Tan Yun was ordered to quickly write a letter to her family outside the palace informing them of everything that had happened in the palace.

In fact, Hesheli Fangyi had connections within the palace long before she was outside. She naively believed that she needed to communicate with people outside the palace and that she still held a certain degree of initiative. These ideas were all illusions.

The Hesheli clan had long known about the situation in the palace, and they had not yet taken any action, simply waiting for Hesheli Fangyi to give them a reason.

Hesheli Fangyi foolishly let Tanyun hand over the letter, and what happened next was beyond her control.

"Alas, Your Majesty is too kind-hearted. She should have dealt with it long ago, but now that it has been left unpunished, it has become a handle against you."

In the study, Gabula couldn't help but speak, while also calculating in his mind the loss of connections they would incur if they took action.

It should be noted that the Hesheli clan had always been a large clan. Letters sent from the palace were not simply delivered to the household, but were first handed over to the clan chief. The clan chief would then gather people, including Hesheli Fangyi's biological father, Gabula, to jointly confirm the contents of the letter.

Originally, it wouldn't have been so troublesome, but since Gabula's health had been poor since Soni's death, he had to step down as clan chief, which made the contents of Hesheli Fangyi's letter more likely to be leaked.

As is the case now, the letter mentions the Ministry of Justice and earnestly requests the family's help, which means there is something incriminating against them, and they need the family's help to clean up the mess.

“Brother is absolutely right. Even when Her Majesty was still a young lady, she was kind and gentle. Now that she has entered the palace, living in such a ruthless place, she has to protect herself and the Crown Prince. Her energy is truly limited.”

Given the current situation, the family needs to step in and help.

The one who spoke was the current clan chief of the Hesheli clan, who was also Gabula's cousin. His name was Gage. He was not well-known in the Hesheli clan, but he was surprisingly quick-witted and very good at balancing some of the internal conflicts within the Hesheli clan.

At least in Gabula's view, since his cousin took office, the internal strife within the Hesheli clan had improved considerably. Moreover, this man was extremely attentive to the Empress and the Crown Prince, and treated Gabula with great respect; he was truly one of their own.

"What is your opinion, Chief?"

"I wouldn't call it a brilliant idea, but the people from the Censorate must not be allowed to live. The Empress and the Crown Prince are the future hope of our Hesheli clan. No matter what, we must ensure their safety."

"The clan leader is wise."

"..."

After leaving Gabula's house, Galo put away his smile and hurried back to his residence.

"Master, are we really going to take the risk of becoming the Empress's henchmen to deal with the people from the Censorate?"

The advisor beside Gage couldn't help but speak up, saying that he did not recommend doing so, because it would not benefit the Hesheli clan at all.

"Of course it needs to be dealt with, but how to deal with it still needs to be discussed."

Gakochu tapped his hand on the table; he sensed an opportunity in this letter.

"Although the interests of Hesheli, the Empress, and the Crown Prince are completely aligned, there are still some things that are too risky to do."

With a sigh, Ga Ge leaned back in his chair, his eyes revealing a burning ambition. "Mobilizing the Shenxing Division will definitely cause heavy losses to the Hesheli clan. Are the clansmen willing to accept the negative impact of such actions? Alas, Your Majesty has given me a difficult problem."

problem?

The strategist's heart skipped a beat, and he watched his master's expression change. Tsk, could he have other plans?

"As the clan leader, should one prioritize the interests of the clan or the interests of the palace?"

Ga Ge raised his head and looked sharply at the strategist standing in front of him.

The strategist lowered his head and pondered for a moment before replying that the family's interests should naturally come first, after all, he was the clan leader. No matter how good things were in the palace, that was only for long-term interests; the family was the clan leader's current foundation.

"Yes, so this time, I can only apologize to Her Majesty and the Crown Prince."

Gage nodded in satisfaction, while stroking his chin. He still needed to take care of the affairs of the Censorate, but he couldn't use his family's connections. Didn't his cousin leave some connections with the Empress? He might as well use those.

Even if the Emperor were to investigate, the only one who would suffer the loss would be the Empress herself. Coincidentally, the imperial physicians he knew all said that the Empress's health was not very good, and even the Crown Prince, who had contracted smallpox and recovered, was left with significant aftereffects. Therefore, the importance of the Empress and the Crown Prince would have to be reassessed.

The Heseri family's investments could not be without returns; if the Empress and the Crown Prince were to die prematurely, it would be a complete loss for them.

If that's the case, why not put all their eggs in one basket? You see, his daughter will be old enough to be selected as a concubine in three years, while the Empress's younger sister is only seven years old. Based on that alone, what can Gabula possibly compete with him?

All sorts of thoughts eventually came to light.

He waved his hand to dismiss the strategist before him, sat up straight, picked up the pen and ink beside him, and wrote a reply.

Summon the steward waiting at the door and say, "Deliver these two letters to the palace, one to Kunning Palace and the other to Baohua Hall."

The steward nodded and withdrew, saying, "This servant understands."

Upon hearing this, Ga Ge leisurely leaned back, secretly hoping for things to progress quickly so that Hesheli could truly be of use to him.

...

The hottest topic of conversation in the palace recently is that after the Empress Dowager arrested another batch of palace servants and sent them to the Department of Penal Justice, something suddenly happened at the Department of Penal Justice.

It wasn't a major problem, but those who knew the inside story understood that the deaths of some important spies clearly indicated that they had been seized upon to silence them.

"We haven't even managed to get the information out yet; I'm afraid the Empress Dowager will be furious."

This is a direct slap in the face to the Empress Dowager. To play tricks in front of this former champion of palace intrigue is truly audacious.

"Your Majesty, Cining Palace is unusually quiet, and the Empress hasn't lost her power. I have a feeling this matter is about to pass?"

Chunyu was increasingly baffled by the current situation. It was truly inexplicable. She thought the Empress Dowager would take drastic measures to curb this unhealthy trend in the harem, but instead, people began to die inexplicably after entering the Shenxing Division, and there has been no further action so far.

"They may not seem to be doing anything on the surface, but they've probably already taken some action behind the scenes."

Xiuning didn't think the Empress Dowager would swallow this insult. She was proud and arrogant; otherwise, she wouldn't have had such a falling out with her own children when she was young.

"Spring rain, you must remember that sometimes calm seas are not necessarily a good thing." More often than not, there are turbulent waves hidden beneath the surface.

"The Empress must be twenty-five years old this year."

Wow, time flies! Even a healthy person might not live to be thirty. After all these hardships, the Queen probably won't even make it to the next imperial concubine selection.