Upon hearing this, Su Huiyan and Liang Fei immediately shut up.
It's clear that the Emperor is serious this time. They used to cause trouble like this all the time, but the Emperor never punished them.
This time, the Emperor was even willing to punish Bai Fuya, so they dared not offend the Emperor at all.
Consort Liang dared not make a scene, and unconsciously lowered her voice: "If Consort Su and I are both under house arrest, who will manage the affairs of the inner palace?"
Zong Jiu smiled slightly and conveyed the imperial edict: "His Majesty said that during the period when Consort Su and Consort Liang are under house arrest, the Crown Prince's wife, Lady Wei, will temporarily manage the inner palace."
Xuanyuan Peng's order once again shocked everyone.
No one expected that the Emperor would actually appoint the First Princess Consort to manage the harem.
It's clearly the Second Prince and the Third Prince who are handling state affairs together. Consort Su and Consort Liang are under house arrest. Even if someone needs to be temporarily placed in charge, shouldn't it be chosen from the Second Prince's wife and the Third Prince's wife? It shouldn't be the First Prince's wife's turn at all!
Even if all else fails, isn't there still Consort Liu? The Crown Prince's birth mother and the Crown Princess's mother-in-law aren't even qualified to temporarily manage the harem, so how come the Crown Princess is in charge?
No one can truly fathom what the Emperor is thinking!
The fact that he even punished the Holy King's Consort today makes this even more intriguing.
Lady Bai had no interest in listening any further. Seeing Su Xuening approach, she took her with her and left the palace.
Su Huiyan and Consort Liang wanted to argue their case further, but Zong Jiu, seeing that Bai Shi and the others had left, didn't stay outside any longer and turned to enter Chengqian Palace.
Just as Su Huiyan and Consort Liang were at a loss, a whole troop of Imperial Guards arrived.
These Imperial Guards split into two small teams and surrounded Su Huiyan and Consort Liang.
The head of the Imperial Guards bowed to the two and said, "Consort Su, Consort Liang, your confinement begins today. Please leave."
Su Huiyan and Liang Fei once again realized that Xuan Yuanpeng was really serious this time. The number of guards for their confinement was several times greater than usual, indicating that he was truly going to put them under house arrest!
"I have two more things to say to the Third Prince."
Su Huiyan didn't know if she would have another chance to see Xuan Yuan Yu after being confined to her home, so she went up to him and pulled him aside to talk.
"I will also have to wait a while."
Consort Liang followed suit and went over to talk to Xuan Yuanzhi as well.
"Zhi'er, this imperial edict from your father is very strange!"
Xuan Yuanzhi narrowed his eyes; it was indeed strange.
Every single item is strange, whether it's making him and Xuanyuan Yu handle state affairs together, kicking Xuanyuan Zhi out of the game, punishing that woman, confining Consort Su and his mother, and even that woman, while letting Wei Shi temporarily manage the harem.
Everything was so unexpected, which made these two imperial edicts even more strange!
Consort Liang pondered for a moment and said, "No matter what your father’s reasons were for issuing such an imperial edict, this is an opportunity for you. You must take advantage of this period to let the officials see your abilities and win over more officials. As for Xuan Yuanduo, it’s not impossible to try to win him over. After all, he is now in charge of the city’s guards. If he can support you, our chances of winning will be much greater."
"Understood." Even if Consort Liang hadn't said anything, Xuan Yuanzhi would have done it anyway.
Moreover, he already had a reason to persuade Xuanyuan Duo, and he was quite confident that he could change Xuanyuan Duo's mind and turn to support him.
Consort Liang suddenly remembered something and said, "There's one more thing. Just now, your father summoned Prince Ming, the commander of the three armies, and General Cao to Chengqian Palace for a secret meeting for two or three hours. I don't know what they talked about. You'd better find out. Otherwise, your father might have some other tricks up his sleeve, and you and Xuanyuan Yu will just be two straw targets. That would be a joke."
She felt that it was strange that the Emperor had suddenly punished Bai Fuya today.
Mingming Fuya hadn't done anything improper, and of course she hadn't either, but the Emperor had always disliked her. He had even punished Su Huiyan, so it wasn't surprising that he would punish her as well.
But Bai Fuya is different. The Emperor liked Bai Fuya so much, so why did he suddenly change his mind?
Furthermore, the Emperor had clearly intended for Xuanyuan Zhan to be the Crown Prince, and even considered acknowledging him as his own son, openly stating in court that he was his biological son.
The Emperor thinks so highly of Xuanyuan Zhan and even sent him to the North, clearly intending to give him a prestigious title so that he can be made Crown Prince upon his return.
But the Emperor's sudden change is too strange, so she suspects that the two imperial edicts were just a smokescreen spread by the Emperor to make Zhi'er and Xuan Yuan Yu fight each other, and that the Emperor had already prepared a way out for Xuan Yuan Zhan.
Therefore, these matters must be thoroughly investigated, and all the escape routes left by the Emperor for Xuan Yuanzhan must be completely cut off before Xuan Yuanzhan returns!
"I will investigate!" It wasn't just Consort Liang who was suspicious; Xuan Yuanzhi also felt that today's events were very strange.
On the other side, Su Huiyan was also giving Xuan Yuan Yu similar instructions: "The three armies control the entire military force of the capital city. No matter what, you must win them over first. As long as we have the three armies under our control, our plan will succeed!"
"Your subject understands." Xuanyuan Yu thought so too.
The three armies are indeed very important, especially the city guards. Fortunately, the Emperor gave the position of commander of the city guards to Xuanyuan Duo, which can be regarded as indirectly increasing his bargaining chips.
In this respect alone, he surpasses Xuanyuan Zhi by far.
"You also need to find out about the Emperor's summons of Prince Ming, the three armies, and General Cao to the palace today. Things may not be as simple as we think," Su Huiyan instructed again, still worried.
“Yes,” Xuanyuan Yu replied immediately.
Even if his mother didn't mention it, he would still investigate.
If their father gave them another will, that would be terrible!
"This time your father is serious. It's clear he knows his health is failing and is going all in. Try to be agreeable to him these days, and be sure not to offend him!"
Su Huiyan was worried that if she pushed Xuan Yuanpeng too far, it would lead to a fight to the death!
"Alright." Xuan Yuan Yu was thinking of trying again that night, mobilizing the mother Gu within his body to see if he could truly control his father.
If he could really control his father, would he need to go through all this trouble?
There's no need to worry about that bastard Xuanyuan Zhan returning, nor is there any need to compete with Xuanyuan Zhi anymore. The land of Dongchu will definitely be his!
They talked for the duration of a cup of tea, until the Imperial Guards grew impatient, at which point Su Huiyan and Consort Liang returned to their respective palaces to remain in seclusion.
Xuan Yuanzhi looked at Xuan Yuanyu with a forced smile and said, "Third brother, we must work together to handle the affairs of the Eastern Chu state before Father Emperor falls seriously ill."
Xuanyuan Yu glanced coldly at Xuanyuan Zhi, his face expressionless.
Xuanyuan Duo, still excited about being appointed commander of the city's guards, patted the two men on the shoulder with a smile: "That's right! When brothers are of one mind, their strength can break metal!"
Neither of them spoke; they simply stared at each other, the sparks flying everywhere clearly visible!
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