"Hey, who is this?" A middle-aged woman with a black veil on her head and wearing a white dress stopped Princess Shu at the top of the stairs. "Who asked you to come?"

"He's my father, why can't I come?" Princess Shu said coldly, "Noble Concubine An, please move aside. I remember you were one of my father's favorite women. Why don't you go to be buried with him?"

When Concubine An heard this, her expression changed. The two kneeling maids behind her stood up and walked towards Princess Shu.

"You're such a sharp-tongued person! What I do is none of your business!" Concubine An said sharply, "You've already been kicked out of the palace by your father, and you still have the nerve to come back? You're not welcome here, get out!"

The two maids opened their hands and reached out to grab Princess Shu.

Wang Xiaohai couldn't just sit back and watch - if Princess Shu was captured, all his plans would be in vain!

“Bang!”

Wang Xiaohai slapped the nanny who rushed towards Princess Shu in the face, knocking one of the nannies away and hitting Concubine An.

"ah!"

Seeing this, another nanny didn't bother to catch Princess Shu and hurriedly stood in front of Concubine An. Unexpectedly, the nanny who rushed over brought great force, and the three of them fell down the stairs together, screaming and rolling.

"There is an assassin!" Concubine An's son, Princess Shu's brother, the fourth prince of Zhou shouted, calling on the guards who were putting out the fire to rush towards Wang Xiaohai!

"Come back and continue putting out the fire!" A long-haired young man walked out of the hall, looking at the guards with a stern expression.

The guards immediately stopped and returned to put out the fire. No one helped the Fourth Prince to capture Wang Xiaohai.

"This is the third prince Zhou Jian." Princess Shu whispered to Wang Xiaohai.

"Are you on good terms with him?" Wang Xiaohai asked.

“No contact.”

Wang Xiaohai immediately understood—the Third Prince Zhou Jian didn't want to help them, he just didn't like the guards obeying the Fourth Prince's orders! This meant that the Third Prince was trying to control the force of the guards in the palace, and that he had the intention of competing for the throne!

"Does the Zhou Kingdom have a crown prince?" Wang Xiaohai continued to ask.

"No, my father is still young and has no plans to appoint a crown prince," Princess Shu replied. "Perhaps he left behind a secret decree or oral instructions before he left."

"Even if such a thing exists, don't acknowledge it," Wang Xiaohai said. "You have no power now. Acknowledging it would put you in a weak position. If he ascends the throne in the future, will you acknowledge the legitimacy of his throne?"

"I admit, there is a problem," said Princess Shu.

"That's very problematic!" Wang Xiaohai said, "Don't you want to avenge your mother?" In the corner of his sight, the Fourth Prince called two more people to run towards Wang Xiaohai, but judging from the appearance of those two people, they were just eunuchs, so the Third Prince did not stop them.

"Yes." said Princess Shu.

"If someone else inherits the throne, will you still have a chance for revenge?" Wang Xiaohai said, "From now on, the first thing you must learn is to abandon all kindness and goodness. Otherwise, in this cannibalistic palace, you will be the first to die!"

"Okay, teacher," Princess Shu said perfunctorily. It was like when she was a student and the teacher asked her to write a self-criticism after she did something wrong, she would just write a few dozen words and throw it to the teacher.

"Why do you call me teacher?" Wang Xiaohai asked in confusion.

"Because the way you scold people is very similar to my childhood teacher." Zhou Shuyi said, "It's a pity that my teacher only taught me for two years before retiring." As she spoke, she and Wang Xiaohai walked into the crowd.

The Fourth Prince ran to Wang Xiaohai, breathlessly, and shouted to the two eunuchs, "Help me hold this bastard down!"

Wang Xiaohai took a step forward and came to the side of the Fourth Prince. He put his hand on his shoulder well acupoint and pulled him over to use as a human shield to block the two eunuchs.

The Fourth Prince felt his body go weak, and his body involuntarily followed Wang Xiaohai's movements. No matter how the two eunuchs turned, Wang Xiaohai could always block the Fourth Prince in front of him, making it impossible for them to do anything.

"I don't want to play with you two anymore." Wang Xiaohai grabbed the Fourth Prince and threw him towards the two eunuchs. The two eunuchs hurriedly approached the Fourth Prince, but unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince's body seemed to have doubled in weight. The two eunuchs lost their balance and fell directly to the ground.

"Ouch--"

The Fourth Prince's screams echoed throughout the palace.

All the concubines and princes present looked towards Wang Xiaohai. Although they felt that Wang Xiaohai and Princess Shu's behavior of making a scene at the funeral was inappropriate, no one said anything. They all looked at the third prince, meaning that he should take care of Princess Shu's affairs.

The third prince, Zhou Jian, knew why everyone was looking at him. He controlled the Imperial Guard, which indirectly meant he controlled the entire palace. His mother was just an ordinary concubine, not a noble concubine or empress, but his grandfather was the Minister of War and had long ago arranged for his uncle to become the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard. When the emperor died, the commander of the Imperial Guard mysteriously disappeared, rumored to have been assassinated. He didn't know if it was his grandfather's arrangement or a real assassin. Regardless, his uncle naturally became the commander and, in consultation with his mother, took control of the entire palace. The city gates were sealed, forbidding anyone else from bringing troops into the palace.

"My father passed away suddenly, and I am deeply saddened," said the Third Prince Zhou Jian. "Before he died, he asked me to temporarily take charge of the overall affairs of the palace. After the funeral ceremony, we will discuss the successor to the throne together."

"Also, Sister Shu, don't you know that outsiders are not allowed to come to the front of the ancestral temple?" The third prince changed the subject and directly questioned Zhou Shuyi on behalf of everyone.

"Aren't these imperial guards outsiders? Aren't these eunuchs and maids outsiders?" Princess Shu asked. "Why are my people outsiders?"

When the Third Prince Zhou Jian heard this, there was a look of resentment in his eyes, as if a flame was burning - a poor princess who lived outside the palace actually dared to refute him in public and not give him face in front of so many people!

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!