Chapter 9 The Incident

In the Wutong Courtyard, Yixiu, who was resting, was suddenly awakened by the noise outside.

With a furrowed brow, Yixiu called out, "Jianqiu, Jianqiu, what's going on outside?"

After waiting for a while, Jianqiu finally lifted the curtain and came in, looking flustered. She knelt down in front of Yixiu with a thud.

"What's going on?" Seeing Jianqiu's reaction, Yixiu's face darkened.

"Consort, Eunuch Su, Eunuch Su has had the Wutong Courtyard sealed off..." Jianqiu was clearly quite shocked by this news.

"Bang!" Yi Xiu slammed his hand on the edge of the bed, his face contorted with anger. "Outrageous! Who is Su Peisheng? Without the Prince's order, what right does he have to seal off Wutong Courtyard? What exactly happened?"

The anger subsided in an instant. Yi Xiu knew that Su Peisheng was definitely not such a bold and absurd person, and there was no reason why he wouldn't dare to do such a thing.

"They say...they say...the young lady was caught red-handed attempting to assassinate the prince..." Jianqiu's face was deathly pale, clearly unable to believe the news. But the guards at the door dared not lie about such a thing.

"What?" Upon hearing this news, Yi Xiu felt utterly absurd. How could this be? But seeing that Jian Qiu's expression didn't seem fake, she suddenly felt a dull ache in her stomach.

"My lady!" Jianqiu, who had been paying close attention to Yixiu's condition, immediately noticed her discomfort and rushed forward to support her. "My lady, for the sake of the little prince in your belly, please don't worry..."

"Jianqiu," Yixiu gripped Jianqiu's hand tightly, her expression panicked, "Prince, how is Prince?"

Before Jianqiu could answer, a panicked Jueluo clanswoman rushed in, crying, "Yixiu, Yixiu, save your sister! How could Rouze assassinate the Prince? She wouldn't..."

Huichun and Randong, who followed in, managed to pull Jueluo Shi back from falling on Yixiu.

"Yixiu, Yixiu, save your sister! Save her..."

Even when held back by two maids, Jue Luo struggled forward desperately, her appearance disheveled, portraying the image of a good mother who would do anything to save her daughter.

"Shut up!"

Yixiu's angry shout startled her. Jueluo Shi, realizing what was happening, was filled with shame and anger, and yelled at Yixiu, "How dare you speak to me like that! I am your legal mother!"

"How am I supposed to talk to you?" Seeing Jue Luo's current state, Yi Xiu could no longer suppress her anger. "Then tell me, how did my sister manage to change her clothes and end up outside the courtyard? How did she run into the Prince? And how did it escalate to the point of an assassination attempt?"

"I...I..." Lady Jue Luo was speechless for a moment, but still tried to argue, "No matter what, Rouze would never assassinate the Fourth Prince..."

"Yes, she just wants to climb the social ladder!" For the first time, Yixiu's eyes were filled with obvious resentment and dissatisfaction as she looked at Jueluo Shi. As intelligent as she was, what couldn't she guess? "Empress, I advise you to stay put. This is the Fourth Prince's residence, not the Ulanara residence. You can't cause trouble here. I will inform you if there is any news. If something happens, none of us will be able to escape! Huichun, Randong, take the lady away!"

Jue Luo was ultimately intimidated by Yi Xiu and was led away by the two maids with great resentment.

"Jianqiu, how exactly is the master?" Yixiu held her belly, trying to calm herself down, and continued to press for details about Jianqiu's condition.

"I don't know. The guards at the gate are tight-lipped. They won't reveal anything except the reason for the lockdown." Jianqiu shook her head. She had tried to get anything out of them outside for a long time, but she hadn't managed to get anything out of them.

Yi Xiu closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and was filled with worry. Something serious must have happened, otherwise Su Peisheng wouldn't have dared to do this. But at this moment, in order to clear her name, she couldn't do anything, since Rou was her older sister.

Thinking of Rouze, Yixiu couldn't suppress her anger and asked, "Where's Xiuxia? How exactly did Rouze get out?"

"Reporting to Master, Xiu Xia was found in the side room. She was probably drugged and hasn't woken up yet," Jian Qiu replied cautiously, observing Yi Xiu's expression.

"Ha, my stepmother is really capable. She even has a way to drug my maid in my own courtyard. I suppose she has quite a few spies."

Yi Xiu, enraged, laughed inwardly, immediately understanding the situation. Her dear elder sister must have already conspired with her stepmother to deliberately spill the teacup, using the excuse of changing clothes to go out and bump into the Prince. There must have been others helping her in this.

The reason they dared to do it so obviously was partly to catch her off guard, thinking she wouldn't know—and Yixiu hadn't noticed before—and partly because they had a lot of confidence in Rouze, believing that once things were settled, she wouldn't dare to question them.

If Rouze had succeeded, Yixiu would have had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill. But for some reason, Rouze's attempt to seduce him turned into an assassination.

Yixiu touched her belly, her thoughts in turmoil. She couldn't understand how things had come to this. She wished the Jue Luo mother and daughter's scheme had succeeded.

Leaving aside Yixiu's wild thoughts in the Wutong Courtyard, Su Peisheng, who had just learned of the Eighth Prince's visit, hurriedly invited him in.

At this time, the relationship between the Eighth Prince Yinsi and the Fourth Prince Yinzhen was quite good. The two had similar backgrounds, and Yinzhen had taken good care of his eighth brother Yinsi, who came from a humble background and was not valued, since childhood. Therefore, the two built their residences together.

However, because Emperor Kangxi consciously separated the two for the sake of balance, Yinzhen followed Crown Prince Yinreng, and Yinsi followed the eldest prince Yinti, which is why the two gradually drifted apart in the eyes of outsiders.

However, Su Peisheng, who served him closely, knew that his own prince and the eighth prince had a very good relationship in private, and were people he could trust at the moment.

Of course, the situation was urgent, and there was no other choice but to trust the Eighth Prince.

"What happened? Where's Fourth Brother?"

Yinzhi walked hurriedly, his usually gentle face showing a hint of anxiety. The two mansions were separated by only a wall, so such a big commotion at the Fourth Prince's residence naturally did not escape his ears.

For some reason, I suddenly felt a pang of anxiety and, disregarding all etiquette, rushed over.

"Eighth Prince..." Seeing the Eighth Prince was like seeing a savior; Su Peisheng's eyes reddened. He choked up immediately; he truly couldn't bear such a heavy burden.

"Fourth Brother!" Upon entering, Yinzhi saw Yinzhen lying unconscious on the bed, his face deathly pale, with bloodstains on his clothes. Terrified, Yinzhi rushed forward, sat on the edge of the bed, and grasped Yinzhen's unresponsive hand, demanding, "Su Peisheng, what exactly happened?"

"Eighth Prince, the eldest daughter of the Ulanara family has somehow managed to assassinate Your Highness. Your Highness is now unconscious and in critical condition. We beg you, Eighth Prince, to summon the imperial physician to examine Your Highness..."

"Who? How did they assassinate me?" Yinzhi looked at his fourth brother's pale face and felt anxious. "Never mind, I'll go and fetch the imperial physician right now. Whoever it was, make sure he gets well. We'll talk about it when the master comes back."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Eighth Prince, thank you, Eighth Prince..." Su Peisheng hurriedly kowtowed to Yinzhi.

"Alright, take good care of Fourth Brother. I'll be right back," Yinzhi said without hesitation. He got up and walked out, instructing his personal eunuch as he went, "He Youxing, go and invite the doctor from Huichuntang to Fourth Master."

"yes."

He also sent out his eunuchs to find other doctors, and Yinzhi hurriedly mounted his horse and galloped towards the palace...