After the spring ploughing, it was April.

Green buds are sprouting, grass is growing, and birds are singing. The warm spring sun is shrouding the earth, dispelling the gloom left over from the cold winter.

The Wanshou Festival was approaching, and Wangjing City, whether it was the rich and powerful or the common people, had already started to get excited. Because Emperor Longfeng believed in Taoism, every year during the Wanshou Festival, in addition to Wangjing City, all parts of Dayan would set up Taoist temples to recite scriptures and celebrate the emperor's birthday.

The temple in the capital was set up early. On the day of the Wanshou Festival, Emperor Longfeng went to the Tiantan Temple early in the morning accompanied by Ziyuan Zhenren to chant sutras and pray. Afterwards, he accepted the worship and congratulations of the court officials in the Qianqing Palace. At noon, he drove to the temple outside the palace to watch the ceremony and enjoy the fun with the people.

The court was suspended for three days during the Wanshou Festival, and the Shanji Hall in the city distributed rice for good fortune. Moreover, jugglers and opera troupes from all over the country came to Beijing to compete with each other, creating a prosperous and joyful scene.

In the evening, the palace held a Qianqiu Banquet, when Emperor Longfeng and all the officials enjoyed themselves together.

The Qianqiu Banquet was held in the Huangji Hall. Court officials above the fourth rank attended the banquet in official uniforms, and eunuchs walked on tiptoe, carrying wine jugs and dishes around the table.

Emperor Longfeng sat in the main seat, holding a wine glass and accepting everyone's congratulations.

Apart from the Crown Prince and several princes, the only ones who could toast the Emperor were a few loyal old ministers and royal relatives.

As the crown prince, Yin Chengyu was naturally the first to step forward to congratulate.

At today's banquet, he wore a very complicated dark purple robe with four-clawed dragons, a golden dragon coiled on his chest, and the dragon pattern spread to his shoulders and back. His black hair was tied up with a golden crown, and his posture was as graceful as a beautiful jade. He just stood there quietly and became the focus of everyone's attention.

The dignity is fully displayed and the bearing is unparalleled.

Before attending the banquet, Emperor Longfeng deliberately took two pills. The pills made him feel refreshed, and he had the illusion of returning to his youth. But illusions are only illusions after all. Looking at his young son in front of him, the smile on Emperor Longfeng's face faded, and the corners of his mouth turned down imperceptibly.

In fact, if you just look at age, 42 is still in the prime of life.

However, he had indulged in alcohol and sex over the years, and his health was not good. Now he was only in his early forties, but he looked old. Especially after he had been sick twice, if he did not take the medicine, he would feel more and more powerless.

Especially with a young and strong prince standing in front of him to remind him all the time, it became increasingly difficult for him to accept his increasingly aging and frail body.

This feeling of powerlessness made him feel fear and jealousy from the bottom of his heart.

Emperor Longfeng raised his cup and touched his lips, responding perfunctorily to Yin Chengyu's congratulations, without a trace of joy on his face.

Those who were sitting closer naturally saw this sudden change of expression.

I secretly sighed that His Majesty has disliked the Crown Prince as much as he has for the past ten years.

Yin Chengyu didn't care about his attitude. To him, Emperor Longfeng was just a superior who he had to deal with occasionally. There was no kinship between them, only competition for interests.

Suppressing the emotions in his eyes, Yin Chengyu performed the ceremony in a proper manner. His eyes moved around to Xue Shu who was serving beside Emperor Longfeng, and then he returned to his seat.

After the Crown Prince, Prince An stood up and toasted.

Emperor Longfeng naturally showed his fatherly love to his docile and non-threatening eldest son. Yin Ciguang was also a docile person, and the two of them had a harmonious conversation, which was a scene of loving father and filial son.

Comparing the two rooms, the officials had different expressions.

Officials who supported the crown prince were naturally worried, while those who were wavering in their hearts were willing to show their goodwill to Prince An and came forward to toast and talk to him.

Yin Ci Guang had a gentle personality and accepted all offers.

Yin Chengjing, who had just finished congratulating Emperor Longfeng, also came over with a glass of wine, raised his glass in the air, and said with a smile: "I also toast to my eldest brother." Although he was smiling, his words made the people around him change their faces: "My eldest brother has a broad mind and can endure what ordinary people cannot endure. He is truly a role model for his fellow ministers."

Everyone had heard the rumors that were circulating in the palace before, and how long has it been since Concubine Rong's funeral?

Anyone who is not stupid knows that he has bad intentions in saying this.

The lively atmosphere froze in an instant, and the officials who came to toast rolled their eyes, at a dilemma.

Yin Ciguang smiled without changing, raised his glass and clinked it with his, as if he hadn't heard the sarcasm in his words. His tone was still as gentle as water, and his sincerity made it impossible to hear any hostility: "Third brother, you are joking. When it comes to broad-mindedness, how can I compare to you, third brother?"

Others didn't hear anything strange, but Yin Chengjing, who had something to hide, immediately changed his expression.

He squinted his eyes and looked at Yin Ci Guang, but found that he could not tell the man's true emotions at all.

Was it unintentional or intentional? Yin Chengjing thought about it carefully and realized that he should not have revealed any flaws.

But when I look at Yin Ci Guang's smile again, I always feel that there is something deeper behind it.

Yin Chengjing gritted his teeth and finally decided not to argue with him anymore. He drank the wine uninterested and returned to his seat.

The officials who were secretly watching the confrontation between the two men saw this scene, exchanged glances, and then when they went to toast Yin Ciguang, their expressions became even more enthusiastic.

After a few rounds of drinking, Yin Ciguang was a little tipsy. He apologized to Emperor Longfeng and went to the side hall to sober up.

Emperor Longfeng naturally agreed. He waved his hand to signal him to leave and continued drinking and watching the dance.

Therefore, naturally, he did not notice that Yin Ci Guang briefly exchanged glances with Gao Xian who was standing beside him before bowing and leaving.

After leaving the Huangji Palace, Yin Ciguang pushed away the eunuch who was supporting him, straightened his clothes, and stepped into the shadows.

The Huangji Palace was hosting a banquet, so the eunuchs and guards naturally followed the Huangji Palace. After leaving the Huangji Palace, the surroundings gradually became quiet, except for the sound of the wind passing through the corridors.

Yin Ci Guang walked in the night at a very fast pace, and in less than half a minute, he reached his destination.

He looked up at the mottled plaque above his head, the three characters "Eternal Spring Palace" on it were too blurry to make out clearly.

"You stay here and guard." Yin Ci Guang gave an order, took the lantern from the eunuch, and pushed the door open to go in.

The stained vermilion door creaked, opened a crack, and quickly closed again.

Changchun Palace had been abandoned for a long time. Due to its remote location and the fact that several concubines who had fallen out of favor were imprisoned there, it was considered unlucky and no one was willing to approach it on weekdays.

Over time, it became a cold palace.

The current emperor loves beautiful women and is not harsh on the concubines in the harem, so this cold palace has been vacant until now, with only one person living in it.

Yin Ciguang walked to the main hall and pushed open the door, and saw Concubine Wen, who was gagged, her hands and feet tied, and looking at her with fear on her face.

Gao Xian's arrangements were very appropriate and he didn't need to put in any extra effort.

Yin Ciguang put the lantern aside, lifted the hem, squatted down, and took the cloth out of Concubine Wen's mouth: "It's been a long time since we last met, Concubine, how are you?" After greeting her, he remembered that she had been stripped of her title of Concubine, and said apologetically: "I forgot that my father has stripped you of your title. You are no longer worthy of the title of 'Concubine'."

There was no light in the hall, only a lantern, the dim light barely illuminating a small area.

Yin Ciguang was facing away from the light, with most of his face hidden in the darkness. Only his eyes reflected the dim light, which was frighteningly bright.

Concubine Wen felt horrified when she saw his gentle and calm expression.

At this moment, Yin Ci Guang didn’t look like a human. He looked more like a murderous ghost in human skin.

"What do you want to do?" Concubine Wen looked at him fearfully, and her hands that were tied behind her twisted slightly, trying to break free from the shackles.

Yin Ci Guang did not answer, but slowly took out a white silk from his sleeve and gently wrapped it around her neck.

If the white silk had not gradually begun to tighten, Concubine Wen would have been deceived by this gentle appearance. She would have struggled violently and screamed for help at the top of her lungs.

There were two or three palace maids in the cold palace, but no one knew where they had hidden at this moment, and no one responded.

The white silk was tightened little by little, and the cry for help was stuck in her throat. Concubine Wen opened her mouth and tried her best to breathe, her face turned purple. Yin Ciguang looked at her, his expression was calm, and his hands holding the two ends of the white silk were very steady, slowly tightening.

Concubine Wen's struggle gradually weakened, and it seemed that she would die in the next moment.

The white silk that was tightening around his throat suddenly loosened.

The man who was pulled back from the brink of death was gasping for air like a dying fish. He looked at Yin Ci Guang with fear in his eyes and said intermittently: "What do you want? As long as I can do it--"

Before he could finish his words, the white silk around his neck tightened again.

The person who controlled Bai Ling was looking down at her from a superior position. There was no joy of revenge on his face, nor any twisted resentment. His expression was as calm and gentle as ever, as if what he was holding in his hand was not the white silk that could take people's lives, but the strings of a musical instrument.

He repeated this process many times.

Tighten the white silk, and then release it at the moment when the opponent is on the verge of death, giving him a chance to breathe.

At first, Concubine Wen tried to bargain and even beg for mercy, but later, perhaps realizing that the other party just wanted to torture her, she began to curse.

Later on, she could no longer curse, as her voice had been hoarse from the repetitive torture. She could only look at Yin Ciguang with resentment in her eyes.

Yin Ci Guang remained unmoved.

He stayed in the palace for nearly two quarters of an hour. Seeing that Concubine Wen had no power to resist and was no different from a corpse, he ended her life with his own hands.

Concubine Wen died with her eyes wide open.

There seemed to be some remnant of unwillingness and resentment in those blurred pupils.

The white silk fell to the ground. Yin Ciguang stood up and took the lantern. Then he spoke for the second time: "The suffering you endured is not even one ten-thousandth of what mother endured."

At this moment, the gentle look on his face was completely restrained, and the viciousness hidden beneath the surface was briefly revealed.

After looking at it quietly for a few moments, he turned and left.

The eunuchs in Changchun Palace saw him coming out and hurriedly followed him. Yin Ciguang ordered: "Deal with him as we said before."

The eunuch responded and asked someone to deal with Concubine Wen's body.

Yin Ci Guang carried the lantern and walked back to the Huangji Palace at a leisurely pace.

The banquet was not over yet, and the sound of stringed instruments could be heard before he got close. Yin Ci Guang walked forward through the corridor, but he was surprised to see a figure hurriedly waking up at the corner and bumping into him.

The lantern in his hand fell to the ground. Yin Ciguang held the person up. When he saw the other person's face clearly, his expression froze for a moment, and then he immediately smiled. He silently grasped the other person's wrist with his fingers and asked in a concerned tone, "Is the third brother's wife hurt?"

Yao didn't expect to run into him here. She looked a little surprised and couldn't hide her panic.

He retreated to a suitable distance, bowed, and then said, "Thank you for your concern, my great brother. It's nothing serious."

Yin Ci Guang was very considerate and did not ask her why she was so flustered. Instead, he said gently, "Did your sister-in-law get separated from the maid? Do you want to come with me to find my third brother?"

Yao shook her head, and as she looked around, she saw the maid coming from the other side, and declined politely, "We got separated by accident just now, and now that she's here, I won't bother you, my great brother."

Seeing this, Yin Ci Guang did not force it. He nodded and stepped aside. He waited until the maid came closer before turning around and leaving.

Seeing this, Yao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took her maid to another direction.

Hearing the footsteps gradually fading away, Yin Ciguang paused and turned back, looking at Yao's panicked back, and instructed the servant who caught up with her, "Go and ask the female relatives what happened to the Third Prince's wife just now."

The attendant took the order and left, but returned after a moment.

He replied in a low voice: "Nothing serious happened, there was just some misunderstanding between the Third Prince's wife and the Prince of Ziyang. The Prince drank too much, recognized the wrong person, and bumped into the Third Prince's wife."

In terms of generation, the Prince of Ziyang is his cousin.

When Emperor Longfeng ascended the throne, all his brothers had died, leaving only Prince Ziyang as his cousin.

Prince Ziyang had no ambitions and was a dandy boy who was uneducated and unskilled. Therefore, Emperor Longfeng was happy to give this cousin more honors and favors and keep him well in his fiefdom.

The prince of Ziyang was only in his early twenties, but he resembled his father, a more notorious playboy. Moreover, he had not yet inherited the title, and spent most of his time in Wangjing. As a result, his reputation as a wine-loving and lustful playboy spread throughout Wangjing, and everyone knew him.

Such a person could do anything bad, but why is Yao panicking?

Yin Ci Guang thought for a moment but couldn't find any clues, so he put it aside and returned to the table.

Xue Shu saw him from a distance, found an excuse to leave, and went to find Yin Chengyu who was sobering up in the side hall: "The servant reported that the eldest prince went to the cold palace. The one who cleaned up the mess was Gao Xian's people."

He knew that Yin Chengyu's feelings towards his elder brother were different from those of Yin Chengjing and his like. After a moment's hesitation, he still expressed his guess: "The eldest prince has just been crowned king, and he is now involved with Gao Xian. I'm afraid he has some thoughts on her."

Yin Chengyu frowned, wanting to say that Yin Ciguang was not that kind of person. But he stopped before he could say anything - people always change.

After this great grief, Yin Ciguang has indeed changed a lot, but he is still not sure whether this change is good or bad.

Pinching his eyebrows, Yin Chengyu let out a sigh of relief, "Don't interfere with Concubine Wen's affairs. As for my eldest brother... just wait and see what happens."