He wanted Yun Zhuo to have no support behind him and to obediently wait for death in the prison.

Yun Xun sighed and said, "I can understand that Prince Jing is in a predicament and sees danger everywhere. Since I have misunderstood Prince Jing, I apologize to him."

He bowed and clasped his hands in apology to Yun Zhuo.

Then he turned around and said to the emperor, "Father, I came here tonight not only because of the fire in the prison, but also because of something extremely important that I want to tell you."

The emperor frowned: "What's so important?"

Yun Xun replied, "Several months ago, Prince Jing ordered Ye Cunsi, the second young master of the Marquis's mansion, to deliver grain to the Heavenly Eagle Holy Kingdom. I learned tonight that the grain delivery team of the second young master of the Marquis's mansion has arrived outside the capital city, but for some reason, the second young master has been lingering outside the city with his team and has not entered the capital."

The other palace servants didn't understand why Ye Cunsi's entourage had returned to the outskirts of the capital and hadn't entered the city.

Even Consort Cui couldn't figure out the key to it, but she found it strange that Ye Cunsi didn't come to the capital.

Yan Shizheng seemed to suddenly wake up and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, could it be that the second young master of the Marquis's mansion has learned about Prince Jing's affairs and is indignant about Princess Jing's impending widowhood, so he is lingering outside the city with rebellious intentions?"

Everyone was shocked by these words.

One of the ministers chimed in, "Could it be that Ye Cunsi, for the sake of Princess Jing's happiness, intends to rebel and threaten the Emperor to release Prince Jing?"

Yan Shizheng immediately knelt down, his face pale, and said, "Your Majesty, this is just my guess, it may not be true. Perhaps the second young master of the Marquis's mansion is just delayed outside the city by some business."

Ye Qingxue: "..."

Okay, okay, she said that when a gust of wind sweeps in, it will never just drop a single leaf.

The death of the Ninth Prince was merely a prelude.

The person behind this wants to completely destroy Yun Zhuo's faction. She is Yun Zhuo's princess, and the Marquis's mansion is her maternal home. When the person behind this deals with Yun Zhuo, they will never let her or the Marquis's mansion go.

Ye Cunsi had just delivered grain back to the capital when they were thwarted outside the city by a scheme. They then told the emperor that Ye Cunsi was deliberately not entering the capital and harbored rebellious intentions!

That must be it.

The emperor's face turned cold: "Cui Shao, I order you to immediately take two hundred men out of the city and secretly investigate Ye Cunsi's purpose in lingering outside the city and not entering the capital. Remember, do not alert him!"

He paused, then said, "Prime Minister Ning, you and Cui Shao go together. I want the truth!"

Ning Hongxi and Cui Shao immediately accepted the order.

The Emperor continued, "Although Prince Jing, Yun Zhuo, did not escape from prison, he is still guilty of murder and remains imprisoned. Zhang Dezhong, you'd better keep a close eye on him this time. If anything goes wrong again, I will take your head."

Zhang Dezhong hurriedly accepted the order and thanked the emperor for sparing his life.

The Emperor then said, “Don’t thank me too soon. So many heinous criminals have escaped. You are responsible for bringing them back. You will bear all the losses they have caused. Prince Xuan will assist you.”

Yun Xun and Zhang Dezhong accepted the order.

The Emperor finally looked at Ye Qingxue: "Until the poison in the Ninth Prince's body is detected and the Second Young Master of the Marquis's Mansion enters the palace to pay his respects, Princess Consort Jing can only stay in the palace. Without my permission, she is not allowed to leave the palace even a step!"

This is a disguised form of house arrest for Ye Qingxue.

The emperor surveyed his surroundings with a deep gaze before turning back to the palace.

The remaining people also left.

Before leaving, Yun Xun gave Yun Zhuo and Ye Qingxue a deep look, then strode away.

Ye Qingxue said to Yun Zhuo, "Your Highness Prince Jing, you saw it yourself. As soon as you got into trouble, everyone wanted to crush me. Even now, you still refuse to admit that you didn't kill the Ninth Prince."

A deep pain welled up in Yun Zhuo's eyes, and he quickly closed them so that Ye Qingxue wouldn't see it.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was cold and clear. "Qingxue, I really did kill the Ninth Prince. I tell everyone that."

Ye Qingxue stared intently at him, almost grinding her teeth to powder: "There was someone else who killed the Ninth Prince. Is that real murderer worth protecting with your own life?!"

Yun Zhuo's face turned deathly pale. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just kept his mouth shut, while Zhang Dezhong urged him to go back to the prison.

Ye Qingxue was taken back to the palace and placed under house arrest. At dawn, Ning Hongxi and Cui Shao returned with the reason why Ye Cunsi had lingered outside the city.