"The princes are forbidden from associating with the concubines. If they disagree, I will suspect that one of them has become too ambitious and plotted to assassinate the Crown Prince. Until this is clear, no adult prince is allowed to enter the inner palace."
"Yes!" Song Liangcai replied and went to deliver the imperial decree.
“Your Majesty, there is also the Longevity Palace,” Aunt Fei said.
"Longevity Palace..." The Empress hesitated; after all, that was the Empress Dowager. She was her mother-in-law.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is noble, but she is not His Majesty's biological mother. Think about the rumors circulating outside these days, what is this Empress Dowager thinking now?" Who knows if it wasn't a scheme she set up?
The Empress frowned: "You're right, so be it! At this point, I don't need to worry about such things anymore. They're going to kill my only son and cut off my future. What do I have to worry about?"
The Empress quickly ordered that the Longevity Palace also be taken into custody.
Meanwhile, when Yun Ji and the others were also sent back to the Crown Prince's residence, the news spread throughout the backyard.
When the Crown Princess arrived at the front courtyard, she was also terrified and turned pale.
"How is His Highness?"
"Your Highness, His Highness has entered the palace. We were unaware of this at the time. Please keep order in the inner palace. We will go and wait outside the palace immediately," a guard said.
The Crown Princess nodded, knowing the Crown Prince was not there, and returned to the backyard.
He simply ordered everyone to stay in their own quarters and not to pay their respects the next day.
The news that the Crown Princess knew will naturally be known to everyone else in due course.
Everyone was worried; the Crown Prince was the most powerful person in the world.
After Shu Chengfeng stopped bleeding, he was fed some herbal medicine, but he still hadn't woken up.
He had more than a dozen wounds of varying sizes all over his body, including two arrow wounds.
Including the arrow he received from Meng Haijiang last time, he's now covered in wounds.
A prince in a peaceful and prosperous era, who went to the battlefield unscathed, was so badly injured in the capital.
The feelings involved are hard to describe.
At this time, none of the court officials left the palace, after all, such a big matter required waiting for a result.
The group of people were resting in twos and threes outside the Taichen Hall.
Meng Jianghe was with several adults, but a bad feeling arose in his heart.
Although he didn't know who did it, he felt it was him just by looking at the Second Prince's expression.
Killing the crown prince would be good, but he didn't die...
How should this be resolved?
No matter how anxious and uneasy they were, there was nothing they could do at that moment.
Not to mention him, even the second and third princes couldn't do it.
Unless they are certain that they can kill Jing Shuchengfeng now, making any rash moves at this time would be suicidal.
His Majesty is still ill, and the Crown Prince is seriously injured. If anything happens to either of them, they will be implicated.
In the Longevity Palace, Empress Dowager Jiang gritted her teeth: "What a useless piece of trash!"
“No wonder he’s accomplished nothing all these years; he can’t even handle this simple matter,” Perrin said through gritted teeth.
She was referring to the Second Prince, and she was certainly involved in this matter.
She had firsthand information, but now that she had failed, she could simply distance herself from it, since the Second Prince was unaware of her existence anyway.
"This failure may mean there will be no more chances in the future," Perrin sighed with worry.
“If he doesn’t die, he is destined to ascend the throne,” said Empress Dowager Jiang.
“But… isn’t there still the Prince of Nan’an?” Pei Lan said.
"Him? If he were capable, he wouldn't have been hiding in that place for so many years. His current uprising is only temporary. The Great Yan's foundation is solid; how could he easily disrupt it?" Empress Dowager Jiang said disdainfully.
“But those reports are all bad news for His Majesty,” Perrin said.
"So what if things go wrong? If the emperor is no good, there's still the crown prince. Will the throne just change hands again?"
Even if she herself wanted to kill Shu Zhongjing and his son, she would not give the throne to someone outside the imperial family. After all, she still had to answer to the late emperor in the future.
"I can spare the Crown Prince's life, but Shu Zhongjing must die." Empress Dowager Jiang's eyes were red.
She didn't think much of the other princes either, but at least she couldn't let Shu Zhongjing have his way.
now……
"I understand, I will find a way to inform them immediately," Pei Lan said.
"No need, you don't need to do anything." Empress Dowager Jiang smiled faintly: "The medicine has already entered his lungs and internal organs. Now he cannot be angry or frightened. But look, the Crown Prince survived this great calamity. Will he still obediently be the Crown Prince? So, there will be times when he is angry and frightened."
The more anger one experiences, the more deeply the medicine penetrates.
He won't die immediately, but he won't recover either.
"Yes, I understand." Pei Lan took a deep breath: "I'll just watch their fate unfold."
When Shu Chengfeng woke up, it was already night.
The person serving him was Eunuch Liu.
Seeing that the Crown Prince had woken up, he quickly knelt down: "Your Highness, you're awake."
"Your Highness has woken up. This servant will go and inform Her Majesty immediately," a palace maid said hurriedly.
"How is the manor? How are Yunji and the others?" Shu Chengfeng was in great pain, but he still asked the first question.
"Your Highness, Yun Ji and Lord Ding are both alright, but their injuries are severe, and they won't be able to get up for a while. Of the guards who went out with them, only two are still alive, and they are also seriously injured. Lord Wei has captured six assassins. Lord Shangguan is still searching. The assassins are currently in the Ministry of Justice prison, and Lord Wei is personally overseeing them. Their jaws and limbs have been dislocated, so suicide is not an option."
"Cheng'er!" The Empress entered. "You're finally awake!"
"Your Majesty, I am fine. I have caused you worry."
"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright. You almost scared your mother to death." The Empress sat down, her eyes red-rimmed.
"Mother, please don't cry. Ministers, please disperse," Shu Chengfeng asked.
"Around noon, I sent word that they should all go back to their respective homes. It's not appropriate for them to stay in the palace all the time; it would cause concern and make things look bad outside," the Empress said.
"That's good." Shu Chengfeng was also worried about this; detaining officials would sound really bad.
"The Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the Seventh Prince are still in the palace. I have kept them here," the Empress said.
She is the Empress and the legal mother; if she wants to stay, they cannot leave.
Shu Chengfeng hummed in agreement: "What did Father Emperor say?"
"His Majesty was furious and ordered a thorough investigation," the Empress said calmly.
"Father is still ill, I'll go see him." Shu Chengfeng got up.
Pressed down by the Empress: "Tomorrow then..."
"Mother, this is not the time to rest," Shu Chengfeng said. "We should also send someone to attend to your illness."
The Empress sighed and nodded: "I understand."
Shu Chengfeng got up, ate something, drank his medicine, and then went out.
He was in a lot of pain all over his body, and he also had a slight fever, so he wasn't very steady on his feet.
Because the Crown Prince was assassinated, even the Beichen Palace is under strict martial law today.
He went inside, where Shu Zhongjing was sitting and drinking tea, so he naturally knew he had arrived.
Shu Zhongjing's eyesight was still poor. Even though Imperial Physician Weng had given him medicine, he only felt slightly better than the day before.
How are your injuries?
"Your subject is covered in wounds and has many bandages; I really cannot kneel any longer," Shu Chengfeng sighed.
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