The palace maid pinched Empress Yan's philtrum hard, and Empress Yan slowly woke up. She looked at Prime Minister Yan in disbelief: "Father, how could the seventh prince have seen through our plan?"
After a moment of contemplation, Prime Minister Yan said, "Someone must have leaked the secret."
Empress Yan racked her brains for a while, and the face of the Third Prince's Consort vaguely appeared in her mind. She was both angry and furious: "Someone, summon the Third Prince's Consort to the palace. Tell her that I have something important to discuss with her."
"yes."
"Does Your Highness suspect the Third Prince's residence?"
Empress Yan was furious: "Who else could it be but her!"
Prime Minister Yan couldn't contain himself and went to the main hall to check on the situation. He noticed that the Seventh Prince had been rarely consulting him about his recent actions.
For example, the matter of attacking a vassal state can be announced directly.
How could they possibly take him, the head of all officials, seriously?
Half an hour later, the Third Prince's Consort arrived at Fengyi Palace. Before she could even stand still, Empress Yan slapped her across the face without any politeness.
They knocked the person to the ground.
The Third Prince's Consort covered her face in bewilderment: "Your Majesty?"
"You vile woman, how dare you betray me!" Empress Yan wanted nothing more than to kill the Third Prince's wife at this moment: "Tell me, what benefits did Zhao Jiahua promise you!"
Upon hearing the name Zhao Jiahua, the Third Prince's Consort steadied herself, her face still feigning innocence: "Your Highness, what are you saying? How could I dare to betray Your Highness? Your Highness and I are of one mind."
Empress Yan remained skeptical: "Impossible. If you hadn't betrayed me, how could Zhao Jiahua have uncovered the scheme I set up?"
"Your Majesty, Zhao Jiahua has Northern Chu behind her. Perhaps it's Northern Chu people deliberately sowing discord. What benefit would I get from helping Zhao Jiahua?" The Third Prince covered his face and sobbed.
Empress Yan thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case.
The Third Prince's backing is the Yan family. Scheming against the Yan family will bring no benefit to the Third Prince's residence, let alone help him contend with the Seventh Prince.
She rubbed her temples and bent down to help the Third Prince's wife up herself: "Perhaps I was overthinking it. Qingzhi, get the medicine for the Third Prince's wife to apply."
"yes."
Qingzhi personally applied the medicine, saying, "Third Prince's Consort, please calm down. Her Majesty is just confused from anger. After all these years, Her Majesty still trusts you."
The Third Prince's wife looked embarrassed, and her palms under her sleeves clenched unconsciously, gripping tightly. She hurriedly said that she dared not.
"You analyze this: was the seventh prince's wife really captured by the people of the vassal state?" Empress Yan asked.
The people from the vassal state were actually in the southern border region, not in Jincheng. Why would they rashly enter the city to arrest people? Also, Huo Xi was exposed and caught red-handed by Lao Qi.
The Third Prince's Consort recalled that two days ago, Princess Jia Hua invited her to visit. Pointing to the courtyard next door, she said with a smile, "General Huo Xi is just a wall away."
"That's impossible!" The Third Prince's wife shook her head immediately.
"Whether you believe it or not, Sister-in-law, Huo Xi will surely be brought to justice within two days."
Two days later, Huo Xi was indeed captured.
The Third Prince's wife was filled with mixed emotions, and once again she was glad that she hadn't complained to the Empress, leaving herself a way out.
Princess Jiahua added, "The Huo family's military power is too hot to handle. How about exchanging it for the Imperial Guard? Consider it a way of repaying Third Sister-in-law for sending Xiangzhu away."
The Third Prince's wife was skeptical.
The reason Xiangzhu was released in the first place was because she didn't want to offend Princess Jiahua and wanted to leave a good impression. She didn't dare to rely on the Huo family's military power at all.
Only now has the Third Prince's wife realized that she has been led by the nose by Princess Jia Hua all along.
"Your Highness, perhaps it really is the vassal states causing trouble. After all, the Seventh Prince has already captured several assassins from those vassal states," the Third Prince's wife continued.
Empress Yan frowned and glanced at the Third Prince's wife with disdain.
There's a sense of helplessness, like playing music to a cow.
Just then, a palace maid came to deliver a message: "The Seventh Prince has promoted Young Master Jiang to take over the Imperial Guard."
The Third Prince's wife suddenly widened her eyes.
The last trace of doubt in her heart about Princess Jia Hua instantly crumbled, and she was extremely excited. Young Master Jiang was the elder brother of the Third Prince's wife.
Before entering the palace, she still harbored the illusion that the military power would be given to the Third Prince, but unexpectedly it was given to the Jiang family. In comparison, she would rather give it to the Jiang family.
Princess Jia Hua once said that the Third Prince was heartless and cruel, and that he had two mistresses outside the palace, each with children, and that he had been supporting them financially over the years.
Her investigation did indeed uncover her husband's shady dealings.
“The Third Prince is heartless and can’t compete with the Seventh Prince. But what if the Third Prince dies before he ascends the throne? No matter who does, the Third Prince’s wife will have a title and enjoy endless wealth and honor as long as she protects her son. It’s better than taking a gamble and becoming a puppet emperor.”
These words deeply moved the Third Prince's wife.
Empress Yan squinted at the Third Prince's wife: "Why would the Seventh Prince give the Imperial Guard to the Jiang family? Logically, it should have been Father who took over."
The Third Prince's wife feigned ignorance: "Your Majesty, I have no way to interfere in the affairs of the court, and the Seventh Prince's thoughts are even more unfathomable."
Empress Yan felt a tightness in her chest and sent someone to invite the Third Prince over for questioning.
The Third Prince arrived with a livid face and a displeased expression. After paying his respects to Empress Yan, he said, "Seventh Prince has gone too far. He has repeatedly reprimanded me in the main hall. I am still his elder brother, yet he has humiliated me to this extent."
Empress Yan raised an eyebrow: "What have I done to humiliate you?"
"When the seventh brother was going to attack the vassal state, the Golden Guard was to be handed over to someone else. I... I casually said a few words, but the seventh brother told me to put away my inappropriate thoughts. I said I wanted to go to the battlefield with him so that we could look after each other, but he refused."
The Third Prince was so angry that his face turned green.
"Giving the Golden Guard to someone else would be one thing, but to give it to Jiang Cheng is another!"
The tone was extremely disdainful and somewhat contemptuous.
The Third Prince's Consort froze, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes, before she lowered her head to conceal it.
Rather than being a shaky empress with an uncertain future, it would be better to live a peaceful and comfortable life as a carefree and happy royal concubine.
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