The servants, unaware of what had just transpired between Xie Jingyan and the First Prince, eagerly awaited the surprise Xie Jingyan had prepared for their son, while the First Prince's expression darkened.

He and Xie Jingyan have completely broken off relations; the so-called surprise is definitely not a good thing.

However, he did not feel that he had any leverage over Prince Ling.

The Prince of Ling has come looking for trouble; if he wanted to do anything to him, he wouldn't have such patience.

The eldest prince forced himself not to overthink it.

But that lingering unease in my heart just won't go away.

...

I slept well all night.

Waking up in the morning, feeling refreshed, Shen Wan sat on the bed and stretched.

Yinshuang and Haitang entered the room to help Shen Wan get up. After Shen Wan finished washing up, the small kitchen brought in the food, but Xie Jingyan was nowhere to be seen. Shen Wan asked, "Where is the Prince?"

Yinshuang was momentarily stunned, then said, "Your Highness, don't you know? His Highness went to the morning court today."

Shen Wan was stunned.

If Yinshuang hadn't told her, she really wouldn't have known. Xie Jingyan didn't hold any official position, so why was he going to the morning court?

Although she didn't know for sure, Shen Wan knew it was definitely related to the Crown Prince's plot to harm them.

Yesterday, after Xie Jingyan returned from delivering gifts to the eldest prince, she casually asked him a question. He pinched her nose and said, "How can you take down a prince so quickly?"

She thought about it and agreed, so she didn't ask any more questions.

With Xie Jingyan not around, Shen Wan sat down to eat breakfast alone. After finishing her breakfast, the wet nurse brought the baby over, and Shen Wan played with the child.

The weather was nice, and there wasn't much wind, so Shen Wan took her child to sunbathe in the yard.

Just as she was playing with the child, a young maid in a light blue dress ran in from the courtyard gate, panting, "Your Highness, the First Prince has been imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice by His Majesty!"

Shen Wan, "..."

Didn't they say it wouldn't be this quick to overthrow a prince?

Is there a difference between two days and one day?

However, upon hearing that the eldest prince had been imprisoned, Shen Wan felt much relieved after a long period of frustration.

Shen Wan wanted to ask for more details, but before she could speak, Yin Shuang impatiently asked, "Was it the Prince who sent the First Prince to the Ministry of Justice?"

The maid nodded vigorously, "Today, the Prince went to court and presented the Emperor with evidence that the First Prince and the Duke of Mao had secretly sold the Meizhou granary and even set fire to it. After reading it, the Emperor was furious and, in a fit of rage, threw the First Prince and the Duke of Mao into the Ministry of Justice's death row cell..."

Shen Wan thought the Emperor had imprisoned the eldest prince because the prince had used smallpox to harm them, but she didn't expect it was because of the Meizhou granary.

However, as long as we can kill the eldest prince, we don't need to be so particular.

Now, Xiliang and Dachu may go to war at any time, and war requires a lot of money and food support. The Meizhou granary was originally stockpiled by the imperial court for war. However, the eldest prince colluded with Meizhou officials to sell all the grain in the granary. After the matter was exposed, fearing that the emperor would send people to investigate, he simply burned the granary to the ground.

Corrupt officials are guilty of unforgivable crimes for doing such things, and the eldest prince, who is determined to win the position of crown prince, has also done something that damages the foundation of the court, so his crime is even more serious.

With irrefutable evidence before him, the fact that the Emperor didn't order the eldest prince to be dragged away and beheaded on the spot shows how much he tolerated it.

Shou Kang Palace.

The Empress Dowager leaned against the large pillow, her eyelids twitching ever since she woke up in the morning.

It took a lot of persuasion from Granny Zhao before the Empress Dowager finally agreed to drink the medicine.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager had drunk the medicine, Zhao Mama breathed a sigh of relief, put down the medicine bowl, and had a palace maid take it away.

As the palace maid withdrew, another palace maid hurried in and whispered a few words in Zhao Mama's ear.

Granny Zhao's voice rose, "What?!"

The Empress Dowager's heart skipped a beat. She looked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Mama didn't know what to do. The imperial physician repeatedly told the Empress Dowager not to worry anymore, and especially not to get angry. In order for the Empress Dowager to rest in peace, Zhao Mama asked the palace maids to inform her in advance if there was anything, and to keep it from the Empress Dowager if possible, or to report it in a light and inconsequential way. But she dared not hide this matter, nor could she hide it.

Zhao Mama remained silent, but the Empress Dowager had a bad feeling. She said urgently, "Speak!"

What could Granny Zhao do? She could only bite the bullet and say, "It's still about the Meizhou granary incident. The matter was exposed, and the Emperor threw the First Prince and the Duke of Maoguo into the Ministry of Justice's death row cell..."

The Empress Dowager was startled and sat up abruptly, saying, "Isn't this matter already over?!"

"Who leaked this?!"

"It is Prince Ling," said Granny Zhao.

How could it be Prince Ling?!

The Empress Dowager was furious and began to cough violently, as if she were about to cough up her lungs.

Granny Zhao quickly helped the Empress Dowager catch her breath.

Granny Zhao sighed inwardly. They thought the matter of the Meizhou granary was over because they had caught the Prince of Jin embezzling the Xizhou dam and forced him to suppress the matter and never mention it again.

Who would have thought that Prince Ling also had evidence in his possession?

Moreover, Prince Ling is not Prince Jin...

They could control Prince Jin, but they couldn't make Prince Ling pretend he knew nothing.

It was their oversight. The problems with the Meizhou granary and the Xizhou dam were first discovered by Prince Ling. How could Prince Ling not have evidence?

They were caught completely off guard and were killed by Ling Wang.

The Empress Dowager was still coughing, and between coughs she said, "Prince Ling has evidence in his hands, why didn't he take it out before? Did the First Prince do something to anger him?"

Granny Zhao hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.

The Empress Dowager snapped, "Speak quickly!"

Granny Zhao said, "Yesterday, Prince Ling sent a batch of silk to Prince Qin's residence, and also sent Cuixiang, who went missing the night before last..."

"Well, it seems the First Prince was the one who caused the smallpox in the Ling Prince's residence..."

As Granny Zhao spoke, her voice grew weaker and weaker, and the Empress Dowager was so angry that she tasted blood in her throat.

She told the eldest prince to give up the fight for the position, but he ignored her words!

The Empress Dowager coughed up a mouthful of blood, her vision went black, and she fainted completely.

When Xie Jingyan returned from court, Shen Wan greeted him and asked, "How do you have evidence of the Meizhou granary?"

This question amused Xie Jingyan. Wasn't it normal for him to have evidence?

Xie Jingyan said, "I have evidence not only of the Meizhou granary, but also of the Xizhou dam, but I don't need it."

Shen Wan said, "But Father Emperor asked you to investigate, and you refused?"

Xie Jingyan chuckled, "I just don't want to get involved in this mess openly. With them investigating first, I can send people to follow behind and collect ready-made evidence, isn't that better?"

Shen Wan, "..."

I have nothing to say.

She could never learn his cunning in several lifetimes.

Shen Wan said, "The eldest prince has no chance of turning things around, right?"

Xie Jingyan said, "The Empress Dowager no longer has any immunity from death. To do such a disastrous thing for the country, she should at least be stripped of her title and reduced to a commoner."

They tried to kill the eldest prince by making him the crown prince, but in the end, they lost more than they gained and couldn't even become a prince. They deserved it!

Shen Wan's mood improved even more. At this moment, a maidservant hurried over and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, the First Prince and the Duke of Maoguo have secretly sold the Meizhou granary. When the Empress Dowager found out, she was so angry that she vomited blood and fainted. When she woke up, she was blind..."