Yuwen Xian is Yuwen Wuji's younger sister. Lu Yinghong can stop the concubines in the harem, but she shouldn't stop his sister.
After all, Yuwen Xian was a woman; for no reason at all, she would never harm her brother, the emperor. If her brother died, her position might even be affected.
Lu Yinghong glanced at the concubines behind her who were eyeing her covetously, and said, "Of course the princess can go in."
Yuwen Xian glanced at the concubines behind him, and under their expectant gazes, he entered the palace.
Yuwen Wuji's fever kept recurring, and his lips were already cracked from the heat. Even though palace maids fed him water, it was not enough.
"Where is the head of the Imperial Medical Academy?" Yuwen Xian asked.
After being assassinated at Huangjue Temple, she recuperated at her residence for a few days until her injuries had almost healed before entering the palace.
To be honest, if it weren't for saving face, and the fact that Consort Shu had sent her a message accusing Lu Yinghong of controlling the harem and preventing the concubines from seeing the Emperor, she would have genuinely wanted to feign illness and not come.
Perhaps because the imperial family was cold-hearted, and because she was from the Yuwen family, she didn't really have any deep feelings for this imperial brother.
"How long until my brother wakes up?"
The imperial physician looked directly at the princess, and for some reason, he felt an overwhelming sense of oppression emanating from this girl who was only a teenager.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "I am not sure when Your Majesty will wake up."
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Xian said calmly, "However, a country cannot be without a ruler for even a day..."
The palace maids and eunuchs serving inside the hall all heard her words; they lowered their heads, making it impossible to see their expressions.
Yuwen Xian, being in a superior position, didn't even bother to look at their expressions.
"Is Li Wei here?"
When Yuwen Wuji was assassinated, many of his imperial guards died. Li Wei, who was sent to the kitchen to supervise the tea-making process because Yuwen Wuji didn't trust outsiders, escaped the assassination attempt, but he was still quite frightened.
As the emperor's personal eunuch, he should have been inside the palace. But Yuwen Xian didn't see him.
"Eunuch Li was frightened, and the Imperial Noble Consort told him to rest first before taking care of the Emperor."
Yuwen Xian's eyes darkened; she understood Lu Yinghong's intentions perfectly well.
Everyone knew of Li Wei's loyalty to Yuwen Wuji. Lu Yinghong separated him from Yuwen Wuji to better control the Emperor at crucial moments. With her people surrounding the Emperor and knowing his every move, it would be easy for her to do whatever she wanted.
"Have Li Wei come forward to serve you!"
Lu Yinghong's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she didn't speak up to stop her. If she did speak up now, she might be accused of having ulterior motives. After all, that was the chief eunuch whom the emperor had always used, and there was a long-standing master-servant relationship between them.
Li Wei was helped in by a young eunuch. The assassins only attacked the side rooms, but he was worried about the emperor and ran to find him in secret. He was stabbed by the assassins in the square, but luckily he survived and only suffered minor injuries.
His wounds have been treated, but his face is still pale and his expression is still blank from the shock.
"This servant greets Your Highness!"
"Rise. I do not live in the palace. I will need to trouble you with my brother's affairs here. My brother, the Prince Xuan, is currently investigating the assassination and cannot leave for the time being. However, a country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Summon the Crown Prince back to the capital."
Upon learning that the Emperor had fallen into a coma, the Crown Prince's faction immediately submitted a memorial requesting that the Crown Prince be summoned back to the capital, but this was suppressed by the Fifth Prince's faction and the Yong Prince's faction. The reason given was that the Crown Prince was in the disaster area, and the upcoming canal project could not be without a person in charge.
After a long argument in the court, the Crown Prince's faction has now raised their heads high as the Princess has spoken.
Another official said that the eldest princess was like a hen crowing at dawn, and was suspected of coveting imperial power. The memorial had just been submitted when, that afternoon, the eldest princess took him to the home of his mistress, where his wife got into a fight with him, and Yuwen Xian was dismissed from his post on the spot.
From then on, no one in the court dared to say that Yuwen Xian was a hen crowing at dawn.
Xie Liwei and Song Yaozhu decided to use a substitute, but neither of them was in a hurry.
Li Wei had already gotten close to Yuwen Wuji; they just needed to find a suitable opportunity to "visit" the emperor in the palace.
Ten days later, the Crown Prince arrived in the capital. As the heir apparent, even though he had a disgraced concubine as his mother, he was still the rightful Crown Prince.
On his very first day as regent, the Fifth Prince's faction immediately jumped out and claimed that the assassination attempt was carried out by the Crown Prince. This shocked everyone in the hall, leaving them completely bewildered and at a loss for what to do.
The Crown Prince glared at the official and roared, "What nonsense are you spouting! I'm far away in Yunzhou, and I only have a superficial understanding of what's happening in the capital. How could I possibly have planned such an assassination!"
The official calmly replied, "I have witnesses. He has confessed that the Crown Prince ordered them to assassinate the Emperor, claiming it was to avenge the disgraced Consort Gao."
The crown prince's pupils contracted sharply, and the Tao family was caught completely off guard. The Tao family had been single-mindedly paving the way for the crown prince to seize power. They had been busy bringing Yunzhou and Zhangzhou under their control, only to have their fortunes squandered by this very crown prince?
"His one-sided account is not enough to convict the Crown Prince. Bring him up here for inspection first."
Soon, the witness was carried into the main hall, but he was covered in wounds and unrecognizable. The stench of blood emanating from him was overwhelming; he could barely breathe.
"You've interrogated people like this, how are we supposed to interrogate them?" the princeling sneered, looking as if the other party was being unreasonable.
Sometimes partisan disputes are just pointless squabbles, it all comes down to who can prevail.
“The evidence is irrefutable, so what’s the point of a retrial?” the official said confidently. “He also has the seal given to him by the Crown Prince!”
"Nonsense!" the Crown Prince retorted angrily. "When have I ever given away my seal?"
The official in charge of the Fifth Prince took out the evidence from his pocket again. After all the court officials read it, they couldn't help but click their tongues and think to themselves, "Will the Crown Prince be defeated here today?"
The secret letter did indeed bear the Crown Prince's seal. Several of the Crown Prince's teachers examined the handwriting on the letter and confirmed that it was indeed the Crown Prince's handwriting.
With all the evidence and proof, the prince's guilt is sealed.
"This wasn't written by me! This is something you made to frame me!" When the Crown Prince saw the letter, he was so frightened that he lost all reason and tried to pounce on it to snatch the letter.
He was quickly stopped by the palace servants, a scene that made the old ministers in the court feel that this young man was not up to any great responsibility.
Faced with such slander, he failed to display the composure expected of a crown prince and instead attempted to destroy the "evidence," demonstrating a lack of the magnanimity expected of a crown prince.
The crown prince is indeed unsuitable to be emperor.
Those senior officials who had risen to high positions did not take sides early on. After all, before the trip to Huangjue Temple, the emperor was still in his prime, and they could observe these princes slowly.
But now...
"Your Highness, are you trying to destroy the evidence?!"
"Insolence! I am the Crown Prince, how dare you frame and slander me like this! Guards, seize this traitor! Take him to the Meridian Gate and behead him!"
"Your Highness, you mustn't!"
The Fifth Prince's faction and the Crown Prince's faction were locked in a stalemate when a young eunuch rushed in, saying, "The Emperor has awakened! He summons the Grand Secretaries to an audience!"
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