Xu Yixing finished laughing and broke out in a cold sweat. Lu Anyuan hugged her tightly. He could feel her fear. There was no other way. She had married him and would eventually have to go through these baptisms.
"Don't worry, I will protect you well."
Xu Yixing looked up and met Lu Anyuan's gaze, but for some reason she didn't feel any sense of security brought by these words.
Lu Anyuan has too many capable people around him, many enemies, and many smart people. People like Lu Junshi and the Fourth Prince didn't target him this time, so what about next time? What if he becomes the one being plotted against in the future? What should he do?
"Madam, I know you're clever, but the enemies at court aren't as easy to deal with as those in your mansion. However, we'll work together to ensure safety, don't worry. Regardless, this matter has achieved its goal. Let's wait and see how the Emperor handles it, okay?"
Xu Yixing nodded, feeling a pang of fear for his own cleverness. Next time he did it, he had to make sure everything was in place.
After leaving the palace, Xu Yixing did not go out for several days. Not only was he at home to calm down, but more importantly, he was waiting for the emperor's decision.
In fact, the emperor knew the personalities of his sons very well. The reason why the second prince was favored for so many years was probably not entirely because of Concubine Ying.
Xu Yixing already knew that the emperor ordered the second prince to take the princess and children out of the palace to set up a residence. It would be more accurate to say that he was expelled from the palace rather than setting up a residence. After all, the imperial edict did not even mention the fiefdom. It was more like kicking him out of the house.
Moreover, there is no conclusion yet on the outcome of the handling of Wu Xueyan and her own family, so it is better for her not to go out and wander around.
Lu Anyuan came back that day and brought her the news she cared about most.
"Madam, the Emperor has granted the land of Qibei to my second brother. His family has already moved out. My fourth brother was called into the palace and severely scolded. He is now confined to the Fourth Prince's residence."
Xu Yixing didn't care about anything else except one thing: "Why is it Qibei? Isn't that right next to your fiefdom?"
If Qinan is remote, then Qibei is even more desolate. Not only is it full of mountains and hills, there are not even a few decent state capitals. There are also many barbarians in the territory, making it very inconvenient to manage.
"Qibei has been ownerless for a long time. It's just right to give it to my second brother this time." Lu Anyuan said this, but a look of deep mockery appeared on his face. He really didn't expect that his father would use such a place as a fiefdom for his second brother.
"Oh, by the way, Ying Fei's brother Zhou Zhiming was executed by our father. I heard that she cried and made a fuss at the door of the Golden Throne Hall for a long time, but our father ignored her." When Lu Anyuan mentioned this, his face was full of gloating. Originally, the Zhou family was about to escape the disaster, but because of Ying Fei's move, they were implicated and died.
"Really?" Xu Yixing was secretly delighted. This must be because the emperor felt that Zhou Zhiming was meddling too much, and after the Second Prince established his own government, he was afraid that Zhou Zhiming would continue to take advantage of his power, so he took immediate action to get rid of him.
"Oh, now that the Second Prince and his family have moved out of Zhaode Palace and Zhou Zhiming is dead, isn't Concubine Ying now all alone in the palace?"
"You still have the kindness to care about Concubine Ying? I guess she will hate us to death this time." Lu Anyuan tried to pinch Xu Yixing's face, but was dodged.
At the end of November, the emperor issued two imperial edicts to the Wu and Xu families respectively.
It was normal to give it to the Xu family. The emperor was dissatisfied with the previous token incident, so he asked Father Xu to strictly discipline his children. It happened that Xu Yiwen was studying at Wansong Academy, and the emperor asked him to study hard and not to return to Beijing unless necessary.
This was originally a disguised form of imprisonment, but for Xu Yiwen, it gave him an excuse not to go home, and his father could no longer say anything.
The emperor showed his majesty to the Wu family. He ordered the Wu family to move north to Miaozhou, which borders the Central Plains in the north. He demoted Lord Wu to the chief of Miaozhou city defense and ordered him to set off with his children and family members without any mistakes.
After Xu Yixing learned this, he remained silent for a long time. The emperor had shown mercy by not executing Wu Xueyan. However, she had colluded with the prince to treat the capital's security as a joke, so naturally the Wu family had to bear the responsibility.
This time, Xu Yixing didn't say goodbye. He just wrote a note and asked Ying Wu to deliver it to Wu Xueyan. Although he rescued Wu Xueyan from the second prince's killer, she complained to him and implicated the Wu family. Xu Yixing felt a little sorry for her.
The paper was very simple, with a sentence written on it that Xu Yixing once said:
Step back and you will be free from the world.
Whether it was a wish or a delusion, she sincerely hoped that Wu Xueyan could live a freer life in the future. As for whether the Second Prince and Concubine Ying would do something shady again this time, she could only pray for their family's good luck.
After sending the note away, Xu Yixing turned into the inner room, but saw Lu Anyuan also reading two pieces of paper. When he saw him come in, he seemed to want to hide.
"What are you looking at?" Xu Yixing asked, then changed his tone: "If it's inconvenient for me to know, then don't tell me."
Lu Anyuan chuckled, stood up and came over: "How could that be? We are husband and wife, you can know everything about me. This is just a subconscious action, I don't mean to hide it from you, don't mind it."
Xu Yixing felt a surge of warmth in his heart upon hearing this, but his expression turned cold when he saw the silver scented sachet on the bedside table. Lu Anyuan could be completely open with her, but she couldn't be open with him.
For example, she had inherited Yi Yan's memory a long time ago, the real reason for Mrs. Bai's death, the father-daughter relationship between herself and her father that could break down at any time, how much hidden power she had, and the contraceptive medicine sent by his most trusted pharmacist.
Thinking of this, Xu Yixing suddenly felt that he had no reason to ask him to tell him everything.
"So what did you write?" She asked in a casual tone.
"This one was sent by my fourth brother, and this one was sent by my fifth brother. They're two different things."
"Oh, you're quite popular. Why are they so attentive in sending you a letter?"
"Haha. The letter sent by Fourth Brother said that Military Advisor Lu is dead."
"What was the cause of death?"
"He said he drowned. He was on a boat tour of Nanhu Lake the other day to see the courtesans, but there were too many people and he got pushed off the boat and drowned."
Xu Yixing tensed his fingers and tore off a thread from his body. Since the Fourth Prince had specifically mentioned this, it definitely wasn't an accident. He probably had someone push her down, or drag her down and drown her, or perhaps her body was dumped.
Military Advisor Lu loved his son dearly and thought he had done everything perfectly, but he didn't expect that he had offended the prince who should not have been offended the most. It was all his own fault.
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