Chapter 32 (Revised)
At the Queen's birthday banquet today, the ministers sensed something subtle.
Of the three heirs of the sage, only Prince Su was present.
Needless to say, King Huai was sent by the emperor to inspect the salt industry a while ago, so he was naturally not at the birthday banquet today. He only asked King Su to present the gift.
The Crown Prince has always been the most favored by the Saint, and there has been no news of him leaving the capital on the Saint's orders in recent days. However, he was not seen at the entire banquet today.
Such a scene inevitably made the ministers feel suspicious. When they left the table, some curious people gathered together and asked about the news of the matter in a tactful way.
Initially, rumors spread that the Crown Prince's absence was due to his rejection of a marriage arranged by the Queen Mother, angering both the Saint and the Queen Mother, leading to his confinement to the Eastern Palace. Later, rumors emerged from an unknown source, claiming the Crown Prince's confinement was indeed true, but with a hidden agenda. Rumors quickly spread among the ministers that the Crown Prince's biological parents were plotting to murder the Queen by offering them snacks.
By the time the banquet ended at dusk, some imperial censors were already indignant and wanted to submit a memorial to the emperor asking him to severely punish the Duke of Ye and his wife.
When this news reached the Jiang family, Jiang Weiqiu's face turned dark.
"The Saint had already blocked the news. Even I had to sneak into the palace to meet the Crown Prince before I learned the whole story." Jiang Weiqiu said with a sullen face, gritting his teeth, "Prince Su is such a villain!"
"The Duke of Ye and his wife's plot to murder the Queen has been exposed for several days, but the Saint has only secretly confined the Crown Prince and detained the Duke of Ye's family. If the Saint is not doing this to protect the Crown Prince, then he is hesitant about whether to save him."
Compared to his son, Jiang Hongdao was much calmer: "Prince Su spread the truth about this matter and made it known to everyone. This is forcing the Saint to make a decision as soon as possible. The prince's situation is not optimistic."
The brothers Jiang Hongdao and Jiang Hongyuan had always maintained a neutral stance at court, never siding with any particular prince or relative, remaining loyal only to the monarch. However, Jiang Hongyuan's second-born son, Jiang Weiqiu, was selected as a companion to Wei Zhen in the palace as a young man. After Wei Zhen was crowned Crown Prince, he became the official tutor to the Crown Prince, and thus the Jiang family was naturally considered a member of the Crown Prince's family.
If the Crown Prince is in trouble, it will naturally have an impact on the Jiang family. After hearing what her husband and son said, Mrs. Jiang became a little worried: "So what preparations do we need to make now?"
Jiang Yingyue also cast inquiring glances at her father and brother.
Jiang Hongdao looked at his son and asked, "What are your instructions, Prince?"
"Let me keep a close eye on Prince Su."
"Then what are you still doing sitting here?"
Jiang Weiqiu: "?"
Jiang Hongdao said sternly, "The Crown Prince is currently under house arrest in the Eastern Palace, and you and Xu Zizheng are his eyes and ears. He wants you to keep a close eye on Prince Su, so of course you have to do it yourself. If you leave everything to your subordinates and something goes wrong, how are you going to explain it to the Crown Prince?"
Jiang Weiqiu also felt a little aggrieved: "Dad, we just came out of the palace and got on the carriage going home. If I want to go and keep an eye on it, I'll have to wait a while."
While the Jiang family was discussing the matter of following Prince Su, the carriage of Prince Su's mansion had already stopped steadily at the gate of the mansion. Prince Su leisurely got off the carriage and entered the mansion.
The staff who had been waiting at the door came forward and asked about the situation at today's banquet.
Prince Su was in high spirits today. With the Crown Prince and King Huai absent, he alone stole the show at the banquet. Furthermore, his plan to incite public opinion and pressure the sage to execute the Crown Prince was going particularly smoothly, making him even more complacent.
"Now the Saint can no longer cover up for the Crown Prince," the aide said excitedly, "I think we should have a final conclusion in the next two days."
"There's no such thing as an impenetrable wall," Prince Su said with a smile. "Even a saint can't stop the gossip. Cai Shan is right. This tactic is risky, but the chances of success are high. Rumors are flying everywhere anyway, and even a saint wouldn't be able to trace them back to us."
Prince Su turned to look at his staff, his eyes flashing with sternness: "Be prepared. If there is any change in the palace, have our people act immediately and put an end to the trouble once and for all."
The staff nodded in agreement.
Cai Shan, who had received the praise from Prince Su, was feeling quite uneasy at this moment.
After the birthday banquet ended and Cai Shan left the palace and returned home, he received news from Victoria.
——One thing is the disappearance of Princess Yukang.
Although Princess Yukang had been under constant surveillance since entering Victoria, she had recently gone missing, using the excuse of going out for a stroll. Somehow, she managed to shake off her accompanying maid and the attendants who had been secretly following her, and had suddenly disappeared. Even after tightening the checkpoints at the city gates and deploying additional personnel for day and night patrols, Princess Yukang hadn't been seen.
Secondly, rumors arose in Victoria City, revealing their connection with the pirates. Public outrage erupted, and several minor riots broke out. The pirate camp was also attacked by civilian forces, causing considerable losses.
Thirdly, rumors within Weizhou City circulated that Cai Shan had lost power and was betraying the pirates to the imperial court to save his own life. This directly alienated them from the pirates, who began to harbor resentment towards them. Even some within their ranks were gradually wavering.
In short, the current situation in Victoria is unstable and Cai Shan is urgently needed to stabilize people's hearts. However, Cai Shan, who should be in charge of the overall situation, is trapped in the capital by the Sage and cannot escape.
Cai Shan felt a headache and rubbed his temples. With a hint of helplessness in his tone, he ordered his men, "Send a message to the deputy envoy and let him handle everything in Weizhou at his discretion."
For so many years, he had always held Weizhou tightly in his hands, and even his trusted deputy envoys were only given some insignificant power. Now that the situation in Weizhou was uncertain and he was trapped in the capital, no matter how reluctant he was to give up power, the situation did not allow it.
The staff member who followed him immediately wrote a letter and hurried away to the pigeon house to deliver the letter to Victoria.
At the same time, Princess Yukang Wei Zheng and Cheng Zi, who had inexplicably disappeared from Victoria, were riding their horses at full speed, anxiously seizing every moment to return to the capital before the city gates were locked.
Ten days ago, Wei Yan, using the excuse of leaving the house, had shaken off her guards and, with the help of Cheng Zi's masterful disguise, had transformed her appearance. She and Cheng Zi changed their clothes and horses, and, while the people of Weizhou were still unaware, they immediately left Weizhou City.
Fearing further pursuit, Wei Yu and Cheng Zi dared not delay even a moment. Changing horses three times, they traveled day and night to the capital. Now they had reached the outskirts of the capital, only a dozen miles from the city gates.
"drive!"
Wei Zhen whipped the horse and urged it to run faster. Cheng Zi followed closely behind her.
The setting sun had already vanished behind the mountain, leaving only a streak of blood on the horizon. A deep blue hue had stained the entire sky. Suddenly, a jade-like silhouette emerged from the pale sea of clouds. A few scattered stars twinkled, adorning the night sky.
On the official road, two figures on horseback followed closely one after the other, galloping towards the capital.
*
Chu Miaomiao took advantage of the Queen's birthday banquet to sneak into the East Palace to meet Wei Zhen. Seeing that he was not anxious about the matter, and hearing his comforting words, she felt relieved.
Chu Miaomiao looked at Wei Zhen's confident look. He said that things would be over soon, so there was no need to worry about him.
After leaving the palace and returning home, Chu Miaomiao, free from worries, went to bed. The next day at noon, while the Chu family was having lunch, they saw the housekeeper hurriedly arriving with Wei Xuan.
Wei Lu, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, suddenly appeared. Chu Miaomiao was surprised and delighted. She put down her bowl and chopsticks and went to greet him: "Lu! You're back! When did you come back?"
Chu Canglang and his wife also stood up, and the Crown Prince's Consort Yu Rongxue ordered the maidservant to prepare another set of bowls and chopsticks.
Wei Yu hadn't had a good rest after days of traveling. She finally made it back to the capital last night, and with Cheng Zi, she followed Prince Yu to the palace to face the emperor, presenting evidence of Cai Shan's crimes. By the time she finally got a chance to rest in bed, it was already past midnight.
Wei Xi originally wanted to sleep all day today and would not get up even if there was thunder. However, her father came back with a piece of news that shocked the entire court after the meeting. She no longer cared about resting and asked Princess Yu about the location of the Chu family manor and came here quickly.
Chu Miaomiao also noticed that something was wrong with Wei Zhen. Even the dark circles under her eyes showed her seriousness. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you?"
"——Something happened to the prince."
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