The Queen looked at the Crown Princess.

There was no trace of blood on the Crown Princess's face, and the calmness in her eyes was not true calmness, but rather the strength before collapse.

Using a puppet to curse the emperor will bring unbearable consequences.

The queen's mind raced, and she quickly made a decision: "Follow me to see the emperor!"

At this moment, Emperor Jingming was not asleep.

After several days of hard work, he was exhausted, but the pain in his heart always came suddenly, making it impossible for him to sleep.

Emperor Jingming placed his hand on his chest, feeling heavy-hearted.

If those useless imperial doctors remain helpless and his illness cannot be cured, then the prince must be forcibly deposed and ministers must be considered to assist in governing the country.

However, if the crown prince is dismissed when he is seriously ill, the civil and military officials will certainly not tolerate the throne remaining vacant, so it is necessary to select a new crown prince as soon as possible.

However, after deposing and reinstating the crown prince, he had to depose him again, and he was unable to choose a suitable candidate.

Each of his sons had his shortcomings, and he didn't want to hastily choose a crown prince and then regret it later.

At this moment, Emperor Jingming realized the sorrow of not being able to wait for time.

The prince's bastard behavior really chilled his heart. It was a pity for the dignified and virtuous princess consort and the smart and clever Chun Ge'er——

Thinking of this, Emperor Jingming suddenly had an idea.

What if the crown prince is deposed and replaced by the grandson?

Chun Ge'er is indeed a good child, and he will not be as stupid and absurd as his father in the future. However, Chun Ge'er is still young, and his uncles are young men. If the prince is abandoned and the grandson is enthroned, it is likely to cause trouble.

Emperor Jingming thought about all this and felt overwhelmed.

Pan Hai walked in quickly: "Your Majesty, the Empress and the Crown Princess request an audience."

Emperor Jingming's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he said in a deep voice, "Please come in."

It would be strange if the Empress and the Crown Princess asked for an audience at this time to get anything good. It's most likely that the Crown Prince has caused trouble again.

The Queen soon came in with the Crown Princess.

"What's the matter, Her Majesty?" Emperor Jingming asked, glancing at the Crown Princess out of the corner of his eye.

The Queen hesitated for a moment and said, "Just now, a young maid from the East Palace reported something to the Crown Princess..."

The Crown Princess looked at the Queen with gratitude.

No matter what my father will do in the future, at least the queen has said so now, so try to get rid of her.

Of course, when the nest is overturned, all the eggs will be broken. She is bound to be implicated. Now she just hopes to protect Chun Ge'er as much as possible.

After hearing this, Emperor Jingming's face turned ashen.

Could a little maid in the East Palace use a puppet to harm him?

It sounds ridiculous, but his sudden angina could not be faked. Rather than suddenly falling ill, he believed that he was harmed by someone using evil means.

Everything that happens will leave traces. If it weren't for what happened to Nanny Duo, Emperor Jingming wouldn't have thought so, but now he has to think so.

"Where is the maid who carved things out of paulownia wood?"

The Crown Princess lowered her eyes and said, "There was a report during the day that the palace maid had died of an acute illness and had been pulled out of the palace..."

Emperor Jingming gritted his teeth and shouted: "Pan Hai——"

"The servant is here."

"Go and find out the cause of death of that palace maid immediately!"

In the palace, when a palace maid died, she would not be taken back by her parents or family members for burial. Instead, she would be immediately carried out of the palace and taken to a place called Jingle Hall on the outskirts of the city for cremation.

Jingle Hall is not a house, but two deep wells. After the cremation of the palace maids, the collected ashes would be sprinkled into the wells, and their lives would end there.

The palace maid had just been taken away during the day, and perhaps she had not yet been cremated.

Pan Hai immediately ordered someone to do it.

Emperor Jingming became more and more angry and asked again: "Where is the little palace maid who exposed this matter?"

Soon, Hongyu knelt in front of Emperor Jingming.

"Since you know how the puppet harms people, do you know where the puppet is buried?" Emperor Jingming asked.

Emperor Jingming also had doubts about the palace maid who informed on the matter.

It was such a coincidence that a young palace maid was carving something out of paulownia wood and was discovered by another palace maid from the same hometown.

If he says that there is nothing wrong with the little palace maid, then all his decades as emperor have been in vain.

But now is not the time to pursue the matter; the most urgent task is to find that person.

"It is said that it was buried near the residence of the perpetrator, but I don't know exactly where. Although there is such a saying in my hometown, it is mostly just a rumor, and ordinary people don't know the details..."

Emperor Jingming looked at Pan Hai with a gloomy face and said, "Take someone to investigate immediately. Dig up the East Palace three feet deep for me!"

Pan Hai agreed and walked out.

To search the East Palace, he, as the Admiral of the East Factory, must be present.

As soon as she reached the door, she heard Emperor Jingming ask from behind: "Crown Princess, where do these two palace maids work?"

After a moment of silence, the Crown Princess said, "They both serve the Crown Prince..."

Pan Hai paused, then walked away quickly.

There were dark clouds outside, no stars or moon, and there was a suffocating feeling of oppression.

Pan Hai looked up at the sky and let out a breath of foul air.

The weather has really changed, and a storm is about to come to the imperial city.

Then his face darkened and he strode through the darkness towards the East Palace.

He is the emperor's most trusted eunuch. When the emperor is being plotted against, everyone has to stand on his side, even the crown prince.

This time, he will definitely turn the Eastern Palace upside down and find out who harmed the emperor!

In the darkness, the East Palace was quietly surrounded.

Pan Hai led a team in and started the investigation from the residence of the two palace maids.

This was quite a commotion, but the prince did not react.

During the day, he discovered that the puppet had taken effect and strangled the young palace maid to death. At night, fear and excitement came over him. The prince drank a pot of wine before he calmed down. After the alcohol took over, he fell into a deep sleep.

"Your Highness, Your Highness--" the eunuch stood beside the bed with a pale face and called the prince.

The prince muttered a few words, turned over and continued to sleep.

The eunuch was anxious and pulled the prince hard: "Your Highness, wake up quickly, something happened."

The prince closed his eyes, uttered a muffled curse, and kicked.

The eunuch took two steps back, holding his stomach, dumbfounded.

"What should I do? I can't wake His Highness up."

Another eunuch was furious. He put his hands on the prince's shoulders and shook him vigorously: "Your Highness, wake up quickly, there is a fire!"

The prince suddenly jumped up and looked around: "Where is the fire?"

He ran out barefoot and bumped into the screen. The collision dissipated most of his drunkenness and sleepiness, and he finally sobered up.

After waking up, the prince ran to the door and saw that there was no sign of fire outside. He kicked the eunuch in the heart and shouted angrily, "How dare you bluff me!"

He is so bold. After all, he is the crown prince and maybe he will become the emperor in the future.

The eunuch who was kicked held his chest in pain and could not speak. Another eunuch hurriedly said, "Prince, something terrible has happened!"

"What is it?"

"Eunuch Pan has brought people to the East Palace to search!"

The prince was stunned for a moment, and stammered, "Search...search? Search for what?"

"I just don't know what to search for." The eunuch was almost crying.

Eunuch Pan personally brought people to search, so what good can come of that?

"Where is the Crown Princess?" the Crown Prince asked anxiously.