A few days later, the news that a new male child had been born in the Eastern Palace spread throughout the capital. Meng Qi carefully selected gifts for the third day of the birth of the child and brought them to the palace.
But no one saw the children. They just sat together and chatted, ate, and gave gifts.
Meng Qi did not have the opportunity to speak to Fanghua alone, but the last time Meng Zhi returned, she gave Fanghua a palace maid who could tell stories and had a few more words with the newly promoted female historian of the Prince Rui's Mansion.
Meng Qi didn't expect that the Queen Mother did not interfere with the new female historian of Prince Rui's Mansion. She analyzed that the Queen Mother did not want to interfere, but firstly, she did not have a suitable candidate, and secondly, she was too busy with Princess Yong'an's birthday to pay attention to these things.
The female historians sent by the palace to the Prince Rui's Mansion this time were all secretly selected by Concubine Lian, and were transferred to the Prince Rui's Mansion after passing through the Shanggong Bureau.
Meng Qi was very satisfied. Although he didn't dare to reuse him immediately, at least he didn't have to be on guard against him every day.
After returning from the palace, Song Chengze brought good news to Meng Qi, that is, the emperor officially issued an edict to pardon Wang Boyuan.
Meng Qi looked at Song Chengze, who was not very happy, with a puzzled look on his face.
Song Chengze narrowed his eyes and asked, "Do you know why we've been discussing Wang Boyuan's matter since the beginning of the first month of the year, but we haven't received any confirmation until now?"
Meng Qi shook her head. "Could it be that it's not because the Emperor is in poor health and has no time to care for him? Is there something else going on?"
Song Chengze nodded, his eyes showing no emotion. "Someone has been suppressing this. To be clear, they don't want Wang Boyuan to come back, or they don't want him to come back so early."
Meng Qi was surprised and thought for a moment before saying, "Who is it? Could it be Prince Cheng or Prince Jing?"
Song Chengze shook his head. "I originally thought it was their intention. The one I doubt the most is Old Five. After all, the Minister of Personnel has a very good relationship with Gao Zhan. Even if the emperor has this intention, as long as he doesn't issue an order, the Ministry of Personnel can pretend not to know. Even if the emperor wants to issue an order, as long as it is not written down, the Ministry of Personnel can delay it."
"Isn't it the Queen and Prince Cheng? But Prince Jing shouldn't be able to interfere with the Ministry of Personnel?" Meng Qi was puzzled.
"So, it's not him." Song Chengze said with a cold smile, "It's the prince."
"What? It's him? Why would he do this? Didn't you analyze it before? The Crown Prince has no one available in the Ministry of Revenue. If my uncle comes back, he will definitely go back to the Ministry of Revenue. Then the Crown Prince can use my uncle's hand. Why would he not agree to my uncle returning to the capital?"
Song Chengze stood up and walked back and forth twice before looking at Meng Qi intently. "Aqi, he's on guard against me."
Meng Qi stood up as well, not realizing how familiar Song Chengze had called her "Aqi." "How could he be like this? He actually gave up such an opportunity just to guard against someone who posed the least threat to him? The Ministry of Revenue has always been in the hands of Gao Zhan (Gao Zhan is the Queen's brother). It's really not easy to insert someone there. My uncle can go in directly when he comes back, and many of his colleagues used to be good friends with him. Such an opportunity is so rare. What exactly is the Crown Prince thinking? What is he guarding against you? Or is it something you do every day that makes him..."
Song Chengze smiled bitterly. "I always followed his instructions and never went beyond the scope of his orders. I don't know why he would be so careless and have the energy to not target those who truly posed a threat to him."
Song Chengze walked over to Meng Qi and put his hands on her shoulders. "The Crown Prince is inherently suspicious. No matter how much I do for him, no matter how sincere my loyalty is, he will not trust me completely. He will even plan ahead to get rid of me when he reaches that position in the future."
Meng Qi closed her eyes. Song Chengze was right. She had said these words once in a dream when they first got married, but Song Chengze didn't believe her at all at that time, so she never said them again.
Now it seems that the prince must have hurt Song Chengze more than just this one incident, or rather, he has seen the prince's true face. This has not yet succeeded. When Song Chengze is still needed, he has started to make small moves behind the scenes to prevent Song Chengze from getting any more help.
Therefore, in his previous life, Song Chengze must have been forced by the prince. After the prince took that position, Song Chengze sincerely wanted to assist him, but he forced Song Chengze to rebel.
Meng Qi grabbed Song Chengze's sleeve and said, "So, you can't follow the prince like this anymore. You have to do something for him while protecting yourself."
Song Chengze casually pulled Meng Qi up and walked back to the chaise longue. "I know. I started making arrangements after the incident with my second brother. I always prepare for both scenarios when the Crown Prince asks me to do something, just because I'm afraid of him... but I didn't expect that he would be the one to interfere with Wang Boyuan's matter. Because the Crown Prince really put a lot of effort into this matter from the beginning, and mentioned it to the Emperor more than once. Especially after we got married, he showed that he spared no effort. So, I never thought it would be him."
Song Chengze gently fiddled with Meng Qi's fingers, counting them one by one, and then counting back.
"Fortunately, now that I know it was him who did it, I won't let him know anything about my plan against Fifth Brother."
"He doesn't know you're going to deal with Prince Cheng?"
Song Chengze nodded and then shook his head, "He knew, but he didn't know I was going to make this move that would kill me."
"Why did he want to kill Prince Duan, but only wanted to warn Prince Cheng?" Meng Qi was puzzled.
Song Chengze sneered, "The Crown Prince is a filial son. Empress Jiang's death is a thorn in his side. In his eyes, nothing is more important than avenging Empress Jiang. So, he killed Concubine Xiang and tortured my second brother to the imperial mausoleum. Just wait and see. Before this year is out, my second brother will definitely bring back bad news."
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