Inside the imperial palace in the capital, the Second Prince stood by the pool, head bowed, seemingly lost in thought. Beside him was his trusted confidant. These past two days, he had felt uneasy, as the Minister of Revenue had completely collapsed without his support.

The newly appointed Minister of Revenue seems to be a selfless person, and the Second Prince doesn't know how to proceed. He is currently worried that he will not be able to resolve his own affairs.

He had arranged to meet Nguyen Thanh An at the palace, and he was waiting here now.

A moment later, Ruan Qing'an walked over from not far away, followed by the Second Prince's men to prevent their conversation from being exposed. As they approached, the Second Prince greeted them warmly.

"Qing'an, are you alright?"

"Your Highness, the Second Prince, is concerned."

Ruan Qing'an responded, but did not want to continue the meaningless small talk with the Second Prince, and asked instead, "What does Your Highness want with me?"

"Regarding the Drunken Spring Pavilion incident, have you found the person behind it?"

Ruan Qing'an pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly: "This matter needs to be handled with caution, Your Highness. Let's move aside and talk."

The second prince immediately agreed and went to the edge of the pond with Ruan Qing'an. Before he could speak, Ruan Qing'an had already turned around, her eyes filled with a smile that was almost mocking.

"Your Highness, who do you think is behind this? I'm standing right here, and you still don't know anything. I have to say, compared to the Ninth Prince whom you look down on, you are truly astonishingly stupid, not even a fraction as good as him."

"What, what did you say?!"

The second prince paused, then flew into a rage.

But Ruan Qing'an lowered his voice: "Am I wrong? Back at Zui Chun Fang, you weren't just cuckolded, you were completely played. You haven't realized it yet?"

The second prince trembled with rage. He felt he had been fooled and raised his hand to strike Ruan Qing'an, but the next moment Ruan Qing'an took a half step back and fell straight into the pond.

Ruan Qingan sank into the pond, held his breath, and forced himself not to resist. His body grew colder and colder as he continued to sink.

037 is to ensure her basic survival.

The second prince was dumbfounded, and his trusted confidant quickly tried to stop him.

"Your Highness, that's the daughter of the Marquis of Yongle. If something happens to her, how will we explain it to the Marquis?"

"Quick...quick, save them!"

The second prince also realized that if Ruan Qing'an really got into trouble, he felt that the old man, Marquis Yongle, would fight him to the death. Moreover, he always had a vague sense of unease...

When they finally managed to pull Ruan Qing'an out of the water, she was lying on the edge of the pond, seemingly unconscious. The Second Prince shakily brought his hand to her nose, and only after confirming that he could feel her breathing did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Before the Second Prince could even rejoice, hurried footsteps drew closer. The chief eunuch, Zhao, who always accompanied Ji Hao, arrived and immediately spotted Ruan Qing'an on the ground.

With a displeased expression, Eunuch Zhao bowed and said, "Your Highness, I am here to convey His Majesty's decree."

"Please speak, Eunuch Zhao."

The second prince wiped away his cold sweat, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Eunuch Zhao waved his hand, and the guards stepped forward to protect Ruan Qing'an. He said, "Immediately ask the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital to treat him. They must act quickly!"

"Your Highness, His Majesty requests that you come with me to the Imperial Study to explain the matter of Zuichunfang, and... Marquis Yongle is also waiting in the Imperial Study. Please do not make things difficult for me."

Upon hearing Eunuch Zhao's words, the Second Prince was completely dumbfounded.

But now he had no chance to refuse, and he was forced to come to the Imperial Study. Ji Hao sat at his desk with a rather unpleasant expression, as did Ruan Changhong.

Along with her came the imperial physician who reported the situation: "Your Majesty, Miss Ruan was delayed after falling into the water, and given her poor health, she is still unconscious. It's a difficult situation."

"Go down and handle it."

Ji Hao waved his hand, looking exasperated.

The next moment, Ruan Changhong stood up and kicked the Second Prince away: "That's my daughter, you bastard!"

"Ruan Changhong!"

Ji Hao immediately tried to stop him, but with a dull thud, the Second Prince rolled twice, coughed up blood, and looked pitiful.

Ruan Changhong turned to look at Ji Hao, his eyes reddening, clearly furious. He then cupped his hands in greeting.

"Your Majesty, what has my daughter done to offend the Second Prince? Out of consideration for our past friendship, I hoped to maintain a good relationship with him, but now she has been pushed directly into the water. Her body simply cannot withstand it!"

Ji Hao pressed his head down: "Calm down, my dear minister."

"Your Majesty, that is my only daughter!"

Ruan Changhong was so angry that he stood up straight, abandoning all manners. But Ji Hao couldn't really do anything to him. Not only was Ruan Changhong in the right, but the Yongle Marquis's mansion also held too much prestige in the army. Ji Hao had no doubt that he could rule as a king with his own army.

This is why Ji Hao is so wary of her, yet dares not deal with her casually. When Ruan Changhong was still a general, he almost charged into the court with a sword for the sake of this daughter.

Thinking of this, Ji Hao couldn't help but glare at the Second Prince. What a useless and troublesome thing!

"...The imperial physicians will do their best to treat her. Minister Ruan, why don't you go to the Imperial Hospital to stay with Qing'an? I will give you an explanation here. Even members of the royal family must follow the rules!"

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your great kindness."

Ruan Changhong bowed and then hurriedly left.

The second prince lay on the ground, in so much pain he could barely straighten his back: "Father, your son—"

"Shut up!"

Ji Hao said coldly, "I didn't personally deal with the Yongle Marquis's mansion immediately; I only used a marriage contract to restrain it. Don't you understand the importance of this matter?!"

"I have heard about the incident at Zuichunfang. I was unaware that my good prince would actually book a courtesan at Zuichunfang and even get into a fight with someone in the street."

"Since your mind is not on important matters, I will grant your wish!"

Ji Hao glanced coldly at Eunuch Zhao: "Send the second prince back. He's been unwell lately, so hand over the canal transport and other matters to other princes who are more at ease."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Eunuch Zhao bowed, then looked at the Second Prince: "Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for us, please."

The second prince was pale and somewhat dazed, unable to process what had happened. How could he have suddenly been stripped of all his power and kicked out of the power struggle...?

What the Second Prince didn't expect was that no other prince dared to interfere in matters concerning the Yongle Marquis's mansion. The Yongle Marquis's mansion posed a great threat, but if they were to confront it directly, Ji Hao would definitely choose to appease Ruan Changhong first, rather than protect his countless "sons."

\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e\u000e