"What? They jumped off the cliff together?" Zhao Bi said, very dissatisfied.
The black-clad subordinate, head bowed, dared not say more, "Yes."
"Go find it for me, and bring the body back to me!" he said, reaching out to pluck a white camellia by the window. The blooming camellia was instantly crushed into flower mud.
At the First Prince's residence, the First Prince Zhao Ti, upon hearing the report, exclaimed, "Hahaha, that's wonderful, wonderful! Tomorrow, I will find a pretext to have Father summon the Crown Prince back to the capital. If he can't return, the position of Crown Prince will have to be filled by the eldest son, hahaha!"
"Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations on achieving your wish!" His advisors immediately offered their congratulations, afraid of being a step too late.
In the Third Prince's residence, the Third Prince Zhao Hong, upon hearing his subordinate's report, said, "Just wait, those who charge ahead will surely suffer the most."
Not only the princes received the news, but also the major aristocratic families. Yang Zhong had lost a lot of weight in the past few days and had started to hunch over. After reading the intelligence that had been sent back, he smiled for the first time in many days.
"Hahahaha, hahahaha, even the heavens are on my side." He laughed until tears streamed down his face.
After laughing, his face turned cold. "Hmph, prepare a carriage for me. We're going to the Wang family."
At the Sun family home, Sun Gan was pacing back and forth in his study, sighing repeatedly, "What a troubled time! What a troubled time! Why hasn't Brother Xie returned yet?"
In the palace, the Empress received the news and smashed a room full of teacups and porcelain. "Good, good, very good. You've all been living too comfortably, haven't you? This Empress, this Empress, this Empress..." She collapsed to the ground, tears falling like broken pearls, one after another, dripping onto her phoenix robe.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, you must cheer up! His Highness the Crown Prince is a lucky man, he will be alright. Don't worry, everything will be alright, Your Highness." Liu Zhi comforted her from the side, but she herself started to cry. She felt sorry for their lady.
Immediately, Bai Yue and Lu Fushou also wiped away their tears.
"It's all my fault for being incompetent and unable to protect my own child. What does it matter if I'm the Empress or the Crown Prince? I'm just incompetent." She spoke with such bitterness, as if she might collapse at any moment.
"Your Majesty, please don't say such discouraging things. His Highness the Crown Prince still needs you to save him. Your Majesty, we cannot give up." Bai Yue crawled to the Empress's feet, tears streaming down her face, but she didn't care and took out a handkerchief to wipe away the Empress's tears.
The Empress choked back tears, "Yes, you're right. I can't lose, I can't lose! Those vile women, I will make sure they die a horrible death! Help me up."
After wiping away her tears, with the help of Liu Zhi and Bai Yue, she walked to the desk. The white paper was unfolded, Lu Fushou ground the ink, and the Empress picked up the brush to write, "Father, please open this."
In the Taihe Hall, Qin Ji knelt on the ground, wounded, pale, and his forehead covered in sweat.
Emperor Mingde stood by the window, his face ashen, gazing at the rising sun outside. "Are you saying that the Borrowing Knife Pavilion was protecting the Crown Prince, and that the Crown Prince didn't invite them?"
"Yes, at first I thought they were going to deal with the Crown Prince, but when several groups of people rushed towards the Crown Prince, they jumped out to protect him. As a result, the second and third leaders of the Borrowed Knife Pavilion lost their lives." Qin Ji felt uneasy and fearful when he thought of the missing Crown Prince, but he still had to report the truth.
Emperor Mingde stared intently out the window, as if trying to make the blazing sun bloom into a flower.
"Find the Crown Prince's whereabouts with all your might, but this matter must not be made public."
"Yes." Qin Ji endured the pain from his wounds and took his leave.
After Qin Ji left, Emperor Mingde instructed Liang Yunsi, "Summon Qiu Chengshi Wang Jiyang to the palace. Also, do not let the Empress Dowager know about this matter, understand?"
"Yes, I understand."
A carriage approached from afar in front of Wangjiajiao Gate. The gatekeeper was somewhat surprised to see the carriage, but he opened the gate without saying a word and respectfully welcomed Yang Zhong into the Wang family.
When they arrived at Dongyuxuan, Wang Kuanqi was already waiting there. Now, everyone in the Wang family was dressed in mourning clothes, and the red lanterns had been replaced with white ones. The place was desolate. Even if someone came to pay their respects, they would only cry in the mourning hall. Once they left the mourning hall, they would only shed tears silently.
Wang Kuanqi was dressed in mourning clothes, looking dejected, with a fierce look in his eyes. "Brother Yang, I wonder if there's anything I can do for you?"
If you are coming to pay your respects, you can simply enter through the main gate. Entering through the side gate indicates that something significant has happened.
Yang Zhong was in a good mood at the moment, and he couldn't help but smile. "The Crown Prince has disappeared, and his fate is unknown. Didn't you know about this?"
"Really?" Wang Kuanqi immediately put on a surprised expression, but his joy was extinguished by Yang Zhong's last words. "The Wang family is not what it used to be. As you know, Brother Yang, even that abandoned pawn has supporters. I have lost more than half of the Wang family's resources."
Yang Zhong also expressed his regret, patting him on the shoulder, "Now that the Crown Prince is missing, it is our opportunity."
"I would like to hear the details." Wang Kuanqi personally poured Yang Zhong a cup of tea and sat opposite him to listen attentively.
Yang Zhong smiled at him and didn't keep him in suspense. "With the Crown Prince dead, the position of heir apparent is vacant. The Emperor faces internal and external troubles. We need to choose a prince to help him ascend to the throne. For the sake of Dayong's future, the Emperor will definitely choose a suitable prince to be the Crown Prince. The princes don't have many opportunities to show their abilities. The Emperor spends most of his time paying attention to the Crown Prince. If the prince has our support, he will definitely stand out."
"But the Emperor won't listen to the Crown Prince and release your grandson to avenge my son, will he?" Wang Kuanqi was now single-mindedly focused on avenging his son and tearing Wang Jiyang apart.
Yang Zhong shook his head and said with a smile, "Yes, if the princes cause chaos, the vassal kings will surely follow suit. In order to quell internal and external troubles, the emperor will definitely rely on the powerful families. At that time, he will have no choice." He was old and not handsome. When he smiled, he looked sinister, like an old demon from hell.
Upon hearing his analysis, Wang Kuanqi immediately understood. "Brilliant! If the Emperor wants to oppose the aristocratic families, then we should first sideline him. Then, we can do whatever we want. Brother Yang, let me offer you a cup of tea instead of wine."
"Brother, cheers!" Yang Zhong raised his glass, and the two smiled at each other.
At the Qiu family residence, Wang Jiyang and Liu Huan sat opposite Qiu Tangshi. "My lord, if the Crown Prince really... what should we do?" Liu Huan was the Crown Prince's man, and of the three, he was the most anxious. The reason he chose to come and discuss with Qiu Tangshi was simply because Qiu Tangshi had recently become different from Yang Zhong and Wang Kuanqi.
Unexpectedly, upon arriving at the Qiu residence, they bumped into Wang Jiyang outside the mansion. Both of them knew perfectly well that they had come for the matter of the Crown Prince.
Qiu Tang began fiddling with the teacup lid, one stroke at a time. "Mingwu, what do you think?"
Wang Jiyang took a sip of tea and said, "The Borrowing Knife Pavilion has suffered heavy losses, and those people must also be severely weakened. We cannot show weakness at this time. On the one hand, we must do our best to eliminate their people, and on the other hand, we must do our best to find the Crown Prince. The key to this matter still lies with the Crown Prince."
Upon hearing this, Liu Huan became even more anxious. Everyone knew that this was the right thing to do, but the problem was, where could they find the Crown Prince? In the vast sea of people, by the time they found him, another prince might have already ascended the throne, and then the Crown Prince would be out of the picture.
He was about to speak when Qiu Chengshi asked another question, "When will Commander Wei return to the capital?"
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