Ziye had spent the night guarding the city gate with the city guards, and besides the Rui’an King, no one else left the city.
At dawn, the city gates opened on time, and Ziye sent someone to ask for Zhou Gu’s instructions.
After hearing the report, Zhou Gu learned that Su Rong and Ye Guixue had not returned all night. He sent a message that Ziye could come back, but arranged for someone to keep an eye on the city gate to see who would come and go that day.
Upon receiving the message, Ziye arranged for a few people and then he himself returned to the Duke Residence.
Before the emperor’s morning court, he was awakened and found that the person serving him was not Yu An. Remembering that Yu An was still detained waiting for punishment, he rubbed his forehead and asked, "Did anything happen last night?"
The eunuch who had been temporarily promoted to serve the emperor was named Dewang, who quickly replied, "Your Majesty, nothing happened last night."
The emperor nodded and allowed people to assist him in preparing for the morning court.
Second Prince Yan Lin was not reprimanded by the emperor. As usual, he appeared at the morning court. In fact, he wanted to feign illness and not attend the court to avoid the emperor seeing him, remembering him, and being implicated, which would result in him being surrounded by the Imperial Guard at his residence.
But his advisers suggested that at this time, he couldn’t be weak. He had to stand upright at the morning court in case something happened and he was implicated; he won’t be able to defend himself in the court.
Yan Lin thought about it, and reluctantly attended the morning court.
He thought that besides the Crown Prince Yan Huisheng, he might be the only one attending the morning court today. After all, among the four princes eligible to attend the court, the Crown Prince was confined in his residence, the fourth prince, due to the involvement of Lipin, was about to be sentenced. Although there was no royal decree to deal with him yet, he already dared not attend the court. Unexpectedly, He saw the fourth prince Yan Shen at the morning court.
Moreover, there was not a trace of alarm on Yan Shen’s face.
Yan Lin was extremely surprised.
The emperor arrived punctually for the morning court and glanced down at the officials standing below. About half of them reported sick. Obviously, they were all people who were associated with the Crown Prince and those who were somewhat timid, afraid of being implicated.
The Emperor snorted coldly in his heart, his eyes sweeping over Yan Lin. Yan Lin felt a tightness in his heart, his scalp tingling a bit, but the emperor quickly moved his gaze away, and his eyes fell on Yan Shen. Thinking of Lipin and the incident that happened in the palace yesterday, the Emperor’s face suddenly darkened.
Yan Shen clenched his fists in his sleeves as if to boost his courage. Staring at the emperor’s heavy gaze on him, he stepped forward with difficulty, knelt on the ground, and said word by word, "Father, Miss Lipin is innocent. Please allow a continued thorough investigation to clear Miss Lipin’s name. I am willing to face certain death to prove Miss Lipin’s innocence."
As soon as his words fell, the Great Hall was immediately in an uproar.
The emperor was also surprised for a moment. He didn’t expect Yan Shen to bring up this matter in the court, and his words were so absolute, even saying that he would face certain death to prove Lipin’s innocence? The emperor looked at Yan Shen dubiously with his gloomy face momentarily stunned.
Yan Shen lowered his head and continued, "Please make a judgment, father. There are many doubts in Miss Lipin’s case. Last night the Rui’an king left the capital to investigate the case at the Buddha Temple, which is also related to Miss Lipin’s case. Therefore, I ask that you withhold judgment on this case for now until the Rui’an king further clarifies the truth."
The emperor heard this and looked at the officials, "Did the Rui’an king leave the capital again last night to investigate the case?"
The officials answered in pairs, "Your majesty, indeed." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
The emperor looked at Crown Prince Yan Huisheng, "Wasn’t it clear yesterday in the palace? Why did Rui’an king leave the capital in the middle of the night?"
Yan Huisheng saluted, "Replying to father, Rui’an king found some doubts. There are still some doubts about Miss Lipin’s case."
The emperor nodded upon hearing this and said to Yan Shen, "You can get up! I approve."
Yan Shen stood up and returned to the line.
Yan Lin was shocked. He looked at Yan Shen, then at the emperor, and then at Crown Prince Yan Huisheng, seemingly understanding something. He was annoyed at heart. Why would Yan Huisheng help Yan Shen? Recently, the Rui’an King has been closely associated with the Eastern Palace and the Duke Residence. It was certainly the idea of the Eastern Palace that Rui’an King went to the Buddha Temple to investigate the case.
Did they think he was not implicated deeply enough, and they wanted to drag him down too?
Yan Lin instantly forgot to keep a low profile, he stepped forward and saluted, "Father, do you know that last night, someone from the Duke Residence, carrying Lady Sheng An’s token, was guarding the city gate of the capital with the city guard, proclaiming that no one was allowed to leave the capital late at night unless mandated by your decree?"
The Emperor was naturally unaware of this matter, and upon hearing it, he queried with a "Oh?" and asked, "Why?"
Yan Lin shook his head, "This humble servant also does not know why, perhaps it would be better to ask the people of the Duke Residence?"
Today was not the day of the grand court meeting, no one from the Duke Residence was present at the Imperial Court. The three grandchildren of the old Duke served in the military, a minor grandchild was still injured and awaiting for his results, and the old Duke himself only attended the court during grand court meetings. Therefore, the Emperor, who wanted to question the people from the Duke Residence, couldn’t find a single person.
He could only look towards the Crown Prince, Yan Huisheng.
Yan Huisheng respectfully replied, "Responding to Father Emperor, last night, Lady Su Qi and Second Young Master Ye left the Capital City for the Buddha Temple. Older Aunt Sheng An was worried about their safety and didn’t want to alarm Father Emperor during the night, so she informed me and appointed me to send guards with the city soldiers to guard the city gates. This was to prevent anyone from the capital who would tail them and pose a mishap."
Upon hearing about the safety of Su Rong and Ye Guixue, the Emperor’s expression immediately softened, "What were they doing leaving the city for the Buddha Temple in the middle of the night?"
Yan Huisheng answered, "During the day, Lady Su Qi rescued Older Aunt and Mother Empress, and at night, she found suspicious matters, hence she went to the Buddha Temple."
The Emperor nodded in agreement.
Then Yan Lin asked, "If so, why was Rui’an King allowed to leave the city later?"
Yan Huisheng glanced at Yan Lin, "Rui’an King is in charge of investigating the case, and he also needed to leave the city. It’s just that Lady Su Qi and Second Young Master Ye left first."
Yan Lin was rendered speechless.
The Emperor waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, Miss Lipin’s case is of great importance, involving several major cases. It is certainly wise of Princess Sheng An to handle it with caution."
Yan Lin was silent, thinking that his Father Emperor had really changed. If it were in the past, hearing that Princess Sheng An made use of her token and appointed people along with city soldiers to guard the city gate late at night, he would have suspected that the Duke Residence had some ulterior motives threatening the imperial power. Now it seemed all right. With just a few explanations from the Crown Prince, the matter was just casually dismissed.
Although Yan Lin was not satisfied in his heart, he had no other reasons for further disputes and had no choice but to step back into his position.
The Emperor dismissed him with a wave, "Continue! Read the next memorial."
The Emperor was actually somewhat disgruntled, thinking that the Duke Residence and Princess Sheng An were beginning to disregard him as the Emperor again. But since he was responsible for the drain on the imperial treasury, he decided to let the issue rest for the time being.
Su Xingze returned home late from the Duke Residence yesterday, and his timing was perfect. When he arrived home, Su Rong had already gone to the Eastern Palace. It was only when he woke up this morning that he realized she hadn’t returned home all night. After questioning Lady Shen, he learned that she had somehow left the city with Ye Guixue last night. Su Xingze didn’t know what had happened, and could only think of how inconvenient it was living in the capital, unlike in Jiangning County, where it was difficult to keep track of his sister’s actions if he didn’t keep an eye on her at all times.
Su Xingze went to the Duke Residence as usual to find Zhou Gu.
On seeing him, Zhou Gu put down his book and asked Su Xingze, "Elder Brother Su, do you know why she went out of the city with Ye Guixue last night?"
Su Xingze was surprised, "You don’t know either?"
Seeing his expression, Zhou Gu shook his head, "I don’t."
Su Xingze also shook his head at him, "I don’t know either. Last night, when I got home, she wasn’t there, and I didn’t see her. However, according to Aunt Shen, she must have decided to leave the Eastern Palace at the last minute. Otherwise, she would have informed Aunt Shen before departing yesterday."
Zhou Gu fell silent for a moment, "She didn’t go to Nanchu, did she?"
Su Xingze immediately shook his head, "No, she said that until she helps the Crown Prince break the scheme, until she sees the Crown Prince’s stable position, until I pass the exam, and until our elder sisters have their marriages arranged, she won’t leave Daliang. "
Zhou Gu nodded, let out a sigh of relief and muttered, "She has quite a lot of things to do."
Su Xingze speculated, "My sister probably found some clue that’s why she left the capital in a hurry last night. She probably went to investigate something. She left very hastily and that’s why she didn’t inform me and Aunt Shen."
"It probably has something to do with those cases." Zhou Gu nodded, "My injury is healing really slowly. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to sit idle in this room."
Su Xingze patted him on the shoulder, "You need to focus on recovering, that’s more important."
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