Lu Xiaoyun asked Feng Yan, "How's the situation with Li Qi going?"

Feng Yan replied, "Yes, we found it. Li Qi has a birthmark on his right buttock that looks like a wolfhound. This is not a secret in the brothel. The woman who was forcibly taken by Li Qi can also testify. In addition, I found the midwife from that year, and she can also testify. I examined the body, and the birthmark is indeed very obvious."

“As long as the body is placed in front of Li Quan, he will have no choice but to admit it.”

Lu Xiaoyun looked at him with a hint of appreciation; Feng Yan was indeed reliable. "Where is the midwife?"

"I have ordered my men to protect it. Please rest assured, Master, no one has discovered it."

Lu Xiaoyun nodded: "Very good, you go and rest first. Don't make any moves that might alert them. Let's wait for news from Wang Zhemao."

Feng Yan did not leave, but said again, "Master, I discovered something else this morning in the suburbs."

Lu Xiaoyun looked up at him: "Oh? What is it?"

Feng Yan replied, "His Majesty sent a letter to the Duke of Zhenguo early this morning, instructing him to return to Shengjing immediately upon receiving the letter."

Lu Xiaoyun frowned and asked him, "Isn't it time for the triennial performance review yet?"

"Yes, it won't arrive until the end of next year."

Lu Xiaoyun nodded, unsure of how the Duke of Zhenguo treated his daughter. In the memories the original owner had given her, the Duke of Zhenguo returned to Shengjing every three years to report on his duties, and the total time he spent in Shengjing would not exceed half a month.

After returning to the manor, he wasn't very close to the original owner's daughter, and the original owner wasn't close to him either. However, this father seemed to treat all his children in the manor the same way, except for the original owner's twin brother, who was always by the side of the Duke of Zhenguo and is now the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's manor, Lu Yucheng.

It goes without saying what the old emperor was planning when he ordered her father and brother to return to Shengjing ahead of schedule.

She had originally thought it would have to wait until next year at the earliest.

It seems the old emperor can't wait any longer?

Lu Xiaoyun asked, "Was it an imperial decree?"

Feng Yan shook his head: "No, His Majesty handled this matter very discreetly. We encountered Lian Yongyuan on the way back to the capital this morning."

"Moreover, the Emperor used the Crown Prince's name. If I hadn't noticed that there was a character on the letter that was written in the Emperor's unique handwriting style, I would have almost thought that it was written by the Crown Prince himself."

Lu Xiaoyun raised an eyebrow: "Oh, so you're using the Crown Prince's name? Isn't Father worried that the Duke of Zhenguo and his son won't listen? After all, the Duke of Zhenguo has always been neutral and doesn't participate in the struggle for the throne among the princes. The Crown Prince wants him to return to Shengjing, but the Duke of Zhenguo might not listen."

Feng Yan said, "The Emperor wrote on the document in the name of the Crown Prince, 'My father is critically ill, and I fear there will be great chaos. My fourth brother, Prince An, has been assassinated and is in imminent danger. I urgently request the Duke of Zhenguo to lead his troops back to the capital.' The Duke of Zhenguo and his son are extremely loyal to the Emperor. After receiving this letter, he will definitely set off for Shengjing immediately."

Lu Xiaoyun clenched her fists. Ha, the old emperor even cursed himself in order to destroy the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. He really used every trick in the book.

That's disgusting.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has only been established for a mere forty years, yet it is already so eager to kill its meritorious officials.

The saying goes, "When the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked." It couldn't be more true.

Therefore, Zhu Yu must hand over the tiger tally in her possession to the old emperor as soon as possible, and she must do so in front of all the civil and military officials, making sure everyone knows about it.

She went to Feixue Garden a little while later, tricked Zhu Yu out of the house, and asked Feng Yan to go inside and steal the tiger tally.

The Duke of Zhenguo's family has achieved great merit and overshadowed the emperor. The Lu family has a vast influence and many outstanding members in this generation. The emperor has become wary of them and suspects that the old emperor intends to use the Northern Army under Zhu Yu's command to restrain the Duke of Zhenguo and his son.

He tricked his father and brother into coming to the capital in the name of the crown prince, and then used fabricated charges such as "entering the capital without imperial edict", "holding up troops and becoming powerful", or even possibly fabricated evidence that his father and brother colluded with the Chen state in the southern border region, in order to imprison his father and brother on trumped-up charges such as "treason".

After all, his letter stated that his father and brothers should lead troops into the capital.

Ha, the old emperor is quite the schemer.

Lu Xiaoyun asked coldly, "Who was the person sent to deliver the message?"

Feng Yan sensed the oppressive atmosphere emanating from his master and respectfully replied, "A shadow guard by His Highness the Crown Prince's side."

Lu Xiaoyun snorted coldly. The shadow guards around the Crown Prince were given by the old emperor. These people are said to be the Crown Prince's men, but in reality, they are all the old emperor's men.

On the surface, the old emperor let the crown prince and the third prince fight to the death, while he reaped the benefits. But was the crown prince truly the heir apparent in his heart?

If that were the case, he would not have allowed the Crown Prince and the Third Prince to be evenly matched, nor would he have allowed Zhu Yu to command 200,000 Northern Army troops, forming a tripartite balance of power.

If the old emperor's preferred successor was not the crown prince, then who was his chosen heir?

Second Prince or Fifth Prince?

Lu Xiaoyun asked Feng Yan, "Has he discovered you two?"

Feng Yan shook his head: "No, we were quite far away at the time. After I spotted the guard, I thought the Crown Prince and Li Qi might be colluding. So I immediately went into hiding, gagged Lian Yongyuan, and ordered someone to take him away. I then led three men to flank him from three sides."

"When our men caught up with him, a landslide occurred. Although he was skilled in light footwork, the surroundings were chaotic at the time. Our men took the opportunity to knock the package he was carrying on his back off with small stones."

"This person was indeed very vigilant. He noticed immediately that the thing on his back was missing and panicked for a moment. However, our people created some chaos at that time, so he didn't notice."

"You put the letter back?"

"Yes, I only glanced at it quickly before hanging it on a tree he passed by. When the man saw it hanging on the tree, he took it down, examined it carefully, found nothing wrong, and left without any suspicion."

Looking at Feng Yan, Lu Xiaoyun thought to herself that Feng Yan's martial arts skills were probably extremely profound, and the cooperation between his secret guards was also quite tacit, otherwise it would have been impossible for them not to be discovered by the Crown Prince's secret guards.

After all, the secret guard that the old emperor sent to the crown prince must have been quite capable, otherwise the old emperor would not have assigned him such an important task.

Seeing that his "master" remained silent, Feng Yan continued, "His Majesty has already announced that he is unwell. When I arrived just now, I saw that Imperial Physician Jiang had been urgently summoned back to the palace."

Wow, the old emperor is quick on his feet.

Upon receiving the letter, the father and brother naturally set off immediately, while secretly sending people ahead to Shengjing.

It's nearly two thousand miles from Shengjing to the southern border. Even at the fastest speed, it would take two or three days. If Father were to send someone back immediately to inquire whether the old emperor was truly seriously ill and whether Prince An was truly on the verge of death, it would take at least ten days for the whole trip.

When the Duke of Zhenguo arrived in the capital, it was just around the New Year.

She asked in a low voice, "Is the news Father Emperor has released to the public that he is critically ill, or something else?"