The main courtyard of Prince Yong's Mansion
At the entrance of the small kitchen, Yi Hua was sitting in a chair watching everyone make beef cubes.
Honghui has been used to carrying small snacks in his pocket since he was a child. His favorite is beef cubes, which are cooked in the small kitchen.
Yi Hua hadn't seen her child for several days and missed him terribly, so she thought of making some for him and having Yin Zhen take them into the palace, so that Hong Hui would know that his family was thinking of him.
Sitting opposite her, drinking tea, was Ninth Prince's wife.
It is indeed impolite to make guests wait at the door of the kitchenette, but if they are friends, then it is fine.
Ninth Princess Consort was staring at the small kitchen, where steamed egg custard, which she had specifically requested, was still being cooked on the stove.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, you've heard about that incident, haven't you? Consort Liang committed suicide that very night." Ninth Princess lowered her voice. "Suicide by a concubine is a serious crime. She had no family to rely on, and Eighth Prince was in such a state, so it was Eighth Sister-in-law who suffered."
"It's good that Guo Luoluo has something to do, so she won't be running around and causing trouble." Yihua was annoyed by Guo Luoluo's repeated attempts to block Yinzhen. She was now like a mosquito, with nothing to lose and no fear of those in shoes, buzzing around even when she couldn't be swatted.
"The son of a lowly maid from the Xin Zhe Ku." Ninth Princess Consort took a sip of the steamed egg custard and felt much better. "The Emperor really doesn't show any fatherly affection at all."
“The Emperor has dealt with the Eighth Prince, so you all need to keep a low profile these days and advise the Ninth Prince,” Yi Hua said.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, do you think the child in my belly will be like our master?" Ninth Princess asked with some hesitation.
"What? He's your and Ninth Master's child, of course he'll look like you. It would be a problem if he looked like someone else," Yi Hua teased.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant, will that medicine affect my child?” Ninth Princess’s words were incoherent, but Yi Hua understood.
"Who told you this?" Yi Hua reached out and touched the Ninth Princess's slightly swollen belly. "You are his mother. You know best whether he is healthy or not, better than any imperial physician."
“This is the most special connection between a mother and her child,” Yi Hua said earnestly.
Ninth Prince's wife nodded. She was scared. She didn't know how she survived the months when Yinzhen went mad.
“Honghui has gone to the palace, and Xiaolang is being looked after by General Feiyanggu. Liuliu is still young, so now you can free up your hands to properly choose a princess for the eldest princess.” With Yihua’s reassurance, Ninth Princess felt much more at ease.
Yi Hua smiled. This was the only piece of good news during this period. After years of preparation, Yinzhen had finally secured the eldest princess's right to choose her own marriage partner, and she no longer needed to marry into the Meng family.
Although Mingxuan, whom they had previously favored, proved ineffective, Yinzhen still had several alternatives.
Yi Hua has already chosen one and is planning to find an auspicious day to discuss it with him.
Seeing that Yi Hua was not in a hurry, Ninth Princess raised her eyebrows: "Judging from Fourth Sister-in-law's appearance, you are confident?"
"It's nothing to tell you, but don't tell anyone else yet. Honghui's teacher is the eldest grandson of the Zhu family. He's about the same age as Honghui, comes from a simple family, and has a family rule that a man can only take a concubine if he has no children by the age of forty."
“That child has a good relationship with Honghui. I’ve met him a few times. He’s impeccable in appearance, character, and education.” Yihua became more and more satisfied as she spoke. “If our master hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have thought that I had such a talented and beautiful person by my side. It’s like the darkest place under the lamp.”
Ninth Princess finished the bowl of steamed egg custard, wiped her mouth with satisfaction, and said, "Fourth Sister-in-law, you're like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law. The more you look at him, the more you like him."
Yi Hua couldn't help but laugh.
******
Yinzhen sent people to check the list sent by the tenth prince, and found that none of these people could be found, and there were no records of them.
Such a person is almost certainly a bodyguard kept by the brothers.
The person capable of stalking the emperor and planting their own people at the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation must be obvious.
He is the Crown Prince.
Yinzhen read through the information he had found again, then threw it into the brazier to burn.
He slowly curled the corners of his mouth into a smile. Now, he wasn't afraid of the Crown Prince making a move, but rather of him not moving at all. His father was like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment; with just a slight push from the Crown Prince, he would be burned to ashes by the Crown Prince's rage.
It seems the pieces in the palace can be moved.
Yuqing Palace
Niohuru's already somewhat unstable mental state deteriorated completely after another miscarriage.
She spends all day either talking about Hongli or referring to herself as "I, the Empress Dowager." Yinreng hasn't visited her in a long time. The reason he didn't let her die was because he still wanted to hear prophecies from her.
Now, Niohuru only has one maidservant to serve her, and she can barely keep herself fed each day.
"Princess, when will you wake up? Although I don't know what you and His Highness the Crown Prince talked about, I can tell that you must have given His Highness very important information. Now that His Majesty's health is not as good as before, His Highness the Crown Prince will soon be the Emperor. With your merits, you should at least be a concubine, or even a Noble Consort."
"Princess, it's all my fault. Without money, those snobs at the Imperial Hospital won't prescribe any medicine. If you can wake up, our good days will begin!"
The thin, petite maidservant was cleaning while whispering in Niohuru's ear. She noticed a glint in the disheveled woman's eyes, so she stopped talking and quietly got back to work.
Niohuru was indeed in a daze due to the great shock, but she was still unwilling to give up. Under the constant stimulation of her maid, she briefly regained her senses.
Disliking the clumsy little maid, she dressed herself up and went straight to Yinreng's study.
Tong Guining's spies noticed Niohuru's unusual behavior and immediately reported back. She sent people to keep a close watch on this mysterious woman to see what she was up to.
Yinreng was somewhat surprised to hear that Niohuru was requesting an audience, and he couldn't help but marvel at this woman's tenacious vitality.
No one knows what the two said. Yinreng's study was the most heavily guarded in Yuqing Palace. The little eunuch that Tong Guining sent to keep watch almost fell asleep on the spot, but he didn't see Niohuru come out.
The young eunuch squatted there for a whole day and night. The crown prince had already gone to court, but he still hadn't seen Niohuru. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, he hurriedly reported back to Tong Guining.
Tong Guining's heart pounded. She felt she was about to uncover the truth, so she fixed her gaze on the Crown Prince's study.
Sure enough, late the next night, a sack, about the height of a person, was carried out of the study. It was quickly carried out and finally thrown into the dry well in the cold palace.
Tong Guining touched her chest. That strange woman was dead. She must have discovered a very important secret of the Crown Prince. Perhaps there would be something on her body.
After hesitating for a long time, Tong Guining made up her mind and, on a dark and windy night, disguised herself as a eunuch and went to the Cold Palace herself.
She kept her head down, not daring to look around and attract attention, avoiding the patrolling men. Looking at the unfathomable dry well, she was troubled. It was so dark inside that she didn't dare to jump in.
In the end, Tong Guining gave up checking and walked back. Because she kept her head down, she actually discovered a piece of paper stuck in a crack in the ground.
She picked it up and quickly scanned it; it turned out to be a secret letter.
The signature was clearly that of the Guards of the Capital Region.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
