Okay, so overall their style is quite magnanimous. Even if they use tricks, they are mostly effective immediately. They don't have such meticulous thinking or such great patience.
The person who did this is more like someone who is used to hiding in the shadows and watching, like a venomous snake, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Are all the gold-thread charcoal stored together in the Imperial Household Department's storeroom?"
Lin Yuqiao kept searching for ideas. No matter how meticulous the plan was, as long as it was planned by a person, it would definitely leave traces.
There is only one truth!
"Yes, the Imperial Household Department has a special storeroom for storing charcoal."
Liu Heng wasn't entirely clear on the matter, but Xu Yi, who was by his side, had followed the entire process and knew all the details of the interrogation at the court.
If the Imperial Household Department's treasury uses gold thread charcoal randomly each month, and the gold thread charcoal with added ingredients is only available at Tiren Pavilion, it seems like there's a problem in the process, and it can only be concentrated in Tiren Pavilion.
However, Tiren Pavilion hadn't noticed anything unusual; everyone was strictly following the rules, which was a bit perplexing. Lin Yuqiao rested her chin on her hands, looking at Liu Heng beside her, wondering what he was thinking.
Noticing his gaze, Liu Heng, whose face was gloomy, curled his lip and said indifferently, "Someone must not be telling the truth."
The entire harem was too vast, with two to three thousand palace maids and eunuchs combined, while the actual masters were few in number. As a result, the focus was scattered, and he could only assign people to control the most crucial areas, unable to be all-encompassing and have complete control over everyone.
This time, Mengmeng was betrayed, which made Liu Heng extremely angry, especially after he thought he had everything under control in the harem. The reality was a slap in the face, which made him even more vigilant.
It seems he can't afford to be careless about anything in the harem.
The only places where something could go wrong with the gold-thread charcoal are either the Imperial Household Department or the Hall of Literary Profundity. If no suspicious points can be found, then someone in either of these places must be lying.
He has already instructed the interrogators to put in more effort, "If they still can't get any results by then, we'll deal with them all at once."
"Hmph, those people in the interrogation department are utterly useless."
Liu Heng's words were chilling, and Xu Yi, standing to the side, couldn't help but shrink back. It seemed that this matter was going to be difficult to resolve again.
"Isn't the Imperial Household Department responsible for purchasing the gold charcoal? It's not easy to do so many things in the palace. If it were made outside the palace and brought in, it would save a lot of effort."
Thinking about where she would start if she were to design such a scheme, Lin Yuqiao, after taking the role herself, felt that the procurement aspect, which she had previously overlooked, was also full of suspicious points.
"The officials in charge of purchasing raw materials, as well as those responsible for delivery and receiving, are all in the courtroom. Everything is as usual, with no abnormalities."
Xu Yi explained the situation dutifully.
"You don't need to overthink it. We'll find out who did it sooner or later. Just focus on taking care of Mengmeng and Guaiguai now."
Patting Lin Yuqiao's shoulder reassuringly, Liu Heng didn't want to trouble her too much. Mengmeng had been sick for a while, and she was already suffering enough; he could handle the rest.
"kindness."
After hearing Liu Heng's words, Lin Yuqiao nodded obediently.
Fortunately, because the amount of Gelsemium elegans in the charcoal was small, and not all of the charcoal contained this ingredient, only half of it did, the poisoning was not particularly severe. The imperial physician said that she could recover after recuperation and there would be no aftereffects, which reassured her a lot.
The next day, Lin Yuqiao watched as Mengmeng finished taking her medicine and couldn't wait to read, and chuckled softly by the bedside.
He's been sick and can't study lately, he must be really depressed.
"You are only allowed to look at it for half an hour. If you exceed that time, the nanny will take the book away."
After making the rules, she even stretched out her finger, wanting to pinky swear with her son as a guarantee.
Since leaving Tiren Pavilion and no longer being exposed to the charcoal there, Mengmeng's cough has stopped being so severe, she sleeps better, and she has more energy to study.
Somewhat annoyed, Mengmeng hesitated for a moment as she watched her mother's actions. Pinky promises were too childish, but looking at her mother's enthusiastic face and remembering her mother's exhaustion and tears, Mengmeng's heart softened. She stretched out her little finger and made a pinky promise with her.
"It needs to be stamped."
After making a pinky promise, Lin Yuqiao continued to ask. And before Mengmeng could make a move, she rubbed her face against his chin.
This is her stamp!
After completing this set of actions, Mengmeng could finally read a book in peace for a while. Knowing that Guai Guai would be coming over soon, he felt he needed to make the most of every second.
Meanwhile, at the court hearing, after a day of intensive interrogation, they finally uncovered a useful clue.
First, when the eunuch in charge was checking the clues, he unexpectedly found a mark on the corner of the sack containing charcoal in the Tiren Pavilion.
They conducted a very thorough inspection. After discovering the mark, they checked the Imperial Household Department's warehouse and found that none of the other gold-thread charcoal was marked; only the sacks in the Tiren Pavilion had the mark.
Then, another detail was discovered from the eunuch who handled the gold thread charcoal: every month when they handled and distributed the gold thread charcoal, the warehouse manager would specify which bag to distribute.
As for the markings on the sacks, whether they were from the Tiren Pavilion or the Imperial Household Department, everyone said they had never known about them or paid any attention to them.
In this case, it seems that the one with the problem is Li Xian, the steward of the Imperial Household Department in charge of the storeroom. He was always present when the storeroom was opened to distribute the charcoal, and it was he who instructed the eunuchs delivering the portions to transport the problematic charcoal to the Tiren Pavilion.
"I'm innocent! I really didn't make any marks!"
Under intense interrogation, Li Xian was in agony, wishing he could neither live nor die. After several rounds of torture, he was covered in cold sweat as if he had taken a bath.
There was already a puddle of yellow fluid under him; he had lost control of his bladder twice during the interrogation.
Li Xian was in great pain. He truly felt wronged. The interrogators kept asking him if he had marked the sack and how he had tampered with the charcoal. He hadn't done anything and couldn't say anything at all.
After the final round of branding torture, Li Xian fainted, was revived by being splashed with cold water, and then fainted again. After several rounds, his eyes were bloodshot.
He had already spilled everything he knew, revealing the secrets of each of his subordinates, but it was all in vain; they were tortured to the point of only wishing for a quick death.
"It seems it really wasn't him."
While asking the question, the eunuch turned around slightly and whispered to the steward.
Chief Steward Wang Zhen also left with a frown. Based on his many years of experience in the interrogation office, Li Xian really shouldn't know.
But after he left, the people left in the room continued the interrogation. They couldn't rest until they found out the truth.
“When the report was issued last month, Tong Guan spoke with Cai Jing, who was in charge of procurement. It was him who did it.”
Once again jolted awake from his unconsciousness by the splashing, Li Xian's mind was still foggy, and he roared with his eyes rolled back. Now, subconsciously, as soon as he regained consciousness, he kept talking, trying to name the people around him in order to suffer less.
As evening fell, things finally took a new turn. A eunuch who was transporting charcoal outside the palace remembered that he had seen a black mark on one of the sacks.
After confirming, he recognized it as the burlap sack that had been made in that particular size.
This would confirm that the problematic charcoal came from outside the palace.
That evening, Liu Heng received news of new developments from the court's interrogation office.
The problem turned out to be in the procurement process. After being subjected to severe torture, Cai Jing, who was in charge of purchasing the gold wire charcoal, confessed that he knew that a sack of gold wire charcoal had been marked.
The steward of the imperial estate, who was originally in charge of supplying goods to the palace, seized on his weakness and sent him two beautiful women from foreign tribes and an outer residence, instructing him to find a way to get the bag of marked gold charcoal into the Tiren Pavilion.
Although Cai Jing had been castrated for many years, he had always loved beautiful women. Since the palace cracked down on such affairs and forbade eunuchs and palace maids from having any entanglements, he tried every means to keep mistresses outside the palace.
Every time he went out of the palace on official business, he would return to his mistress's residence to enjoy himself with the women he had taken in. Moreover, as a purchasing agent for the Imperial Household Department, he also secretly skimmed off a considerable amount of money on the side. Now that his mistress's affairs and his embezzlement had been exposed, he would be dead if he were reported. So, with his weakness exposed, Cai Jing had no choice but to serve him.
Cai Jing was familiar with Li Xian's routine and knew that he always ordered the charcoal to be brought in the following order: first Kunning Palace, then Yanqing Palace, then Tiren Pavilion, and then Jinghe Palace.
So when he received the gold-thread charcoal and sent it into the palace, he was wary.
Cai Jing would count the number every three, hiding the marked bag of gold-threaded charcoal among other piles of burlap sacks. This way, when it was moved to the warehouse, it would be a multiple of three, and it would definitely be distributed to the Tiren Pavilion.
In order to ensure the completion of the task, he took the opportunity to say a few words to Tong Guan, who was in charge of the warehouse, when he was distributing the allowance last month. He happened to see Huang Men sending the marked gold thread charcoal to Tiren Pavilion.
As for the steward who supplied the imperial estate with gold-threaded charcoal and threatened Cai Jing, he had already been caught, but before he could be sent to the palace, he found an opportunity to bite his tongue and commit suicide.
Although the trail to the steward had gone cold, they discovered that the steward had suddenly received a large sum of money last month and had been in contact with the former governor, Fei Xiong.
Fei Xiong was once the father of a concubine of the Prince of Xinyang. When the Prince of Xinyang was accused of plotting a rebellion with the General of the Left Guard, he was executed by Liu Heng, and his family and relatives were all exiled. Fei Xiong's daughter died during the exile, and he himself was dismissed from his post because of the Prince of Xinyang's involvement.
After investigating Fei Xiong, the secret guards quickly discovered that Fei Xiong's wife, Lady Lü, had recently visited Huangjue Nunnery and met Consort Zhen, who had become a nun.
Consort Zhen originally left the palace with Prince Xinyang after Emperor Jianwu's death and became the Queen Mother. However, Prince Xinyang rebelled, and out of consideration for Consort Zhen being his stepmother, Emperor Liu Heng spared her life, only allowing her to shave her head and become a nun at Huangjue Nunnery, with the Buddhist name Liaowu.
Huangjue Nunnery was a royal nunnery. According to the laws of the dynasty, all concubines who had no children in the harem were required to become nuns after the emperor's death and spend their remaining years at Huangjue Nunnery.
This matter unexpectedly involved Consort Zhen, which surprised Liu Heng. But why did Consort Zhen harm Mengmeng?
Even if she was dissatisfied with the execution of the Prince of Xinyang and wanted to retaliate, choosing Mengmeng was still a bit strange.
☆、81| 3.22|
Inside Jinghe Palace, Consort Ning glanced at Liu Yan opposite her, then placed her black piece, blocking all the paths of the white pieces on the chessboard.
"The matter with Consort Zhen has already been resolved, so what are you panicking about?"
Consort Ning's voice was tinged with suppressed emotion. Liu Yan had not grown up to be the way she had hoped, which filled her with undisguised disappointment.
"Mother, what if Father finds out about us?"
There was a hint of panic in Liu Yan's eyes. He knew that when Liu Heng found out about Fei Xiong, he had already ordered people to deal with Consort Zhen and burned down the entire inner courtyard where she lived, but he was still not at ease.
Time was short, and he couldn't erase everyone at Huangjue Temple. What if it was discovered that he had sent people to contact Consort Zhen?
"Yan'er, stay calm. Just do what you need to do, and don't let your fear show first."
The palace maid beside her had already put the chessboard away again, and Consort Ning placed another piece, signaling Liu Yan to continue playing.
Some traces are indelible, and she had already considered that. However, the crucial evidence had been destroyed, so even if the investigation traced back to them, His Majesty could only suspect them, not prosecute them.
At this point, they need to appear open and honest, and not give themselves away.
The Third Prince escaped again, leaving Consort Ning with mixed feelings.
Military strategy emphasizes "making the most of one's strength in one go." If one exerts all one's strength but fails to succeed in one fell swoop, one will inevitably fall into a trough due to "the second attempt being weaker and the third being exhausted." This is an unavoidable and normal reaction.
She tried twice, both times unsuccessfully. The second attempt also didn't last as long as expected, failing to weaken the Third Prince. Naturally, the Imperial Concubine and His Majesty would tighten their defenses, preventing her from making another move for some time.
Everything has its own destiny, and after two consecutive failures to achieve her plans, Consort Ning was somewhat discouraged.
Could it be that they, mother and son, are truly not destined for that fate?
No, the thought of that possibility made Consort Ning instinctively avoid it. It couldn't be like that. As long as this matter was successfully resolved, she would definitely find a better opportunity.
On Liu Heng's side, he heard that a fire had broken out in the backyard of Huangjue Nunnery, and that Consort Zhen, who lived in the east wing, along with two imperial concubines, several nuns, and maids who did manual labor, had all died in the fire. The investigation had been interrupted again, and in his anger, he couldn't help but feel suspicious.
It seems that every step they took was planned by someone, and Consort Zhen does not appear to be the mastermind behind it all.
The fire broke out too suddenly. The secret guards had just traced the fire back to Consort Zhen through Fei Xiong's wife, Lady Lü, when Consort Zhen was burned to death. The trail ended with her.
Who exactly orchestrated such a meticulous scheme? It failed this time, and if this person isn't caught soon, who knows if they might use the same methods on him next time? The thought of this possibility made Liu Heng feel like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.
Although Consort Zhen is dead, through the intensive investigation by the secret guards, a useful clue was discovered based on the words of the abbess of Huangjue Nunnery.
A few years ago, not long after Consort Zhen entered Huangjue Nunnery, the Duke of Donghai visited the nunnery. Later, a woman who did manual labor joined the nunnery, and Consort Zhen trusted her greatly; the two became very close. The abbess clearly remembered that the woman had even brought her grandson to see Consort Zhen, and Consort Zhen liked him very much.
The last old woman also perished in the fire in the east wing along with Consort Zhen. By the time they discovered it, the fire was already too large to extinguish.
Huangjue Nunnery was a royal nunnery, and it did not receive outsiders; only members of the royal family were allowed to enter and offer incense. Because no members of the royal family would normally come to the nunnery to offer incense, Huangjue Nunnery was closed all year round. In recent years, only Liu Yan had visited, which is why the abbess remembered it so vividly.
According to the nun, Liu Yan came over saying he was offering incense on behalf of his mother, Consort Ning, adding several ever-burning lamps and leaving a thousand taels of silver for incense money. He also drew a fortune stick for Consort Ning, and after interpreting the stick, he made a special trip to visit Consort Zhen, who had just shaved her head.
After meeting Consort Zhen, he also met with the other ceremonial concubines who had shaved their heads, and only left after exchanging greetings with each of them.
Upon receiving the investigation progress report from his secret guards, Liu Heng frowned and sat in his study from afternoon until nightfall without changing his posture.
This matter implicated Liu Yan, which was beyond Liu Heng's expectations. Could it be that Liu Yan was the one who harmed Mengmeng with the gold-threaded charcoal?
Liu Heng simply couldn't believe that one of his sons would so cruelly harm another. After all, he was still in his prime, and Mengmeng wasn't even grown up yet; it was far too hasty for them to turn against each other.
"It must be a coincidence," Liu Heng comforted himself, looking at the letter delivered by the secret guard.
After all, Liu Yan had only been there once, and every year he sent someone to donate one thousand taels of silver to Huangjue Temple for incense oil. His contact with Consort Zhen was merely out of courtesy as a junior, and he did not actually meet Consort Zhen.
The current point of contention lies with the unsophisticated old woman who suddenly appeared and gained the favor of Consort Zhen. The head nun said that the old woman's surname was Zhang, and she lived in a village at the foot of the mountain. Her husband and son had died early, and she lived with only her daughter-in-law and grandson.
Granny Zhang is a devout Buddhist. She says that she committed bad deeds when she was young and now that she is old, she wants to accumulate good fortune for her grandson. Therefore, she does not accept wages and spends all year doing rough work at the temple as a form of spiritual practice.
Although Huangjue Nunnery was a royal temple, the people there lived a rather austere life, with few offerings and relying solely on the annual royal grants. Naturally, the abbess and others were happy to have such free labor.
Later, Granny Zhang would occasionally bring her grandson over, saying that she wanted the child to also experience Buddhism. Normally, outsiders shouldn't be allowed to enter, but considering that he was the only child, everyone, adhering to the compassionate mindset of monks, didn't stop her.
Now that Granny Zhang has been burned to death, the secret guards have inquired in three or four villages near the foot of the mountain, but no one knows Granny Zhang, which shows that she was not a farmer in the area.
This makes it very suspicious where Granny Zhang went each month after leaving Huangjue Temple, who she met, and what was the situation with her grandson.
Originally, Lady Lü was not a member of the royal family and could not enter Huangjue Nunnery. However, the abbess eventually admitted to the guards that she had allowed Lady Lü to meet at the back gate because she was the mother of the concubine of the Prince of Xinyang and was related to Consort Zhen by marriage. She also accepted the two thousand taels of silver that Lady Lü had offered.
As for what Lady Lü and Consort Zhen said, she didn't know. She only knew that after Lady Lü left, Granny Zhang came with her grandson, and Consort Zhen was very happy.
Fei Xiong and Lu Shi have been detained and interrogated. According to their confessions, Lu Shi said that one day an old woman suddenly came to their door and asked to see them. She said that she was a person from Consort Zhen’s side and brought two thousand taels of silver. She asked Lu Shi to go to Huangjue Temple to see Consort Zhen and discuss the specifics in person, but she guaranteed that it would be beneficial to them.
Driven by the enticing promise of benefits, Lady Lü followed the old woman's advice and bribed the head nun with two thousand taels of silver to meet Consort Zhen.
Consort Zhen told Lady Lü to go back and tell Fei Xiong to do something for him. She gave them 10,000 taels of silver and promised that she would find an opportunity to reinstate Fei Xiong to his original position after the matter was accomplished.
Money can be tempting. For the promised wealth and future career prospects, Fei Xiong followed Consort Zhen's plan and gave five thousand taels of silver to the steward of the imperial estate, instructing him to tamper with the gold-threaded charcoal. The steward of the imperial estate had been promoted by Consort Zhen. During Emperor Jianwu's reign, Consort Zhen managed the inner palace and cultivated a group of confidants, including this steward.
Although Consort Zhen has now become a nun and is no longer the powerful consort she once was, the steward of the imperial estate still agreed out of consideration for the money and the incense offerings.
And he had no choice but to agree. Before he became the steward, he had framed two other people to secure his position. He thought he had gotten away with it, but somehow Consort Zhen found out. She had even sent someone to hint to him that she wanted him to work for her.
It was through this steward and Consort Zhen's control over the Imperial Household Department that Consort Zhen amassed a considerable fortune by taking advantage of her position in charge of palace affairs.
Furthermore, Consort Zhen used her ability to exploit others' fatal weaknesses to control them and make them work for her. Consort Zhen was quite skilled at manipulating people's hearts.
Fei Xiong has not made any threats yet, but the steward still fears Consort Zhen, afraid that she will expose his weaknesses. Furthermore, Fei Xiong, at Consort Zhen's request, has told the steward about Cai Jing's keeping mistresses and his embezzlement.
So, layer by layer, the steward found leverage over Cai Jing and forced him to send the gold-threaded charcoal into the Tiren Pavilion. In order to completely control Cai Jing, the steward also gave him two exotic beauties and an outer residence, all paid for by Fei Xiong.
For the sake of the beauty, and also fearing that his secrets would be exposed by the steward, Cai Jing could only try his best to complete the task. He racked his brains to ensure that the bag of gold thread charcoal would be delivered to Tiren Pavilion.
After learning the details of this series of events, Liu Heng was also surprised. Consort Zhen's plan was meticulously crafted, with each step carefully linked to the next. If any link in the chain went wrong, the plan would fail, and the bag of golden charcoal would not be delivered to Tiren Pavilion as originally intended.
As for why she wanted to harm the Third Prince, Lady Lü asked Consort Zhen. At the time, Consort Zhen did not say, only leaving the words, "He was blocking the way."
Whose path was blocked, and why? These questions can never be answered once Consort Zhen was burned to death.
However, it remains a mystery how someone living in a remote nunnery could have known Cai Jing's weaknesses and obtained such a large sum of money to carry out her plan. Based on this alone, Consort Zhen was definitely not the true mastermind behind it all.
Who is Granny Zhang's real master?
The clues ended there. In order to find out the reason, Liu Heng hesitated for a long time that night before ordering his secret guards to investigate Liu Yan's mansion and his recent whereabouts.
Hopefully, none of this has anything to do with him.
On the other side, after hearing the whole story, Lin Yuqiao was also very surprised. She was surprised that Consort Zhen was such a talented person, and she wondered how she had offended this person.
She basically never had any contact with Consort Zhen. When she was a concubine in the Prince of Huaiyang’s mansion, she had met Consort Zhen when she went to the palace to attend a banquet, but at that time, as a concubine in a prince’s mansion, Consort Zhen never even gave her a second glance.
Why would Consort Zhen go to such lengths to harm her own son? The Crown Prince is standing right in front of her; whose path could her son possibly block?
Lin Yuqiao harbored suspicions about both the Empress and Consort Ning. However, she lacked evidence and couldn't make wild guesses.
Maybe she's overthinking it.
After Mengmeng was victimized twice, Lin Yuqiao now suffers from severe paranoia and is no longer comfortable letting Mengmeng live alone.
"No, you can't protect him forever. Children have to suffer a few setbacks to grow up."
Knowing Lin Yuqiao's intentions, Liu Heng flatly refused. Mengmeng will return to Tiren Pavilion after she recovers from her illness.
Although the mastermind behind the crime hasn't been caught yet, they're taking precautions to prevent anyone from having another chance. Boys need to grow up and become independent, and Liu Heng has high hopes for Mengmeng, not wanting him to be pampered by his mother.
While Liu Heng was pleased with Mengmeng's precocious intelligence, what he admired most was the composure she displayed from a young age, a composure beyond her years and maturity. At such a young age, she could remain calm and self-disciplined in the face of adversity, and she had her own plans for both life and studies—something many adults couldn't achieve.
Such innate composure in the face of honor and disgrace, achieved without any prior experience, is something that no amount of learning or intelligence can match.
"Until we find out who is behind this, Mengmeng will have to stay in Yanqing Palace."
Knowing that once Liu Heng made up his mind, it would be difficult to change it, Lin Yuqiao still did not want to compromise, so she started to negotiate with him.
"good."
After thinking it over, Liu Heng agreed. He couldn't rest easy until he found out the real culprit.
The true owner of Granny Zhang's house is still under investigation, and the relevant people are continuing to interrogate her. He believes that the truth will be revealed soon.
Ultimately, Liu Heng still felt a fatherly affection for Liu Yan. Although he ordered his secret guards to investigate him, he did not want to treat him as a criminal and directly infiltrate the Prince's mansion as a pawn. Instead, he had his secret guards investigate from the sidelines.
To Liu Heng's relief, the secret guards quickly investigated Liu Yan's recent movements and found nothing unusual.
He only had one contact with Consort Zhen many years ago, so there shouldn't be any problem, right? Liu Heng also felt that Liu Yan didn't seem like the mastermind behind the collaboration with Consort Zhen.
Before any useful clues were found, a major event suddenly occurred in North Korea.
In previous years, people from the Quanrong Kingdom often came to harass the border of Daqin, robbing merchants doing business in border towns or stealing grain from residents of nearby villages.
However, this year, the prince of the Quanrong Kingdom ascended the throne, and with the change of leadership, the Quanrong's style of business changed drastically. This time, under the leadership of the Quanrong's general, they captured a city on the border.
After slaughtering all the people in the city, they looted all the supplies and money in the city and stationed troops there, which was as if they were incorporating the town into their own country. This was a blatant provocation and a test by the new king of the Quanrong.
The court was divided into two factions arguing. One side advocated war, reclaiming the towns and giving the Quanrong a severe lesson to avenge the innocent civilians who had died unjustly. The other side advocated peace talks, arguing that the war in Hongnong and Yingchuan had only just been quelled and that it was a time for recuperation. If the two countries went to war, the national treasury would be strained again.
"We'll have to fight sooner or later, so we should take advantage of this opportunity to give them a good beating."
After considering the pros and cons, Liu Heng made up his mind. He also realized that a war with the Quanrong was inevitable sooner or later. Not fighting now would be a sign of weakness, which would embolden the enemy.
Although natural disasters in previous years had weakened the Qin state, and the various reforms of recent years had only brought about a recovery, it was far from truly becoming powerful. However, the national treasury was still capable of supporting this war. Only when the country was stable could it have the opportunity to become prosperous and strong.
If we do not retaliate fiercely against the Quanrong, they will continue to invade, and their appetite will only grow larger.
In addition to announcing war, Liu Heng also announced a piece of news that shook the court and the public: he would personally lead the expedition.
Given the lack of confidence in both troop strength and supplies, only his personal presence on the battlefield could truly inspire the generals' fighting spirit and intimidate the Quanrong.
Upon hearing that Liu Heng was going to personally lead the expedition, Liu Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
During this time, Liu Heng had not let up on his investigation. He could also sense that he was being investigated as well, something he had expected long ago. He also kept secret guards in his residence, but they were usually quite inconspicuous, which was why they had not been discovered.
If Liu Heng were to continue focusing on him now, the secret guards' affair would likely be exposed, and he almost decided to kill them all.
Consort Ning was temporarily relieved. She had been worried about Liu Yan's investigation, fearing he might not be able to hold out and would reveal another weakness.
When the Prince of Xinyang was sentenced to death for treason, all the men in his household were executed, and the rest of the household was exiled. Consort Zhen, as the Empress Dowager of the Prince of Xinyang, was spared by Liu Heng. It was precisely this that gave Consort Ning a glimmer of hope.
When Consort Zhen was in charge of the entire harem during the reign of Emperor Jianwu, she must have had connections in the palace. Consort Ning could even guess that Prince Xinyang was probably involved in the matter of Consort Lü.
The reason why Prince Xinyang was able to extend his reach into the inner palace was because of the help of Consort Zhen.
Consort Ning thought that now that Consort Zhen had no children and was living in the Huangjue Nunnery, if she could take over all the confidants she had buried in the palace, it would definitely be a great help.
But why would Consort Zhen give these people to her for no reason?
Then Consort Ning had an idea. For Consort Zhen, who had lost all her relatives, she was probably just a walking corpse. But if she knew that she had a grandson who was still alive, things would naturally be different.
Of course, all of Xinyang's sons were dead, and his daughters were exiled far away, so naturally there were no surviving grandsons. However, Consort Ning had someone find Chunxiang, a maid who had once served Xinyang closely, and falsely claimed that she had been taken in by Xinyang and was now pregnant.
Liu Yan personally went to Huangjue Nunnery and met with Consort Zhen. He briefly told her that Chunxiang was pregnant and that she might have a grandson.
Consort Zhen was skeptical, but the death of Prince Xinyang was a huge blow to her. The sudden joy of knowing that she still had relatives, coupled with the news that Granny Zhang frequently brought about Chunxiang's recent situation, made her unconsciously develop an expectation for her grandson and gave her hope in her heart.
Later, Granny Zhang told her that Chunxiang had given birth to a boy, and Consort Zhen thought that she had a grandson. Granny Zhang even brought the grandson to her to see. The more Consort Zhen looked at the boy, the more he resembled Prince Xinyang when he was a child, and she became even more convinced of it.
☆、82| 3.22|
Consort Zhen was unable to take care of her grandson while she was in the Huangjue Nunnery, and the identity of her grandson could not be revealed. After the failed rebellion of the Prince of Xinyang, Consort Zhen was disheartened and now only hoped that her grandson could grow up safely.
So even though she knew Liu Yan and his mother's intentions, she could only follow Liu Yan's arrangements and send her grandson to be adopted by a farmer in the village, pretending that he was Zhang Pozi's grandson.
In any case, having a grandson alive is already a pleasant surprise.
For the sake of her grandson, whom she named "Shouping," Consort Zhen agreed to Liu Yan's request and handed over all the people in the harem she could think of, hoping that Liu Yan could ensure her grandson's safe growth.
After Liu Heng's repeated purges of the harem, the number of people left by Consort Zhen in the harem that were still usable was almost entirely gone.
After a period of discreet searching, Consort Ning finally found a useful person: Fu Ling from Kunning Palace.
Fuling first entered the palace and served in Consort Zhen's Fanhua Tower. At that time, Consort Zhen was only a low-ranking Ronghua. Fuling was seriously ill and had to be moved out of Fanhua Tower to wait for death.
However, Consort Zhen thought she was clever and useful, so she secretly arranged for the imperial physician to treat her and send her medicine, allowing her to recuperate for more than half a year until she recovered.
Fuling was also a woman of great loyalty. She knew that Consort Zhen had saved her life, and without her care, she wouldn't have survived. During the six months she was recuperating, Consort Zhen paid for her medicine and other expenses out of her own pocket.
After receiving this favor, Fuling devoted herself wholeheartedly to following Consort Zhen, and would do whatever Consort Zhen asked her to do without hesitation.
Seeing that Fuling was safe to use, Consort Zhen did not send her back to work at Fanhua Tower. Instead, she went to other palaces to gather information for herself. Because Fuling was a well-hidden informant and kept a low profile, she remained quiet and unassuming after Consort Zhen left the palace.
It wasn't until she went from Jianfu Palace to Kunning Palace that she received the usual signal used by Consort Zhen to contact her. She didn't know which master was sending the message to her, only assuming that it was still Consort Zhen's order, and that every arrangement had been planned, so she obeyed.
As for the person to carry out the plan, she found Xingxi, whom she had known since Jianfu Palace and who was currently in Yanqing Palace. Fuling knew that Xingxi was a big-hearted person, but she had never had the chance before. After easily persuading her with the promise of a bright future, Fuling handed over the aphrodisiac and medicine to her.
After being captured, Fuling didn't reveal anything about Consort Zhen, choosing instead to commit suicide by poison, shifting the blame onto the Empress. She had prepared poison for herself before finding Xingxi.
Fuling always felt that she should have died the year she fell ill. The extra ten years she had lived were all thanks to Consort Zhen, and now she would give her life back to her without any regrets.
After Fuling's death, Consort Ning also felt regret. She learned from Consort Zhen that Fuling was one of her most loyal confidantes. And indeed, facts proved that Fuling was indeed useful.
By leveraging the connections left behind by Consort Zhen, Consort Ning deeply admired Consort Zhen's methods of managing her subordinates. Whether it was bestowing favors or exploiting weaknesses to blackmail them, Consort Ning learned a great deal from Consort Zhen's approach.
After sharing the management of the harem with Lin Yuqiao, Consort Ning took over the Imperial Household Department and began to slowly and steadily infiltrate the area. Although she could not support her own people for the time being, she was able to uncover some secrets, such as Cai Jing's keeping mistresses and making money off them.
Now that Cai Jing has fallen, his vacant position is very important, which makes Consort Ning somewhat concerned.
Consort Gui had shirked her duties and not taken over the Imperial Household Department, which gave Consort Ning an opportunity to take over. Consort Ning was very pleased with this and looked down on Consort Gui.
If Lin hadn't just happened to catch His Majesty's eye, how could she possibly be superior to him?
But thinking about it, Consort Ning sighed. In this harem, nothing else mattered; the key was whether she could win the Emperor's favor. Finding a way to make the Emperor's heart lean towards her—that was the real skill.
With His Majesty's favor, other benefits will naturally come easily; there's no need for her to be so anxious and scheming.
However, Consort Ning's heart was no longer set on vying for the Emperor's favor. The Imperial Concubine lacked intelligence and couldn't stand on her own relying solely on the Emperor's affections. Sooner or later, she would fight for what was rightfully hers.
Now that Consort Zhen is dead and Liu Heng is about to go on a campaign, Consort Ning's heart begins to stir again.
However, now that Liu Yan has been registered with Liu Heng, he cannot make any unusual moves and must act cautiously. She cannot relax either, as Liu Heng may have already sent people to keep an eye on her.
Consort Ning regretted this opportunity. If she could have taken advantage of the absence of people in the palace to plant her own people in the Imperial Household Department, it would have been much more convenient for her in the future. However, it's always better to be safe than sorry, and she didn't believe that Liu Heng wouldn't have made preparations in advance.
On the other side, after arranging the expedition, Liu Heng began to make arrangements for the follow-up matters.
When he was away, the nine Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet and the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor would temporarily assist the Crown Prince in overseeing the country, and would send him a summary of important matters of the court every half month.
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