Was that a thief? Or... Hongshi?
Hongli was startled, wondering what Hongshi was doing out in the middle of the night instead of sleeping. He was also curious, so he went down from the wall and told Li Yu to wake him up an hour earlier the next day.
Although he didn't know if Hongshi went out every night, since he wanted to know, he could keep watch for a few nights.
Unexpectedly, Li Yu was still reluctant to agree: "Brother already doesn't sleep much, if he loses another hour, won't he get too tired..."
Seeing Hongli glare at him, Li Yu shrank back and continued, "Even this servant wouldn't dare enter Yongshou Palace like that..."
That servant always uses his mother to suppress him!
Hongli sighed helplessly, "Then I'll go to bed half an hour earlier every day."
With some adjustments made, it wouldn't make much difference. Besides, he doesn't do this every day. Once he figured out what Hongshi was doing, he went back to sleeping normally.
After guarding the wall for three nights, on the fourth day, Hongli, peering over the wall, saw Hongshi, dressed as a young eunuch, quietly leave again.
The moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight, illuminating Hongshi's face clearly. Hongli frowned slightly, signaling his men to lower him down. He then opened the courtyard gate and quietly followed along with Li Yu.
Hongshi walked very fast, leaving the prince's residence and continuing north. Then, he turned west onto a small path that he had discovered from who-knows-where. Hongli calculated the direction in his mind, but something felt wrong... this direction was not right.
Li Yu followed cautiously, whispering, "Brother, this... this seems to be the direction to the Eastern Six Palaces..."
"Shut up!" Hongli turned around and scolded in a low voice, but when he looked at Hongshi, he turned into Fengxian Hall.
The master and servant both breathed a sigh of relief, but then became puzzled—was the Third Prince going to pay respects to the late Emperor in the middle of the night? Why would he sneak off to the Fengxian Hall?
Following Hongshi through a winding and circuitous route, Hongli was surprised to find that they had somehow left Fengxian Hall, and moreover—it was neither a holiday nor a festival, yet the guards at Fengxian Hall were incredibly lax; they hadn't encountered a single person in the middle of the night.
I wonder how much effort his third brother put into finding this path, and who he was going to see.
Hongli couldn't help but mentally go through all the concubines currently in the Eastern Six Palaces—Consort Li was out of the question, she was Hongshi's mother, if he wanted to see her he could just openly pay his respects to her every morning and evening; Consort Yu, who lived in Jingyang Palace, rarely went out, she was the mother of the Fifth Prince Hongzhou; and then there was Consort Hua.
Hongli naturally knew about Consort Hua's background, so when the name flashed through his mind, he subconsciously paused for a moment.
If Hongshi really leaked fluid to see someone, it must be someone important. But what is the relationship between Consort Hua and Hongshi?
Did Hongshi curry favor with the Nian family, or is Shanxiu actually related to Consort Li of Zhongcui Palace?
A thousand questions popped into Hongli's mind, all pointing to politics. He even suspected that Shan Xiu was actually a person arranged by the Li family.
But Hongli never expected that after following his third brother through countless side streets and forks in the road, he would finally watch helplessly as his brother made a large hole in the back wall of Chengqian Palace and then crawled inside...
"Ah, brother..." Li Yu's voice was trembling.
This is a huge deal!
The prince, having lost his virginity, sneaked into the harem... This...
Compared to Hongli's political acumen, Li Yu's thoughts were more rational. He had naturally seen Consort Hua and knew of her beauty, so when Hongshi entered Chengqian Palace, his first thought was about matters of the heart…
"Brother, you absolutely can't go in! Brother!" Li Yu quickly stopped Hongli when he was about to bend down and go in. "What if someone sees us... Oh dear, Your Highness, let's go back quickly!"
"No rush, wait a bit." Hongli stood in the shadows, staring at the cave entrance, waiting to see when Hongshi would come out.
Around the same time as last time, about half an hour later, Hongshi emerged from the cave.
The bright moonlight shone on Hongshi, and Hongli could clearly see the satisfied smile on his face. But in Li Yu's eyes, this... this was the expression after the fact!
Li Yuren was completely stunned. What earth-shattering thing had he and his brother stumbled upon?
After winding their way back to the prince's residence, Hongli slowly emerged from the corner of the wall as he watched Hongshi return to his own courtyard.
Li Yu followed behind him, wiping away sweat. He couldn't imagine how furious the Emperor would be if this matter were exposed. Hongli, however, strolled back into the courtyard and asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Are the Li family and the Nian family old acquaintances?"
"Your Highness, even if they are old acquaintances, the Third Prince and Consort Hua shouldn't have done this! Oh dear!" Li Yu slapped himself in frustration, circling around Hongli and pleading in a low voice, "Your Highness, please pretend you didn't see what happened today?"
"Why?" Hongshi frowned. "I still want to report to Mother tomorrow."
"Ouch, ouch!" Li Yu didn't know what to do either, but in these kinds of situations, who knows who will be unlucky!
The emperor was cuckolded, and the cuckold was given to him by his own son! Oh dear, how could Li Yu have known about this?! How tragic!
Seeing Li Yu jumping up and down in a panic, Hongli didn't understand. He just felt that if Hongshi had colluded with Nian Gengyao, it would be quite troublesome. So he decided to tell Qian Shengyan about it.
So the next morning, Qian Shengyan was hit in the face with a huge bombshell.
She stood up in disbelief, her voice trembling: "What did you say?"
“Mother, I suspect that Shan Xiu’s background might be related to the Li family? Or, is Third Brother… already involved with Nian Gengyao?” Hongli frowned, still considering these matters. “If Nian Gengyao protects Third Brother, Father… will he consider his suggestion?”
"You..." Qian Shengyan looked at her eldest son in confusion, then remembered that he was only thirteen and... didn't understand anything yet.
Qian Shengyan glanced again at Li Yu, who was standing behind Hongli, sweating profusely, and closed her eyes helplessly: "Alright, Mother knows about this. You two keep your mouths shut and neither of you is allowed to say a word. Just pretend you know nothing about this, understand?"
"Mother..." Hongli wanted to say something, but Qian Shengyan said, "Will you listen to your mother?"
Hongli could only bow and say, "Yes." But he was still unwilling, "It's easier for your son to leave the palace than for your mother..."
"Alright, then go investigate the relationship between the Li family and the Nian family. Don't touch anything else." Qian Shengyan made a quick decision. "Also, you must not say a word about this to a fourth person. Do you understand?"
“Yes, I understand,” Hongli replied.
Li Yu, though trembling with fear, also breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down to give Qian Shengyan a deep bow.
Consort Xi, you are like a living Guanyin Bodhisattva, saving his life. I am so grateful.
After seeing Hongli off, Qingxue came to change Qian Shengyan's tea, only to find that she hadn't touched it at all.
Qingxue couldn't help but worry: "Master, has something happened?"
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