Ning rushed in from outside and saw the smiling old lady and Chen Zhaoci. She sighed and said, "Grandmother, I really admire you even at this time."

The old lady asked Ning to sit down and said calmly, "The closer we get to this point, the less we can afford to lose our composure. Tell us, have you found out anything?"

Ning saw the steam rising from the teacup on the table, picked it up and drank it all in one gulp before saying, "I heard that someone has occupied the city gates of the capital, and it's possible that no one can enter or leave the imperial city. The streets are now full of soldiers who seem to have appeared out of nowhere. No one in our household dared to go far, and we rushed back as soon as we saw the situation was bad."

The old lady nodded and said, "Have someone guard all the gates of our mansion. Under no circumstances should outsiders be allowed to enter at this time."

Ning said earnestly, "Grandmother, your granddaughter-in-law knows how dangerous this is. I just gave instructions that someone should guard each gate and that all the gates in each courtyard should be closed. I also had the armory in the backyard, near the martial arts training ground, opened and distributed the bows, arrows, swords and knives inside to the servants."

The old lady smiled and said, "There's no need for that. We should have faith in His Majesty. He is the kind of person who can bide his time and win by surprise."

Seeing the old lady's relaxed expression, Ning couldn't help but smile and say, "Grandmother, do you have some inside information?"

The old lady shook her head and said, "Where would I get any inside information? His Majesty is a meticulous person. He must have made thorough preparations before allowing these people to emerge like this. We should just keep our doors and houses closed and guard our residences to prevent bad people from taking advantage of the chaos."

Chen Zhaoci carefully checked each of the medicines and pills he had brought, and after putting them away, he looked at the sky. It was still dark outside. The old lady saw Chen Zhaoci looking at the sky and said, "You two, don't be anxious. This matter won't have a result right away. The guards in the inner palace are not so easy to break through. We will have to wait."

Xu Rao went to the front yard, where the men who had stayed at home had already come to the study. Xu Rao saw his second uncle sitting to one side, bowed to him, and then went to the inner room to find the Marquis.

The Marquis was surrounded by several advisors, who all stared at Xu Rao expectantly as he approached.

Xu Rao sighed and said, "I don't know why this happened. It was so sudden. Have we sent anyone out to investigate?"

The prince shook his head and said, "I sent someone out, but they came back before they even reached the main street. They said there were many soldiers on the street and wouldn't let anyone go out. I really don't know how far things have developed."

The Marquis asked Xu Rao, "In your opinion, who started this?"

Xu Rao shook his head and said, "It's really hard to say. Not to mention that the Third Prince is only imprisoned in the inner palace, there are several other princes who could have done this. Now that we can't go out, we should just stay at home. There's no way to avoid this kind of thing. What's meant to happen will happen."

The Marquis couldn't help but sigh, and then he thought of what happened before Emperor Liang Cheng ascended the throne. Some things seemed to become a tradition, and such things would always happen at this time. After such things happened, it would take a long time for the court to stabilize. Only when the court was stable could the people live a peaceful life.

The study was quiet for a moment. Xu Rao could even hear his own heartbeat. A coup had been launched. A coup meant bloodshed and sacrifice. It seemed that the Third Prince was the most likely candidate to launch a coup. The knot between his family and the Third Prince was one that could not be untied even if they wanted to. If the Third Prince overthrew his father from his position, his family would be the first to suffer.

Xu Rao was lost in thought when Marquis Yongning, remembering something, asked him, "Third Prince, has His Majesty mentioned to you what will happen to the Third Prince after he is imprisoned?"

Xu Rao's thoughts were scattered, and it took him a while to react to what the Marquis had said. After thinking for a moment, he said, "His Majesty did not say that, but it's not just the Third Prince; the other princes are not entirely clean either."

The Marquis sighed and said, "We should get to the bottom of this quickly. If we don't, with both internal and external troubles, the country will be in danger."

With the restless Great Yan, the menacing Northern Di and Jin people, and the unruly chieftains in the southwest, the Great Liang, a country that had been established for over a hundred years, was constantly in turmoil.

The room was lit. Xu Rao looked out the window and saw only darkness outside through the glass. There was a clock in the Marquis's study. Xu Rao looked up and saw that it was four o'clock in the morning, the darkest time of day. Watching the hands of the clock tick by tick, Xu Rao felt that time was passing too slowly.

The Marquis sat there for a long time, then looked at his two sons sitting beside him and said to his heir, "Send someone skilled in martial arts to go outside and see what the situation is now."

The prince agreed and had just stepped out when he heard shouts and neighing of horses again in the street. Xu Rao's heart jumped. Judging from the noise, it seemed to be coming from the direction of the city gate and heading towards the palace.

The Yongning Marquis's residence is located in the south of the capital, while the imperial palace is to the north of the Yongning Marquis's residence. Xu Rao knew that there was a military camp not far south of the city, which seemed to be a place where some garrisons trained their troops. He didn't know whether these people were friends or enemies.

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