After nightfall, all palace gates had to be locked. Although the palace servants were dissatisfied with Xiao Shaoke's slow return, which made them anxious, they did not dare to show their dissatisfaction too obviously because he was going to visit the empress dowager.
Yu Zizhen did not touch the slightly cold food on the table. She let the system scan it and found that it was normal and non-toxic, so she stored it into the system space.
After the palace maids who were unwilling to serve him left, she immediately used the baby voice system to search the room for valuables.
After Xiao Shaoke's private money was looted from the palace, Yu Zizhen took the key to Xiao Shaoke's private vault and emptied it as well.
Unlike the younger Lu, the older Lu was very good at putting on a good show. Although Xiao Shaoke's palace maids were not very respectful to him, he himself was always able to enter Xiao Shaoke's private vault.
After moving his things and avoiding the sleepy night guards, Yu Zizhen used the momentum to climb up the high palace wall.
With the help of the system, she stepped on the wall and the eaves and returned to the eldest prince quietly.
As she expected, Lu Tong, who failed to wait for his wife to leave the palace tonight, made the decision to launch a mutiny after several struggles.
However, he did not want to make too much noise, so he tried hard to suppress his anxiety and eagerness, and stayed in the mansion until the next day when the palace gates were opened.
The number of guards he could bring into the palace was limited. Usually, he only brought those attendants who were needed to help run errands and had some martial arts skills. But today was different. Not only were all the people he brought with him today highly skilled assassins, but their number also far exceeded the number of attendants he was allowed to bring into the palace according to regulations.
He originally thought that with his current status, few of the guards responsible for guarding the palace would dare to stop him. However, Empress Dowager Da Lu had already plugged this loophole in the palace gate guards.
When Lu Tong saw that the chief steward of Cining Palace, who was loyal to Da Lu but always polite and distant to him, was standing at the palace gate early in the morning, he knew that he would have no chance of bringing all these assassins into the palace today.
As expected, the old man with the shrill voice just waved his hand, and a large group of archers appeared on both sides of the palace wall.
"Lord Lu, the Queen Mother invites you."
Due to the situation, Lu Tong had to enter the palace alone as requested by the chief steward of the Cining Palace.
At the same time, Yu Zizhen was urging the emperor to leave quickly. "Lu Tong should be entering the palace today. The dispute between him and the empress dowager will soon come to an end."
Whether it was Queen Mother Ying or Lu Tong Ying, or the emperor who finally reached an agreement and let the eldest prince, the second prince and Xiao Shaoke go, they would definitely not have a good ending.
The emperor was also very clear about this, so when Yu Zizhen urged him, he immediately grabbed the small bag he had packed last night, took a few of his trusted subordinates, and quietly slipped away through the secret passage.
As for Yu Zizhen, she stayed in the name of "cleaning up the aftermath", but in fact her purpose was to take away the most important jade seal, as well as the things in the emperor's bedroom and private treasury.
Gold and silver jewelry, antique porcelain, rare medicinal herbs, unique ancient books...anything that Yu Zizhen thought was valuable, she took away without leaving out.
Although the emperor was only a mascot emperor, his private treasury was inherited from the previous emperors of Da Qi. Even though he had given away a small half of the things in it over the years, the remaining half was enough for Yu Zizhen to make a fortune.
In order to pack away all the valuable things that originally belonged to the emperor, Yu Zizhen even spent points to exchange for another 20 square meters of system space.
Yu Zizhen returned with a full load and in a very good mood. He took out the prepared gasoline and set fire to the eldest prince's bedroom.
In order to move things, he was now bearing the emperor's face. As for the "eleventh prince", since today was the eleventh day of rest, not only did the emperor not go to court, but even the eldest prince just stayed in his bedroom reading and practicing calligraphy.
After the "Emperor" came over, he immediately sent all the outsiders out, leaving only the two people's trusted subordinates, played by Yu Zizhen's private soldiers, to guard the door for them.
This kind of thing was very common in the past, so the spies planted by Empress Dowager Da Lu and Empress Xiao Lu just racked their brains as usual, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation in some corners.
However, neither the "Emperor" nor the "Grand Prince" spoke a word. They each took a large bucket of gasoline and, trying to make as little noise as possible, poured it around the Grand Prince's bedroom little by little.
After the fire was ready, Yu Zizhen, who played the emperor, called all his people outside the house into the house under different excuses, and then retreated to the entrance of the secret passage before the spies could react.
Two of her personal guards were responsible for covering her rear, while half of the remaining personal guards protected her in front, while the other half went ahead to explore the way to the exit of the secret passage.
After everyone was in their seats, Yu Zizhen nodded slightly to the two men.
The two men understood and immediately threw out the fire sticks they had blown to light.
The tinder set fire to the oil-soaked curtains, and then burned along the oil line to all the wooden objects in the house.
Yu Zizhen's two private soldiers watched the flames quickly spread to the door, then jumped into the secret passage.
They worked together to close the stone slab at the entrance of the secret passage, and then quickly ran towards the exit of the secret passage on the other side, following the backs of Yu Zizhen and others.
At the same time, the confrontation between Empress Dowager Da Lu and Lu Tong has officially begun.
The brothers and sisters from the same mother who once trusted each other and cooperated tacitly now looked at each other without the warmth they once had.
The Queen Mother spoke before Lu Tong did, "You should give the position of head of the family to Lu Lin from the first wife."
Lu Lin was the son of the Empress Dowager's eldest brother. The Empress Dowager's eldest brother died early, and his eldest son Lu Lin inherited the Lu family's original title of Marquis of Wenchang.
Originally, because of Lu Tong's ability and experience, the Queen Mother had not thought of training other spokespersons. However, Lu Tong's ambition grew, and now he is willing to plot her life for that position. The Queen Mother will never let him sit in the position of the head of the Lu family again no matter what.
Although her nephew is far inferior to Lu Tong in terms of talent, everyone has a process of growing up little by little.
She believed that by the time she died, Lu Lin would be able to support the Lu family.
As for Lu Tong, she planned to let him get seriously ill in the palace and die.
After all, as long as he let Lu Tong leave the palace, Lu Tong would definitely not come into the palace alone like this time.
Even if the palace gate was closed today, or if he had seen the chief steward of the Cining Palace before approaching the palace gate, he would definitely not come in.
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