In the East Palace, ceremonial music played, and Song Heqing walked into the East Palace holding a wedding fan...

Song Heqing looked at the handsome Zhao Chong in front of her and breathed a sigh of relief. She finally got what she wanted, but she was not as happy as she had imagined.

When Song Heqing was worshiping heaven and earth, he glanced over with the corner of his eyes, wishing that Qi Yuning would appear.

Song Heqing never thought about her big day. Qi Yuning was not here. She didn't know how Qi Yuning was doing and whether she had escaped Qin Zhen's pursuit...

"The ceremony is over!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Minister of Justice hurried in and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, there is a fire in the prison, Master Lu, Master Lu has been burned to death!"

"What?!"

"How is that possible?!"

Qin Yuli was the first to walk up to the Minister of Justice and said, "I just came back from the prison. Cousin Ze is fine, isn't he? How could he be in trouble? How could it be?"

The King of Liao looked at Zhao Chong and said, "Ze'er is dead. It wasn't you who did it, was it?"

"Fifth brother!" Zhao Chong frowned, "Today is my great day, how could I do anything to Ze'er? Do you know the consequences of slandering me?"

Qin Yuli covered the wound on her abdomen and said, "I don't believe it. I don't believe that cousin Ze will die. I want to go see cousin Ze!"

“Zer! Ze!” Queen Qin, who was sitting in the palace, covered her chest and said, “Could something really have happened to Ze? Help me to the prison quickly!”

Zhao Chong didn't care about today's wedding. The ceremony was over anyway, so he went forward to support Queen Qin and said, "Mother, don't be anxious. Take your time."

The group arrived at the prison. As soon as they entered, the ground was wet. They walked inside and saw a charred cell and a burnt corpse with a blackened face that could no longer be seen clearly.

Qin Yuli knelt on the black watery ground, her trembling hands moving across the charred corpse in front of her. When she saw the jade token that Lu Ze was wearing, she stepped forward and hugged the corpse, screaming and crying.

"Cousin Ze!"

"Why did you leave? Why did you leave?"

"Empress!"

Queen Qin fainted when she saw the charred corpse. Zhao Chong stepped forward and hugged the queen, saying, "Mother!"

Zhao Chong was extremely sad and said, "Alas, Ze'er, Ze'er, why do you insist on slandering my life experience? It will only hurt others and yourself. Alas! Go peacefully."

Prince Ning said, "Your Highness, I think Ze'er's death was not simple. He mentioned opium before he died. I want to meet my father. There happens to be a Persian merchant in my mansion. He knows the spices made from opium. Why not let him see if the sweet grass fragrance used by my father is the fragrance of opium?"

Zhao Chong frowned and said, "Father is in seclusion at a critical moment. Father has ordered that no one is allowed to disturb him!"

Prince Ning asked, "Is the Crown Prince afraid that we will disturb him, or is he afraid that the matter of opium will be exposed?"

Uncle Qin stepped forward and asked, "King Ning, what do you mean by this?"

Prince Ning said: "I don't mean anything, I just want to know if my father is healthy!"

The King of Liao followed up with, "Yes, Father hasn't shown up for almost a month. We must see how he is doing!"

Zhao Chong looked at Uncle Qin, who nodded to the prince. After taking opium for a month, His Majesty had already become dependent on the drug. As long as opium was there, the old emperor was nothing more than a puppet.

Zhao Chong said: "Okay, I can let you meet my father."

Prince Ning and Prince Liao looked at each other, then followed Zhao Chong into the palace and went to the Taiji Hall.

As soon as I entered, I smelled a rich sweet fragrance. The Emperor Shi Yuan inside had lost a lot of weight, but he looked contented as he smelled the incense burner in front of him.

"I have reached a critical juncture in my cultivation. Who allowed you to come in? Get out!"

Prince Ning stepped forward and said, "Father, Ze'er said that the herb the crown prince gave you was poison... I want to verify it!"

Emperor Shi Yuan frowned and said, "My son has always been loyal. I have noticed that you have been scheming since you were a child. Don't you have the same ambition as the King of Shu to seize power? You come to disturb my practice and slander your brother. I can tell you, second brother, that the throne belongs to me and the crown prince is Chong'er. Don't even think of having those crooked ideas!"

Prince Ning knew that Emperor Shiyuan was partial to him, but he never imagined that Emperor Shiyuan hated him so much.

Who doesn't want the throne? A prince who doesn't want the throne is either incompetent or a fool. But he never thought of murdering Emperor Shi Yuan, but he didn't expect to be misunderstood like this.

Prince Ning shook his hand and made a fist, "Yes, Father."

Zhao Chong looked at Prince Ning arrogantly and said, "Second brother, can you leave now?"

Prince Ning could only bow respectfully and said, "Father, I will take my leave first."

In Shengjing City, the death of Prince Lu in prison became a hot topic among everyone. Everyone felt sorry for Prince Lu. After all, Prince Lu was going to get married in a few days, but he died in prison.

"This Princess Qi has such an unfortunate fate. It seems like she was born with an unlucky star. She has been an orphan since she was a child, and now her fiancé has died a few days before her wedding."

"During the time since Prince Lu got into trouble, Princess Qi never came out to speak a word on his behalf. Now that this person is dead, Princess Qi never showed up."

There was a lot of discussion in the teahouse.

In early April, in Beicheng and Shazhen, the weather gradually became cooler at dusk.

Lingling was sliding down the sand pile, waving her arms and shouting, with a look of joy on her face.

Princess Pingrou caught Lingling from below and said, "Okay, okay, it's getting dark today. Let's play again tomorrow."

Lingling said in Princess Pingrou's arms: "Grandma, Lingling misses mom and dad. Lingling is very good, why haven't mom and dad come over yet?"

Princess Pingrou touched Lingling's head. There was no news from Shengjing City, and Princess Pingrou was full of worry.

She was not only worried about her own children, but also about her father and mother.

The opium that my father was poisoned with had controlled his mind. My mother had always trusted the Qin family and loved Zhao Chong, so she would never doubt them...

Princess Pingrou could not let Qi Yu'an rashly start an army. She only hoped that the Persian envoy could expose the opium poison as soon as possible so that her father could regain his sanity. She thought that the Qin family would not dare to force the emperor to abdicate and rebel easily.

“Ling, Lingling!”

Lingling heard a familiar voice and looked back, only to see Qi Yuning riding on a big horse.

Linglinglian got down from Princess Pingrou's arms and ran quickly towards where Qi Yuning came from.

Qi Yuning turned over and got off the horse, ran towards Lingling, and hugged Lingling tightly in his arms.

Lingling burst into tears in Qi Yuning's arms, "Wuwuwu!"

Qi Yuning felt heartbroken when she heard Lingling crying in grievance. She hugged Lingling tightly and said, "Lingling, mother will never leave you again, never again."

Lingling was still crying in Qi Yuning's arms, "Mom is so bad, wuwuwu."

Qi Yuning also shed tears and said, "I'm sorry, Lingling. In the future, mother will not let you be separated from mother for so long. I'm sorry, Lingling."

Princess Pingrou saw the mother and daughter hugging each other and heard the word "Mom". She saw Lu Baozhu looking haggard with messy hair. Princess Pingrou went forward and hugged Lu Baozhu.

Lu Baozhu cried and said, "Mother, I have suffered a lot these past few days."

When Prince Consort Lu saw his third brother, his wife, and the younger generation of the Lu family coming one after another, he stepped forward and asked, "Why are you all here?"

Third Master Lu sighed and said, "It's a long story. Something happened in Shengjing City. Sigh... We have only rested for less than ten hours on our way here. We can really fall asleep right away."

Prince Consort Lu said, "Then you should take a rest quickly."

Princess Pingrou looked at the Lu family and asked Lu Baozhu, "Where is your brother? Why didn't Ze'er come with you?"

Lu Baozhu choked up and said, "Mother, my brother is still in Shengjing City... He is locked up in prison."

Princess Pingrou was shocked and asked, "What?!"

Qi Yuning said repeatedly: "I have made arrangements for Lu Ze. I think he should have escaped from prison."

Qi Yuning handed Lingling to Princess Pingrou and said, "Princess, I still have to go to my brother to discuss going to the capital to remove the crown prince and protect His Majesty. I'll trouble you to take care of Lingling first."

"No, Lingling, don't be separated from your mother!"

Lingling hugged Qi Yuning tightly, her small peach blossom eyes filled with tears.

Princess Pingrou said, "It's already this late, so it doesn't matter if we delay for another day. Seeing how exhausted you all are, why don't you take a rest first? It won't be too late to return to Quan Town tomorrow."

Lu Baozhu nodded and said, "Yes, there is no need to rush for this day. We are safe now."

Qi Yuning looked towards Shengjing City and said, "No, we can't delay. If we delay for one day, Lu Ze will be in danger for one day. Now I don't know if my method can make him escape. Besides, I don't know what Zhao Chong and the Qin family will do after their identities are exposed by us! The Qi family army in North City must prepare first."

Qi Yuning hugged Lingling and asked, "Do you dare to ride a horse with mother?"

Lingling nodded her head and said, "I dare!"