A new day.

In the imperial capital, there were still endless rumors about the crown prince. The crown prince's mansion was still heavily guarded, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. However, Zong Zhengyu had begun to panic.

Gong Zhenhong is dead, and Qin Ye has the evidence against him. He is worried that his father cannot protect him, so he tries every means to see the emperor.

But, no matter how much they made noise, shouted, sent people, passed messages, or did anything else, it was useless...

The Imperial Palace.

Imperial study.

Since the crown prince was deposed, the emperor has not attended court for three consecutive days. All the memorials received every day are sent to the imperial study. Civil and military officials do not dare to run up to the emperor at this critical juncture and all of them stay away from him.

The eunuchs served carefully, ten times more cautiously than usual.

Defu came in with a cup of freshly brewed hot tea. He glanced at the emperor, who had a stern face and was carefully reviewing the memorials. The emperor had no expression on his face, but he looked majestic without being angry. He was also very careful:

"Your Majesty, you only slept for an hour last night. Would you like to rest for a while?"

Put down the hot tea and go massage the emperor's shoulders.

A few words came to my lips, but I didn't dare to speak...

"explain!"

The emperor saw through his thoughts without even turning his head.

Defu's heart tightened, and he quickly put down his hands, bowed, and whispered:

"Your Majesty, there's news from the Crown Prince's Mansion... There's news from there... It's said that if the... The eldest prince can't see you, he will... He will commit suicide..."

Bang!

The teacup that had just been picked up was thrown directly back on the table. The atmosphere in the imperial study suddenly became heavy. Everyone's heart trembled and they lowered their heads.

The emperor sneered: "Don't worry about him!"

He simply locked him up in the Prince's Mansion without confiscating his property, killing him, or exiling him, which was already giving him a lot of face.

He didn't know what stupid thing he had done?

What else do you want to do?

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince An requests an audience." At this time, a young eunuch came in to report.

When the emperor heard the word "Prince An", the expression on his face relaxed a lot, his anger dissipated, and he became gentle and asked the eunuch to invite the person in.

A few seconds later, footsteps were heard.

He stood up and strode around the table:

"Sixth Brother!"

"Father... cough..."

The man was wearing white clothes, had thin cheeks, a thin body, a pale face, and looked very bleak and sick.

The emperor held his hand and said, "Why are you going to the palace in such a cold weather? You have been in poor health since you were a child, so don't walk around. If there is anything, just send someone to the palace to tell you."

The sixth prince, Prince An, was born with a disease and had poor health since childhood. In the past twenty-three years, he has taken more medicine than he has eaten food.

It's definitely a medicine jar.

Prince An covered his lips and coughed twice, then said in a hollow voice:

"I know that my father has been worried about my elder brother's affairs recently, and I shouldn't have come to the palace to disturb you, but there is something that only I can do... ahem..."

He coughed muffledly and his face was pale and bloodless.

The emperor ordered the eunuch to make the charcoal fire burn more vigorously, and asked someone to bring a blanket and cover Prince An with it. Then he asked:

"What is it? Just tell me."

From the interactions between the father and son, it is not difficult to see that the emperor loves this son who has poor health very much.

Prince An pursed his lips and seemed to hesitate for a moment:

"Father, it's... the matter of Concubine Qin from the Crown Prince's Mansion, Qin Hongluan..."

The emperor was puzzled.

Concubine Qin is from the Prince's Mansion, and Prince An rarely goes out throughout the year. How could these two people who have nothing to do with each other be related?

"And then?" he asked.

"Concubine Qin..." Prince An hesitated, "She... has been married for many days and is still a virgin."