Song Shiwei lowered his eyes and dared not say a word.
"Alright," the Queen Mother said coldly, "Aren't you trying to see if there's anything that conflicts with it? Go and see for yourself."
"Thank you, Queen Mother."
After opening his mouth, Song Shiwei realized that his words were leaking.
She hurriedly covered her mouth with her sleeve, as if all the blood in her body had rushed to her head, and her face was hot and dry.
How is she going to face people in the future?
The palace maid who had just beaten someone also saw her expression and looked at her with contempt. When Song Shiwei stood up tremblingly, she not only did not step forward to support her, but even took a step back.
Song Shiwei suppressed his anger and clenched his fists.
She walked around the hall and asked someone to move several pots of peonies on the ground, and then asked someone to replace it with a new incense burner.
The incense burner is made of white jade and colored glass, which is transparent and crystal clear. It is carved with exquisite flower and bird patterns. Every flower seems to jump out of the paper. When burning, the colored glass in the incense burner emits light, which is magnificent.
After everything was ready, she went out to make incense.
After a cup of tea, she hurried in and lit the incense.
Everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound. After two hours, Song Shiwei finally mustered the courage to call out softly, "...Empress Dowager?"
No sound came from inside the gauze curtain. Just as everyone's eyes showed joy, they suddenly heard the Queen Mother exclaim.
Song Shiwei: “!!!”
She quickly knelt down, waiting for the Queen Mother to speak again so that she could beg for mercy, but the Queen Mother only called out once and then there was no further movement.
Song Shiwei breathed a sigh of relief.
The palace maids all retreated on tiptoe, and Song Shiwei followed closely behind. The moment the door closed, the empress dowager's eyes suddenly opened.
Hu Yan looked down at her: "How is it? Are you sure?"
"It's not her," the Queen Mother's eyes were deep, and her brows unconsciously frowned even deeper. "I originally thought she had tampered with the incense, but after seeing it today, it really doesn't look like her."
"If it was really her, she wouldn't have knelt down immediately when I spoke, but wouldn't have begged for mercy."
The first time, everyone will have a lucky mentality.
If it was really her who did it, I'm afraid she would have begged for mercy the moment she spoke.
After Song Shiwei was ruled out as a suspect, the empress dowager became more and more upset.
It was just an excuse I made up casually, but now it has come true, disturbing my sleep every night!
She looked at the curling green smoke rising from the white jade incense burner, her eyes slightly narrowed.
…
In the Sixth Prince's mansion, Xiao Yanli was lying on the bed flipping through a book, while the doctor was changing his dressings behind him.
Although he had internal energy to protect his body and Xiao Yanli had been practicing martial arts for many years, his muscles and bones were much stronger than those of ordinary people, but after being hit so many times, his skin was torn and the gaping wounds oozing blood were shocking.
The doctor hissed softly, pulled out a small jar from his bag, and applied the ointment. He said, "This medicine is a bit strong, but it's very effective. Your Highness, please be patient."
As soon as he applied it, Xiao Yanli felt a burning pain. The fingertips that were holding the book had turned white and he groaned a few times.
Even when he was being tortured, he was never seen shouting so loudly.
However, after applying it three times, Xiao Yanli's forehead was covered with cold sweat.
This is not applying medicine, this is another form of torture.
After taking the medicine, Xiao Yanli felt like he was half dead. He smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle Zhang, why don't we just let it heal slowly?"
Uncle Zhang was originally the imperial physician Zhang in the palace. He had taken care of him since he was a child. Later, he suddenly became mentally retarded, and it was Uncle Zhang who stayed with him and searched for prescriptions for him before he was able to cure him.
For Xiao Yanli, this was a life-saving grace.
Therefore, he trusts Uncle Zhang very much.
"Tsk, what nonsense are you talking about, Your Highness? There are so many people outside, waiting to find fault with Your Highness. Your Highness must hurry up."
Uncle Zhang put away the medicine jar and whispered, "Why did the emperor punish your highness?"
Speaking of this, Xiao Yanli was also confused. He told Uncle Zhang everything that happened in the imperial study, and emphasized Lan Yan's betrayal.
After hearing his words, Uncle Zhang narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Your Highness, this is the benefit of power. As long as you are in that position, no one dares to disobey you no matter what you say."
Xiao Yanli paused and sneered.
"However, this assassination attempt on the Crown Prince has been exposed. The Crown Prince will certainly be on guard against it in the future. This is a missed opportunity."
Uncle Zhang sighed softly.
"The Crown Prince is no longer a threat," Xiao Yanli tapped the bedside. "Father doesn't think as highly of him as he did before. Compared to him, I've always felt that Jiang Zhiyu is quite eccentric."
Jiang Zhiyu's name was now well-known to everyone. Uncle Zhang looked at him in confusion: "Isn't it just that he's better at medicine and martial arts?"
Xiao Yanli frowned: "No, I always feel that there is a strange feeling about her, and every time something happens, she is there."
"Maybe it's just a coincidence."
Xiao Yanli pursed his lips. Coincidence? He didn't think so.
"Your Highness, don't think about others. Think first about what you're going to do next." Uncle Zhang looked at him worriedly. "Now that the Empress has fallen out of favor, His Majesty doesn't seem to like Your Highness either. The Fifth Prince is away fighting the Oirat Mongols and will probably be returning soon. Once he returns, the situation in the court will change dramatically."
"Your Highness has been hiding his talent for many years. Those people simply don't understand your talent. They even go to look for the Second Prince instead of coming to your residence."
Xiao Yanli's eyes showed displeasure, but Uncle Zhang ignored him and continued, "I think the Imperial College is a good opportunity for Your Highness."
"How do you say that?"
"Jiang Zhaorong's third son, Jiang Bojian, is about to take the imperial examination. Your Highness, why not have a conversation with him to test his character?"
Xiao Yanli raised his eyes: "You want me to win him over?"
"It's not about winning him over, but about suppressing him." Uncle Zhang curled his lips slightly. "This boy has attracted much attention in this imperial examination. I've heard about him before. He's a young man with a certain amount of talent, but he's also very prone to pride and complacency. If Your Highness keeps outdoing him in everything, this boy..."
Uncle Zhang didn't say the rest, but Xiao Yanli understood what he meant.
"If this continues until the imperial examination, this boy will definitely not be able to bear it and will definitely not pass the exam. By then, it will depend on whether Jiang Zhiyu will help him or not."
"If she does something, even if the emperor dotes on her, he will have to give an explanation to all the students in the world. By then, the Xu family will be implicated by her, and His Highness will have one less opponent in the court."
"If she doesn't do something, Jiang Bojian will definitely be devastated, given his character. He might even become enemies with his sister. By then, the Xu family will be in turmoil, and they won't have the energy to care about what's happening outside."
Xiao Yanli nodded slightly. It was a good plan, but...
"Why does Uncle Zhang suddenly think so highly of the Xu family?"
Uncle Zhang took out a secret letter from his pocket and said, "This is a secret letter from Banzhuang. People from the Xu family have been secretly inquiring about you."
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