The Empress Dowager's sharp voice echoed throughout the hall.

But since Empress Song dared to barge in, why would she fear the Empress Dowager's punishment? She sneered, "The inner palace is not allowed to interfere in politics, yet the Empress Dowager directly issued an imperial edict ordering the Ministry of Justice to search the Left Prime Minister's residence. I was worried that the Empress Dowager had gone mad, so I barged into the palace to visit her. My filial piety is commendable, what crime have I committed?!"

The palace maids and nannies serving inside the hall looked at each other in bewilderment.

The Left Chancellor embezzled tribute, even daring to take the birthday gift prepared by the Empress Dowager for Princess Huyang. He had already infuriated the Empress Dowager to the point of near death. And now the Empress dared to storm the palace under the pretense of suspecting the Empress Dowager of being possessed. Did she intend to anger the Empress Dowager to death?!

The Empress Dowager sat on the phoenix throne, looking down at Empress Song. "Empress, you dare to disregard even me. No wonder the Left Chancellor dared to embezzle tribute."

Embezzling tribute?!

Empress Song was startled.

The palace maid had just told her that the Left Prime Minister's arrest was related to the incident involving the tribute.

But how could the Left Prime Minister embezzle the tribute?!

Empress Song panicked.

The Left Prime Minister is her brother. If he really embezzled the tribute, and she, as the Empress, stormed the palace to question the Empress Dowager, it would further confirm the Left Prime Minister's family's crime of disrespecting the royal family.

Empress Song composed herself and said, "The Left Prime Minister is my elder brother, and he is utterly loyal to the Emperor. He would never embezzle tribute. The Empress Dowager listened to the slander of petty people and directly ordered the Ministry of Justice to search the Left Prime Minister's residence. This has only served to discredit a loyal minister..."

Before Empress Song could finish speaking, a young eunuch rushed in. Perhaps not seeing her, he bypassed Empress Song and went straight to the Empress Dowager to report, "Empress Dowager, the Ministry of Justice searched the Left Prime Minister's residence and indeed found a lot of tribute porcelain there. The porcelain you prepared for Princess Huyang is also in the Left Prime Minister's residence..."

Almost as soon as the eunuch reported it, Empress Song's face turned three shades pale.

After the eunuch finished speaking, the Empress Dowager glanced at Empress Song and sneered, "Is this how loyal the Left Chancellor is to the Emperor?"

Empress Song felt a chill run down her spine and said, "This must be a frame-up!"

The Empress Dowager looked at the eunuch and said, "Tell the Empress where those tribute porcelain pieces were found."

The eunuch turned to Empress Song and said, "It was found in the secret room of the Left Prime Minister's study."

Empress Song's face was ashen.

The Empress Dowager said, "It's one thing if the porcelain was found elsewhere in the Left Prime Minister's residence, but to find it in his secret room... I really want to know, who could have managed to stuff so many tribute items into the secret room of his study right under his nose?!"

Empress Song gripped her phoenix robe tightly with her hands.

She still couldn't believe that the Left Prime Minister would do such a thing.

It's just a few pieces of porcelain; once the important matter is accomplished, she can give him as many as he wants.

Empress Song was about to defend the Left Chancellor when the Empress Dowager, already impatient, said, "Save your rest for the Emperor!"

The Empress Dowager did not punish Empress Song for trespassing in the palace, but sent her away.

Empress Song went to the Imperial Study to see the Emperor again.

When the Emperor learned that the Left Chancellor had embezzled tribute, he was furious and immediately ordered the Minister of Justice to imprison the Left Chancellor.

The arrest of the Left Chancellor came suddenly, shocking all the civil and military officials, especially the Prince of Jin's faction. When they heard that the Left Chancellor had been imprisoned, they were terrified. They followed the Left Chancellor and supported the Prince of Jin. If the Left Chancellor fell, the Prince of Jin would lose power and his chances of becoming the Crown Prince would be gone. They wanted the Emperor to make the First Prince the Crown Prince. How could those of them who opposed the Prince of Jin and the First Prince have a good ending?

The Prince of Jin's faction was filled with fear, while the Crown Prince's faction was brimming with confidence.

Although Prince Ling's power in the court was no less than that of the eldest prince, and even surpassed it, the fact that Consort Chen had an affair had brought shame upon the emperor. The emperor would never appoint the son of a guilty consort as the crown prince. With Prince Jin gone, the position of crown prince would be in the eldest prince's hands.

The next morning at court, the Duke of Maoguo stepped forward and asked the Emperor to appoint the eldest prince as the crown prince. The eldest prince was born of the legitimate wife and was also the Emperor's eldest son, so he should be made the crown prince.

In the past, the Prince of Jin's men would have certainly stood up to object, but today they all seemed to have forgotten to bring their mouths into the palace.

Xie Jingyin stood there, his face more unsightly than ever before.

Normally, when his subjects asked him to establish a crown prince, the emperor would either change the subject or give them a perfunctory answer. But today, the emperor relented, saying, "It is indeed time to consider the matter of establishing an heir."

These words delighted the Duke of Mao, but the Emperor only said that one sentence before changing the subject again.

When the Emperor's words at the morning court reached Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan's ears, the two were having breakfast. Shen Wan's good mood was immediately overshadowed by these words.

If Shen Wan didn't know what case Consort Chen had committed back then, she might still have held onto some hope. But now that she knew, how could she dare to hope that the Emperor would consider making Xie Jingyan the Crown Prince before Consort Chen's case was overturned?

When the Prince of Jin lost power, the Emperor considered establishing a crown prince. Doesn't this clearly indicate that he was considering whether or not to establish the eldest prince as the crown prince?

Shen Wan looked at Xie Jingyan with some worry, "Father, you wouldn't really make the eldest prince the crown prince, would you?"

Although they didn't harbor such deep hatred for the First Prince, no one could guarantee that he wouldn't touch them once he was in that position. The First Prince wouldn't trust the Marquis of Pingyang's family as much as the Emperor did, and he probably wouldn't allow his father to hold military power and command the cavalry, nor would he allow the Yun family to...

Shen Wan was filled with worry and lost her appetite.

Xie Jingyan knew what Shen Wan was worried about, and he smiled and said, "I don't know if Father is really considering establishing an heir, but it's true that he's adding fuel to the fire."

Shen Wan looked puzzled. "Adding fuel to the fire?"

Xie Jingyan said, "The reason why the Left Prime Minister stumbled this time is because the person in charge of transporting the tribute to the capital was Prince Cheng's man. The horse that was startled in the street was not the Left Prime Minister's doing, but was done by someone ordered by the Empress Dowager. The Emperor and all the civil and military officials accepted that the tribute being smashed in the street was an accident. That night, the tribute was delivered to the Left Prime Minister's residence. The Left Prime Minister thought it was Prince Cheng's arrangement and took it lightly, so he accepted the tribute and hid it in a secret room in his study. He did not expect that Prince Cheng was completely unaware of this. It was a trap set by the Empress Dowager."

When Xie Jingyan said this, Shen Wan understood why he said the Emperor was adding fuel to the fire.

Prince Cheng had always secretly supported Xie Jingyin. When the Left Chancellor was imprisoned, he dared not implicate Prince Cheng, as he was still counting on Prince Cheng to continue supporting Xie Jingyin.

However, the Emperor is already considering making the eldest prince the crown prince. Empress Song and the Left Prime Minister will definitely be anxious. As long as the Left Prime Minister gets out of trouble, Xie Jingyin will still have a chance to seize the throne.

Xie Jingyin and the eldest prince have been locked in a power struggle for so many years. Once the eldest prince gains power, he will definitely not let Xie Jingyin and those who support him off easily.

The victor is king, the loser is villain.

Having chosen this path, there is no turning back.

It's either success or death.

It seems that with the Wangzhou iron mine and the flood, Prince Cheng has completely lost the Emperor's favor.

but--

Shen Wan said, "But this was done by the Empress Dowager, so this fire won't touch Prince Cheng."

Xie Jingyan chuckled, “The Empress Dowager is using Prince Cheng’s people to scheme against the Left Prime Minister. She clearly already knows that Prince Cheng is secretly supporting Prince Jin. On the surface, the tribute case is a confrontation between the Empress Dowager and the Left Prime Minister, but in reality, the Empress Dowager is forcing Prince Cheng to break with the Left Prime Minister and make him choose between the Left Prime Minister and her.”

This fire wasn't something that wouldn't reach King Cheng; rather, from the moment the Empress Dowager set the trap, King Cheng was already in dire straits.

On the contrary, the Emperor was unaware that the Empress Dowager had set up the scheme. He thought that Prince Cheng and the Left Chancellor had colluded to embezzle tribute, and that the Empress Dowager had accidentally discovered it. Since the Empress Dowager was putting pressure on him, the Emperor simply added fuel to the fire by using the Left Chancellor's case to force Prince Cheng, who was hiding in the shadows, out and make the Empress Dowager punish him.