Chapter 416: Something is wrong

Xizhou City, the royal palace.

A group of Xizhou officials came to the front hall of the palace for a morning meeting. Chunzhi and Huo Zheng sat at the top, with Gu Yuanjia on their left and Mu Kaiji on their right.

Civil officials and military generals sat on both sides, just like a small court.

As usual, everyone discussed the recent important matters in Xizhou City. The first one was the expansion of the mutual market, and the powerful merchants in various states wanted to get a piece of the pie as they saw the mutual market growing.

The capital was originally the one that wanted to intervene in the internet market the most, but for some reason recently, it suddenly seemed as if it had a change of heart and gave up this idea.

Everyone found it very strange.

Gu Yuanjia said: "When something is out of the ordinary, there must be something fishy going on."

Jiang He also said solemnly, "Previously, those who stayed in the capital would pass on the latest news from the capital to Xizhou every three days, but this time it's been over ten days and there's no news. Not only that, I even sent two groups of people back to the capital to inquire about the news, but there's been no response."

When everyone heard this, their expressions became a little serious.

The capital is an important place with many spies and secret agents from all sides. Even if the Prince of Chang'an has no intention of rebelling, he has to control the developments in the capital just in case.

But the spies and secret agents who stayed in the capital city lost contact at the same time. That meant something big must have happened, and the capital city was controlled by someone and was cleaned up with blood. Otherwise, there would not be a situation where even the news could not be transmitted.

The last time they received news from the capital was when the old emperor led his ministers to hunt in the Western Mountains.

Some officials speculated: "Could it be the emperor..."

He didn't finish his words, but everyone present knew what he wanted to say.

The emperor's health has been deteriorating in the past two years. Even though he had a son, the sixteenth prince, three years ago, he is almost sixty years old and has to worry about how to balance the forces of all parties and sit firmly on the throne every day. It is hard not to be exhausted.

But the emperor refused to accept his old age. He took tonics secretly and pretended to be in his prime in front of others.

The snow this winter was exceptionally heavy. Perhaps something unexpected happened during the Emperor's winter hunt. Over the past few years, the feud between Prince Rui Huo Yang and the Ninth Prince Huo Yan has intensified. It's unclear who took the initiative to gain control of the situation...

For a moment, everyone present was thinking rapidly.

At this moment, the guards outside came to report: "Your Highness and Princess, someone has arrived from the capital!"

Chunzhi and Huo Zheng looked at each other, then stood up at the same time and led everyone out to greet them.

What you said really happened.

The person who came from the capital was a middle-aged eunuch, accompanied by two young eunuchs and dozens of royal guards.

Chunzhi had never seen this middle-aged eunuch before, but Huo Zheng recognized him. "Eunuch Sun, you have come to Xizhou. What is the emperor's wish?"

Eunuch Sun lowered his voice and said, "It is the Queen's order."

When Chunzhi and Huo Zheng heard this, they became more and more clear that something must have happened to the emperor.

They had been in Xizhou for more than four years. In order to pretend that she was devoted to the emperor in front of the emperor, Queen Wang had never sent a single imperial edict or even a private letter to Xizhou.

Today, an official was sent to Xizhou with an imperial edict.

This must be because the Emperor has already—

Eunuch Sun took out the Empress's decree and said loudly, "Prince Chang'an, receive the decree!"

Huo Zheng bowed and pretended to be ready to receive the emperor's order.

Everyone around knelt down to listen to the announcement.

Eunuch Sun read out the Queen's decree aloud, announcing in public that the Emperor had died in the Western Hills hunting ground, and the Queen summoned the Prince of Chang'an and his wife back to Beijing to attend the funeral.

After the emperor passed away, the princes returned to the capital. It was also in accordance with the rules for the empress to summon the Prince of Chang'an and his wife back to the capital.

However, despite such a major event, none of the spies and secret agents that Huo Zheng left in the capital could report back.

If it was really the Queen Mother who was in charge, why would she eliminate the people he left in the capital?

Chunzhi knew that Queen Wang was a cautious person. If her mother really wanted her and Huo Zheng to return to Beijing to attend the funeral, she would definitely send a confidant to Xizhou to deliver the news first, instead of directly issuing an imperial decree as she did now.

The couple pondered over this, and both of them thought:

I can't go back to the capital like this.

Seeing that the Prince of Chang'an and his wife had not responded yet, Eunuch Sun could not help but urge, "Prince of Chang'an, the Princess, please accept the order quickly."

"I was so heartbroken and heartbroken when I heard the tragic news..."

Chunzhi covered her chest and pretended to be about to faint.

"Someone, call the doctor!" Huo Zheng hurried forward to support her, and said nervously, "Hold on, the doctor will be here soon."

"Prince Chang'an...Princess?" Eunuch Sun was not expecting Princess Chang'an to act so suddenly. He immediately became anxious. "When the Emperor passes away, it's a custom passed down from our ancestors for the princes to return to the capital to attend the funeral. There can't be any delay!"

Huo Zheng supported Chunzhi and said sternly, "Of course I know we can't delay, but my princess is already in this state, how can we hurry on our way anytime soon?"

Eunuch Sun said, "Since the princess cannot go to the capital, please ask the Prince of Chang'an to return to the capital first. The Empress said..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chunzhi, who had been so weak that she could barely stand, suddenly came to life. She stood up straight and looked at the middle-aged eunuch in front of her with a sharp gaze, "Eunuch Sun, is this imperial decree in your hand really from the Empress?"

She said, "Or, let me ask you more directly: Are you really the Queen's man?"

Such a big thing happened in the capital, so Queen Wang would naturally send her confidant to summon the Prince and Princess of Chang'an back to the capital.

Just as Eunuch Sun was about to respond, he heard Chunzhi say, "My Queen Mother loves me like her own daughter. If Eunuch Sun were one of her men, why didn't he say a single word of concern when he saw me suddenly fall ill? He only wanted to urge the prince to return to the capital as soon as possible."

Eunuch Sun had never seen Princess Chang'an act this way before, and he was stunned for a moment. Then he immediately raised the imperial edict in his hand and said, "I was so anxious that I didn't pay any attention to the princess. But I am indeed the Queen's servant. Look, this imperial edict is even stamped with the Queen's golden seal. How could it be fake?"

Huo Zheng snatched the empress's edict away and pointed at the seal on it. "When Changning was little, she was naughty and accidentally knocked over her mother's golden seal. The upper right corner of the seal is dented, but the seal on this edict is intact."

He said in a deep voice: "You are so bold that you even dare to forge the imperial edict!"

The couple acted in unison and immediately had Eunuch Sun and the people he brought with him arrested.

Eunuch Sun wanted to argue, but Jiang He stuffed a cloth bag into his mouth, and he could only make whimpering sounds.

Huo Zheng ordered everyone, "There's been unrest in the capital, and the thieves are rampant. Take them down and interrogate them strictly. We must find out who's behind this!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Jiang He took the guards and took Eunuch Sun and others away.

A group of Xizhou officials discussed this matter.

Chunzhi whispered to Huo Zheng, "Did Yanran really break the Queen Mother's golden seal?"

Huo Zheng whispered to her, "I was just kidding."

Chunzhi opened her beautiful eyes wide, "Then you still say it as if it were true?"

Huo Zheng said seriously, "The princess's acting skills are so superb, so naturally, your husband can't be too far behind."