After the house search, Shen Xinyan was even more certain that something must have happened in the palace. Since He Peng dared to come under the banner of "acting on orders", it must be true. However, she was not sure whether the order really came from the original intention of the person who issued it.

In the court, the Crown Prince gradually lost power. Although he still held the title of regent, his control over the court was not as strong as before. On the contrary, the Second and Third Princes gradually gained more supporters, especially the Second Prince, whose influence was approaching that of the Crown Prince. In addition, Empress Zhou and Consort Shu were behind him.

's full support, and is poised to replace the crown prince.

Emperor Yuanyou's condition is still recurring, and he is said to be in a coma most of the time. Shen Xinyan only heard it from Wei Chengzhao, so she can't tell the truth from the false.

After Wei Chengzhao was engaged to Yang's niece, Wei Junhang arranged for him to work in the Wucheng Military Department. Wei Junhang wanted to train him so that he could be a strong helper for Wei Chenglin in the future.

Wei Junhang also had plans for Wei Chengyue and Wei Chengqi, but before he could put them into action, Wei Chenglin disappeared, and then the Rongdi moved south.

Wei Chengzhao also knew that this was an extraordinary period, so he returned home on time after work every day, never stayed outside for too long, and occasionally told Shen Xinyan the news he heard in the government office. It was also at this time that Shen Xinyan realized that Yang's son was actually as smart as her eldest son Wei Chenglin, and was even more low-key and smooth than Wei Chenglin.

Wei Chengqi, the eldest son of the previous generation, almost left the house for Fang Shi, and his life thereafter was quite hard. However, after the third son of the family moved out of the Duke's Mansion, Wei Chengzhao and his younger brother Wei Chengyue quickly found jobs, and the two brothers worked together and lived a colorful life. Yang Shi also straightened her back and sold off the concubines and maids who had never given birth. The rest of them brought their children to live in front of her, and naturally did not dare to cause trouble again.

Everyone has their own way of living. Those who appear to be prosperous on the surface may not be truly at ease on the inside, such as her in her previous life. Those who appear to be down and out may not actually have lived a miserable life, such as Yang in her previous life.

The Duke's Mansion closed its doors to visitors. Shen Xinyan restrained the servants in the mansion and took care of the Grand Princess and the pregnant Wei Yingzhi wholeheartedly. Yang would occasionally come to help, and as for Fang, she was still "recuperating from illness", but Shen Xinyan would no longer secretly send people to watch her every move like before.

Everyone has weaknesses, and Wei Chengqi is Fang's biggest weakness. She can care about no one and no matter what, but she cannot care about her son.

On this day, Shen Xinyan and Wei Yingzhi were talking in the Grand Princess's room. The Grand Princess was a little down at first, but when she saw her granddaughter's belly slowly starting to grow, she immediately became much better and asked about her pregnancy with concern.

Wei Yingzhi put his arm around her waist and acted coquettishly in her arms like he did when they were little, making her laugh continuously.

After a while, Xiangger came running in with a thump thump, climbed onto the couch nimbly, pulled away his sister's hands that were hugging his grandmother, and shrunk his small body into his grandmother's arms, then smiled with satisfaction.

The way he protected his food made everyone laugh.

Amidst the laughter, Zi Yan whispered something in Shen Xinyan's ear. Shen Xinyan nodded, looked at the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren who were having a great time, and walked out quietly without disturbing them.

"Second aunt!" Wei Chengzhao, who had been waiting in the corridor, saw her come out and hurried to greet her.

"What happened?" Shen Xinyan felt nervous when she saw his anxious face.

"Something happened to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. This morning, Prime Minister Sun and several important court officials went into the palace to discuss matters and discovered the Second Prince lying in Bixiu Palace covered in blood. After the officials went in, they saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince holding a bloody dagger in his hand." Wei Chengzhao relayed the news he had just received in one breath.

Shen Xinyan's expression suddenly changed.

"The Second Prince is dead?"

"The doctors are trying their best to treat him, but he is only hanging on for a breath. The situation is very serious and it is still unknown whether he can be saved. At this moment, the court officials and relatives have entered the palace. If the suspicion cannot be cleared, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be in danger!"

"What did your majesty say?" Shen Xinyan asked.

"His Majesty was in a coma the entire morning. He finally woke up and after hearing the news, he ordered the Imperial Hospital to treat the Second Prince with all their strength. At the same time, he summoned the Sixth Elder of the Duke of Liguo's Mansion to the palace. He didn't know about the other nephews."

"However... Prince Ruyang has already requested permission to imprison His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the clan house." Wei Chengzhao hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth.

Prince Ruyang is the most senior person in the royal family today. Even the Grand Princess has to call him Imperial Uncle when she sees him.

The prince was imprisoned in the Imperial Clan House. If he could not clear himself of suspicion, not only would his position as the prince be in jeopardy, but it would also implicate many people. However, can the current Emperor Yuanyou still be trusted? Is an emperor who would order a search of the Duke's Mansion still the emperor who valued Consort Rui and the prince the most?

Shen Xinyan didn't dare to hold too much hope.

If the crown prince fell, Consort Rui would probably not be able to escape unscathed, and as the Duke of Ying’s family was related to the crown prince…

She shuddered.

"Second aunt, do you think that this could have been done by the Third Prince? Think about it, if the Second Prince is seriously injured and cannot be cured, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cannot clear his name, then Your Majesty will only have the Third Prince under his knees, right? Who else will be the Crown Prince?" Wei Chengzhao said in a low voice.

Shen Xinyan's face was solemn. "What you said makes sense, but Brother Zhao, until the truth is revealed, no one can be sure who did it. For this matter, we should first find a way to contact the Imperial Concubine in the palace and see if we can be of any help."

Wei Chengzhao thought about it and agreed, "Second aunt is right. It's my nephew who is not considerate enough."

After a pause, he asked again, "Second Aunt, Uncle Qiao Liu has always been close to Second Uncle. Should we ask him about this?"

Shen Xinyan shook her head. "It is precisely because he has a close relationship with your second uncle that we cannot ask him. His Majesty might ask him to thoroughly investigate the injury of the second prince. If we contact him privately, it may not be a good thing for him."

Wei Chengzhao understood after hearing what she said.

"If we want to get in touch with the royal concubine in the palace, it looks like we have to ask fourth sister for help." Wei Chengzhao said.

The person Shen Xinyan could think of was Wei Yingzhi. After all, Wei Yingzhi was the niece-in-law of Concubine Rui, and she was pregnant. Although Concubine Rui did not summon her to the palace during this period, she would send people out of the palace to give her things every now and then. Naturally, she would also place someone by Wei Yingzhi's side so that she could know the situation of her niece-in-law's pregnancy in time.

Just as she guessed, Emperor Yuanyou indeed asked Qiao Liu to work with the Dali Temple to thoroughly investigate the serious injury of the second prince, and Shen Xinyan also received news from Concubine Rui in the palace asking her to wait.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that Concubine Rui Guifei said this showed that she was not completely unsure.

Because the Second Prince was assassinated, the Crown Prince became a suspect, and all the court officials felt threatened. The more the Dali Temple investigated, the more evidence pointed to the Third Prince. In the clan affairs office, the Third Prince and the Crown Prince became a pair of brothers in distress.

When the crown prince got into trouble, Emperor Yuanyou forced himself to take charge of the matter despite his illness. However, the court officials found that his majesty's complexion was getting worse and worse, and his body was getting weaker and weaker. Often, when the court officials were arguing fiercely and wanted to ask the emperor for a decision, they found that he had actually fallen asleep on the throne.

For a time, the people in the court were in disarray.

The emperor was ill, one of the three princes was dead, and the other two were imprisoned in the clan house. The barbarians outside the Great Wall were advancing step by step, and the banditry in the west had not been quelled. The court was already in the biggest crisis.

In the harem, the second prince's mother, Concubine Shu, cried day and night because of the uncertainty of her son's life or death. The third prince's mother, Concubine Li, and the crown prince's mother, Concubine Ruigui, were confined to their houses. Empress Zhou once again took control of the Phoenix Seal and restored her former glory.

When the news of the great victory at the border was rushed to the defense court, all the court officials breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time when misfortunes happen one after another, they desperately need good news to dispel their inner anxiety and uneasiness.

Immediately afterwards, Wei Chenglin, the Xiyan garrison commander who was rumored to have died in the banditry, suddenly led his troops to attack the bandit leader's base camp, Qingfeng Mountain, captured the leader alive, and killed the second and third leaders. Then he joined forces with the reinforcements of the Marquis of Loyalty and pursued the victory. In less than a month, he completely quelled the Xiyan banditry that had troubled the court for many years.

When the news reached the Duke's Mansion, the Grand Princess burst into tears of joy. She held Shen Xinyan's hand tightly and kept saying, "I knew it, I knew that Lin'er would be fine. His grandfather spent so much effort to cultivate him, how could he die because of a small bandit incident?"

"Yes, mother is right, Brother Lin is fine..." Shen Xinyan's throat was a little blocked, and her eyes were also filled with tears as she answered in a choked voice.

Her heart had been in agony these days, but everyone in such a big mansion was watching her, and she couldn't show even a hint of it.

Now that there was good news from the border and her eldest son had survived, these two pieces of great news gave her an outlet to vent her worries day and night.

"If I had known earlier, I would have followed Pingfu..." Wei Chengyue, who was standing by, was happy for his cousin, but his tone was a little disappointed.

Even the rich and powerful Marquis Pingfu went to the battlefield, and his martial arts skills were not as good as his own! If he had gone with them, he would have been able to catch all the bandits together with his elder brother.

Even Wei Chengzhao's eyes showed some regret and some yearning.

Wei Chengqi's martial arts skills were mediocre, and he had always preferred literature to martial arts, so apart from being happy for his cousin and sister-in-law, he did not have any other feelings.

Everyone in the Duke's Mansion was delighted by this rare good news. In the palace, the Emperor Yuanyou, who should have been asleep, rubbed his forehead, took the black pill handed to him by Qiao Liu, swallowed it, and gulped down a few sips of water before sighing, "Finally, there is good news. If Junhang keeps dragging his feet, I'm afraid I won't be able to continue my performance."

Qiao Liu smiled and said, "Your Majesty has really impressed me this time. I can't compare to you!"

Emperor Yuanyou glared at him, and then thought about everything that had happened in recent days. His face turned blue with hatred. He suppressed his anger and asked, "Can the second prince be saved?"

"You don't have to worry about your life, but I'm afraid you'll have to rely on medicine bottles in the future."

Emperor Yuanyou sneered: "He brought this upon himself! If he hadn't had such inappropriate thoughts, he wouldn't have been taken advantage of and almost lost his life!"

"This cannot be entirely blamed on him, as the one they were targeting was originally his legitimate son. After all, they no longer have a crown prince, and it would be more beneficial for them to enthronize a grandson who is still in his infancy." Qiao Liu spread his hands.

The Crown Prince had been married for many years and had only two legitimate daughters. The Third Prince had just gotten married, and the Second Prince's eldest legitimate son was the only one of the younger generation in the royal family.

Such an only child, who is still a baby, is indeed the easiest to control. He is much more useful than raising a grown-up prince.

"Jun Hang said that Prince Cheng has sneaked back to the capital. Have you found any clues after investigating these days?" Emperor Yuan You took a few deep breaths and asked again.

"Not yet." Qiao Liu felt a little embarrassed.

Although Emperor Yuanyou was anxious, he also knew that this matter could not be rushed, so he did not blame him.

When Qiao Liu was leaving, he saw Queen Zhou and her maids approaching slowly. He did not want to greet them, so he quickly hid behind a rockery before they noticed him, thinking that he would leave after they had passed by.

The sound of the woman's rings colliding as she walked gradually faded away, and he walked out from behind the rockery. He inadvertently glanced at the backs of those people, and his eyes gradually fell on the eunuch who was hunched over beside Queen Zhou.

He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that this person was a little strange, but he couldn't figure out what was strange about it for a while. After thinking for a while, he decided to find an opportunity to explore again.

Regardless of whether it is an illusion or not, since you have the suspicion, you have to find a way to verify it.

When the eunuch came in to report, "The Empress is here," Emperor Yuanyou already looked sick and weak, but there was a glimmer of disgust in his eyes.

This bastard actually dared to team up with the traitor to poison him, intending to control him. Originally, he still remembered their past friendship and wanted to give her a good ending, but now...

A hint of murderous intent flashed across his face.

For the humiliation you have suffered during this period, you will have to pay tenfold in the future!

After the first victory report was sent back by the army, the army won the next few battles. The Rongdi people suffered successive defeats and were gradually forced out of the Great Wall.

The court officials were paying attention to the progress of the second prince's case while also paying attention to the border war. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that the Rongdi people were finally driven out of the border and the lost territory was recovered inch by inch.

Soon, some officials in the court said that they should stop fighting while the going was good. Some officials thought that since the foreign enemies had been driven away, they should withdraw their troops and wait for peace talks to prevent the people from suffering from the war.

Naturally, there were many people who agreed with such remarks, but there were also many who held the opposite view, believing that our army should make a concerted effort to completely crush the Rongdi tribes in order to achieve a permanent solution.

The peace faction and the war faction refused to give in to each other and argued until their faces turned red. They all wanted His Majesty to adopt their opinions. As for the case of the Second Prince, it was naturally put on the back burner.

As a woman in the inner chamber like Shen Xinyan, she naturally knew very little about the disputes among court officials. She only learned a few things from Wei Chengzhao's scattered words every day.

Compared to these, what she was more concerned about was when Wei Junhang and Wei Chenglin, father and son, would be able to return?

She remembered that in her previous life, General Murong led his troops to attack the Rongdi imperial court, defeating the Rongdi people so badly that they had no power to fight back. From then on, they submitted to the imperial court and dared not have any second thoughts.

It was also during that battle that Wei Chenglin's military talent was fully demonstrated. Together with General Murong, they once again recreated the glory of the Wei and Murong families working together to defeat all enemies.

From then on, no one in the government or the public dared to underestimate this young British duke.

But in this life, Wei Chenglin went to Xiyan and quelled the banditry in Xiyan, so Shen Xinyan really couldn't be sure whether he would participate in the war against Rongdi again.

A few days later, Emperor Yuanyou issued an edict, ordering General Murong to lead his troops to attack Rongdi with all his strength and completely solve this major problem for the people living on the border and the court.

In the struggle between the peace faction and the war faction, the war faction won the final victory.

Shen Xinyan was not surprised by this, after all, this was the same choice made by the imperial court in the previous life.

The only thing that surprised her was that Emperor Yuanyou had issued another decree, ordering Wei Chenglin and Marquis Zhongyi, who had just put down the rebellion in Xiyan, to lead troops to support General Murong's army. The two armies combined seemed determined not to return until the Rongdi imperial court was pacified.

Shen Xinyan let out a long sigh.

Sure enough, some things cannot be changed no matter in the previous life or this life.

The only change is that this time, not only her son, but also her husband and son-in-law are involved.

The eldest princess' condition improved instantly after she learned that her son and grandson were safe. Although she would sometimes be confused and hold Shen Xinyan's hand to chat with her about the old duke and the brothers Wei Junting and Wei Junhang, she was still quite sober in most cases.

After word spread that the court was going to pursue the Rongdi with all its might, the Grand Princess was no longer bothered by her worries, and regardless of Shen Xinyan's dissuasion, she was determined to go to the temple to pray for Wei Junhang and his son, the father-in-law and the son-in-law.

Shen Xinyan tried to persuade her for a long time, but had no choice but to agree to her wish. Taking advantage of the fine weather that day, he personally accompanied her to Lingyun Temple in the suburbs of Beijing.

Wei Yingzhi, who had originally wanted to come along when she learned that they were going to pray, was scolded by Shen Xinyan, and as her condition worsened, she had no choice but to give up.

Shen Xinyan then snorted with relief.

The mother-in-law can't do anything about it, so can she do nothing about her daughter?

The carriage went all the way to the outskirts of Beijing. Shen Xinyan informed the temple a day in advance and arranged everything, for fear that there would be too many people in the temple and would disturb the Grand Princess.

After all, the Grand Princess' health is no longer as good as before, and she cannot be neglected at all.

When they arrived at Lingyun Temple, she accompanied the Grand Princess to pray for blessings and to listen to Master Huiming’s lectures.

After dying once and being reborn, she has a deeper fear of ghosts and gods, and now hopes that the gods can protect her loved ones and bring them back safely.

When leaving Lingyun Temple, the sunset illuminated the entire mountain in red, bringing with it a beautiful red scenery.

Shen Xinyan helped the eldest princess onto the carriage and told the servants to drive carefully. The carriage drove steadily on the road, heading towards the city.

"Oh no! Oh no! There's a thief! Run!"

Suddenly, a burst of shouting came from somewhere, scaring the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the carriage.

"What happened?" Shen Xinyan asked hurriedly.

"Madam, something bad has happened. It is said that there are rebels coming from the front and everyone is running for their lives!" The servant's voice was heard outside the car.

"How could there be any rebels under the feet of the emperor? How ridiculous!" the eldest princess shouted.

"No matter what, mother, let's hurry back home. It's better to be safe than sorry. Now is a critical moment and we have to be on guard." Shen Xinyan advised.

The eldest princess' expression eased a little: "I'll listen to you!"

Shen Xinyan then ordered the driver to speed up and return home early.

She didn't know why, but the word "traitor" always made her feel uneasy.

Didn't Murong Tao pretend to be a traitor in his last life? Could it be that he is repeating the same trick in this life?

I don't think so. At this time, Murong Tao should be on the battlefield with his father.

The third prince was still being held in the clan residence, and Zhou Wanning, as the third prince's consort, did not have the free time to go out.

Thinking of this, her heart calmed down a little.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly. After all, this had happened several times before, and Shen Xinyan was very smart enough to stabilize it, and she also helped the Grand Princess to stabilize it.

"Help, please save my wife!" The woman's panicked cry suddenly came from outside, and the servant driving the car swallowed back the curse that was about to come out.

Shen Xinyan was startled, she felt that the woman's voice seemed somewhat familiar. She lifted the curtain and saw a woman in a horrible state beside the carriage, pulling the driver and crying for help.

When the woman saw her appear, she immediately rushed over.

"Madam, please save my wife!"

Shen Xinyan froze instantly.

This person is none other than Zhou Wanning's maid Liushuang!

"But something happened to the Third Prince's wife?!" she shouted.

Liu Shuang nodded repeatedly with tears in her eyes: "Madam, please beg the prince's wife, she was just taken away by the rebel who suddenly rushed out!"

Having said this, she could no longer hold back her tears, her cries were desperate.

If anything happens to the Third Prince's wife, she won't be able to survive!

"What? The Third Prince's wife was abducted by thieves?" The eldest princess in the car heard their words clearly and her face changed drastically.

This thief is too arrogant to kidnap people in broad daylight!

"Take your men and follow the trail to see where the thieves have taken the Third Prince's wife. Remember not to fight them. Since they have taken her away, they must be well prepared. You cannot defeat them."

"You must hurry back to the city and find Lord Zhou Maozhou, and tell him the details of this matter."

"Hurry up and get in the car, let's go back to the city immediately!"

Shen Xinyan gave the orders calmly.

"Why don't you let your guards go after them?" Liushuang wiped away her tears, somewhat dissatisfied.

Shen Xinyan sneered: "Your status as the prince's consort is noble, is it possible that the lives of the women in my Duke's Mansion are worthless?"

Don't blame her for being selfish. In her eyes, ten Zhou Wannings are not as good as one Grand Princess!