Xiao Xizi spoke in a low voice, but the cleaning maid who was nearby still heard her.

The maid found it very strange.

Hanyuan Hall is the emperor's sleeping quarters. In this freezing weather, charcoal braziers have to be burned from morning till night, yet the emperor wants to dig an ice cellar in his sleeping quarters. Does he think it's not cold enough?

Furthermore, there is an ice cellar in the palace. In the summer, fearing that the princess might get too hot, the emperor even bestowed a lot of ice blocks upon her to help her cool down.

The maid felt that the emperor was acting on a whim, while Xie Jingyan had a very long face.

When Prince Cheng hid his mother in the ice cellar of his study, Xie Jingyan wished he could have Prince Cheng slowly tortured to death. But then, his own father tried to do the same. Xie Jingyan was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged.

He had originally planned to enter the palace the next day, but he left without a word.

Inside the room, Shen Wan leaned against a large pillow. Yin Shuang came in and said, "Your Highness, the Prince has gone to the palace."

At this hour, they still went to the palace...

It seems that Eunuch Yuan really has something extremely urgent to discuss with Xie Jingyan.

She wondered what urgent matter it was, and Shen Wan was worried. She didn't ask because she didn't think the maid would know. But Yin Shuang leaned closer and whispered, "His Majesty wants to dig an ice cellar in Hanyuan Palace..."

Others may not know what the Emperor intended to do with the ice cellar, but Yinshuang does.

Shen Wan was stunned.

sigh.

It has been seven years since Consort Chen's incident. The name Consort Chen is a taboo in the palace. Even Xie Jingyan is not allowed to mention it by the Emperor, let alone anyone else.

The fact that he couldn't even mention it clearly shows that the Emperor had never let go of Consort Chen and was still bothered by her betrayal.

The Emperor disliked Empress Song, and he wouldn't allow her to have an affair with Prince Cheng, let alone Consort Chen, whom he cherished.

Now that they know Consort Chen was framed, and that she never betrayed the Emperor, even considering the brotherly bond between the Emperor and Prince Cheng, and fearing that the Emperor and Empress Dowager might become enemies, she endured all the grievances without ever uttering a single word to the Emperor. The Emperor must be filled with deep regret.

The Emperor is reluctant to bury Consort Chen and wants to keep her in Hanyuan Palace to keep him company.

How could an emperor do such a thing? Eunuch Yuan couldn't persuade the emperor, so he had no choice but to turn to Xie Jingyan.

King Cheng was truly a scourge.

Consort Chen must have been incredibly unlucky to have been loved by him.

And then there's the Empress Dowager. If she could control Prince Cheng, she could have kept it a secret. But if she couldn't control Prince Cheng, she kept it a secret from the Emperor. In the end, one of her sons fled to escape punishment, and another son hated her. Is this the result the Empress Dowager wanted?

Xie Jingyan rode his horse into the palace and headed straight for Hanyuan Hall.

From afar, several young eunuchs could be seen carrying soil out of Hanyuan Hall. The area in front of Hanyuan Hall, which was usually spotless, was covered in mud.

No matter how careful the palace servants were, it was inevitable that some mud would spill out and get trampled on, making it impossible to keep clean.

The Emperor was in Hanyuan Hall watching the palace servants digging mud. Eunuch Yuan was serving by his side, anxiously watching the floor tiles being lifted up. Hearing familiar footsteps, Eunuch Yuan turned around and saw Xie Jingyan enter. He was both happy and afraid.

He was happy because he knew Xie Jingyan could stop the emperor, but he was also afraid because the emperor must have guessed that he was the one who tipped him off, and he was afraid that the emperor would punish him.

Xie Jingyan walked over, looked at the mess that had been dug up in the bedroom, and said coldly, "Fill the soil back in!"

The two young men, who were carrying soil to go out, were stunned.

I don't know what to do.

It was the emperor who ordered them to dig the cellar.

But Prince Ling is someone who dares to confront even the Emperor.

They dared not disobey the Prince of Ling.

They stood there dumbfounded, unsure whether to remove the soil or fill it back in.

Eunuch Yuan waved his hand and said, "You all go out first."

The young eunuchs quickly put down what they were doing and fled as if their lives depended on it.

After the palace servants had all left, Xie Jingyan glared at the Emperor and ordered, "Issue a decree to allow my mother to be laid to rest!"

The Emperor refused. He looked at Xie Jingyan and said, "Your mother is like she's asleep. Can you bear to never see her again?"

He couldn't bear it.

But what can I do even if I can't bear it?!

"Dead is dead!"

Xie Jingyan's eyes were bloodshot. "If you have the ability to bring Mother back to life, I'll dig this ice cellar for you. Can you do that?!"

These words were like a knife stabbing into the emperor's heart.

Even Eunuch Yuan felt heartbroken after being stabbed.

If His Majesty had the ability to bring Consort Chen back to life, he would have done so long ago.

These past two days, the Emperor has been so distracted while reviewing memorials that he only wants to stay in that ice cellar, by Consort Chen's side.

For so many years, the Emperor never mentioned Consort Chen, nor allowed anyone else to mention her. It was simply because his love for her was so deep that his resentment towards her was so intense that it had become a wound that could not be reopened.

Eunuch Yuan understood the Emperor's desire to keep Consort Chen by his side, but the dead cannot be brought back to life, and one cannot live in the past. Especially since the Emperor is the ruler of a country, he cannot act willfully.

The Emperor remained silent, but Xie Jingyan said, "If you don't want your mother to be buried in the imperial mausoleum, I will choose another place to bury her."

The Emperor didn't mean he didn't want Consort Chen to be buried in the imperial mausoleum; he wanted to keep her in Hanyuan Palace so that he could be buried with her after his death.

Eunuch Yuan sighed inwardly.

The Emperor's eyes also reddened. "Can't you just pretend your mother was buried in Hanyuan Palace?"

Xie Jingyan said angrily, "Don't deceive yourself. If you still care about your mother, why do you have to miss her body every day? I didn't come to the palace to discuss your mother's funeral arrangements with you. I'm just informing you."

There was no third option: either issue an immediate decree to bury his mother in the imperial mausoleum, or never bury her there again.

Xie Jingyan's attitude was firm, and there was no room for negotiation.

Eunuch Yuan advised the Emperor, "Your Majesty, please listen to Prince Ling. Consort Chen should have been laid to rest seven years ago. This will only prevent her from finding peace in the afterlife..."

The Emperor's gaze toward Eunuch Yuan was like a knife.

Eunuch Yuan knew that the Emperor was angry with him for talking too much, but the fact that ice cellars were being dug in Hanyuan Palace could not be kept secret.

Once Prince Ling finds out, he will definitely stop it. Why bother digging up a perfectly good Hanyuan Palace and making a mess of it?

Eunuch Yuan knelt down with a thud, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger..."

Xie Jingyan was never a patient person with the emperor; he simply walked away.

He couldn't stop his father from digging an ice cellar, but he could take his mother away from the Prince Cheng's residence!

He'd even hollow out the Hanyuan Hall if he wanted to!

The Emperor knew his son was a man of action, even if he didn't say it. Suppressing his heartache, he said, "Your father will issue a decree immediately to bury your mother in the imperial mausoleum..."

The Emperor has finally relented.

Eunuch Yuan quickly went to fetch pen and ink, and the Emperor personally wrote the imperial edict.

Xie Jingyan didn't leave. If it weren't for the fact that the Emperor was kept in the dark about what Prince Cheng and the Empress Dowager had done, and that Consort Chen hadn't told the truth back then, handing over the jade pendant that Prince Cheng had left at the Yan residence to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor wouldn't have known about it. He wouldn't have been so kind to the Emperor.

The emperor's hands trembled as he wrote the imperial edict. Once it was finished, Xie Jingyan took it and left.

After taking a few steps, he turned back to Eunuch Yuan and said, "Please tell the Empress Dowager that half of the things that were confiscated from the Yan family back then have been returned by the Ministry of Revenue today. If those things are not returned to the Yan family within three days, I will search all the mansions under the pretext of investigating my mother's case."

After saying that, Xie Jingyan turned and left.