However, given that the Meizhou granary case occurred first, it's normal that Xie Jingyin found the evidence first.
Once Xie Jingyin brings down the eldest prince, they can use the Xizhou dam case to cut off his path to becoming the crown prince. Moreover, since the eldest prince has no hope of seizing the throne, they might be able to win him over, after all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Shen Wan had a good plan, but the next day, Xie Jingyin did not present the evidence to the emperor.
There was none on the third day either.
On the fourth day, nothing happened.
Three days had exhausted Shen Wan's patience. She looked at Xie Jingyan and asked, "Is the information incorrect?"
Xie Jingyin and the First Prince have been fighting for so many years, and they both wish they could kill each other. Xie Jingyin has irrefutable evidence to bring down the First Prince, so there's no way he wouldn't hand it over to the Emperor.
Either the information is wrong, or the evidence has been destroyed; otherwise, there is no way to explain Xie Jingyin's unusual behavior.
In fact, Xie Jingyan had been wondering about this matter for the past two days. His men shouldn't be so bad at handling such a simple thing. Given the precedent of the Xizhou Dam case where evidence was repeatedly destroyed, Xie Jingyin should have been on guard. It was unlikely that the eldest prince would destroy the evidence.
Both of these possibilities have been ruled out; something unusual must be going on.
A guess flashed through Xie Jingyan's mind. Just then, the window was knocked on, and Chen Yu jumped in through the window, saying, "Master, I've found some information."
"explain."
Chen Yu then said, "When Prince Jin received the evidence of the Meizhou granary case, he was about to go to the palace to present it to the Emperor that same day, but he was stopped by Prince Cheng on his way to the Imperial Study."
It's King Cheng again!
Why is he everywhere?!
Wasn't he secretly supporting Prince Jin? Prince Jin finally got the evidence to bring down the eldest prince, but he's helping the eldest prince instead. Which side is Prince Cheng really on?!
Shen Wan couldn't understand, "At this crucial moment, Prince Cheng is helping the eldest prince again. What exactly is he trying to do?"
Given Xie Jingyin's personality, if King Cheng is a fence-sitter, it's impossible for him to give King Cheng a prominent position after ascending to the throne.
Xie Jingyan said, "Prince Cheng is helping the eldest prince, and also Prince Jin."
Shen Wan was confused. Helping the eldest prince was obvious, but how could helping the Prince of Jin be mentioned?
"Is there a problem with the evidence found by the Prince of Jin's men?"
If the evidence is false, not only will it fail to bring down the eldest prince, but the eldest prince will also turn around and bite back. Prince Cheng's intervention was indeed helping Prince Jin.
Xie Jingyan said with a dark look in his eyes, "The evidence should be fine. The reason why Prince Cheng stopped Prince Jin is most likely because of the corruption case at the Xizhou Dam. The First Prince has also found evidence. Prince Cheng stopped Prince Jin to prevent him and the First Prince from losing to each other."
Their plan was to sit back and watch the two sides fight, then reap the benefits.
King Cheng secretly supported Prince Jin, but Prince Jin was the Empress Dowager's biological son. Regardless of whether the position of crown prince ultimately fell into the hands of the eldest prince or Prince Jin, King Cheng remained invincible.
However, if the eldest prince and the Prince of Jin both suffer heavy losses and are both kicked out of the competition, the position of crown prince will fall into the wrong hands, which is definitely not what Prince Cheng wants to see.
Shen Wan realized what was happening and became even more frustrated. "In that case, wouldn't the evidence from the Meizhou granary case become a shield for the Prince of Jin?"
They had hoped that the Crown Prince and the Prince of Jin would fight like dogs, but instead, they both found fatal evidence against each other and ended up sitting down to negotiate.
Xie Jingyan's plan was not problematic in itself, but none of them were on guard against Prince Cheng. Prince Cheng knew both Prince Jin's movements and what the eldest prince was going to do. If he hadn't stopped Prince Jin, the eldest prince would probably have been thrown into the Ministry of Justice prison by now.
Despite all their careful planning, things ultimately fell apart because of King Cheng.
Shen Wanqi felt a dull ache in her chest.
Seeing Shen Wan's chest heaving, Xie Jingyan said, "This can't be rushed, take it slowly."
Shen Wan also knew that the matter of seizing the throne could not be rushed. She was just afraid that the emperor might do something bad, just like in her previous life. She had been relieved, thinking that the emperor would not die shortly after his birthday banquet like in her previous life. But someone put a colorless and odorless poison in the pastries that the emperor had given her. Even Doctor Tao could not detect the poison. How could Eunuch Yuan possibly stop it?
Directly seizing the throne is far better than embarking on the path of rebellion. Raising an army to rebel not only has a much lower chance of success, but it will also harm countless innocent people.
Shen Wan nodded slightly, about to speak, when Chun'er walked to the outside of the beaded curtain and said, "Your Highness, the Eighth Prince has arrived."
This was the first time the Eighth Prince had visited the Ling Prince's residence since Consort Wang was promoted to Imperial Concubine Shu.
Not wanting the Eighth Prince to enter the inner room, Xie Jingyan got up and went out, and Shen Wan followed him out.
As I stepped outside, I saw the Eighth Prince walk in, followed by an eunuch carrying several brocade boxes.
Upon seeing Xie Jingyan and Shen Wan, the Eighth Prince beamed and called out from afar, "Sixth Brother, Sixth Sister-in-law..."
The Eighth Prince was overjoyed. If he hadn't been punished by the Emperor for not doing well in his studies, he would have come to the Ling Prince's residence to express his gratitude long ago. With just one sentence from his Sixth Brother, his mother was promoted in rank and even held the Phoenix Seal.
He knew from a young age that following Sixth Brother was always the right thing to do.
Before Xie Jingyan could speak, a parrot on a stand hanging in the corridor flapped its wings and said, "We have a distinguished guest. You'd better take good care of him."
Shen Wan, "..."
Xie Jingyan, "..."
Another day I've been thinking about killing this parrot.
The maids and servants in the courtyard were shaking from trying to suppress their laughter.
In the entire Chu state, only this parrot disrespected their prince, yet it's still alive and well.
The maids couldn't stop laughing at the sight of the prince's dark, grimy face, thinking that the parrot was a gift from the prince himself to the princess.
The Eighth Prince hadn't been to the Ling Prince's residence for several days and was unaware that a parrot had appeared there. He was quite intrigued and exclaimed, "Sixth Brother, this parrot you're raising is incredibly bold!"
Even he wouldn't dare speak to Sixth Brother like that; this parrot is truly fearless.
Sixth Brother was furious; he still hadn't killed it...
The Eighth Prince understood immediately, "This must be the parrot that the Sixth Princess keeps, right?"
Sixth Brother is so afraid of his wife that he even tolerates her parrot. Is this still Sixth Brother?
I simply can't believe it.
Shen Wan suppressed a laugh and said, "The parrot was a gift from the prince."
...So it turns out that the parrot that calls Sixth Brother "boy" was bought by Sixth Brother himself.
The Eighth Prince looked at the parrot with great interest.
Xie Jingyan said, "If you want to borrow it for a few days, just tell your sixth sister-in-law."
The Eighth Prince, "..."
He never thought of borrowing the parrot.
He dared not lend the parrot that his sixth brother had given to his sixth sister-in-law.
I don't know how Sixth Brother figured it out?
The Eighth Prince looked at Xie Jingyan, who gave him a wink. The Eighth Prince then silently looked at Shen Wan and asked, "Sixth Sister-in-law, could you lend me your parrot for a few days?"
The Eighth Prince wanted to keep a parrot for a few days, and Xie Jingyan agreed. How could Shen Wan refuse?
She nodded, and the Eighth Prince was immediately delighted.
His reluctance to lend money doesn't mean he doesn't want to.
Shen Wan didn't interrupt their conversation; she came out to say hello and then went back inside.
Seeing Shen Wan enter the room, the Eighth Prince whispered to Xie Jingyan, "I'll take her back to the palace. What if she flies away while I'm raising her?"
Xie Jingyan glanced at the Eighth Prince and said, "If you can really raise it to fly, Sixth Brother will thank you."
The Eighth Prince, "...???"
It seemed that Sixth Brother had given him a strange task.
Was it just his imagination?
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