The morning court session the following day was exceptionally lively.

Yesterday, it wasn't just the Right Chancellor and the Prince of Yanping who saw the Emperor leaving the palace; there were also several sons of military and civil officials.

If it were just the Emperor alone, these people wouldn't be sure if it was the Emperor leaving the palace, but since Eunuch Yuan was also with him, it must be the Emperor.

The civil and military officials all disagreed with the emperor leaving the palace. If something were to happen to the emperor outside the palace, it would be a national disaster. In particular, the emperor had not yet designated an heir. If anything were to happen to the emperor, it would be a problem who would inherit the throne.

Before the court session, the officials were already discussing the matter, and as they talked, they discovered a problem.

Some people saw the emperor leave the palace in the morning, some in the afternoon. You thought I had misremembered the time, and I thought you were getting senile. We even got into an argument.

After arguing for a long time, they finally realized that the Emperor had not only left the palace once yesterday, but twice.

Then the officials were puzzled. What was going on outside the palace that made the emperor leave the palace twice instead of once?

The officials were restless and determined to get to the bottom of things.

When the morning court session began, the Right Chancellor was about to ask his question when the Emperor didn't give him a chance to speak, saying, "Right Chancellor, you can report back later."

The poor Right Chancellor, who had bumped his head and was still dizzy, swallowed back the words he was about to say and returned to the ranks.

Eunuch Yuan opened the bright yellow imperial edict and read it aloud.

With almost every sentence read aloud, the officials' eyes widened further.

The imperial edict proclaimed to the world that there was a major injustice in the case of Consort Chen. Although it has not yet been found out who plotted against Consort Chen, it is certain that Consort Chen is innocent. The Yan family was implicated in the case of Consort Chen and their property was confiscated and their clan exterminated. The Emperor will restore the Yan family's innocence and return the mansion and other property that were confiscated back then to the Yan family.

After Eunuch Yuan finished reading the imperial edict, the ministers discussed among themselves. Wasn't the Yan family mansion previously bestowed upon Prince Ling by the Emperor? Moreover, the Yan family had been wiped out back then. Returning the confiscated items meant there were no descendants of the Yan family to inherit it.

Is the Emperor subtly trying to make Prince Ling inherit the Yan family's fortune?

The moment this thought crossed his mind, it was nipped in the bud by the ministers. They argued that given the Emperor's affection for Prince Ling and the fact that Consort Chen had not betrayed him, the position of Crown Prince was already in Prince Ling's hands. In the future, the entire Chu kingdom would belong to Prince Ling, so why would they need to pull such a stunt?

The eldest prince was also in the hall. The Duke of Mao stepped forward and said, "The Yan family has been exterminated and has no descendants. There is no need to return the confiscated property."

The Emperor glanced at Duke Maoguo and said, "Since I have issued such an imperial decree, it is natural that there are still descendants of the Yan family alive in the world."

Duke Mao was stunned and blurted out, "How is this possible? Back then, the Emperor ordered the execution of the entire Yan family. This is a fact known to all the civil and military officials. How could anyone from the Yan family still be alive?"

The Emperor glanced at the Minister of Justice.

The Minister of Justice immediately stepped forward and said, "Duke Maoguo, you may not know this, but back then, the Empress Dowager, mindful of Grand Tutor Yan's contributions to the court, secretly gave me an imperial edict, instructing me to help preserve a trace of the Yan family's bloodline. At that time, I wanted to save Grand Tutor Yan, but I lacked the power to do so, and could only save a few of the younger generation of the Yan family..."

Duke Maoguo, "...!!!"

The eldest prince, "...!!!"

The two men looked utterly shocked.

The Empress Dowager ordered the Minister of Justice to protect a single bloodline of the Yan family?!

How is that possible?!

Neither of them believed it.

But they also knew that even if the Minister of Justice had a few extra lives, he wouldn't dare fabricate such a fact.

Furthermore, after Consort Chen's incident, the Emperor demoted Prince Ling to guard the imperial mausoleum. Duke Maoguo once asked the Empress Dowager if she should send someone there... The Empress Dowager strictly forbade him from doing such a thing. No matter what, Prince Ling was still the Emperor's own flesh and blood. She would not do something to harm her own grandson.

Duke Maoguo thought that Consort Chen was dead, the Yan family had been wiped out, and Prince Ling had been demoted by the Emperor to guard the imperial tombs, which had already earned him the Emperor's dislike. In addition, Prince Ling was only twelve years old at the time and had no chance of turning things around. So he did nothing, which left a future problem.

Only now do they realize that the Empress Dowager not only spared Prince Ling's life, but even knowing that the Emperor intended to execute the entire Yan family, she still asked the Minister of Justice to protect a single bloodline of the Yan family.

Has the Empress Dowager taken the wrong medicine?!

If it weren't for the morning court session, Duke Mao would have loved to question the Empress Dowager about why she did this.

She keeps saying she's helping the eldest prince, but then she used the imperial pardon bestowed by the late emperor to save the eldest prince's enemy, Prince Jin, and now she's helping Prince Ling. Is this how the Empress Dowager supports the eldest prince?!

Duke Maoguo clenched his teeth in anger, his lips turning blue.

The civil and military officials had just been questioning whether Consort Chen's case was truly a miscarriage of justice, and whether the Emperor might actually favor Prince Ling and want to make him the crown prince. However, Prince Ling was implicated by Consort Chen, and if Consort Chen didn't overturn the case, Prince Ling wouldn't have the opportunity to be crowned. So this whole thing happened. After all, the imperial edict only said that there was a miscarriage of justice in the case, but it didn't present any evidence.

However, since the Emperor himself didn't mind Consort Chen cuckolding him, which of the officials would dare to hold a grudge? Besides, in terms of intelligence, none of the Emperor's princes could compare to Prince Ling.

Now we know that someone from the Yan family is still alive, and that they were rescued by the Minister of Justice on the Empress Dowager's orders...

Those who can serve as ministers in the palace are not fools. Everyone knows what kind of person the Empress Dowager is and that she dislikes Consort Chen. The Empress Dowager might consider the contributions of Grand Tutor Yan to the court and have the Minister of Justice save the Yan family.

Even if the sun rose in the west, that wouldn't be possible.

For these high-ranking people, even those who hold the highest positions are nothing more than pawns and stepping stones in their power games. Followers are given high positions and generous salaries, while opponents are put to death.

The Empress Dowager wouldn't care whether the Yan family was wiped out or not. There must be something unknown happening behind the scenes. Just like how the Empress Dowager used her pardon to save Prince Jin, judging from the Empress Dowager's actions, Consort Chen must have been plotted against back then.

With Xie Jingyin out of power, the court is now divided into two factions: one supporting the eldest prince and the other supporting Xie Jingyan.

The supporters of the eldest prince were led by the Duke of Mao. The Duke of Mao wanted to know why the Empress Dowager was helping the Yan family. He certainly wouldn't ask the Emperor in court; he would ask the Empress Dowager. Since the Duke of Mao didn't speak, the other members of the eldest prince's faction were even less likely to open their mouths.

Prince Yanping and the Right Chancellor were completely taken aback by the sudden reversal of Consort Chen's case; it was like a dream.

Previously, I was apprehensive about supporting the Emperor in making Prince Ling the Crown Prince, fearing I might anger the Emperor. Now that Consort Chen has overturned the verdict, I no longer need to worry about the Emperor's wrath.

Half the ministers at the morning court were secretly elated, while the other half were utterly disheartened.

Now that Consort Chen's case has been overturned, is the position of Crown Prince still up to the First Prince?

The eldest prince's face was even more interesting.

Inside, after Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan finished breakfast, Xie Jingyan went to his study, and Dong'er ran in to report to Shen Wan, "Your Highness, at court this morning, the Emperor overturned the case against Consort Chen, returned all the confiscated items from the Yan family mansion to the Yan family, and also rewarded the Minister of Justice and the Wang family..."

Dong'er's voice trembled slightly with excitement.

Everyone knew what it meant for Consort Chen to have her case overturned, so how could these maids not be excited?

Shen Wan already knew yesterday that Consort Chen's case had been overturned. She was genuinely happy for Xie Jingyan, but when she thought of the deceased Consort Chen and the Yan family who were publicly beheaded back then, she felt a pang of sadness.

The items can be returned, but life can't be brought back.