Hongyu took out a perfectly intact piece of paper and handed it to the guard, then raised her voice to complain to the Emperor:
"Your Majesty, it is not only the Qiu family that colluded with the Guli tribe, but also the Prince Yan who harbored rebellious intentions. He secretly set up a torture chamber to eliminate dissidents. The evidence is conclusive. Please investigate thoroughly, Your Majesty."
The Emperor was astonished to find it was a map of a secret torture chamber. He crumpled the map into a ball and threw it at Prince Yan.
Upon seeing this, the Prince of Yan instantly felt weak and collapsed to the ground. It must have been because he had captured Jade that night, and Jade had left marks along the way, leading to the exposure of the torture chamber.
Ultimately, the emperor demoted Prince Yan to guard the western frontier on charges of treason. Fearing that Kang'er would suffer hardships following Prince Yan, the emperor temporarily entrusted Kang'er to Prince Lu for care.
------
What?
Should the Sixth Prince raise Kang'er?
Hongyu was terrified. In the past few days, she and the Sixth Prince had joined forces to deal with the Yan Prince's Mansion, which was essentially a mutual exploitation. If Kang'er entered the Lu Prince's Mansion, wouldn't that be handing the Sixth Prince a pawn? A pawn to blackmail her.
Right now, there is only one person who can save Kang'er and poses no threat to her, and she must win that person over.
She rushed to the Kong residence, but was stopped at the gate by the guards. "Miss Hongyu, the Kong family is not available to receive guests. Please come another day."
Hongyu stood frozen at the entrance of the Kong family mansion, surrounded by whispers: "Zhang Hongyu is a jinx. Last year she recognized Grand Tutor Zhang, and now his mansion has been raided; she married Prince Yan, and Prince Yan has been demoted."
"She first exposed the Empress, and then she exposed Prince Yan. No one will marry such a despicable, insidious, heartless woman."
"Yes, even the Prince of Xiang, her adoptive father, doesn't dare let her into the house. Now she's going to see Prime Minister Kong, but the Kong family has nothing to do with her, right?"
"..."
Hongyu was furious. She had originally wanted to ask Prince Xiang for help to take her to the palace to see Consort Kong. However, remembering that Prince Songhua of Prince Xiang's mansion had a past with Consort Kong, she feared that the Emperor would become suspicious, so she came to see Prime Minister Kong instead.
To everyone's surprise, Kong Xiang avoided seeing her. Well, she had exposed the crimes of the Prince of Yan, and anyone who dared to associate with her would be inviting trouble from the Emperor.
Having exhausted all other options, she stood at the gate and shouted, "Prime Minister Kong, Zhang Hongyu requests an audience with Prime Minister Kong!"
"Stop yelling! My father won't see you."
Hearing the voice behind her, Hongyu turned around and saw that Kong Yan'er had come to her side.
"May your makeup be done, Sister Yan'er."
Kong Yan'er nodded without speaking, and led Hongyu to a deserted alley before speaking, "Sister Hongyu, please don't take offense. You are not afraid of power and exposed Prince Yan. In the eyes of outsiders, you have offended the royal family, but in Yan'er's eyes, you are a woman who dares to love and hate and has a clear sense of right and wrong."
"Thank you for your understanding, Sister Yan'er. Hongyu wishes to see Consort Kong. I hope you can find a way to bring Hongyu into the palace."
“My eldest sister is not in the palace. She took Kong Feng’er to the Prince of Xiang’s mansion and said that she wanted my brother, Song Hua Gong, to marry Kong Feng’er.”
"Thank you for telling me, Sister Yan'er."
After saying this, Hongyu hurriedly went to the Prince of Xiang's residence.
As darkness fell, Hongyu slipped through the dog hole and sneaked into the Prince of Xiang's residence.
Under the cover of night, two maids lit two rows of lanterns in the corridor with tinderboxes, illuminating the courtyard. Consort Kong led Kong Feng'er and Song Hua to sit around the stone table.
A maid stood beside Kong Gui, pouring tea, while two other maids fanned him with palm-leaf fans behind him.
The pearl tassels on Consort Kong's hairpin swayed gently in the breeze, but Consort Kong kept a sullen face and stared intently at Song Hua, her eyes welling up with tears.
She had not given up on Songhua. The reason she brought Songhua and Kong Feng'er together was only to dispel the emperor's suspicions.
Song Hua also looked displeased. He had been confined to the mansion for the past few days. He had wanted to go find Hong Yu, but unfortunately, the Prince of Xiang ordered several servants to keep an eye on him at all times, which was practically house arrest.
He kept his head down and didn't say a word.
Kong Feng'er, on the other hand, looked delighted and said with a smile, "Brother Songhua, how about you take me to the night market? I want to buy some small items and some refreshing tea for you, okay?"
Song Hua shook his head and remained silent.
Consort Kong helped him reply, "Alright, alright, it's good for you to go out for a stroll. The weather is hot, and Father and Prince Xiang are both irritable. Remember to buy them some tea to cool them down."
Hongyu hid behind a stone pillar and watched as Songhua and Kong Feng'er walked away. When Consort Kong got up to leave, Hongyu rushed out and blocked the corridor.
"ah!"
Consort Kong screamed and staggered backward, but was supported by two maids.
One of the maids shouted, "Someone has trespassed! Someone come quick!"
Thump! Hongyu knelt down, took off her face mask, and said urgently, "Hongyu has urgent business to attend to Your Majesty. If the guards had not forbade Hongyu to enter, Hongyu would not have sneaked into the Prince of Xiang's residence and offended Your Majesty. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Consort Kong took a closer look and was shocked. In just a few days, the once radiant, lively and enchanting Hongyu had become so ugly and disheveled!
"Speak, what brings you to see me?"
Hongyu did not rush to explain. She stood up, looked at the three maids beside Consort Kong, and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, this matter concerns Young Master Songhua's future, and must not be revealed."
Upon hearing that it concerned Songhua, Consort Kong hurriedly waved for the maid to leave and led Hongyu into the pavilion to sit down. After looking around and not seeing anyone, she lowered her voice and asked, "What is it? Is it something that could harm Songhua?"
Hongyu shook her head, stood up and stood beside Consort Kong, dipped her hand in the teacup with some water, and wrote two characters on the stone table.
When Consort Kong saw this, she was so frightened that she suddenly stood up, pointed at Hongyu, and was speechless for a long time.
Hongyu smiled disdainfully, wiped the water stains on the table with her hand, and said slowly, "Your Majesty, there's no need to panic. Don't you want to leave yourself a way out?"
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