"Your bowl of noodles was mushy, so I ate it all too."
After Hua Ruyu finished speaking, she glanced at Xia Xiao without making a sound. Seeing that he had no other reaction, she hurriedly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, eating two bowls of pea noodles in one go was not a small amount of food.
"I was hoping to make a fortune from this talent show, but I didn't expect the business in the store to be worse than usual."
Li Youran said while eating a skewer of grilled meat.
"Most of the women in this talent show are ordinary people or women from the families of officials of lower rank."
Xia Xiao's eating manners were much more refined than Li Youran's. Although they were both eating skewers, Xia Xiao's manners became so elegant.
"At most, they would buy some rouge and face powder. If they had money, they would save it for rewards after entering the palace."
As Xia Xiao spoke, she glanced at the noisy crowd and, seeing that no one paid attention to their group, lowered her voice and whispered to Hua Ruyu and Li Youran.
“I have a friend who works in the palace. I heard that the palace has secretly increased the number of people patrolling these days, and even the time between patrols has been shortened considerably.”
After hearing Xia Xiao's words, Hua Ruyu gave Li Youran a wink, and Li Youran immediately followed up.
"Why is that? Is it because they're afraid the girls in the selection will run away?"
No.
At this point, Xia Xiao's voice became even softer, and he lowered his head as he spoke.
"I heard that the emperor thought that some princes would cause trouble in the next few days, so he took precautions."
Indeed, experience is the best teacher. Li Youran hadn't expected that the old emperor, despite his advanced age, would still maintain such vigilance on such a joyous occasion.
She had been worried about whether the Third Prince would actually force the emperor to abdicate, but she never expected that the emperor would turn the tables and launch a counterattack.
Just as the three of them were eating barbecue skewers and listening to Xia Xiao recount strange and unusual events from all directions, chaos erupted in the palace.
"You bastard."
As the emperor spoke, he smashed several teacups in succession, and then swept everything off the table with his bare hands.
He never expected that the one who came to force him to abdicate today would be the Third Prince, whom he had always favored, which enraged the emperor.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The matter concerning the Third Prince must be a misunderstanding!"
The old eunuch knelt on the ground, trembling with fear, and said...
"His Highness the Third Prince is the most respectful and filial to you among all the princes and grandsons, how could he dare to do such a rebellious thing..."
“What else wouldn’t he dare to do! All those captured imperial guards were wearing tokens from the Third Prince’s residence.”
At this point, the emperor closed his eyes in anger.
"Your Majesty, since they were sent by the Third Prince, why would they openly wear a token on their person? Perhaps someone is trying to frame the Third Prince."
Hearing the old eunuch's words, the emperor calmed down and realized that this possibility could not be ruled out.
"Summon the Third Prince to see me!"
The second emperor gritted his teeth and said.
This was, after all, his most beloved prince and the successor he valued most. If it were anyone else, the emperor wouldn't care whether they were innocent or not. If there was even the slightest doubt, he wouldn't give them a chance to turn things around.
"Your Highness, just as you predicted, the people sent by His Highness the Third Prince are all wearing our tokens."
As Tang Lei spoke, he reached out and took out four waist tokens engraved with the Second Prince's symbol.
"After all these years of being brothers, I know what he's thinking."
The Second Prince toyed with the waist token in his hand, and said with a worried expression.
"Second Prince, now that the card has been exchanged back, why do you still look so troubled? Could there be some other unexpected development?"
Tang Lei was puzzled. The mission had been successfully completed, averting a deadly crisis, so why did the Second Prince still seem so preoccupied?
"The third prince is still the emperor's most beloved prince, he will not fall from power so easily."
Tang Lei paused, thought about it carefully, and felt that what the Second Prince said made a lot of sense.
But what can be done? Those who are not favored are not favored. Even though His Highness the Second Prince is very hardworking, he is still not favored by the Emperor.
At this point, Tang Lei was a little puzzled. People say that the common people value the youngest son and the emperor values the eldest son. Logically, the second prince should be favored. So why does the emperor always dislike the second prince? Is it just because his mother is of low status?
"Tang Lei, thanks to you and your brothers. Once this matter has calmed down, I will ask the emperor to reinstate everyone to their original positions."
The Second Prince concealed the worry in his eyes, turned to Tang Lei with a smile, and said...
"At least we can all survive safely."
Just as the Second Prince had predicted, the Third Prince was punished by kneeling outside the Imperial Study all night, and that was the end of the matter.
However, since this incident, the emperor no longer favored the Third Prince, but instead paid more attention to the Second Prince.
Even when the Second Prince proposed to reinstate the old officials who served the First Prince, the Emperor waved his hand and agreed.
Not only that, but Tang Lei and others were also given mansions and a hundred taels of gold.
"The Second Prince's wife invited me to her residence, and she even specifically asked you to come with me."
As Yun Yingying spoke, she tossed a peanut high into the air and caught it with her mouth.
"This is just a roll call; they want to see Li Youran. You're just a decoy."
Hua Ruyu raised her wine glass and clinked it with Yun Yingying's, then put it down again under Li Youran's angry glare.
"My injuries are almost healed, so having a drink or two won't hurt me."
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