The news of returning home has long been spread.
Outside Xuanwu Gate, there was a huge ceremony.
Xie Qingyi was dressed in a fancy dress, holding Wei Yanzhou's arm with a bright smile.
As the queen, Xie Nianyao stood by with a depressed expression.
There is a clear line between favored and unfavored.
In order to return home this time, Wei Yanzhou ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare many things, which could be said to have given Xie Zhiyun a lot of face.
Xie Zhiyun went to court today with his head raised a lot.
So what if the queen is not favored now? He has more daughters.
As long as he moves quickly enough, the next person to be favored will be the daughter of the Xie family.
Cheng Ning?
Cheng Ning is just an eagle whose wings have been chopped off. He can't ascend to a higher position or have children, so what's the use?
Congratulations were heard all around him, saying that he, the head of the state, was really the emperor's confidant.
In Linhua Palace.
Cheng Ning changed her clothes and asked Chunhua to place the medicine on the table.
"You have to drink it while it's hot," Chunhua explained. She was busy with other things. Thinking that Cheng Ning was used to drinking it, she didn't pay special attention to it: "Otherwise, it will be even more painful when it's cold."
Cheng Ning took the medicine and sat in the courtyard, lost in thought.
It seems that the Xie family is in a good situation now, with two daughters, a queen and a beloved concubine.
But Cheng Ning discovered that the beauty of Wei Yanzhou was here.
He forced the Xie family to stand on the opposite side of the aristocratic family, and seemed to be re-employed, thus avoiding Li's fate.
But now it is impossible for Xie Zhiyun to win the trust of other aristocratic families.
He can only be loyal to Wei Yanzhou.
Once Wei Yanzhou doesn't reuse him, the Xie family, which has no merit in the court, will not be able to stand at all.
Cheng Ning thought about why Wei Yanzhou didn't uproot the Xie family. Apart from Xie Qingyi and Xie Nianyao, maybe he knew that the Xie family couldn't escape his control, right?
I never knew Wei Yanzhou had such a scheming mind.
But now - I can only sigh, Wei Yanzhou has good tricks.
It gave Xie Zhiyun the illusion of victory, but the real person holding the rope was himself.
Cheng Ning thought about it and poured the medicine in his hand into the green chrysanthemum basin sent by Xie Qingyi.
At night.
The emperor was not in the palace, and the entire palace seemed to have an unusual sense of calm.
Cheng Ning said she was sleepy early, went to bed and told no one to disturb her.
When the yard calmed down, she got up, changed her clothes and climbed out of the back window.
She took the opportunity to hide the clothes of the palace maid.
There were no obstacles all the way to the prison, as if he knew she would come today.
Zhou Kuo stepped outside the gate with his hands behind his back.
Cheng Ning blew a cat's meow, and Zhou Kuo looked over and dismissed the prison's tight guards.
"Go on a tour of the neighborhood."
Then he came alone behind the rockery and was not surprised to see Cheng Ning. He took out the jailer's clothes that had been prepared from the rockery cave.
"Master Zhou," Cheng Ning asked as he put on his clothes, "How did you know I would come tonight?"
Zhou Kuo looked at the wind on the side: "Last time I came here, my conversation with General Cheng seemed to be fruitless, so I guessed that you would come again. Tonight, Your Majesty came back, thinking that you would come, so I was waiting here."
"Thank you very much. If Mr. Zhou asks for anything in the future, Cheng Ning will definitely be willing to do it."
She is not a person who talks too much, and there is always a time to repay love.
After changing clothes, Cheng Ning pretended to be Zhou Kuo's follower and followed him into the prison.
"Your Majesty should be a person with plans. If you can leave the palace in the future, you'd better stay away. Zhou Kuo doesn't ask for anything in return."
He avoided Cheng Ning's eyes, but he still looked at Cheng Ning's feet from the corner of his eye.
Cheng Ning vaguely felt that Zhou Kuo's attitude was a bit strange, as if he didn't care about taking risks for her.
"Cheng Ning thanks you in advance."
"Are you not feeling well these days?" Zhou Kuo asked as he rounded a corner.
Although he has no contact with the affairs of the harem, he has recently become closer to the Taiyuan Hospital.
I heard that the female medical officer named Meng often went to Linhua Palace, presumably to see Cheng Ning.
"It's nothing serious. I have an old problem."
Although Cheng Ning didn't know why Zhou Kuo suddenly cared about her body, it was indeed nothing serious.
"Medical Officer Meng has great medical skills. If she says it's okay, it must be okay."
After passing many cells and entering the place where the Cheng family was imprisoned, Zhou Kuo fell silent.
Pushing the person away, Zhou Kuo made a gesture of invitation:
"I guess it will be faster. The prison has been strictly inspected recently to avoid causing trouble."
Cheng Ning understood that it was Zhou Kuo who proposed the idea of reorganizing the prison. If someone discovered it, they would not be able to live without it.
"clear."
Cheng Ning got in, but this time he was not as nervous as last time.
She was grateful to Zhou Kuo from the bottom of her heart. It was just a little effort last time, but Zhou Kuo wanted to repay her with more.
After the prison was reorganized, the Cheng family was further separated.
Cheng Ning stopped in front of Cheng Fengxu's cell door and slowly squatted down: "Dad."
The people in the prison were in the dark and opened their eyes when they heard the sound and looked over.
When Cheng Fengxu saw Cheng Ning, he even closed his eyes in some avoidance.
"What are you doing here again?"
Tired from squatting, Cheng Ning simply sat down on the ground.
Dad is much older, with a shaggy beard and cloudy eyes. He is no longer the high-spirited General Cheng he used to be.
Cheng Ning took out a bottle of wine from his sleeve, opened the mouth of the bottle and handed it in: "The Northwest Spring Red you like."
The aroma of wine overflowed in the prison.
Cheng Fengxu took a sip and seemed to have been numb for a long time. A sip of strong alcohol made him sober.
"Have you made up your mind? You want to kill Wei Yanzhou?"
Cheng Ning stared at him closely: "I won't kill him, I want to know the truth."
"Don't bother, there is no truth. The truth is that the Cheng family did not conspire against you."
Cheng Fengxu raised his head and drank a few sips of wine.
He was determined not to say it, no matter how hard Cheng Ning forced him, it was useless.
"Dad, Wei Yanzhou dealt with the Cheng family before spring, which means things have turned around. What's the use of keeping a secret from twenty-four years ago?"
Hearing that twenty-four years ago, Cheng Fengxu's eyes flashed with a dark light.
Did Cheng Ning guess something or find something?
Seeing that he still planned not to speak, Cheng Ning said again: "The Supreme Emperor."
Three words made Cheng Fengxu drop the wine bottle in his hand.
The bottle spun around on the ground, and the remaining Wangchunhong flowed all over the floor.
"Actually, even if you don't tell me, I can probably guess what happened."
Cheng Ning just didn't dare to think deeply or admit it.
Cheng Fengxu pursed his lips and stared at Cheng Ning.
Suddenly, he rushed towards Cheng Ning, stretched out a hand and pinched Cheng Ning's neck.
"you shut up!"
The force was so strong that the cell door clanged loudly.
Zhou Kuo heard the sound and came in to check. Seeing this scene, he was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to separate Cheng Fengxu.
"Cough cough cough——"
Cheng Ning could actually avoid it, but she didn't.
She wanted to know if her father would really kill him.
Cheng Ning took a breath and said, "Master Zhou, please go out first."
Seeing that Cheng Fengxu was still looking at him eagerly, Zhou Kuo didn't dare to let Cheng Ning stay here alone.
What on earth did the father and daughter talk about to get Cheng Fengxu to kill their own daughter?
"Don't worry, nothing will happen." Cheng Ning reassured him: "Dad is just in a hurry."
Cheng Ning insisted that Zhou Kuo did not dare to stay any longer.
He retreated hesitantly.
"Go on, if you can't hear the word supreme emperor, then let's talk about the late queen." Cheng Ning said lightly: "Wei Yanzhou was actually born to the late queen, right?"
