The main purpose is to protect Su Wenyuan and Hua Ling, one a princess and the other a physician, both of whom can be gleaned useful information from.
That evening, Ye Shan went to the villa and released dozens of carrier pigeons. At the same time, he also intercepted other people's pigeons.
Many people couldn't sleep that night, especially the Emperor, who had already arranged for people to observe outside the Prince Chen's residence, but they found nothing.
After tossing and turning for a long time, he finally got up in frustration, summoned two accompanying eunuchs, and wandered around the palace at will.
I stumbled upon the Empress's palace and found that the lights were still on.
The Empress couldn't sleep either, so she had candles lit and read a book to calm her mind.
The Emperor walked straight in; he had some questions for the Empress, and today was a perfect opportunity.
In the middle of the night, the Emperor suddenly arrived, startling the Empress.
"Your Majesty..." The Empress bent her knees, about to perform the ceremony, but was stopped by the Emperor.
"No need. It's so late, why aren't you asleep yet?" The Emperor took the book from her hand and examined it carefully.
The Empress forced a smile and said, "Aren't you sleepy yet? Why isn't Your Majesty asleep either?"
The Emperor said self-deprecatingly, "I couldn't sleep today after deposing the Crown Prince. Didn't Consort Wan come to see you?"
After Consort Wan regained consciousness, she went to see the Emperor, but he refused to see her.
Consort Wan made a scene for quite a while because of this, and only left when she saw that the Emperor was determined not to see her.
The Empress replied, "No, the Consort has never liked me. She rarely even comes to pay her respects in the morning, let alone for something like this."
Her nonchalant attitude made it sound like she was talking about something trivial.
If the perfunctory greetings all day long have become trivial matters, then what must be the important matters?
Are the kinds of troubles that Sheng Yuanhe caused considered major incidents? Embezzlement? Framing?
The Empress merely spoke casually, yet she achieved her goal of complaining, making the Emperor resent Consort Wan.
The Empress used to be very good at this tactic: retreating to advance, while pretending to be gentle, magnanimous, and easy to bully.
If she hadn't met Su Wenyuan, she could have used this trick for a lifetime.
But she just happened to run into Su Wenyuan, her nemesis, who always managed to see through her disguise.
The Emperor then asked her what she thought about the matter of deposing the Crown Prince. The Empress first said that she should not discuss politics, which seemed very proper.
Only after obtaining the emperor's consent did they express their opinions.
It's understandable that Sheng Yuanhe, being young, made some mistakes in the past. But the difficulty lies in the fact that Sheng Jingyu publicly revealed these transgressions.
Even if the emperor wanted to show favoritism, there was nothing he could do now.
If the person sitting opposite her wasn't the Emperor, the Empress would never have said that; she would have applauded Sheng Jingyu instead.
This was done brilliantly. If it hadn't been made public in court, the Emperor would surely have found a way to protect Sheng Yuanhe.
It was because Sheng Jingyu blocked Sheng Yuanhe's escape route that the deposition of the crown prince was so smooth.
The Empress thought this in her heart, but she didn't say it aloud.
Not only did they not blame Sheng Yuanhe, they also used the excuse of his young age to explain things away.
The Emperor was very satisfied and moved; this was the kind of empress he should be.
"This Sheng Jingyu is becoming more and more disobedient. The Crown Prince represents the face of Anchuan Kingdom. How can the Crown Prince of a country do such a thing? Doesn't Sheng Jingyu think about what will happen if word gets out and the people will lose trust in me?"
The emperor expressed his dissatisfaction with the matter.
This was another purpose of the Empress: to shift the blame to Sheng Jingyu, blaming him for insisting on revealing these things and obtaining evidence, leaving Sheng Yuanhe with no way to refute them.
"Your Majesty need not worry too much. It hasn't spread yet, has it? The court officials know what's going on," the Empress comforted him.
The current rumors are all about the deposed crown prince and whether Sheng Jingyu is pretending to be blind.
Few people inquired about or researched why the crown prince was deposed.
But since we've brought up Sheng Jingyu, we can't avoid the most important question.
The Emperor pondered for a moment, then hesitated and said, "During the morning court session, Sheng Yuanhe noticed Jingyu's eyes and said that he could see it. For so many years, Jingyu's life has been taken care of by people you arranged."
Before those old women died, she had spies everywhere in Prince Chen's mansion.
Since so many people have been assigned, they should be able to make some discoveries.
The Emperor pinned his hopes on the Empress, wanting her to give him a clear answer.
After hearing this, the Empress feigned surprise and asked, "Jingyu has been blind for many years, how could he possibly see?"
The emperor remained silent for a long time before finally saying meaningfully, "He has been blind for many years."
If Sheng Jingyu is really faking it, then the fact that he's been faking it for so many years is truly terrifying.
The Queen sighed, "If only his eyes could really see."
It was hard to tell from her tone whether she was sincere or insincere.
The Emperor half-heartedly echoed, "I also hope it's true."
Neither of them spoke the truth. They didn't ask the questions the Emperor wanted to ask seriously; they just tested him in various ways, but the Empress didn't fall for it.
No matter how I probed, the answers were always perfunctory, and she always had that gentle and soft demeanor.
Seeing her like this, the Emperor couldn't help but think of Su Wenyuan.
If Su Wenyuan were present, the Empress certainly wouldn't be able to be gentle.
In the end, the emperor did not stay there, but returned to his study.
Granny Cheng stepped forward with concern and asked, "Why would the Emperor suddenly ask Your Highness about something like this, especially in the middle of the night?"
The Empress sighed, "It seems to be to confirm whether I know that Sheng Jingyu is pretending to be blind."
"Pretending to be blind? Could it really be an act?" Granny Cheng exclaimed in surprise.
The Empress waved her hand and said, "I don't know, but since the Emperor thinks so, I still believe that the dosage of poison used was sufficient."
When she poisoned him, the emperor deliberately arranged for an incompetent doctor to make Sheng Jingyu seriously ill and harm his health.
The two used different methods; the empress was very confident in her poison, while the emperor was not so confident in his method.
...
The Crown Prince's residence was tightly closed, and guards were stationed there.
The mansion was quiet and deserted, but the place where Sheng Yuan lived was very lively. Even though it was already midnight, there were still voices talking.
Upon closer listening, it was Sheng Yuanhe muttering to himself.
"Sheng Jingyu isn't blind; he's been faking it all these years."
Lu Wanying, standing in the distance, felt a sense of despair.
She was startled when she first heard this and kept asking Sheng Yuanhe what was going on, but Sheng Yuanhe acted as if he hadn't heard her at all.
Lu Wanying quickly sent someone to find the imperial physician, but before the physician could leave, the Crown Prince's residence was sealed off.
A large number of soldiers poured in, much like the Lu family had done before. Then an imperial edict was delivered, declaring that Sheng Yuanhe was no longer the crown prince.
This time, Lu Wanying was completely furious and cried out, asking him what was going on.
Sheng Yuanhe couldn't explain it; he was traumatized and his mind was still muddled.
It was his servant who told Lu Wanying that it was Sheng Yuanhe, and after that Lu Wanying stopped paying attention to him.
It was already past midnight, and Sheng Yuanhe was still muttering in the courtyard, while Lu Wanying watched from a distance.
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