Fire

Fu Huaiying glanced at his leaving back and turned to go into the mansion.

Da Hu ordered someone to guard the door and quickly caught up with her, walking beside her. "I sent someone to investigate, and they only found out that Lord Su's confidante was called A Yue. They couldn't find anything else."

Fu Huaiying nodded. "It's okay. As long as we find out that Ah Yue isn't part of his plan, there's no need to investigate her. But we have to keep an eye on Su Ning. I don't know what the King Huan promised him. What the King Huan can give us, we may not be unable to."

"But, young lady, you can't let him know about the Fourth Prince's affairs. He's a vindictive man. Previously, the drama he staged and acted in was exposed by a student. I later investigated and found that the student's parents died the next day. He escaped because he went out to work."

"What connection does that scholar have with the court officials?"

Da Hu shook his head. "No, he was just an ordinary poor scholar. He probably killed him to vent his anger."

Fu Huaiying turned around suddenly, frowning, "Then this person can't be used."

"But he knows you..."

Fu Huaiying still shook her head. "No, I will never use such a person in my life. He is not of the same kind as us. Sacrificing a few people in the game to achieve great things is fine, but killing ordinary people just to vent his anger is insane. He wants to kill an entire family just because of a few words. Using him is like hanging a poisonous snake around your neck."

Da Hu nodded, not quite understanding, "Do we still need to keep an eye on him from now on?"

"Of course I do."

In the palace

The flames in the East Palace shot up into the sky. Because it was the palace of the deposed crown prince, the palace guards were negligent, the palace maids and eunuchs had all gone to bed early, and there was no one to keep watch. As a result, the fire was not discovered until it became strong.

Ji Yuan's face was gloomy and he had no time to report anything. He could only follow others and carry water to put out the fire.

Emperor Huanyu rushed over wearing only his inner clothes and with his hair loose, but it was still too late. The fire had been put out, but the East Palace was left in ruins.

When the prince was carried out, he had been burned beyond recognition.

The palace maids and guards knelt on the ground, trembling, and the entire East Palace was silent.

Emperor Huanyu's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes were red. He stepped forward and lifted the white cloth. What caught his eye was the koi jade pendant tightly grasped in the prince's blackened hand.

He closed his eyes and suddenly remembered that when his son was just born, he only hoped that he would have a smooth life. He remembered that the year the prince was born was a year of severe drought, but on the day he was born, heavy rain fell from the sky, and it rained heavily for three consecutive days, saving his country and his people. Therefore, he sent people to divide the white jade into two parts, one part became a dragon-patterned jade pendant symbolizing the majesty of the emperor, and the other was the koi jade pendant he gave to the prince.

Emperor Huanyu bent down, put his hands on the crossbow, and two tears fell on the prince.

After a long moment, he stood up straight and spoke his first words of the night, "Guards of the Eastern Palace who neglect their duties shall be put to death. Palace maids and eunuchs who leave their posts without permission shall be beaten to death."

In an instant, the sounds of dragging, begging for mercy, and crying filled the sky, and the East Palace became a river of blood overnight.

"Prince, enter the imperial mausoleum."

After saying the last sentence, Emperor Huanyu turned around and returned to the palace, as if he had dealt with an insignificant matter.

Ji Yuan followed the emperor, but was locked outside the palace.

After a while, the sound of various objects breaking could be heard from inside.

Emperor Huanyu placed his hands on the table, but still could not stand. He fell to the ground, amidst a pile of broken objects, covering his face and crying silently.

How could it not hurt? That was his son, his first son. Although he wasn't very stable or mature, he was the only one among all these children who still remembered the love between father and son, and brother.

Emperor Huanyu raised his head and suddenly remembered the time when his father was seriously ill and the two lines of turbid tears he shed when he heard the news of his brother's death. Was he as painful as he was now?

When Fu Huaiying entered the palace the next day, she found that the number of palace maids and eunuchs cleaning the palace had more than doubled, and the air was filled with the smell of blood.

Turning sideways, I saw Wen Chuyan walking towards me with a frown on his face. "Huaiying, let's go another way."

Fu Huaiying shook her head. "No, it's just that the smell is a little strong, it's nothing serious. What's wrong?"

"The Eastern Palace caught fire last night. The maids and eunuchs were negligent and didn't keep watch. The palace guards didn't patrol often. The deposed crown prince was probably fast asleep and didn't make it out of the flames. The maids and eunuchs who managed to escape were all hacked to pieces, along with the guards, outside the Eastern Palace. The blood hasn't even been cleaned up yet."

Fu Huaiying nodded, but her eyes fell on the dark figure in front of her.

Wen Chuyan followed her and looked over. It was King Huan. He didn't know how long he had been kneeling outside the palace.

"Brother, it's time for me to start work."

Fu Huaiying walked forward, took a deep breath outside the hall, and then went in.

Emperor Huanyu was in grief over the loss of his son and had not yet recovered, but the memorials on his desk had already piled up like a mountain.

Fu Huaiying bowed his head and saluted, not daring to look up.

"Get up."

Fu Huaiying stood up and went to sort out the memorials on the table. In order to save time these days, Emperor Huanyu asked them to send all the memorials directly, and Fu Huaiying had to stay by the emperor's side to handle affairs.

Emperor Huanyu seemed to have a headache. His hand was on his forehead and did not move down. His other hand was tightly holding the dragon-patterned jade pendant.

Fu Huaiying said nothing and quietly did his own thing.

"Before, you told me where you found that jade pendant?"

Here it comes.

Fu Huaiying paused and said, "Your Majesty, I found it earlier in the palace, by the lake not far from my courtyard."

“By the lake.”

"Go, call that beast in."

Fu Huaiying walked out with her head down, and immediately saw Prince Huan kneeling upright. "Second Prince, His Majesty invites you."

King Huan narrowed his eyes at her and said, "Fu Zhibi, I underestimated you. However, you are right. As long as he is alive, he will be re-established sooner or later."

Fu Huaiying lowered her eyes, a smile on her lips, "I don't know what Your Highness is talking about."

King Huan smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes. He followed her into the hall, but as soon as he stepped in, an inkstone flew towards him.

Fu Huaiying did not dodge, and the inkstone brushed past her hair, but Emperor Huanyu had good aim and did not hurt her by mistake. The inkstone hit Emperor Huanyu's forehead straight on, and in an instant, blood slid down his forehead, blurring his vision.

The two men knelt down immediately.

"Your Majesty, calm down."

"Father, calm down."

"Lord Huan, you are doing very well."

"Father, I don't understand. I hope you can speak frankly."

Emperor Huanyu came down and threw the fake dragon jade pendant into his arms, saying coldly, "Look at this."

King Huan suddenly raised his head and was about to argue, but when he saw the Emperor's cold eyes, he couldn't utter a word of rebuttal.

"You don't need to explain yourself. My Jinyiwei can see everything. This jade pendant is a very similar replica. No wonder the prince believed it. He is too stupid, and you are too smart."

Emperor Huanyu sighed as he spoke, "When you were young, I often taught you that brothers are like brothers. Your Highness listened to me, but you didn't."

"Father...your son..."

He wanted to argue, but Emperor Huanyu refused to give him the chance. "Go back to your palace and reflect on your actions. You are not allowed to leave without an imperial decree."

King Huan looked at Fu Huaiying deeply, then stood up, bowed respectfully and took his leave.

Emperor Huanyu looked at his back, stroking the jade pendant in his hand, but the prince's words kept ringing in his ears, "If my brother were the prince, you would never be able to sleep peacefully."

The hall was silent for a long time. Emperor Huanyu slowly slumped over, looking like he had aged ten years.

Fu Huaiying lowered her eyes and stood aside silently.

"Huaiying, am I wrong?"

Fu Huaiying didn't answer, but only trembled his eyebrows slightly. He was wrong, how could he not be wrong? The former crown prince was much older than him and treated him like his own son, yet he could set fire to the former crown prince's entire family and put the blame on Master Qiao...

If... there hadn't been that fire, with the virtue of the late Crown Prince and her grandfather's ability, her mother would have been able to rely on her vast knowledge to become a court lady and live a peaceful and smooth life, instead of dying in the dirty tricks in the backyard...

She lowered her eyes to hide the sudden emotion.

"I'm a little tired."

Fu Huaiying bowed and said, "I'll take my leave."

When she left the hall, the sun was bright and a little dazzling, so she subconsciously raised her hand to block the sunlight.

In the shadow hidden in her palm, she saw Fu Tingyun. He was standing by the palace wall, looking straight at her without any obstruction.

Fu Huaiying sneered and stepped forward, "Brother."

"The prince is dead."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Big Brother? It's just giving you some extra work."

"This matter has something to do with you."

He spoke with such confidence that Fu Huaiying laughed. "Me? What does it have to do with me? I guess it's because the Ministry of Rites is too idle that Big Brother has the time to speculate."

"Fu Huaiying, if you abuse your power like this, sooner or later you will dig your own grave."

Fu Huaiying narrowed her eyes and said, "Don't worry, big brother. If I die, my whole family will die with me."

"What do you want to do?"

Fu Tingyun really didn't understand her at all. Qiliyuan no longer had a seal, and she accompanied the emperor every day. No one in the entire court had seen His Majesty for longer than her. It could be said that she had the power to cover the sky with one hand, but she was still not satisfied.

"That's funny, brother. How should I know what I did?"

Fu Tingyun looked at her deeply, but still couldn't see her eyes clearly.

Fu Huaiying looked him in the eye without the slightest fear, "Big brother, you'd better take care of yourself. The deposed crown prince is dead, and your backer is gone. From now on, it will be Prince Huan who has the final say in the court. You'd better think about how to avoid being replaced."

After she finished speaking, she left without giving Fu Tingyun any chance to fight back.

Huanli is still young, so he needs to keep a low profile and keep all their attention on King Huan.

…

"Master! There's another one!"

Lin Yan'an turned around and swung the sword in his hand. In a moment, the sword returned to his hand. The head fell to the ground, blood splattered all over the ground. The bandage on his arm was bleeding. He frowned and had to tie it again.

His Majesty sent him to Fushan to suppress the bandits, but he didn't expect that these bandits actually had muskets, which were almost exactly the same as those used by the previous assassins. Although the power was not great, it was about 60% similar.

Lin Yan'an held a cloth and lowered his head to wipe the sword. "Leave a few alive, and kill the rest."

He Feng ran towards him and handed him the letter in his hand, "It's a letter from the girl."

Lin Yan'an raised his eyes. Huaiying usually wouldn't write to him. Could something have happened in the capital?

He wiped his hands and took the letter from He Feng. The words in the letter were brief, with only one sentence: there was a fire in the East Palace and the deposed crown prince died.

Lin Yan'an put the letter in his arms and said, "Return to Beijing."