For ordinary people, the Lunar New Year celebrations end on the fifth day.
The palace is luxurious and will be lively for a while.
But after the Lantern Festival, the red satin balls are taken down everywhere, the palace lanterns are put away, and the festive atmosphere dissipates.
Two young eunuchs, with their sleeves tucked in, hid behind the vermilion pillars to avoid the wind, whispering amongst themselves.
"Why do I see the Marquis of Xinting entering the palace again?"
"I saw it too. Maybe it was something urgent, since it just came by this morning!"
"Let's hope it's not some barbarians from Jiangbei causing trouble again, so we can have some peace and quiet for a while."
"What are you afraid of? We serve the Emperor. No matter how many barbarians come, they won't get in our way."
"That's true!"
The two were talking animatedly when suddenly a loud crash came from the imperial study.
The two reacted instinctively, their knees buckled, and they immediately knelt down.
The cold ground made them realize what was happening quickly. They exchanged an awkward glance and were about to get up.
Eunuch Feng hurriedly came out to call for help. They followed the other eunuchs, bowing their heads and entering the room to quickly clean up the mess.
It turned out that the loud noise was from the Emperor smashing a plum vase.
What happened to make the Emperor so furious? Wasn't the Marquis of Xinting highly regarded by the Emperor? How dare he provoke the Emperor like this?!
Everyone grumbled inwardly, but no one dared to ask any questions. Once they finished tidying up, they quickly left.
The room fell silent for a moment, with only the Emperor, Marquis Xinting, and Chief Eunuch Yi present.
The Emperor drank two cups of tea in one go before calming his anger. He said in a low voice, "Cousin, we can't wait any longer. Even if we can't find out who's behind this, and it leaves a hidden danger, we can only wait for another opportunity to eliminate it later."
"The Jade Pool must be sealed off immediately, and all those involved must be thoroughly investigated. Otherwise, if the Hibiscus Ointment spreads, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
"I am not at ease entrusting this matter to others. After all, too many people are involved, and if the person in charge has selfish motives, it will cause another major upheaval."
"Tianwu's power is waning. The situation has only eased somewhat due to the high grain yield, and it simply cannot withstand another cataclysmic upheaval..."
Marquis Xinting knelt down and replied, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will act with utmost caution, ensuring that no guilty person escapes and that no innocent person is wronged."
The Emperor personally helped him up, then handed him a gold medal and instructed him: "All personnel should be drawn from the Northern Expeditionary Army. Make sure no one escapes from Yaochi."
"I await your good news!"
The Marquis accepted the gold medal, quickly considered the situation, and said, "Your Majesty, the secret guards have discovered the three secret passages leading to Yaochi, but there must still be loopholes. I plan to mobilize a thousand Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers into the city to seal off the area within five li around Yaochi."
"Furthermore, the entire Princess's household must be raided and imprisoned for questioning regarding the list of victims. Of course, the primary objective is to investigate whether anyone else is secretly helping to spread the Hibiscus Ointment. Your Majesty, please grant permission!"
"Granted!" the Emperor said in a deep voice. "Cousin, please act freely. If anyone obstructs you, arrest and imprison them. I will take full responsibility!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll have to trouble you to help me put on a show..."
Marquis Xinting spoke in a low voice for a long time, and the Emperor nodded repeatedly.
So, the two eunuchs who had just returned to the pillars, before they could even gossip about what had just happened, heard the emperor's angry curses coming from the imperial study again.
Not long after, Marquis Xinting walked out with a sullen face. Even when Eunuch Feng tried to speak to him, he waved his hand and ignored him, striding out of the palace.
Has the Marquis of Xinting fallen out of favor?!
Everyone was eager to gossip, but no one dared to utter a single word.
Soon, the news spread and everyone knew the reason.
The palace walls are like sieves; any rumors will spread like wildfire within an hour.
Marquis Xinting angered the emperor because of the salary for the Northern Expeditionary Army, and was sent back to the dock as soon as he returned to Xindu!
Some gloated, some watched coldly, and some were indifferent...
In the princess's residence, the eldest princess listened to the servants' report that Princess Kangle had indeed returned to Suijin Beach, and even Marquis Xinting had returned to the dock. She was finally relieved.
She glared at her granddaughter and cursed, "You useless thing! If you dare to act on your own again, I'll skin you alive!"
Bao Lei breathed a sigh of relief and defended herself, saying, "Grandmother, this time I was reckless."
"My granddaughter is thinking that Baiyunjian is making a fortune every day, and the Third Princess has the Empress behind her. If we can bring them down with us, Baiyunjian will be ours. We'll also have the Third Princess and the Empress to rely on. Wouldn't we be able to rest easy in the future?!"
"So, in my haste, and wanting my grandmother to praise me, I took it upon myself to do this. Please forgive me, grandmother."
As she spoke, she knelt down.
The princess, still wanting to use this granddaughter to attract even more "treasure troves," could only swallow her anger and say, "Get up. Remember, from now on, you must be extremely careful. If we are discovered, our whole family will be doomed."
"And that girl from the Li family, don't mess with her easily, I always feel there's something sinister about her!"
Bao Lei quickly and obediently agreed, then changed the subject to mentioning that several noble ladies had gone into the water that day, which quickly cheered the princess up again...
As night deepened, soldiers stood on the city wall of Xindu's east gate, clutching their cold spears.
They rubbed their hands together and spoke in trembling words, hoping to hand over their shift quickly so they could go back to the city tower, warm themselves by the fire, gamble, and drink tea.
At that moment, a soldier was bursting to urinate and wanted to find a place to relieve himself.
As a result, I peed and suddenly realized that a group of people was rushing towards me.
He was so shocked that he peed half of his urine on his feet. "There's someone downstairs!"
He strained his neck and shouted only one sentence before his men arrived downstairs. The leader yelled, "Silence! I, Hou Xinting, have a secret order in hand!"
The other soldiers, who had almost gone mad from the soldier's scream, rushed to find the commander on duty upon hearing this.
As luck would have it, the commander on duty today is named Pang Fei, who is sworn brothers with Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan was considered a general during the Taiping Rebellion.
The so-called "peaceful generals" are those who have never been on the battlefield, or have been on it only once or twice, and have not experienced much bloodshed.
Chen Chuan is the latter.
And in those rare one or two battles, he was with Pang Fei today, and even saved Pang Fei's life, so the two got along very well, almost like brothers.
Chen Chuan was previously arrested and forced to do hard labor in Suijintan.
Pang Fei has been working tirelessly to try and pull some strings to get Chen Chuan released.
Unfortunately, the Chen family's matter was not just about offending the Li family; it also involved Furong Ointment, so they could not let Chen Chuan and his family go no matter what.
During the Spring Festival, Pang Fei made a special trip to the shack in Suijintan to bring some food to Chen Chuan and his family.
The villagers of Xincun and Ercun admired his loyalty and didn't stop him.
But Pang Fei was still uneasy, believing that his brother had been persecuted by the Li family and the Marquis of Xinting.
Unexpectedly, the Marquis of Xinting fell into his hands tonight.
How the wheel of fortune turns!
He peered down from the top of the wall, where a dark mass of men and horses numbered at least a thousand.
He then said, "My lord, why bring so many men into the city so late at night? Is there something you need?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com