The palace was extremely quiet after nightfall. The fire in Wangxing Tower of Prince Cheng's Mansion outside alarmed half of the capital, but it did not have much impact on the back courtyard of the palace.
Over at Fengxi Palace, Jin Zhi was taking a nap on the small couch in the ear room. A sudden knock on the door outside made her jump.
"who?"
"Aunt Jinzhi, it's me."
Jin Zhi recognized the voice of the person who spoke. He quickly got up and stepped on his clogs to lift the curtain and went out. He saw a thin figure standing in front of the door.
She suppressed her voice and showed displeasure: "Didn't I tell you that the Queen is not in good health during this period and it is difficult to sleep peacefully. I ask you not to disturb me at night..."
"Something happened outside." The little eunuch said hurriedly: "The news that came from outside the palace just now said that King Cheng secretly hid weapons and secretly recruited soldiers with the intention of plotting rebellion, but was caught by Marquis Wenxin and Governor Xiao. .”
"impossible!"
Jin Zhi's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted out as a conditioned reflex: "How could King Cheng rebel?!"
The young eunuch said: "It's true. Marquis Wenxin and his companions seized a lot of forbidden items in the palace. After they were presented to His Majesty, Your Majesty was so angry that he sent Prince Cheng and his son to prison."
"I heard that the old concubine in Prince Cheng's Mansion was killed, and that Prince Xie was not Princess Cheng's biological son. His Majesty has ordered the Privy Council to investigate the matter and dethrone his crown prince."
"Prince Cheng's Mansion has been surrounded by people. It looks like they are going to ransack the house. It's because it's dark right now that the news hasn't spread. I'm afraid the whole capital will know about it after dawn."
The little eunuch's words made Jin Zhi turn pale, and he was also worried: "The second prince also got involved in what happened tonight. I don't know how he came to be with Marquis Wenxin and the others."
"The Fourth Highness has been in trouble because of the Lu family recently. If the Second Prince is allowed to use Prince Cheng's affairs to make meritorious deeds and get noticed in front of His Majesty, it will be even more difficult for our Highness, Aunt Jinzhi..."
He was worried that the fourth prince would be upstaged by the second prince, and he was also worried that the second prince would overwhelm his highness after gaining power and seize the position in the East Palace. However, in the middle of the sentence, he saw Jin Zhi's face hanging down and his expression unclear.
"Aunt Jinzhi..."
"Aunt Jinzhi?"
The little eunuch couldn't help calling out twice. Seeing that Jin Zhi was distracted, he reached out and pushed her shoulder lightly.
Jin Zhi seemed to be suddenly awakened, and said "Ah" in his mouth.
The little eunuch was confused: "Aunt Jinzhi, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so distracted?"
Jin Zhi felt her heart beating hard and her face turning pale. Fortunately, the night was extremely dark and there was wind and rain covering her. She stood in the dark in front of the door so that the little eunuch in front of her didn't notice anything unusual.
She held on to her sleeves tightly, suppressing the panic in her eyes, and tried her best to speak in a normal tone: "It's nothing, how could our Highness lose to the second prince."
Jin Zhi said something casually and felt his mouth was dry. He just wanted to get rid of the people in front of him as soon as possible: "I know about the affairs of Prince Cheng's Mansion. You have done a good job. Your Majesty and Your Highness will remember your contribution."
"I'm afraid there's chaos outside right now. You continue to inquire for news and pay attention to external changes. If there is any news, come back and tell me immediately. Whether it's from Prince Cheng's Palace or the Second Prince and the others, don't forget it."
As Jin Zhi spoke, he pulled off a delicate silver bracelet from his sleeve and put it into the little eunuch's hand: "This is a reward for you."
The little eunuch was filled with joy after receiving the reward: "Thank you Aunt Jinzhi."
"Okay, do your job well, your benefits will be indispensable in the future."
"Yes, that slave retreated first."
The little eunuch stuffed the bracelet into his sleeves and left happily in the night. After the others left, Jin Zhi swayed and was almost unsteady due to his weak legs.
She stood up straight by holding on to the door frame, and took several hard breaths to gain some strength in her weak legs. Jin Zhi kept a steady voice and dismissed the palace guards guarding outside, moving back a little further, and then walked quickly. Turned around and entered the back hall.
Queen Lu was still sleeping inside. Ever since the incident in the Lu family, she had been restless and had trouble sleeping at night. When she finally fell asleep, she would wake up at the slightest movement.
As soon as Jin Zhi walked to the bed, the heavy footsteps already made Queen Lu open her eyes.
"Golden Bough?"
Queen Lu's long hair was disheveled, and her eyes were full of unhappiness as she muttered her voice. The irritability of being woken up after finally falling asleep gave her a splitting headache.
But before she could reprimand her, she saw Jin Zhi's pale face. She frowned and said, "Why is your face so ugly? What happened?"
"Empress..." Jin Zhi's lips trembled. After seeing his master, he could no longer hold back: "Prince Cheng... something happened in Prince Cheng's mansion..."
Empress Lu was rubbing her eyebrows and paused: "Something happened?"
"King Cheng hid weapons secretly and intended to rebel. He was captured on the spot by Marquis Yongxin and Xiao Yan..."
Swish——
Queen Lu sat up suddenly, her eyebrows condensed: "What nonsense are you talking about? How could Xie Tianyu rebel?"
"It's true. Prince Cheng's palace has been surrounded by people, Prince Cheng and his son are also in prison, and... and Prince Xie's life experience has also been discovered..."
Jin Zhi was so panicked that his voice trembled when he spoke: "Your Majesty knows that he is not the son of Princess Cheng, so he has already verbally referred to him as the crown prince and handed the matter over to the Privy Council and Xiao Yan for investigation."
"Your Majesty, Xiao Yan and the people from the Privy Council are mad dogs. They have been biting the Lu family before. If they find out that Prince Xie is your son from the Lu family..."
"Shut up!!"
Empress Lu didn't wait for Jin Zhi to finish her words before she shouted coldly.
Seeing Jin Zhi trembling with fright and looking at her with a pale face, Queen Lu sat on the bed with a stern expression, tucking up the brocade quilt in front of her and speaking every word.
"Xie Yin is Xie Tianyu's son, the biological son he and Rong Yue have raised for more than ten years. They say he is not the son of Princess Cheng just based on some unknown rumors. Where is the evidence?"
Jin Zhi trembled: "But Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty doesn't like King Cheng to begin with, but he just took the opportunity to embarrass him, but who can prove that Xie Yin is not of royal blood?"
Empress Lu looked up at her and spoke in an extremely calm voice: "Ten thousand steps back, even if someone really finds out that he is not Rongyue's son, it would be Xie Tianyu who deceived Rongyue by using someone else's bloodline. With this palace and the Lu family, It doesn’t matter at all.”
"I also have great sympathy for Rong Yue. It is not easy for a woman to put myself in her shoes and pity her."
After she finished speaking, she paused for a moment before continuing:
"You have been with me for so many years. You should know what to say and what not to say. Don't lose your sense and talk nonsense because of irrelevant things."
Jin Zhi's face was pale, but he was still panicking: "But if King Cheng opens his mouth..."
"He won't tell."
Queen Lu looked indifferent.
He hid weapons secretly and stationed troops secretly. He never really rebelled. At most, he only lost his life. If he could find a way to use Emperor An's reputation as a concern and use his clan and royal relatives to force him with blood, it would not be impossible to save King Cheng's life.
But once Xie Tianyu said something he shouldn't have said, he and Xie Yin would definitely die, and not even everyone related to him would survive.
He could not care about Xie Yin's fake son, but he could not care less about his biological blood.
