Mother Du immediately led the servants in the room and left, leaving only the Madam, Xu Lingyi, the Third Master, the Fifth Master, and the Eleventh Lady in the room.

Eleventh Lady refilled everyone's cup of tea and stood behind the lady.

Xu Lingyi looked at the lady-in-waiting: "Mother, please tell me about your visit to the palace first!"

The lady nodded slightly. Perhaps she was thinking of the meeting with her daughter, her eyes were a little moist: "The Queen said that the Emperor has thoroughly checked. The Fifth Prince had a stomachache, but the Imperial Hospital misdiagnosed it as dysentery. In order to keep the condition stable, they dared not use medicine, which delayed the disease..."

The Fifth Master was furious when he heard this: "This bunch of quack doctors killed Madam Wei, the mother of the Dali Prime Minister, last time. We should report this to the Emperor and execute their entire family."

After hearing this, the Third Master coughed lightly.

Wu Ye glanced at Xu Lingyi, who had no expression on his face, and shut up in boredom.

"Since the emperor has said so, don't think too much or guess too much." Xu Lingyi spoke slowly, "After something like this happened, everyone is staring at our family. Third brother," his eyes fell on the third master, "you have to take care of the family affairs, especially don't say anything that shouldn't be said. If you hear any gossip, you should know how to respond."

The Third Master immediately said, "I called all the managers over tonight and gave them some instructions. Especially the managers in the Remedy Office."

Xu Lingyi nodded.

The Third Master stood up and said, "There is no time to lose. I will go and gather the stewards." He added, "Looking at the weather, the people who went to the West Hill to pick up the Second Sister-in-law should be back by now. I will go and greet them."

"Go ahead!" Xu Lingyi responded. The Third Master stepped forward to salute the lady and left.

When I got to the door, I met the Third Lady: "Why did you come back again?"

"I am worried about you, aren't I?" The Third Lady looked towards the inner courtyard. "What did you say?"

"Stand here and hit someone in the eye." The Third Master pulled the Third Madam out, "We can talk while we walk."

The third wife nodded and followed her husband out.

"Nothing!" The Third Master told the Third Madam what Xu Lingyi had said, "...Let me tell the stewards."

The Third Madam curled her lips after hearing this: "I don't believe it. A healthy and living person was killed by medical treatment."

The Third Master said nothing.

The Third Lady poked her husband and said, "Hey, what is Eleventh Lady doing in there?"

The Third Master knew what his wife was thinking, so he pretended to be deaf and dumb and said, "The maids and servants are not here, so the Fourth Brother asked them to help serve tea and water."

"I don't believe it." The Third Madam said, her voice regaining its previous spirit, "When will the Second Sister-in-law arrive?"

"I was just about to meet him!"

"I'll go with you!" There was a hint of excitement in the Third Lady's voice.

Seeing that the Third Master had left, Xu Lingyi in the room cast his eyes on the Fifth Master: "Tomorrow we will go to Sishan Gate to mourn. You must stay there honestly. If you run around, you will quit your job and stay at home. From now on, you are not allowed to go anywhere!"

Wu Ye widened his eyes: "I didn't do anything..."

Xu Lingyi's eyes turned cold.

Wu Ye immediately became depressed and whispered, "I know."

Looking reluctant.

The lady looked at this and couldn't help but sigh. She asked Shiyi Niang, "Go and make us another cup of tea."

Eleventh Lady responded and left. Seeing that there was no one outside the hall, she stood quietly outside the lattice and listened to a few words.

"Lingkuan, you are a good boy." The lady's voice was a little lower than usual, as if she was afraid of being heard. "You are straightforward and treat people sincerely. Others see you as a gentleman, so they can't help but deceive you. Let's talk about Wang Lang. He grew up with you. You treat him like a brother, and I treat him like my nephew. But he killed someone and tricked you into doing it. He wanted to put the blame on you and let you take the blame. If it weren't for your fourth brother's quick reaction, how would that matter have ended?"

No wonder he wanted to send me away, it turned out that Wang Lang was involved.

If it was true as the Madam said, then it would make sense for the Xu and Wang families to fall out...

"Mom," Master Wu said with deep guilt in his voice, "I know I was wrong. I won't do it again!"

"You will be fooled if you do it intentionally." There was no blame in the lady's voice, only worry. "Mother is old now and can't stand these things anymore. You should be safe and sound, don't listen to those gossips, and don't mind those trivial matters. Then mother can live a few more comfortable days in peace. Your fourth brother is also worried about you, afraid that you will get involved with those people again."

"Mom," Wu Ye promised repeatedly, "I will stay in the office and not run around."

"You follow your fourth brother. Wherever your fourth brother rests, you rest there..."

Eleventh Lady had heard what she wanted to hear. She turned around to make some hot tea, but saw the Third Master and the Third Madam walking in with a tall woman wearing a white fox cloak.

"Fourth brother's wife, look who's back?" There was a hint of gloating in the third lady's tone.

Eleventh Lady looked carefully and found that it was the Second Lady.

"Second sister-in-law, you're back!" Eleventh Lady greeted her politely, and then reported to the Lady Dowager: "Mother, Second sister-in-law is back!"

"Come in quickly! Come in quickly!" There was a hint of surprise in the lady's voice. The Fifth Master had already lifted the curtain and came over like the wind. "Second sister-in-law."

The second lady took off her cloak, revealing her beautiful face.

"Fifth brother, is Danyang okay?" She greeted Fifth Master with a smile.

Wu Ye blushed: "It's all because Danyang is too willful..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The second wife said gently, "Is mother okay?" She changed the subject and went to the inner room.

Wu Ye hurriedly lifted the curtain for her: "Mom is fine!"

Everyone surrounded her and walked in.

Eleventh Lady went to make some hot tea and brought it in. Second Lady and the others had already sat down in order of importance and were talking about the Fifth Prince's funeral. Seeing Eleventh Lady come in, Third Lady stood up to help serve the tea, and the conversation was interrupted.

After the tea was served, the Third Master took a sip and put down the teacup: "We'll leave first - I have something else to do!" Then he winked at the Third Madam.

The third wife didn't want to leave, but seeing her husband's firm attitude, she stood up reluctantly and followed the third master.

"You should rest earlier too!" The lady said to the Fifth Master, "I am worried about Danyang being alone in the back garden."

Master Wu stood up and said "yes", bowed to the people in the house, and returned to the back garden.

Xu Lingyi pointed at the armchair where Fifth Master sat and said to Eleventh Lady, "You can sit down too!"

After listening to this, the Second Lady raised her eyelids and glanced at Eleventh Lady quickly, then quickly lowered her eyelids and lowered her head to sip her tea.

Eleventh Lady was quite surprised.

I didn’t expect… that I would be qualified to attend the Xu family’s high-level meetings so soon.

She said "yes" respectfully and half sat on the armchair with the humble attitude of a newcomer.

"Yizhen is back too." Madam Tai looked at Xu Lingyi solemnly, "Tell me, what's going on?"

Xu Lingyi looked solemn. "As soon as I heard that the Fifth Prince was in trouble, I sent people to look for his wet nurse Shen Mama and his personal eunuch Quan De, but it was still too late. Shen Mama committed suicide by taking poison, and Quan De fell into the water. I was afraid that the Empress would say something resentful in a moment of excitement and alienate the Emperor, so I had to ask the people in the Imperial Hospital to find a way to delay the case for a few days. I also suggested to the Emperor that the Fifth Prince was ill because of his diet, and it would be best to send the Empress, the First Prince, and the Third Prince out of the palace temporarily to prevent any more trouble. The emperor probably thought this was strange, so he agreed without saying anything. He also made an excuse that the third prince was unwell and asked the queen to take him to Xishan to soak in the hot springs. The fifth prince had been naughty these past two days and was being taught a lesson by his master, so he was told not to come and say goodbye to him in case he saw him clamoring to go. He was also sent to Xishan in two days. The queen did not suspect anything and took the third prince to the palace in Xishan. Two days later, the fifth prince died of illness. The emperor kept it a secret and followed the clues to find the Cining Palace..."

Eleventh Lady felt nervous when she heard this.

The Empress would not have concealed the truth from her mother. The "truth" that the Fifth Prince died due to improper medication should have been told to her by the Emperor... It seems that the Emperor is not going to pursue this matter. Therefore, there is the courtesy of the Prince...

She suddenly felt a little cold.

"No!" The lady suddenly said, "Since she took such a risk to harm her legitimate son, why would she abandon her eldest son and save her youngest son? This doesn't make sense..."

Eleventh Lady felt that what the lady said made sense.

What happens in the imperial palace is a mixture of truth and falsehood. If you are not careful, you may mistake your benefactor for your enemy, and your enemy for your benefactor... Although she has not experienced it, she has read about it in historical records.

"The eldest prince is fourteen years old this year," the second wife pondered, "and the third prince is eleven years old this year. They were all born in the prince's mansion and witnessed how their fathers rose from princes to crown princes and then ascended to the throne. The fifth prince is different. When he was old enough to understand, his father was already the emperor and his mother was the queen. He is one of the most noble people in the world... After all, he is only five years old this year..."

The second wife implicitly expressed her point of view - the eldest and third princes were older, had some understanding of the affairs of the palace, and had some sophistication, so they were not so easy to be manipulated. The fifth prince, who was only five years old, was still innocent and naive, so it was easy to attack him.

"...Besides, even if something happens to the eldest prince, it will not affect the status of the third and fifth princes. As long as the emperor and empress love each other, there is still a chance to give birth to a prince..."

Eleventh Lady's heart was moved when she heard this.

Xu Lingyi once said that the Empress respected the Emperor as her husband rather than fearing him as the Emperor. On the one hand, it showed that the Empress still had the innocence of a girl. On the other hand, it also showed that the relationship between the Emperor and Empress was not so strict. Can we say that they lived like an ordinary couple, loving and sweet, but also quarreled like ordinary people, and even got angry...

Therefore, this strategy was not to kill the legitimate son, but to make the emperor and the empress turn against each other. Because the empress without a legitimate son would certainly be suspected of having an unstable position, but the son of the deposed empress would probably be in a more embarrassing position than the sons of concubines of low status, and even less to be feared.

She thought again of the scene she had seen in Kunning Palace - the emperor had been on the throne for only four years, and except for Jieyushi Zhang and Meiren Yu, who were old servants of the royal palace and were given titles because they gave birth to sons, there was also a new imperial concubine, two concubines, a Jieyushi, and a beauty... Like most men, the emperor, while enjoying power, began to enjoy women.

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