Chapter 173 Confinement I only feel that Xiao Bingzhi is very thoughtful, I am afraid that he has already...

Word of what happened at the morning court quickly spread. Xiao Bingzhi's words, "Cui is my legitimate wife. Since she's my principal wife, she's also the Crown Prince's legitimate wife. How could she not enter the Eastern Palace?" and his insinuation that some courtiers were obsessed with the Crown Prince's legitimate wife quickly spread throughout the capital.

Instantly, everyone saw clearly the weight that Cui held in the Crown Prince's heart, and they understood even more clearly that the new Crown Prince, newly appointed to the Eastern Palace, was not to be manipulated at will. Even though he hadn't been raised in the palace, he was, after all, the legitimate daughter of the Empress Dowager and the daughter of the late Empress, raised by the late Princess Shu Ning. His character and methods were far superior to those of the eldest and second princes, who had been raised in the palace. As for the third prince, he was only eight years old, and the court officials hadn't considered him a contender for the throne, believing that his youth meant that even if his two older brothers weren't up to par, the throne wouldn't likely fall to him.

Now that the prince has returned to the throne, based on the emperor's attitude in the court today, he ordered the Jinyiwei to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter of Cui being poisoned by Baizhuxiang. Everyone knows the emperor's attitude towards the prince.

The emperor's move was clearly intended to establish the prince's authority.

For a time, the atmosphere in the palace became increasingly solemn, and people in the capital were also in panic. Although they were secretly dissatisfied with the prince's dominance and his attitude towards court officials, they could only think about it in their hearts and dared not show it at all. They just kept watching the show to see which family the Jinyiwei would investigate, or even which concubine in the palace or the prince who had set up his own residence outside the palace.

When Concubine Shu heard the news from the court, her face turned pale and she almost fainted.

Her eyes were filled with anxiety, and she felt an indescribable fear in her heart: "The Emperor is too partial. Cui had just fainted, so why should he cause such a big fuss and unrest in the harem?"

At this point, Concubine Shu no longer cared about the fact that Xiao Bingzhi had taken Cui into the Eastern Palace and even moved directly into Xiao Bingzhi's bedroom before the imperial decree for her appointment as Crown Princess had been issued, which was against ancestral rules. She simply felt that if the Jinyiwei found out about her and Ze'er, they would be doomed.

He had originally intended to use Qi, the biological mother, to secretly harm Cui, so that Xiao Bingzhi could experience the pain of losing his beloved wife and unborn child. If Xiao Bingzhi could be devastated and his character changed drastically, it might cause the emperor to be dissatisfied and dislike the prince, and slowly his feelings of guilt and compensation would fade. By then, it might not be impossible for my brother to sit on that throne.

She had planned everything well, but she never expected that Cui had just fainted, but Xiao Bingzhi, the new prince who had entered the Eastern Palace, disregarded etiquette and went straight back to the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion, bringing Imperial Physician Pei with him. As luck would have it, Imperial Physician Pei found the Baizhuxiang in Qi's purse.

If not for this, the matter would not have become known to everyone and gotten out of control.

As Shupin thought about this, her temples began to throb.

Just then, there was a flurry of hurried footsteps outside, and then a palace maid came in with a terrified look on her face and reported, "Your Majesty, something bad has happened. The Jinyiwei have arrived and said they want to take several of your senior palace maids away for questioning."

Just as the maid finished her report, two Jinyiwei came in, greeted Concubine Shu, glanced at her, and ordered all the senior maids serving Concubine Shu to be taken away.

Shupin was filled with anger and wanted to stop them, but the person who came said, "The Empress is going to disobey the order," so she swallowed all the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She could only watch as the Jinyiwei took away several senior palace maids.

Shupin's mind went blank, her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground, muttering softly, "It's over, it's all over."

Is there anything that cannot be obtained under torture?

In less than half a day, the Embroidered Uniform Guards submitted the confession to the Qinzheng Hall.

Then came the decree that deposed Concubine Shu as a commoner and banished her to the cold palace. Then came the decree that the Second Prince, Xiao Ze, had disrespected the Crown Prince and plotted to murder the Crown Princess Cui and her unborn child, and the Emperor had him and the women in the harem confined to the Imperial Clan Court.

When Xiao Ze heard the imperial edict, his face turned pale in disbelief, and he even became a little mentally unstable. He complained to the emperor in front of the eunuch who delivered the edict, saying that the emperor was bewitched by the prince, and that the emperor was partial and did not love the son raised by his side. He only valued Xiao Bingzhi, who had been raised outside since childhood. He even suspected that Xiao Bingzhi was not the emperor's blood relative, and might be the biological son of Duke Weiguo and Princess Shuning, who had ambitious plans to usurp the throne and confuse the royal bloodline.

Although these words were spoken in the Second Prince's mansion, those who heard them were shocked. The eunuch who delivered the decree turned even paler. Fearing that he would say something even more disrespectful and absurd to the Emperor, he signaled and ordered someone to knock Xiao Ze unconscious.

The women kneeling behind Xiao Ze were all pale and terrified. Finally, it was the Second Prince's wife Zheng Suining who stepped forward and said that His Highness was unconscious, and she kowtowed towards the direction of the palace to apologize.

The eunuch also knew about Zheng Suining's situation in the Second Prince's Mansion. Now seeing Zheng like this, his expression eased a little and he showed some sympathy.

But this is what it means to marry into the royal family as a concubine. There are ups and downs. One day you are promoted to a high position, and the next day you are imprisoned in the clan house. You fall from the clouds to the mud, living a life worse than that of ordinary people outside, and you have no freedom for the rest of your life.

It was fate and the time. All we can say is that Zheng married the wrong person and the Kangshou Marquis’s family boarded the wrong ship.

Compared to Cui who now lives in the Eastern Palace, Zheng, the legitimate daughter of the Kangshou Marquisate, is indeed less lucky.

However, no matter how bad it was, it was better than Cui Linghui, who was kneeling on the ground with a bulging belly and was obviously pregnant.

The eunuch's gaze fell on Cui Linghui's pale and complicated face, taking in all the expressions on her face. Unlike his sympathy for Zheng, he looked at the Crown Prince's former fiancée and felt that she had looked down on the Crown Prince in the past, and now she was in such a state, she was just reaping what she sowed, and she didn't deserve even a little sympathy from others.

Although these eunuchs were castrated, they despised those who fled when disaster struck. What's more, when the Crown Prince was merely poisoned, his fiancée Cui Linghui wanted to break off the engagement. Not only did she ask her stepsister to marry in his place, she also became the concubine of the Second Prince Xiao Ze to humiliate the Crown Prince.

All these actions are so despicable that people look down on them.

A woman with this kind of character was not worthy of the position of Crown Princess, and was not even half as good as the Crown Princess who now lived in the East Palace.

The news that the second prince Xiao Ze and his female relatives were imprisoned in the clan residence spread throughout the capital in just half an hour.

Ningshou Marquis Mansion

Old Madam Zhai looked at the kneeling Qi, her expression already grim. Now, upon hearing that the Second Prince, Xiao Ze, had been imprisoned and her pregnant granddaughter, Cui Linghui, had been tortured in the clan residence, she could only say with a look of impatience, "A married woman is like spilled water. She used to look down on the Crown Prince, and she's gotten herself into this mess. What can I, as her grandmother, do?"

"She was so blinded by greed that she refused this marriage. I don't know how much trouble she has brought to our Ningshou Marquisate! Now that she's in trouble, she deserves it! I even blame her for being unfilial and ignorant of propriety. I raised her for nothing!"

When Mrs. Qi heard what Mrs. Zhai said, her face turned even paler and her body trembled slightly.

How could she not hear that her mother-in-law saw that she had completely offended Yan Yatou, and was used by someone to almost harm Yan Yatou and her unborn child, causing the Ningshou Marquis's Mansion and Yan Yatou, the Crown Princess, to fall out, and also made her guilty in the eyes of Crown Prince Xiao Bingzhi. She had completely lost the thought of benefiting from him in the future and wished that it was Cui Linghui who married into the Weiguo Duke's Mansion that day.

At least, if it were Cui Linghui, she would never be separated from the Marquis' Mansion. She would always think of her natal family and rely on the Marquis' Mansion.

But now that things have come to this, the mother-in-law dared not blame Yan Yatou, the Crown Princess, and could only express her dissatisfaction to her daughter-in-law in a subtle way.

The atmosphere in the room was solemn for a moment. The old woman who answered the question didn't know what to say after hearing the old lady's cruel words.

The eldest daughter Cui Linghui grew up in the mansion and was loved by the old lady. Even if she made mistakes, she is now imprisoned in the clan house with the second prince Xiao Ze. Even if the old lady, as her grandmother, can't help or do anything, she must at least feel pity and worry for her. How can she be as cruel as the old lady and not feel sad at all?

Not only that, but he also said these words.

No wonder the Crown Princess dislikes the relatives in the Marquis' Mansion. I don't know what's wrong with everyone in the Marquis' Mansion. They were fine before, but over the years, all the humanity has disappeared.

It is said that the royal family is ruthless, but the life of the royal family is not something that servants like them can see. However, a noble family like the Marquis's Mansion is so ruthless, with the elders not like elders and the younger generations not like younger generations. It is really sad. I wonder if other families are like this.

The old woman sighed in her heart, but did not dare to show it at all. Seeing that the old lady had no further instructions, she respectfully retreated.

Old Lady Zhai was about to explode when she saw that Mrs. Qi was dissatisfied, but a maid came back from outside to report that Old Lady Wu and Mrs. Zhan had come with the second aunt and were on their way to Xilan Courtyard.

When Mrs. Zhai heard this, she could not help but guess that the Qi family knew about Yan's poisoning, and even knew that the matter involved Qi, so she hurried to the mansion.

She felt both annoyed and ridiculous. The Qi family was still thinking of clinging to Yan Yatou, the Crown Princess. It was really wishful thinking. Their Ningshou Marquis Mansion, a respectable family, could not get any credit from them and had no weight in Yan Yatou's eyes, let alone the Qi family.

Madam Wu brought Zhan and Yan to the house, but the two families just stared at each other, with no one able to do anything about it. After all, Yan was not recuperating in the Duke of Wei's mansion, but in the Eastern Palace, so it was not easy for them to see her.

It had just happened that Qi was used by someone and almost harmed Yan Yatou and her unborn child. At this time, even if the Marquis' Mansion wanted to pass a card into the palace under the pretext of visiting the Crown Princess, they would not have the face to do so. It was obvious that they would not be able to see her.

Rather than making a fool of yourself and becoming a laughing stock in the capital, it is better to do nothing.

Thinking about how Crown Prince Xiao Bingzhi had directly brought the unconscious Yan Yatou into the East Palace, and now forbidding them from seeing her, and even begging for help from Yan Yatou, Old Lady Zhai felt that Xiao Bingzhi was very thoughtful. She was afraid that he had already figured it out and wanted Yan Yatou to have a peaceful life, and did not want Yan Yatou, the Crown Princess, to have any connection with her family, the Ningshou Marquis Mansion.