"Your Highness, Prime Minister Ning and Lord Cui have returned." Dongbai immediately informed Ye Qingxue.

Ye Qingxue jumped off the chair. She had sat there all night, reflecting on all the recent events.

Meanwhile, they await Xiangsizi's examination to determine what poison the Ninth Prince was afflicted with.

She looked towards the acacia seeds.

Dongbai immediately said, "Xiangsizi is still busy. It's almost dawn."

Xiang Si Zi did not turn around: "There should be results in about an hour—at the latest by noon. Your Highness, please go and attend to other matters."

Ye Qingxue was originally worried that the acacia seeds would not be able to detect any poison, just like she couldn't detect any poison in the cloud-washed wine.

Hearing his confident answer, Ye Qingxue breathed a sigh of relief: "I'll go check out the situation up ahead!"

Since this matter concerns Ye Cunsi and the Loyal and Brave Marquis's Mansion behind her, Ye Qingxue cannot take it lightly.

Ye Qingxue turned to leave, almost bumping into someone. She quickly took a small step back and looked at the person in front of her.

The other person was in their thirties or forties, dressed in a light-colored dress, looking very elegant. They were thin and pale, as if they had been in poor health for many years.

"Consort Ning, this is Princess Jing." A palace maid beside Consort Ning introduced, "Princess Jing, this is Consort Ning from the palace, the mother of His Highness Prince Xuan."

Ye Qingxue bowed and said, "I didn't notice Consort Ning's sudden appearance and almost bumped into her. I hope you will forgive me."

Consort Ning said, "It's alright, I was just too close. I heard about the Ninth Prince's situation and wanted to come and offer incense to him, but I was a little distracted... Princess Consort Jing looks rushed, has something happened?"

Ye Qingxue said, "I have some matters to attend to. Please excuse me, sir."

Ye Qingxue left Jing'an Hall, turned around, and quickened her pace, almost jogging.

Consort Ning followed her figure for a while before slowly turning her gaze away. She entered the main hall and sincerely burned incense for the Ninth Prince.

Then, she slowly walked towards her palace, her mind constantly flashing back to the hairpin she had picked up near the prison the night before.

It was stained with blood.

She knew that the prison had been smuggled last night; she also knew who had been near the prison last night.

She also knew that early that morning, news came from the palace that Princess Huaiming had gone missing, and the emperor had sent people to search for her everywhere.

...

At this moment, many officials had arrived at the Zichen Palace. The emperor sat on a high seat, waiting for Ning Hongxi and Cui Shao to tell him why Ye Cunsi was lingering outside the capital.

Ning Hongxi and Cui Shao looked terrible. They knelt in the main hall and dared not utter a sound for a long time.

The surrounding officials repeatedly inquired, even saying, "Do you two gentlemen want to drive the Emperor crazy before you'll finally speak?"

Ning Hongxi then said, "Your Majesty, we have learned that Ye Cunsi, the second son of the Marquis's family, went to the Heavenly Eagle Holy Kingdom to deliver grain and was warmly received by the Heavenly Eagle King. When he returned, he was also given many valuable items."

"However, Ye Cunsi hid the items very well, and even his entourage did not know where they were. It seems that Ye Cunsi has... seems that he intends to keep these items for himself!"

"When Your Majesty and Lord Cui went outside the city to investigate, we found that Ye Cunsi's troops were staying in a valley, and all the criminals who escaped from the prison last night went to that valley."

These words struck the Zichen Palace like a thunderbolt.

The ministers were shocked by the attack.

"What do you mean by that, Your Excellency? Could it be that Ye Cunsi was the one who set the fire and broke into the prison last night?"

"That's possible! Princess Jing is his only older sister. Prince Jing has committed a serious crime and is about to be executed. Princess Jing is heartbroken and refuses to accept this fact. As her younger brother, Ye Cunsi would definitely want to help Princess Jing rescue Prince Jing!"

After they finished discussing, Ning Hongxi continued, "Your Majesty, your humble servant and Lord Cui have discovered something truly terrifying. Ye Cunsi's actions are utterly outrageous!"

Emperor: "Speak!"

Ning Hongxi said, "Last night, ten students from an academy in the city were kidnapped. They were all outstanding students. After investigating with Lord Cui, we discovered that it was Ye Cunsi who colluded with local bandits!"

Everyone was stunned by these words, their faces filled with disbelief.

That's truly appalling!

It is absolutely outrageous!

Ning Hongxi said, "I have heard that Ye Cunsi intends to kidnap ten students and threaten His Majesty to spare Prince Jing's life! Otherwise, he will kill the ten students, making it impossible for His Majesty to answer to the people! He also plans to join forces with local bandits to rebel!"

"Is this true? Could it be that Prime Minister Ning and Prince Jing are irreconcilable enemies, and now that Prince Jing is in prison, he is deliberately trying to smear Prince Jing's brother-in-law?" a minister questioned.

Ning Hongxi said, "Before His Majesty, I have not uttered a single falsehood! You may think that I deliberately smeared Prince Jing's brother-in-law, but surely Lord Cui has no enmity with Prince Jing?"

"The information I obtained is exactly the same information that Lord Cui obtained. If you don't believe me, you can ask Lord Cui!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes turned to Cui Shao.

Even the emperor was one of them.

Cui Shao's throat tightened; this was indeed the information they had gathered after going out last night.

After those criminals escaped, the outside world was in complete chaos.

He said, "What the Prime Minister said is all true. Now, that valley is full of Ye Cunsi's men."

As his words fell, the Zichen Palace fell silent for a moment.

After a long while, a minister spoke up to summarize: "Therefore, the reason why Ye Cunsi did not go to the capital immediately after returning to the capital was because he learned about Prince Jing's matter."

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