Yan Sikong did not sleep all night and went to the yamen early the next day.

The Ministry of Personnel has recently sorted out the list of officials participating in the Beijing Examination according to their ranks, and is collecting their historical political achievements. It also has to internally formulate the content of the questions and the review, and is very busy every day.

Yan Sikong was busy with official duties all morning, but his heart was always on the case of the crown prince. His colleagues in the yamen were also discussing this matter. After all, this was a major event concerning the foundation of the country.

A doctor from the Ministry of Personnel asked Yan Sikong, "Master Yan, as the prince's tutor, do you have any news now?"

Yan Sikong coughed lightly and said, "The Crown Prince and the Queen are innocent. I believe Your Majesty will be able to see clearly."

This was as good as saying nothing. The doctor was not giving up. He said, "You go to Wenyuan Pavilion every other day. Are you going to see the Prime Minister?"

Yan Sikong smiled faintly: "I am concerned about the Crown Prince and the Queen, so I asked the teacher a few questions, but everything is still under the jurisdiction of the Three Judicial Departments and the decision of the Emperor."

Seeing that Yan Sikong was clenching his teeth, they could not get anything out of him, so they gave up.

Yan Sikong thought to himself, it seems that someone is indeed watching his every move, so he should go to Wenyuan Pavilion less often in the future.

Although he was worried, Yan Sikong did not go to Yan Zilian that day. He still quarreled over the Crown Prince and Concubine Hui at the morning court, but there was no conclusion yet. Estimating the time, if Wan Yang had secretly told the Queen Mother about this, the Queen Mother would have to wait until after the morning court before taking action. Therefore, there was no other way except to wait.

They waited like this for a whole day. On the next morning, when the ministers continued to advise and remonstrate, Emperor Zhaowu suddenly relented and said that there was indeed no evidence that the prince performed the emperor's rites when offering sacrifices at the mausoleum in the northern suburbs, and he wanted to release Chen Yi. However, the case of Concubine Hui instructing an assassin to assassinate the second prince had the assassin's confession as evidence, so he would continue to investigate strictly and get to the bottom of it.

This was obviously due to pressure from the Empress Dowager, but in the case of Concubine Hui, there was evidence from the assassin, so even the Empress Dowager could not interfere with the judiciary - especially when the Emperor did not want her to interfere. This one point was enough.

When Yan Sikong went to find Yan Zilian late at night, he learned that the prince had been released back to the East Palace. Although the prince was temporarily safe now, the worries were not relieved. Concubine Hui, as the prince's mother, was imprisoned at this time, which damaged the prince's reputation. Once she was found guilty, the prince would definitely be implicated.

Yan Sikong asked, "Teacher said last time that he wanted to discuss this case with the Minister of Justice. Has there been any result?"

Yan Zilian nodded, "Now that the three judicial departments have met to try the case, it is impossible to falsify the confession. The assassin refused to change his words no matter whether he was tortured or bribed. I guess his family was in Xie Zhongren's hands with the intention of dying. In fact, the three judicial departments could not find any connection between this case and Concubine Hui except for his confession and the fact that he assassinated Concubine Hui after she left. Lord Meng said that if he handled the case in the usual way, he would not convict Concubine Hui because of insufficient evidence. But the people in the Censorate disagreed with him everywhere. The most important thing is that this is a serious crime of assassinating the prince by the harem, and the nine clans will be exterminated. If they cannot find the mastermind behind it, they will not be able to escape the blame. If Concubine Hui is not guilty, then who is guilty? There is no way to explain this to the emperor."

"We should check the assassin's origin and follow the clues. Maybe we can find more evidence."

"This man is from the northwest, and he might be from the same generation as Datong. If Your Majesty had given him enough time, Lord Meng would have investigated him long ago, but the deadline is almost up, and it's too late." Yan Zilian stroked his beard, "Now that Your Majesty wants to convict the queen, who dares to change her confession?"

Yan Sikong narrowed his eyes: "Then I'm afraid the only option is to kill the assassin."

"If the assassin is killed, there will be no evidence, but Xie Zhongren will definitely accuse him of murder and silence him. It is unknown what kind of storm will be stirred up then."

"If you don't kill him, it will be hard for the queen to escape. If you kill him, there may be a way out."

Yan Zilian stroked his beard and thought, then suddenly sighed, "It's not him who should die now."

Yan Sikong was secretly shocked. If others heard these words, it would sound like he was cursing the person who framed Concubine Hui. But he was so smart that he immediately understood the hidden meaning in Yan Zilian's words.

Indeed, the one who should die now is not the assassin, because the assassin will be beheaded sooner or later, but killing him now is a very bad strategy, a solution without a solution. However, there is one person whose death can enable Chen Yi to truly survive this crisis - that is Concubine Hui.

If Concubine Hui died, it could be said that her death proved her innocence, and Emperor Zhaowu would not be able to pursue the matter any further. Moreover, it was not logical for him to abolish the crown prince at this moment, otherwise he would be criticized by people all over the world.

But Yan Sikong naturally had to play dumb. He believed that Yan Zilian would not expect him to hear the hidden meaning in his words. He just said viciously: "Yes, that bastard has done many evil things, but God is blind and did not take him away!"

Yan Zilian did not comment, and said, "I will discuss this with the Minister of Justice. You will go to the palace tomorrow and comfort the Crown Prince first."

“Students understand.”

On the way back, Yan Sikong felt increasingly heavy.

He knew that Yan Zilian would not murder Concubine Hui, but when he visited her that day, he saw that she was in a state of extreme panic. The bullying and oppression she had suffered in the palace for many years had made her desperate. If she was tortured any more severely, and she learned that Chen Yu had been released and that she was dragging her son down, she might commit suicide.

Yan Zilian saw it, Meng Duo saw it, and now even he understood it, but they would neither tell Chen Yi nor stop her. Her life could be exchanged for the position of crown prince, so it was a worthy death.

But he felt depressed and stagnant in his chest, which made it difficult for him to sleep or eat.

Chen Yu's age is about the same as when he first witnessed Yuan Mao being wrongfully murdered. As a young man with great ambitions but few fulfilled ones, he had to face the cruelty of life at an early age, but he had no choice.

Concubine Hui was terrified that day, but she was firm when she mentioned Chen Yi. Her eyes reminded him of his two mothers. Their faces had become blurred in his memory, but the care they gave him made him unforgettable for the rest of his life. Although women are weak, they are strong as mothers. Concubine Hui had a miserable life. She was probably not blessed enough to see her son rule the world. What a poor person.

Yan Sikong closed his eyes and took a long breath. He felt guilty towards Chen Yi, but he told himself that this would not change anything.

When a person is too weak, he can't protect anything. The only thing he can do is to make himself strong, supremely strong.

——

The next morning, Yan Sikong went to the palace to visit Chen Yi. Chen Yi anxiously asked about Concubine Hui's condition. Yan Sikong tried to comfort her but did not reveal too much. He repeatedly advised Chen Yi not to ask Emperor Zhaowu for help, fearing that it would backfire.

Yan Sikong returned to his house and found three copper plates stacked on his desk. This was a signal from She Zhun, indicating that he had returned to Beijing. He thought about it and wrote a letter, asking She Zhun to train a few assassins for him. If one day, he really had to take the risk of killing the second prince to protect Chen Yi's position as the crown prince.

After writing the letter, he asked Ali to go out late at night and deliver it to She Zhun.

——

The deadline given by Emperor Zhaowu for investigating the case was getting closer and closer. The three judicial departments had already found out the assassin's origin. This man was from Datong Prefecture and had entered the city three days before the assassination. Even the inn where he lived and all the people he had talked to were brought in for interrogation. It was found out that this man had met a mysterious man in the inn, but the clues were interrupted here and they could not find the mysterious man.

Since they couldn't investigate the assassin, they naturally had to start with Concubine Hui. The interrogation would involve torture as usual. Yan Sikong didn't dare to think about how that weak woman would survive the punishment. At this moment, Chen Yi's heart was probably frying in a frying pan.

So within two days, Yan Sikong heard that Chen Wu ignored all the advice and went to ask Emperor Zhaowu for help, but was kicked out. Yan Sikong thought about it and decided not to go to the palace. He was afraid that he would go in and out of the East Palace too frequently during this period, which would make Emperor Zhaowu dissatisfied with him.

The court had been in a state of chaos for more than half a month because of this case. As Meng Duo was slow to confirm the case, Emperor Zhaowu also expressed his dissatisfaction with the three judicial officials at the morning court session, and the situation became increasingly tense.

At this time, shocking news came from the prison - Concubine Hui hanged herself. She wrote a big word "injustice" on the wall with blood and hanged herself in the dark prison cage.