Chapter 103 A brilliant move to strike at the heart of the problem.

The person who rushed in was a eunuch from Empress Feng's palace. He knelt on the ground in a panic and said:

"When His Highness the Crown Prince was about to leave the city with relief grain, a cart suddenly overturned, the grain bags on the cart opened, and moldy rice spilled out."

"Moldy rice?" Empress Feng exclaimed in shock, standing up abruptly. "How is this possible? What's the situation outside?"

The eunuch said, "The people are talking about it, saying that His Highness the Crown Prince is embezzling the rice and grain allocated for disaster relief and is using moldy rice to help the people. He is heartless."

His Majesty was furious and immediately dismissed the Crown Prince from his disaster relief duties, ordering the Ministry of Revenue to immediately replace the rice with white rice and send Prince Heng to lead the relief effort.

When this servant returned, His Majesty had already ordered His Highness the Crown Prince to reflect on his actions behind closed doors, and all the officials who had accompanied His Highness the Crown Prince on the disaster relief mission had been punished.

Empress Feng turned pale and slumped into a chair.

The Crown Prince was punished, and Prince Heng temporarily took over. He will surely achieve another great feat after returning from the disaster relief.

"Father-in-law, has my Yan'er also been punished?" Madam Chen stepped forward, her face full of panic, and pulled the eunuch to ask.

The eunuch gave Chen a strange look and silently pulled his hand away from hers.

Empress Feng, who had been in charge of the inner palace for many years, was quick-witted and immediately noticed something amiss with the eunuch.

What exactly is going on with the moldy rice?

The eunuch, shrinking his neck, said, "The spilled moldy rice bags all have the Changning Marquis's seal on them. They were donated by... by Madam Chen."

What?

The entire room erupted in uproar.

"Moldy rice can kill people, this is too audacious."

"I used to think she was kind and righteous, but it turns out it was all a pretense."

"It seems that she was the one who framed Lord Shen, and she tried to pin the blame on the servants."

"Truly vicious."

The surrounding chatter buzzed like sharp arrows, instantly filling Chen with panic and fear.

What frightened her even more was the way Empress Feng looked at her.

The more triumphant Empress Feng's arrival had made her, the more terrified she was now.

"Your Majesty, it wasn't me. Yan'er checked all 500 shi of rice, and there really wasn't any moldy rice."

Someone must have framed me.

She explained to Empress Feng in a panic.

Empress Feng barely suppressed her surging anger and asked the eunuch, "Was it only Lady Chen who donated moldy rice?"

The eunuch nodded. "Yes, the rest of the rice is fine. Half of the 500 shi of grain donated by Madam Chen is moldy."

Empress Feng's face was extremely gloomy, and her eyes held a hint of suspicion as she looked at Chen.

Her cousin had been short-sighted and greedy since childhood. If it weren't for the need to salvage her reputation and for her repeated admonitions, Chen would never have been willing to donate five hundred bushels of grain.

It's hard to guarantee that she wouldn't have resorted to dishonest means to save money, perhaps mixing moldy rice into the mix.

At this moment, another eunuch arrived and said, "By order of His Majesty, since the Sixth Prince is in the Changning Marquis's residence, he shall be in charge of the moldy rice case and shall investigate and report back by today."

Pei Yuan received the imperial edict, raised an eyebrow at Chen Chu, and smiled.

Tsk, what a brilliant move to undermine their cause, and they even used him as a tool in the process.

Noticing his gaze, Shen Chu smiled and gestured for him to enter.

Pei Yuan chuckled, withdrew his gaze, and ordered the Flying Eagle Guards: "Immediately bring here the Marquis of Changning's heir, as well as all the servants of the Marquis's residence who participated in the purchase of grain."

Soon, Shen Yan and the steward of the Marquis's mansion were all brought up.

At Pei Yuan's command, the Flying Eagle Guards delivered a few blows, and Shen Yan couldn't help but confess.

"It was all the steward's doing. He said that His Highness the Crown Prince was taking tens of thousands of bushels of grain to provide disaster relief, and that no one would notice if he mixed in a few hundred bushels of moldy rice."

The steward knelt down and cried out that he was wronged, "It was clearly you, young master, who was greedy for a bargain, how can you put all the blame on me?"

Shen Yan: "You're the one who found the cheapest vendor. You said it wouldn't kill anyone, so I dared to buy the moldy rice."

Shen Yan and the steward began to accuse each other, and Chen felt dizzy upon hearing this.

The Empress Dowager called on the women of the family to donate to disaster relief, and Empress Feng suggested that she set an example by donating 500 shi of grain.

She gritted her teeth and donated, thinking she could use this to earn some credit for her son.

Therefore, she specifically requested that Shen Yan accompany the Crown Prince on a disaster relief mission.

The Empress Dowager also promised that once Shen Yan returned from disaster relief, he could be directly appointed to an official position in the court.

She wanted her son to earn credit, so she entrusted all the tasks of purchasing grain to Shen Yan.

I never expected that Shen Yan would dare to mix moldy rice into it.

Now Chen was truly terrified and knelt down at Empress Feng's feet. "Your Majesty, please save Yan'er! He is your nephew, you can't abandon him!"

Empress Feng hated that she and Shen Yan had implicated the Crown Prince, and pushed her away.

"What a fine son you've raised! He dares to tamper with the people's life-sustaining grain, and he's even caused the Crown Prince to lose his job! You..."

The thought that Prince Heng might overshadow the Crown Prince made Empress Feng want to slap Chen twice.

She looked at Pei Yuan and said, "Now that the Sixth Prince has found out the situation, let's hurry to the palace to report to His Majesty."

The most urgent task at hand is to prevent His Majesty from continuing to vent his anger on the Crown Prince.

Pei Yuan stood up, feigning difficulty, "Although the case of Mei Mi has been clarified, we haven't yet questioned Zhang Wang about the various crimes he accused the Lady of Changning Marquis of.

It involves murder, arson, and drugging, so it probably can't be treated as just a family matter of the Marquis's household.

"The matter hasn't been clarified yet. If it reaches Father Emperor's ears, won't he take his anger out on Mother Emperor in his anger?"

Empress Feng's expression changed slightly.

If the moldy rice incident hadn't happened, she would have protected Chen Shi and blamed everything on the servants, and no one would have really held her, the Empress, accountable.

However, His Majesty is currently angry with the Crown Prince because of the moldy rice incident. If he were to hear about the various crimes committed by Lady Chen, he might be furious with her, believing that her excessive indulgence led to Lady Chen's audacity.

The most urgent task right now is to sever ties with the Chen family as soon as possible.

Empress Feng immediately said to Pei Yuan with a serious expression, "The Sixth Prince is right. This matter can no longer be considered a family matter of the Marquis of Changning."

Since you are here today, take all of them back to the Flying Eagle Guard for thorough questioning.

If Lady Chen really did those things, you should report it to His Majesty immediately. I will not tolerate it.

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "With Mother's words, I am relieved."

Madam Chen grabbed Empress Feng's skirt, her face pale with fright. "Cousin, you can't abandon me! Please save me and Yan'er!"

"Guards, pull her away from me!" Empress Feng said, her face full of disgust.

At this moment, she was filled with regret, regretting that she had suggested to Chen that she donate grain to the Empress Dowager, but unexpectedly, it had harmed the Crown Prince instead.

The eunuch stepped forward and pushed Chen aside. Empress Feng gave her a cold glance and left.

Upon seeing this, the guests who attended the disaster relief banquet all took their leave.

Pei Yuan raised his hand and ordered, "Drag all those related to the Marquis's residence away."

Madam Shen trembled with fear, hiding behind Marquis Changning, pleading, "It's all Chen's fault, don't arrest me!"

Marquis Changning was both angry and afraid. He wanted to ask if he could not go, but when he met Pei Yuan's seemingly smiling eyes, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and followed the Flying Eagle Guard away dejectedly.

When Chen was dragged out, her face was ashen.

It's over, everything she has is over.

Empress Feng ignored her; once she was in the Flying Eagle Guard, she had no chance of surviving.

Everything was fine this morning, how did it turn into this in less than an hour?

In a daze, she suddenly saw Shen Chu.

"It was you!" she suddenly snapped, glaring fiercely at Chen Chu. "You're the one who harmed me, aren't you?"

Shen Chu looked at her and smiled faintly, "Those who do evil will not live."

Chen gasped, wanting to curse again, but the Flying Eagle Guards gagged her and dragged her out like a dead dog.

"Young Master Shen, please." Two Flying Eagle Guards walked over and made a move to grab Shen Chu's arm.

Hongxiu panicked, "Sixth Prince, my young master is not a suspect, why are you arresting him as well?"

Pei Yuan stroked the jade-bone fan, raising an eyebrow at Shen Chu, "Does Lord Shen think this prince should arrest you?"