"What do you need money for with a system like this?" Zhou Zhizhi asked, puzzled.
"Ah—" A scream interrupted Zhou Zhizhi's conversation with the system.
A soldier leader held a sword to the neck of the man impersonating Xiao Xiyou. The time it takes for an incense stick to burn was quickly up, and the night watchman slowly woke up. When he saw the scene before him, he was terrified.
"Who gave you permission to impersonate the Second Prince? This is a capital offense!" The leader glared angrily and loudly questioned the watchman.
"I don't know, I don't know," the watchman said, his legs trembling as he repeatedly denied it.
"My lord, I'm innocent! I'm just a night watchman in Liuli Lane. Even if you gave me a hundred lives, I wouldn't dare impersonate a prince!" The watchman knelt down with a thud, explaining helplessly.
"Then why are you wearing the Second Prince's clothes and carrying the jade token symbolizing your princely status? These clothes are made of luxurious fabric; how could a mere night watchman like you afford to wear them!" The soldier leader was furious after realizing he had been tricked.
"Speak! Did the Second Prince instruct you to do this?" He was eager to find Xiao Xiyou's whereabouts.
"How dare you!" Zhou Zhizhi shouted angrily, "Who do you think you are, to presume to judge the prince!"
In fact, Zhou Zhizhi already knew in her heart that the people in front of her were probably the army that the Third Prince had secretly gathered. It seemed that Xiao Nan had really gone to his wits' end.
"I..." Just as Zhou Zhizhi had predicted, the leader's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, but he couldn't utter a single word.
"We are here awaiting orders from the Second Prince." At this moment, another soldier stepped forward and said to Zhou Zhizhi.
"Grand Preceptor Zhou, it is already past curfew, and people are not allowed to wander the streets. The surrounding shops are also closed. Grand Preceptor, you have come here so late at night. Could it be that you have been invited by the Second Prince?"
This soldier was clearly much more shrewd than the previous squad leader. His words were loaded with hidden meanings, each sentence aimed at getting Zhou Zhizhi to admit that the matter was definitely related to the Second Prince.
"How dare you! It's none of your business to ask what I'm doing here," Zhou Zhizhi snapped at the person in front of her.
Just as the argument was raging, the sounds of a fierce fight came from a private room on the first floor downstairs.
The four people broke out of the window and fought their way from the roof to the ground, inseparable.
“That is…” Zhou Zhizhi squinted and carefully examined it, “The Third Prince Xiao Nan Gua, he’s actually here in person.”
Before anyone could react, the sounds of clashing swords and galloping horses rang out from all around, and a well-trained squad of armored soldiers completely surrounded the alley.
And the person leading the group was none other than the eldest prince, Xiao Dongyang.
Looking at the scene before her, Zhou Zhizhi thought to herself, "What a show!"
"Xiao Nan Gua, you have been secretly building an army on the outskirts of the capital, and now you have summoned them into the city. Are you plotting a rebellion?" Xiao Dongyang loudly questioned Xiao Nan Gua, who was in the midst of a fight.
Meanwhile, the two assassins who had ambushed Xiao Nanguai saw that Xiao Dongyang had succeeded and immediately ceased their attack, quickly retreating and disappearing into the night.
"Hahahaha!" The Third Prince laughed in fury. "You, Xiao Dongyang, how dare you play me!"
Xiao Dongyang looked at him smugly, "Likewise, Third Brother didn't keep his promise either."
"Men, seize him!" Xiao Dongyang said impatiently, afraid that if he was even a second late, the duck he had in his grasp would fly away.
"You dare? What evidence do you have to prove it!" The Third Prince stood up straight, raised his head, and confronted Xiao Dongyang.
"I advise you to surrender obediently." The eldest prince was in a very good mood, his smile even more uncontrollable than AK's. "When I produce the evidence, it won't be what my third brother wants to see."
The Third Prince was an extremely meticulous man. After so many days of struggle, Xiao Dongyang only had some fragmented letters in his hands, which was not enough to directly convict Xiao Nangua.
But he couldn't wait any longer. The thought of eliminating Xiao Nan Gua kept Xiao Dongyang so excited that he couldn't sleep.
"Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!" The eunuch's shrill voice echoed throughout Liuli Lane.
"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress."
"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress." Zhou Zhizhi and the eldest prince greeted the Empress first.
"Xiao Dongyang, what are you doing?" The Empress was very well-informed, and as soon as she received the news that the Third Prince had been tricked, she rushed over immediately.
"Your Majesty, I am simply upholding the law," the eldest prince said, bowing to the empress with neither servility nor arrogance.
"Upholding the law impartially?" the Empress retorted. "I don't recall you having the authority to command the army, so where does this impartiality come from!"
The eldest prince was overjoyed to see the empress's furious expression. Unfortunately, his mother did not see it. For many years, he and his mother had been oppressed by the empress, but today the situation had finally reversed.
Xiao Dongyang raised the ring in his hand, "It is an order granted to me by my father, that I may be a duke."
Xiao Dongyang's voice was loud and clear, and everyone present could hear it clearly.
The Empress saw the ring on the eldest prince's hand and was shocked. "Isn't the Emperor under the control of Eunuch Cao? How could he have met Xiao Dongyang, who is specifically targeting my son?"
She quickly figured out the reason. A servant had reported that Consort Lan had visited the Emperor at the Golden Palace, and the next day she went to find Eunuch Cao to inquire about the news.
Eunuch Cao assured her confidently, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, Consort Lan is merely visiting His Majesty in the Golden Palace. There are palace servants watching over her, so she won't cause any trouble."
"Besides, with his heart set on the Emperor and his mind clouded, that position will sooner or later be in the hands of our Third Prince. What is Your Highness afraid of Consort Lan for?"
The Empress closed her eyes to calm herself. She realized she had been careless. This eunuch Cao dared to betray her; eunuchs just couldn't shake their ingrained wickedness.
"Since the Emperor instructed you to investigate this matter, I, as the head of the harem, should not interfere in it."
The empress sat in her sedan chair, uttering words of righteous indignation.
But everyone knows that the Empress is the birth mother of the Third Prince, and she cannot sit idly by.
"But you're just making baseless accusations that the Third Prince privately raised an army with the intention of rebellion. Such a serious crime isn't something you can decide on your own."
"Today, I must see evidence!" The Empress raised her phoenix eyes slightly. "If the Crown Prince cannot produce conclusive evidence, then it is you who abused your power and deliberately harmed your own brothers."
"Since Her Majesty the Empress has spoken, then don't blame your son for not giving face to my third brother." Xiao Dongyang said, taking out several letters from his bosom and displaying them to everyone.
"The Empress is my third brother's birth mother. Although I believe in Her Majesty, in order to silence the gossip and prevent Her Majesty from being accused of protecting her, I would like to ask the Imperial Advisor to come and see if it is true."
Without waiting for the Empress's agreement, the eldest prince walked straight to Zhou Zhizhi and said, "Imperial Advisor, please take a look."
He handed the letter in his hand to Zhou Zhizhi and said, "I have collected three letters in total, one of which should have the private seal of my third brother, Xiao Nanguai."
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