Cheng Ying paused and looked at the guard, "Which Liu family?"
"From Liu Yu's residence." This soldier was a spy. Although he was not with Cheng Ying, he had heard other soldiers mention that the governor was quite fond of Liu's adopted daughter. He hurriedly told the details of the news he had found out, "Mrs. Liu brought her three daughters back to Pingliang to visit her relatives. Young Marquis Gu brought a group of escorts to accompany them."
After the guard had finished speaking, he noticed that the atmosphere in the hall seemed to have become even more depressing. He did not dare to raise his eyes to look at Cheng Ying's expression. He only felt a chill on his back, fearing that Cheng Ying's anger would be taken out on him.
Cheng Ying couldn't tell whether he was angry or furious at the moment. He waited patiently for several days, but that heartless little thing not only didn't come to admit his mistake, but also left Beijing without a word!
Cheng Ying fiercely rubbed the ink stained by her fingertips while painting, and the wrinkles in her thick eyebrows were full of anger. "Water."
Upon hearing the noise, the eunuch serving in the palace hurriedly brought in a copper basin filled with clean water. His cold white fingers were completely immersed in the water. The cool feeling eased his anxiety a little. He washed his fingers one by one. Cheng Ying picked up the white handkerchief and wiped his knuckles carefully before saying, "Leave."
The guard breathed a sigh of relief and was about to bow and leave.
Cheng Ying called him back and said, "Tell Xia Ning to arrange a few skilled men to follow secretly and protect my adopted daughter who is ungrateful if necessary."
The servant had an illusion that the governor's last few words seemed to be uttered with a sound of gnashing teeth, so he quickly took the order and withdrew.
That little girl had a bad mind and had forgotten the past. She didn't know how many people secretly wanted to kill her. After all, she was just a little toy for him to amuse himself, so it would be a pity if she died.
Cheng Ying suddenly felt that he still had some humanity in him. After all, compared to that ungrateful Liu Yuning, he was much more soft-hearted!
"Tsk." Cheng Ying used the tip of his tongue to touch the aching root of his tooth. Was he... irritated by that ungrateful little thing?
"Make me a bowl of honeysuckle." Throwing the handkerchief on the table, Cheng Ying ordered people to clean up the scattered waste paper, and then instructed the palace servants in the hall, "Ask Guo Changsheng to see me."
The young eunuch responded and soon brought Guo Changsheng, who was serving in front of the emperor, back to the Imperial Household Department.
Guo Changsheng saluted with some trepidation, wondering what inappropriate things he had done recently to earn the summons from the governor.
"Send the memorials to the emperor, and don't let him favor one over the other just because of the new heir." Cheng Ying picked up a stack of memorials from the table and threw them to Guo Changsheng.
Guo Changsheng took the memorial in a hurry, opened it and took a look. The memorial praised the prince for his honest character and his diligence since he got involved in government affairs. He said that a sacrifice to heaven would be held soon, and the emperor was requested to request the prince to preside over the ceremony on behalf of the emperor.
Guo Changsheng immediately understood what Cheng Ying meant. The night before, Emperor Mingzheng woke up. Concubine Xue was crying with joy beside the dragon bed and told Emperor Mingzheng that she was pregnant with an heir. Emperor Mingzheng was very happy and said that Concubine Xue's pregnancy was auspicious and would protect him until he woke up. He immediately ordered people to prepare a palace banquet to share the good news with his ministers.
Because he fainted due to excessive debauchery with the new concubine Shu, Emperor Mingzheng had neglected Shu for the past two days. Concubine Xue was pregnant and in the limelight for a while, and was favored by Emperor Mingzheng. Good things were moved from the warehouse to Changle Palace like water.
The prince who ran to serve the sick was completely ignored.
Empress Feng and her son had never been favored. As someone who served the Emperor closely, he could see very clearly that Zhu Xun's position as the Crown Prince was just a formality.
Could it be that the governor still prefers to support Empress Feng and her son? Otherwise, why would the governor intend to help the prince as soon as Concubine Xue became pregnant with the heir? Guo Changsheng tried to figure out Cheng Ying's thoughts, but he didn't dare to think too deeply. After all, Cheng Ying's thoughts were really hard to figure out. He hurriedly said, "I understand. I will definitely say a few good words for the prince in front of His Majesty."
Cheng Ying sneered, her tone gloomy, "Don't be so smart!"
Guo Changsheng's heart trembled, "I dare not."
Cheng Ying threw another memorial to Guo Changsheng, "I am going to Xianyang now, so the palace cannot be less lively. I will present this memorial to His Majesty before the Heavenly Sacrifice. The more lively the palace is, the better."
Guo Changsheng took the memorial and glanced at it. He was slightly surprised, but even more frightened. This memorial was from Song Ling, the Minister of Rites. It revealed dozens of evil deeds of Zhai Huaiying, the salt transport envoy of Huai'an. All of them were extremely evil! At the end, he also denounced Zhu Yu, the prince of Huai'an, for shielding the evil officials of Huai'an, tolerating the evil, forcing the wronged to have no way to appeal, and the witnesses died tragically in prison!
Even though we know that Cheng Ying has a gloomy and unstable personality and is difficult to discern her thoughts, the way she lifted the prince up high and then ruthlessly pushed him down is really... frightening and puzzling.
This is not about wanting the palace to be lively, it is clearly about wanting noise and chaos.
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