Emperor Mingde took a sip of the newly added Maojian tea, found it astringent and bitter, and spat it out. He frowned and said coolly, "Why hasn't the person arrived yet?"
"Your Majesty, they've arrived." Liang Yunsi glanced at the palace gate, where a young eunuch was bowing and walking in.
The junior eunuch was a palace servant of a lower rank than Xiao Liangzi. He worked in the Taihe Hall and was responsible for summoning court officials. Ministers like Huo Baichuan and Yan Shiren were usually invited by Liang Yunsi, but the Prince Xian was just a deposed prince who had been imprisoned after Emperor Mingde ascended the throne. Therefore, an unknown junior eunuch was sent to summon him.
"This servant greets Your Majesty." The little eunuch knelt down with a thud, his head bowed low. He ran there and back, and because it was hot outside, he was covered in sweat and panting heavily, but dared not make a sound.
Emperor Mingde slammed his teacup down on the dragon table, and before he could even begin to report, he angrily demanded, "Where is the Wise Prince?"
The voice wasn't loud, but it was extremely authoritative. The little eunuch felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, when this servant arrived at the Prince Xian's residence, he did not find the Prince Xian or the Dowager Consort, and several Imperial Guards were also dead."
"Bang!" The teacup and the memorial fell to the ground with a thud, splashing water everywhere. Several memorials were flipped over and quickly blurred by the tea, obscuring the writing.
"Speak properly! You are not allowed to leave the Prince Xian's residence unless summoned by him. Don't you know that?" Liang Yunsi immediately rebuked the little eunuch.
Grateful, the young eunuch kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. When I arrived at the Prince's residence, all the Imperial Guards had been killed, and the Prince and the Dowager Consort were nowhere to be found..."
"Go and summon Qi Xu." Emperor Mingde had a splitting headache and could no longer hear the weeping and trembling voice. He glared at the eunuch, who immediately shut up, while a palace servant went to fetch Qi Xu.
Liang Yunsi moved lightly, replaced the Biluochun tea for Emperor Mingde, and opened the food box placed to the side, revealing the pastries inside. "Your Majesty, these are the pastries that Consort Li made. It is said that they are made from peony powder boiled from the Imperial Garden. Please try them."
After saying this, he placed his hand behind his back and waved to the little eunuch. The little eunuch understood and knelt and crawled to the side, trying his best to make his presence as inconspicuous as possible. Emperor Mingde had no energy left to care about anything else. He was already exhausted by the floods in Jiangnan and Shu, and with all sides making moves, even a deposed prince could plant spies in the palace. His mood at this moment could not be described as merely irritable.
"emperor."
Emperor Mingde looked up and saw Qin Ji kneeling before him. "The Prince Xian has changed his identity and disappeared into the city, but please rest assured, Your Majesty, he cannot escape."
As the leader of the Shadow Division, it is difficult for him to escape the notice of every move in the capital, except for a few individuals, such as Xie Yun, Yan Shiren, and Huo Baichuan.
“I’ve been busy lately, and he’s trying to take advantage of the situation. Hmph, I know what I’m doing. Go and investigate this item.” He took out a sachet from his robes. If the Empress were here, she would recognize that this sachet was given to Emperor Mingde by that bastard.
The Shadow Bureau was monitoring the court officials and princes. The Prince Xian was acting strangely and even escaped. Logically, it was his dereliction of duty. However, since Emperor Mingde did not want him to get involved anymore, he was happy to be free. But when he saw the character "Qing" on the sachet, he was shocked. The emperor wanted to investigate Empress Yide.
He was shaken, but his expression remained unchanged. He respectfully accepted the sachet, took his leave, and withdrew.
After he stepped down, Qi Xu, the commander of the Imperial Guards, also entered the Taihe Hall with his sword. Qi Xu was a burly man with a righteous face. Although he was big and muscular, he did not give people the feeling of a brute. On the contrary, people felt that he was very strong and majestic.
Dressed in armor and military boots, with a stern expression, he knelt on one knee before Emperor Mingde and said, "Your Majesty, I have failed in my duty. Please punish me." His voice was loud and clear, which inexplicably reassured the listener.
Emperor Mingde gestured for him to rise, "Rise. I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Dig three feet into the ground and find the deposed prince for me, or you will be punished for both your old and new crimes!"
"Your Majesty, I thank you!" Qi Liu hurriedly knelt down again.
Before he could ask, Emperor Mingde had already lost his patience. He waved his hand and said wearily, "I order you to assist Huo Baichuan in finding the Prince Xian."
It was called assistance, but it was actually surveillance. The fact that the Prince Xian could make small moves while under house arrest shows that he was quite capable. As a prince of the current dynasty and the brother of the current emperor, who would believe that he did not covet the throne?
Qi Xu had served Emperor Mingde for decades and knew his temperament very well. At this moment, he was probably eyeing the military equipment of the Prince Xian. However, although the deposed prince, who had been imprisoned, could plant spies in the palace, it was hard to believe that he had anything worth Emperor Mingde could plunder.
However, since Emperor Mingde had made such an arrangement, he had no choice but to obey. Otherwise, the crime of the deposed prince escaping would be enough to keep him imprisoned for life.
After receiving his orders from Emperor Mingde, Qi Xu looked at the sky, squinted, and sighed deeply. It seemed that the time for a change in the political climate had arrived. He had been waiting all these years for an opportunity to make a name for himself, and it appeared that the time had come.
What's the point of being the commander of the Imperial Guard all day? Going into battle, leading a million troops to conquer new territories is what a man should do.
He withdrew his gaze, descended the steps of the Taihe Hall step by step, and left the palace under the blazing sun.
After he left the palace, Emperor Mingde issued several imperial edicts in succession, and the eunuchs who delivered the edicts went to several princes' residences.
Xiao Duzi was sent to the Fourth Prince's residence. He shouted in a high-pitched voice, "Fourth Prince, receive the imperial decree!"
Zhao Bi was enjoying tea with his concubines when he suddenly received the imperial edict. His heart skipped a beat, and he threw aside the beautiful concubine in his arms and strode towards Eunuch Du. "Eunuch Du, what has happened?"
Since he fell out of favor with Emperor Mingde in the Taihe Hall, he had not received any summons, let alone any rewards. He felt a little flustered and instinctively felt that something bad must have happened.
His intuition was absolutely right. Xiao Du bowed with a smile and said, "Your Highness, please accept the decree."
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