"Bring the child here, I also want to see him! I've been thinking of him a lot," Xie Anfeng said wearily.

Zhao Zhao was trapped in the palace for one or two months, suffering every day, but dared not make any rash moves.

"Zhaozhao and the child cannot be brought here yet." Zhou Shaoyu relayed the message from Empress Xie that he had received that morning to Xie Anfeng.

Xie Anfeng gave a wry smile and said, "Your Highness, please rest first. This old minister will think of a solution."

He left Qingpu Garden and returned to the Xie residence, where he dispatched all of the Xie family's spies to secretly search for Empress Xie within the capital and the surrounding hundred miles.

Emperor Hui was also searching for Empress Xie.

"I overestimated the Empress! Knowing full well that Jingchen would soon be made Crown Prince and Xie was to be made Crown Princess, she actually used her own niece to threaten Jingchen!"

The empress ran away from the palace and even threatened her own son. How could he not care?

He used to indulge her, but now he doesn't want to anymore.

"Hanako-satsu, have someone replace everything in the Imperial Study."

"Your Majesty, they have all been replaced with new ones."

Hua Zisheng had served Emperor Hui for over thirty years. He understood every glance from the emperor, and overnight he ordered that all the dragon desk, dragon chair, and dragon bed used by Empress Xie in the imperial study be replaced.

Even the decorations and curtains have been changed.

The floor was wiped countless times.

At dusk, Leng Luo from the Imperial City Guard reported: "Your Majesty, Empress Xie's whereabouts have been discovered fifty li outside the city."

"where?"

“Huiyue Manor”.

Emperor Hui frowned: "Is this an estate?"

"Yes, this estate was originally under the name of the Marquis of Dingbei, but I have investigated and found that the Marquis of Dingbei is only the front owner; the real owner is someone else."

"Is it the Empress?"

"I have inquired, and it was not Her Majesty the Empress. Someone once saw the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Dingbei accompanying a young man. That man must have been very young, but he was wearing a mask at the time, and no one could see his true face. It is likely that the real mastermind behind it all is that man."

Emperor Hui listened to Leng Luo's report with little expression on his face, but it was completely different from his listlessness and lethargy of the past few days.

He was also that shrewd and unfathomable emperor.

“That person’s accent is no different from that of people from the capital, and his speech and manners are extremely noble, unlike that of a young master from an ordinary family,” Leng Luo said. “I have already ordered the Imperial City Guard to keep an eye on Huiyue Manor.”

"Investigate again, and be sure to bring the Empress back," Emperor Hui said. "We cannot let her interfere with the Crown Prince's investiture ceremony."

"yes!"

**

Yin Jin'an, Li Yunmu, and Zhou Lingyin all returned. Yin Jin'an had no interest in drinking with them, but instead helped the coffin back to the Duke's mansion to keep vigil for the Duke.

Duke Xun was tricked by Wei Anyuan in the Northwest. Who would have thought that Wei Anyuan would suddenly turn on him when he surrendered?

Ultimately, it was due to Duke Xun's carelessness.

Lady Song, the wife of the Duke of Xun, was initially quite frightened upon hearing of the great victory in the Northwest.

Because before Duke Xun left, he wanted to divorce her.

She didn't know if the Duke of Xun would continue his unfinished business after returning victorious from the capital. Unexpectedly, she received news that he had died in battle and was lying in a coffin.

Song felt a mix of emotions.

I felt both relieved and upset.

Thankfully, he died, and no one mentioned divorcing her anymore. The Song family's reputation and dignity were preserved, and she would be the most powerful person in the Duke's Mansion from now on, as the old lady.

What's heartbreaking is that the Duke is dead, and His Majesty has decreed that Yin Jinzhuo will never be eligible to inherit the title. The heir is not her eldest son, and she will not be happy no matter who inherits the title.

Not allowing anyone to inherit the title is even worse. If no one inherits the title, then the Duke's mansion is finished, and who will care about her then?

Therefore, when the news of the funeral was reported to the manor more than half a month in advance, her first action was to tell the concubines and members of the Yin clan that she wanted to choose someone from the clan to inherit the title of Duke of Xun.

Upon hearing this news, the grief over the Duke's death was somewhat lessened, and a strange excitement arose within the clan, with everyone scrambling to curry favor with her in hopes of inheriting the title.

Your Excellency, this is a title of nobility, second only to "Prince of the County" and "Prince".

Yin Jin'an and the eight generals returned with Yin Xiushan's remains. The clansmen's cries of grief were particularly genuine, and their fawning over the Song family was rampant.

Within half a month, Song's private treasury was quickly filled to capacity, expanding to four warehouses.

Yin Jinzhuo's concubine looked at him pleadingly, "Master, you can't inherit the title, but that doesn't mean Shan'er can't! Please go and beg the old lady!"

Since Yin Jinzhuo stripped him of his position as heir apparent and the power to manage his household guards, and Pei Yue's maternal clan was beheaded, their property confiscated, and they were exiled, the two of them, "a poor couple, suffer from all kinds of sorrows," and they attacked each other, never again showing any tenderness or affection.

Xiao Baihua's tears were no longer worth anything, so Yin Jinzhuo simply took three concubines and spent every day in their rooms.

Now he has no legitimate sons, but has given birth to two illegitimate sons, and a concubine is heavily pregnant, with the third one about to be born.

The eldest son, born out of wedlock, was named Yin Shanjiang.

The younger son, born out of wedlock, was named Yin Mingjiang.

Since Yin Jin'an was unwilling to inherit the title, the concubine had a plan: to let Yin Shanjiang inherit the title, since Yin Shanjiang was Yin Xiushan's grandson after all.

Yin Jinzhuo fell from the sky to the ground, and he understood more deeply how important the title of heir was.

“I’m going to see Mother. You shouldn’t be idle either. Be more filial to Mother,” Yin Jinzhuo said. “No matter what, the title can’t be given to those bastards.”

Yin Xiushan's mourning tent was erected in the main hall of the Duke's Mansion, and the clan head personally presided over the ceremony in an orderly manner.

Officials from the capital and the palace came in droves to offer their condolences.

Yin Jin'an, dressed in mourning clothes, stood guard before the coffin, coldly watching as the people of the mansion came and went, praising his mother, Song, to the heavens.

When Zhou Shaoyu arrived with a group of people to pay their respects, it caused a stir.

Because their status was different now, the ministers who came with them included Grand Secretary Liu, Prince Jing, Xie Anfeng, and the Ministers of the Six Ministries...

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