. When they reached the end of the steps, he put down the dress. He did it very naturally, but it stunned the guards and Prince He in the Heavenly Prison.
"This subject greets Your Majesty, greets the Empress, greets Prince He." Liu Banshan came out to greet them. He also noticed His Majesty's action of lifting the Empress' dress. However, he concealed it very well. No one could see his emotions.
"No need to be so polite," Rong Xia said directly. "Where are the assassins being held?"
Liu Banshan looked at Prince He and bowed. He said, "Your Majesty, please come with this subject."
If His Majesty was willing to bring Prince He here, it meant that His Majesty had left some leeway for Prince He. If this matter really had nothing to do with Prince He, for the sake of the Empress, His Majesty would not make things too difficult for Prince He.
At this time, the assassins held in the Heavenly Prison had no plans of leaving alive, but when they saw Prince He being brought in by the Emperor, their expressions changed. Liu Banshan noticed his expression and his heart sank. It seemed that this matter really did have something to do with Prince He.
"You …" Prince He saw these assassins and had a shocked expression. "Didn't I tell you to leave Jing, live a good life, and not come back?"
"Prince He, have you never heard of people dying for wealth?" an assassin said. "What can you do with the little silver you gave us? The King of Violence is cruel, but he is generous. Silver, houses, and women, we don't lack anything if we follow him. Why should we listen to you and go to those poor places to live a hard life? "
"Since you have become the wang ye of the new dynasty, you don't need to care about us brothers. We don't want to follow a master like you who has no backbone."
Prince He looked with a pale face at these assassins. These people were death soldiers that had accompanied him since he was young. The one who spoke had taken an arrow to his back and had to rest for more than a year to recover his primordial spirit. There was another one. Because he had lost three toes and an arm, the others were loyal to him and wanted to repay him with their lives. How could these people do such a thing for Jiang Luo?
Prince He suddenly thought of Shi shi's reaction before entering the palace. He looked dazedly at these people. A moment later, he said in a hoarse voice, "Did Shi shi order you to do this?"
The assassins' expressions changed. The assassin who had just spoken spoke again, "Prince He is really interesting. If you think that Wang Fei is old, you can just divorce her. How can you make her take the blame for such a thing? After all, one night as husband and wife, endless devotion. You are too heartless. "
The assassin was mocking Prince Hejin with every word he said, but every word he said removed Prince Hejin completely from the picture.
Even if Ban Ti was not the least bit interested in scheming, at this moment, he also understood. These assassins had most likely been gathered by Shi shi using Cousin's name. After the assassination was exposed, these assassins who were loyal to Cousin were not willing to implicate him. Therefore, they insisted that they were Jiang Luo's people.
In any case, Jiang Luo had done so many immoral things. It didn't matter if he took the blame for one more.
What Ban Han could understand, Rong Xia could also guess. He did not want to see this kind of master and servant relationship. He directly said, "Prince He, zhen will take you to see the King of Violence."
The assassins thought that Rong Xia wanted the two Jiang brothers to confront each other. They all sighed in relief.
It seemed that Emperor Cheng An really was suspicious of the King of Violence. They were relieved.
To get to the place where the King of Violence was being held, they had to pass by another prison. When they passed by Sky Cell 7, Ban Han saw the middle-aged woman locked inside and stopped.
This person was the procuress of Huan Hua Pavilion and also the head of the assassin tower. Without her luxurious clothes and gold hairpins, she looked much older.
The procuress also saw Ban Han. She expressionlessly looked away, no longer caring about life or death.
Ban Han chuckled and walked away. When the procuress heard her chuckle, she suddenly turned her head to look. She could only see Ban Han's back as she was escorted away by the crowd.
She thought of the Changqing Of Gojoseon, who was locked up even further away, and could not calm down.
No matter how handsome a man was, if he did not wash up or change into clean clothes for a long time, he was no different from the dirty sluggards on the streets. The Changqing Of Gojoseon once had a handsome face, but what Ban Han saw now was only a man with knotted hair and dirty clothes.
What elegance, what nobility, it all turned to smoke.
"Changqing Of Gojoseon," She stood outside the prison door, looking at the Changqing Of Gojoseon's black hands. Her voice was calm as she said, "I have a question in my heart. I wonder if you can answer it for me?"
Rong Xia and Prince He stopped in their tracks. Rong Xia looked at Ban Han but did not speak.
Probably because he had been locked up in the Celestial Prison for too long, the Changqing Of Gojoseon had become lethargic and did not have the elegance of the past. He looked at Ban Han and said calmly, "Ask."
"In the past, Ba Ge only said long live the Emperor. Was someone deliberately framing you, or was it a play that you put on?"
"I didn't think that good niece would remember such a small matter. I almost forgot." The Changqing Of Gojoseon laughed proudly. "Born in the Imperial House, there is no need to be obsessed with what is true and what is false. It is fortunate that cousin niece still has a pure heart."
His dark eyes landed on Rong Xia. "I only hope that the long life in the hougong will not bury your personality and cause you to become like those women, pale and dead."
Rong Xia frowned and did not speak.
"Humans, the rarest thing is a heart, and the most worthless thing is also a heart." The Evergreen King chuckled. "I hope that my good niece will never regret it in this lifetime, and that you will smile until you grow old."
"Thank you." Ban Han nodded with a smile. "Cousin has to live well. This Celestial Prison is spacious and airy. You will get used to it after a few years."
The smile on the Changqing Of Gojoseon's face froze. He stared with wide eyes at Ban Han like he was looking at a terrifying monster.
"I probably already know the answer to this question. Uncle, you don't have to answer it for me." Ban Yu's smile was like a flower, and the corners of her eyes were bright. "Uncle, please have a good rest. Since you're here, you don't have to worry about the politics of the imperial court. Isn't that great?"
Liu Banshan: No, he won't feel good.
Prince Heqin: Cousin's mouth, as always, is … full of character.
Rong Xia grasped Ban Han's hand. He didn't say any words of justification or promise, but he didn't care about the gazes of the people around them. He firmly and tightly grasped Ban Han's hand in his own.
Liu Banshan rubbed his nose. This was the Celestial Prison, a place for serious criminals. As the Emperor and Empress, couldn't these two show the majesty of the Emperor and Empress in front of the serious criminals?
Holding hands like this, it was as if they were out to play.
The Emperor had changed. He was no longer the calm and steady Emperor of the past. For a moment, Liu Banshan didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. When he had followed the Emperor, the Emperor was still in his twenties, but his methods of doing things were unparalleled and had won the admiration of countless people.
When he was young, he had heard his mother mention that there was no perfect person in this world. If there was, that person would not be happy.
When he was young, he didn't understand. It wasn't until he became the Emperor's subordinate and watched the Emperor calmly arrange one major event after another that he understood the meaning of his mother's words. The Emperor was calculating and scheming everywhere. In his eyes, there were only two types of people and things. One type was useful, and the other type was useless.
The only exception was Jingting Gongfu.
At the time, the Empress was only a village ruler, but she whipped the Tanhua that the Emperor Yunqing had personally chosen. She even made a fuss in court. Scholars had sharp tongues. The Empress had offended the scholars, so how could they have anything good to say to her?
But at this time, the Emperor actually stood up. He didn't stand with the scholars against a common enemy. Instead, he stood up for the Empress.
At the time, Liu Banshan thought that the Emperor wanted to be on good terms with the Ban Family. He also knew that the Emperor Yunqing liked the Empress, so he stood up for the Empress. Now that he thought about it, the Emperor probably already had a good impression of the Empress at the time.
Later, Du Jiu found out that the Ban Family had private dealings with the generals. Even the Minister of War, Zhao Weishen, often passed on information to the Ban Family. At the time, the Emperor was Emperor Yunqing's spy captain, but he didn't hand this information over. Instead, he suppressed it.
If the Emperor had handed this information over, even if the Princess Royal Family had a way to clear Emperor Yunqing's suspicions of the Ban Family, the Ban Family wouldn't have been promoted from a count to a duke, and the Empress wouldn't have been promoted from a village ruler to a princess.
Liu Banshan thought that the Emperor wanted to rope in the Ban Family. He wanted to use the Ban Family's position among the generals, so he helped the Ban Family. Reality proved that he really thought too much. Not only did the Emperor not use the Ban Family's connections, he even helped the Ban Family clean up the matter. Even the paranoid Emperor Yunqing couldn't see anything wrong with it.
Once a heartless person was moved, it would be like a withered tree coming back to life and an old house on fire. If one didn't destroy everything and was willing to contribute, then it wouldn't be called being moved.
The Emperor, who wanted to scheme against everything, probably didn't scheme against the Empress's feelings.
Looking at the man and woman holding hands in front of him, Liu Banshan turned his head to look at Prince Heqin. He saw that Prince Heqin's expression was even more at ease than his own.
As expected of someone who used to be a crown prince. His ability to adapt was better than his own.
The innermost prison was locked with a heavy iron door. There was only a palm-sized vent on the iron door. Looking in from outside, one could only see darkness. Prince Heqin's heart trembled. Was his second brother imprisoned here?
The heavy iron door opened. Prince Heqin blinked and barely saw an iron cage in the dark room. There was a person sitting in the cage. This person didn't move. It was unknown if he was alive or dead.
A moment later, Liu Banshan lit two candles. Only then did the light in the room brighten a bit.
"Second brother." Prince Heqin saw the person in the cage clearly and took a few steps forward. He suddenly stopped. After turning his head to look at Rong Xia, he pushed behind Rong Xia.
However, his small movements were discovered by Jiang Luo in the cage. He grabbed the cage and looked at Prince Heqin with a face full of ecstasy. "Brother, big brother, take me away. I beg you, take me away."
"I really can't stay here a moment longer. Take me away. I won't fight with you anymore. I won't fight with you anymore. Save me. "
Prince Heqin saw that he was wearing clean clothes. His face and hands were also clean. He looked many times better than the Changqing Of Gojoseon who was locked outside. His lips trembled. In the end, he didn't ask for mercy for Jiang Luo.
Jiang Luo saw that Prince Heqin didn't speak. He desperately reached out towards the outside of the cage. The man in his twenties cried miserably. "Brother, you can't leave me alone. Do you want me to die in here?"
"Your Highness Prince Of Violence, when this subject was in charge of you, I never mistreated you. If your words cause Prince Heqin to misunderstand, wouldn't this subject have to die as an apology?" Liu Banshan walked over with a lamp. He looked at Jiang Luo with a smile that wasn't a smile. "Your Highness, please don't speak nonsense."
When Jiang Luo saw Liu Banshan, his whole body trembled in fear. It was this bastard who locked him in this dark room all day. He didn't let anyone talk to him or appear in this room. Every day, other than three meals and a change of clothes sent in, no one else appeared. Even if these people appeared, they would treat him as if he didn't exist. They wouldn't say a word.
This kind of method of not beating or cursing people was fine for a day or two. After a long time, he realized that this was the most painful torture. Sometimes, Jiang Luo even wondered if he was really an emperor. Was he really still alive? What exactly happened outside? Otherwise, why was the world so quiet? It was so quiet that it made him want to go crazy.
Liu Banshan used to be a small official that he didn't take seriously. He didn't expect that this seemingly gentle person would have such a strange method of torture.
Therefore, when he saw Prince Heqin, his already tense mood finally collapsed. This was his only hope.
He couldn't even see Ban Han and Rong Xia because he knew that his big brother would definitely tolerate him and tolerate him. Even if he did something wrong, as long as he begged and cried, his big brother's heart would soften.
However, he forgot that his big brother was no longer the Crown Prince, and this world didn't belong to the Jiang family. Even if Prince Heqin wanted to save him, he couldn't.
Prince Heqin looked at his second brother who seemed a little abnormal. His lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't say a word to plead for mercy.
Those who died in his second brother's hands didn't have a chance to speak.
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