Consort De was placed under house arrest in Yonghe Palace, and only the Minister of Rites was allowed to enter each day. He was ordered to explain the precautions for being buried alive with Consort De.

After a series of fruitless acts of resistance, such as overturning the table and smashing porcelain, Consort De calmed down. She watched the Minister of Rites' mouth open and close, but her mind had already wandered elsewhere.

When Yinzhen mentioned his brother's plans last time, Consort De's mind started to wander. She even summoned her sister-in-law from her maternal family separately afterward, intending to give them a warning, but she was completely persuaded.

Over the years, she had clearly seen that the fourth prince was a very domineering person, and the one who could influence his thoughts was not her, his mother, but Ulanara.

It was that daughter-in-law she initially didn't think much of.

In addition, the estrangement between the mother and son since childhood meant that the fourth son's rise to power was not the best choice for either himself or the Wuya family.

So she devised a plan: in front of the high-ranking officials, she questioned the legitimacy of the fourth prince's throne. If she could remove him directly, that would be ideal; if not, it would at least leave a pretext so that the fourteenth prince would have a legitimate reason to purge the court of corrupt officials in the future.

Consort De even improvised, dragging Honghui into the mess. He was now burdened with the charge of allegedly plotting to murder the late emperor and altering his decrees, effectively deposing this almost universally favored next crown prince.

The fourth prince has few sons, and apart from Honghui, the others are not of great use. It won't be too difficult for him to unite the court and the public to find a suitable candidate for the position of crown prince.

Consort De never expected that the fourth prince would publicly say that he wanted her to be buried alive with him. This was a tactic of risking his reputation and dying together with her.

The Minister of Rites didn't dare to raise his head. He had to arrange the funeral of the late emperor and prepare for the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor. In between, there were also various posthumous and official conferment ceremonies. The Ministry of Rites had been working non-stop for a long time. He never expected to have to get involved in the power struggle between the emperor and his mother.

He could only grit his teeth and recount the ancestral rules, not daring to even ask for a sip of water, and slunk away. As he walked out of Yonghe Palace, he looked back and thought that some people had good fortune but didn't know how to enjoy it. They were going head-to-head with the emperor, and what good would that result be in the end?

He was a mortal and couldn't understand the thoughts of these immortals in the palace.

Seeing that the people from the Ministry of Rites had finally left, Granny Green knelt directly in front of Consort De: "Your Highness, if you keep being so at odds with the Emperor, won't you just make things difficult for the Fourteenth Prince in the end?"

"Get up and speak." It would be a lie to say that Consort De didn't regret her impulsive actions back then. "He might not even be the Emperor yet!"

Green Granny did not get up: "Your Majesty is just saying this in anger. Putting everything else aside, with Eunuch Liang testifying for the Emperor, your accusations are all baseless."

"Your Majesty, have you considered this? If you make such a scene now, out of filial piety, the Emperor won't really force you to your death, but what about the Fourteenth Prince?"

"If this servant dares to presume to speak, His Majesty and the Fourteenth Prince are not exactly brothers. They have a grudge against each other because of Your Majesty. Now that you want to be good to the Fourteenth Prince, you should distance yourself from him. Otherwise, given His Majesty's temperament, how difficult will the Fourteenth Prince's life be!"

The old woman, Green Granny, spoke with tears streaming down her face: "Your Highness, your uncle has no good intentions at all. Please don't be foolish and do someone else a favor."

"Besides, how heartbroken Prince Honghui would be if he knew about your accusations."

Consort De's eyes, which had been expressionless, reacted upon hearing this. Her feelings for Yinzhen were mixed with many inexplicable things, but as for Honghui, she had genuinely loved him for more than ten years, so how could she not feel sorry for him?

Seeing that Consort De had finally responded, Granny Green continued to persuade her, "Your Highness, why don't you stay ill for a while?"

Consort De sighed and nodded almost imperceptibly, and Granny Green breathed a sigh of relief.

******

Yi Hua was packing her things. They were going to move into the palace to live in the future. Looking at the familiar plants and trees, she was really reluctant to leave the Prince Yong's Mansion after living there for more than ten years.

Just when the mansion was in complete chaos, Su Peisheng returned. He had lost a lot of weight, and his dark circles were impossible to hide.

"This servant greets Your Majesty!" Although the formal investiture ceremony had not yet taken place, Su Peisheng's attitude remained as respectful as ever, and he even changed his form of address.

"No need for formalities. Does His Majesty have any instructions?"

"Consort De in the palace is ill, and the Emperor is busy with affairs of the court and has no time to spare. He thought that you would enter the palace first to take charge of the harem, which would relieve the Emperor's urgent need." Su Peisheng came to escort Yihua into the palace.

Although it was rather sudden, Yi Hua still agreed. She left Chen Mama to look after the house and, with Yu Ling, traveled lightly with Su Peisheng to the palace. Before leaving, she entrusted all the affairs of the mansion to Li Shi, which was a way of putting her mind at ease.

When Yi Hua arrived at the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, she was somewhat dazed. She had been here before. In her memory, the heavy and solemn hall seemed to have been revitalized because of the change of its owner. Although it was still decorated in white, it was much brighter.

Yi Hua saw some familiar figures, all of whom were the old men who had been used by Yinzhen in the front courtyard of Prince Yong's mansion. Now they were wearing palace clothes and could not hide their excited smiles.

A new emperor brings a new court; the golden age for Emperor Yongzheng had finally arrived.

Without anyone announcing her arrival, it must have been Yinzhen who gave the order; Yihua was led inside directly.

As soon as Yihua stepped into the inner room, she heard voices. She looked up and was about to push him out when she saw that Yinzhen was discussing matters with someone.

When Zhang Tingyu heard the footsteps, he thought he had misheard. After spending some time with the new emperor, he had gotten a pretty good feel for his personality. He was a man who had rules ingrained in his bones. He followed the rules himself and required everyone else to do the same.

This relieved everyone; it was better for the emperor to be a self-disciplined person than someone who indulged in pleasure.

Unexpectedly, someone dared to barge in during the meeting. Zhang Tingyu secretly looked up and saw that the Emperor was not angry. In fact, his expression was even more relaxed. He said in a gentle voice that no one had ever heard before, "You came early. You must be tired. Go and rest for a while. I'll come over when I'm done here."

Yi Hua looked at Yinzhen sitting upright on the dragon throne, nodded haphazardly, and followed the palace servants past the screen to the inner room.

Ninth Prince nudged Zhang Tingyu: "The Emperor is asking you a question."

Zhang Tingyu then realized as if he had just woken up from a dream. Was the emperor who had seemed so gentle just now really the person he knew?

Perhaps because he had something on his mind, the meeting ended quickly, and Zhang Tingyu couldn't help but look back as he left.

He quickened his pace to catch up with Ninth Prince: "Your Highness, forgive my poor eyesight, but who was that just now?"

"I never knew the Grand Secretary could be so curious." Ninth Prince smiled and continued, "That's Fourth Sister-in-law. The palace needs someone to keep things in order these days."

Zhang Tingyu suddenly realized what had happened and remembered the farce. He said nothing more, and the two left one after the other.