After Li Rong received Sun Wen's complaint and sent him away, Cui Yulang immediately contacted Concubine Rou. Concubine Rou met Cui Yulang in the name of Prince Su, and Cui Yulang told Concubine Rou everything about Sun Wen.

"This Sun Wen is my fellow countryman. He lost his place in the imperial examination in Huajing to a local gentry, so he came to Huajing to find me. I asked him to complain to His Highness Pingle. As I expected, His Highness Pingle received the complaint in the morning and sent him out of Huajing. Now the boat that sent him out of Huajing is nowhere to be found."

After hearing what Cui Yulang said, Concubine Rou sat up straight and asked, "Are you serious?"

“Really.”

Cui Yulang said, taking out a petition: "This petition was left to me by Sun Wen. Your Majesty can find an opportunity to summon Princess Pingle to the palace tomorrow and show her this petition first. Then we can find someone to report this matter."

"Why should I tell her about this first?" Concubine Rou frowned. "Since she dared to kill the person who complained, wouldn't it be better if I told His Majesty directly?"

"If the queen tells His Majesty about this directly, His Majesty will at most reprimand His Majesty Pingle and even suspect that the queen has ulterior motives. The queen has already been through Hongde's case, so it's best not to get involved in this matter." Cui Yulang knelt on the ground and analyzed calmly, "But if the queen lets His Majesty Pingle know that you already know about her murder, she will be afraid. Tomorrow when the court impeaches her, she is afraid that Sun Wen's death will be discovered, so she will resign from the position of Chief of the Inspection Department before anything happens to avoid being held accountable."

"Is she so timid?"

Concubine Rou frowned: "Pingle is just a little fox, I'm afraid of your trick, it won't work."

Cui Yulang picked up the teacup and smiled softly: "Your Majesty, do you know why His Majesty Pingle wanted to kill Sun Wen?"

"I'd like to hear the details."

"Her Highness Pingle is still the Crown Prince's sister. Even if she doesn't get along with the noble family, she is still a member of the noble family. So she can investigate the Qin case and the military pay case, but she can't touch the foundation of the noble family. And the imperial examination case involves too many things. She is already in the spotlight, so naturally she dare not take it. Not only does she dare not take the case, she also needs to protect it. If the noble family is unstable, the Crown Prince will be unstable, so she must kill Sun Wen."

Cui Yulang said this and took a sip of tea. Concubine Rou thought, "Did you predict that she would kill Sun Wen before you sent him there?"

"I said I would send the Inspection Office to Your Majesty," Cui Yulang raised his eyebrows, "Does Your Majesty think I am joking?"

Concubine Rou was stunned for a moment. Cui Yulang put down the teacup, picked up the fan again, and said slowly: "We tricked her into killing Sun Wen, which already gave her evidence. If we force her to take over the case of the Imperial Examination, she doesn't want to take it, and we have evidence in our hands, then leaving the Inspection Office is the safest way for her. If she leaves, someone will have to take control of the Inspection Office. Whoever is willing to investigate the Imperial Examination," Cui Yulang looked at Concubine Rou, "will be the new master of the Inspection Office."

"But," Concubine Rou hesitated, "I will investigate the case that even Li Rong doesn't dare to investigate..."

"Your Highness Pingle is not afraid, but he does not want to. The aristocratic family is the support of the prince," Cui Yulang leaned forward slightly, "but is the aristocratic family your support?"

Concubine Rou froze. Cui Yulang's words seemed to be like a poisonous snake that drilled into her mind and lingered in her heart: "Your Majesty, you were born here. Even if there are noble families who respect you and support you, they are just treating you as a chess piece in the game. Noble families will never be your support. You are different from His Highness Pingle."

"You have come this far not because of your family, but on the contrary, because of your weakening of the family. His Majesty values ​​your humble status, which is the foundation of His Royal Highness Prince Su. The more ruthless you are to the family, the more His Majesty will love you. His Royal Highness Pingle established the Supervision Department because he investigated the case of the family. If you want to gain His Majesty's love, you have to be more ruthless than His Royal Highness Pingle."

Concubine Rou didn't say anything. She digested Cui Yulang's words. Cui Yulang leaned on the armrest, looked at Concubine Rou's expression, and said slowly: "I know that the queen has connections with some children from noble families. If the queen doesn't believe me, why don't you think about it. Since the cooperation so far, have those people from noble families brought any benefits to the queen?"

When Concubine Rou heard this, she was shocked.

She suddenly realized that, yes, although the Su family was powerful, she had never gained any benefits since cooperating with Su Rongqing.

Not only did she not gain any benefits, but she also earned the emperor's dislike. Even when something went wrong, in order to protect themselves, the Su brothers, Su Ronghua, turned around and betrayed her, using her as a shield to win Li Ming's forgiveness.

She was originally the secret mistress of the six palaces, but now she has been demoted to the position of a concubine and is still suspected by Li Ming. Is it really better for Li Cheng to cooperate with the aristocratic families?

Cui Yulang saw that Concubine Rou was wavering, so he struck while the iron was hot and continued to analyze: "In fact, His Majesty had already paved the way for His Royal Highness Prince Su. The most important thing for any emperor is money and soldiers. His Majesty handed over the military power of the northwest to your brother to build military power for His Royal Highness Prince Su, and money is rooted in the affairs of the court. Now that His Majesty is supporting you, what you should do is not to rely on the aristocratic family, but to build real power in your hands while His Majesty is still protecting you."

"The humble family," Cui Yulang said each word seriously, "is where your Majesty will ultimately belong. As for the aristocratic families, your Majesty only needs to maintain good ties and play along."

"I understand what you mean, sir." After listening to Cui Yulang's analysis, Concubine Rou had already made up her mind, "I will arrange it tomorrow."

After Cui Yulang got the answer from Concubine Rou, he discussed with her for a while. After Cui Yulang left, Concubine Rou sat in the room. The maid Chunxi came forward and brought tea to Concubine Rou. She asked worriedly, "Madam, should we tell Lord Su about this?"

"He won't agree."

Concubine Rou said slowly, "Cui Yulang is right about one thing. For someone like Su Rongqing," Concubine Rou laughed sarcastically, "I am far less important than the interests of his family. They don't want Li Rong to investigate, but they are willing to let me investigate?"

"Go prepare the invitation," Concubine Rou ordered, "invite Pingle to the palace for a chat."

The next day, Concubine Rou's invitation arrived in Li Rong's hands. After leaving the court, Li Rong smiled when he saw the invitation, knowing that Cui Yulang had persuaded Concubine Rou.

She did not refuse and directly accepted the invitation and went to Concubine Rou's palace.

When Li Rong arrived, Concubine Rou was the only one in the palace. When she saw Li Rong coming in, she raised her head and said with a smile, "Pingle is here?"

She was a person who knew how to behave. Even when facing the extremely disgusting Li Rong, she still had a very sincere smile on her face.

Li Rong nodded as a greeting. Concubine Rou asked her to sit down. Li Rong looked at the tea and pastries prepared on the table and found that they were all her favorites. She couldn't help but feel a little impressed by Concubine Rou's broad-mindedness.

Even though she was fifty years old, she could not be as tolerant as Concubine Rou towards the enemy.

"Since you got married, you rarely come to the palace. I haven't seen you for a long time, and I miss you a lot." Concubine Rou poured tea for Li Rong, caring about her like an elder, and asked gently, "How are you doing after the divorce?"

"Thank you for your concern, Madam Lao." The people in the palace were used to being hypocritical, and Li Rong was also used to it. She smiled and replied, "The Inspection Department is busy with affairs, and I don't have any other feelings."

"Although you are busy with official duties, you still need to take care of your health," said Concubine Rou, pushing the cup to Li Rong. Li Rong picked up the cup and blew the tea in it. Concubine Rou observed her and said slowly, "I asked you to come here this time because I want to ask you for help with something. I have a distant relative who studied hard for ten years and finally passed the imperial examination last year. He became a tribute to the country and was preparing to take the imperial examination this year, but who would have thought that someone else would take his place. He came all the way to Huajing to complain. I thought about it, but I couldn't find a suitable person to help, so I thought of you."

As she spoke, Concubine Rou took a copy of Sun Wen's complaint from the side and handed it to Li Rong, saying, "I asked him to look for you before. Did you see him? His name is Sun Wen."

Hearing this name, Li Rong froze.

Concubine Rou looked at Li Rong and tilted her head, as if she had no idea what Li Rong had done. She smiled and said, "Looking at you, I guess you must have seen it before."

"No." Li Rong seemed to have just come back to her senses, pretending to be calm, "What your majesty said should be handled by the Ministry of Justice. Your majesty should ask him to go to the Ministry of Justice. It's getting late." Li Rong stood up, "Pingle will take his leave first."

"That's right," Concubine Rou smiled, "You are busy too, go first."

As she spoke, Concubine Rou called someone to see her off. As soon as the person arrived, Li Rong couldn't wait to leave. Concubine Rou called her slowly, "Pingle."

Li Rong paused, and Concubine Rou turned the teacup in her hand: "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it. What is yours is yours, and what is not yours cannot be held by you."

Li Rong turned around and saw Concubine Rou looking at her with a smile: "Take care of yourself."

"Thank you for your concern, Madam."

Li Rong had a cold face, thanked him, and walked out.

After she left, Concubine Rou stroked the teacup and couldn't help laughing out loud.

This was the first time she saw Li Rong panic in all these years.

As soon as Li Rong walked out of the palace and got on the carriage, she immediately returned to her usual leisurely self. She sat in the carriage drinking tea and let Jinglan massage her shoulders. Her previous panicked look was gone and she looked quite relaxed.

"Why are you so happy, Your Highness?"

Jinglan couldn't help but ask, Li Rong smiled and said, "I caught a fish."

Li Rong deceived Concubine Rou, and at night, she summoned Cui Yulang again.

In order to facilitate Cui Yulang's entry and exit, she specially asked the guards to change their duty hours so that there would be a road that would not be patrolled by the guards, and left it specifically for Cui Yulang.

Cui Yulang skillfully climbed over the wall at night and entered the princess's mansion. After discussing with Li Rong how to cooperate in the court the next day, he climbed over and walked out again in the middle of the night.

As soon as he left, Pei Wenxuan's men reported to him that Li Rong had adjusted the guards' patrol schedule.

Although Pei Wenxuan had left the Princess's Mansion, he had arranged for quite a few people to stay there. It could be said that he had the most intelligence in the Princess's Mansion in the entire Huajing. This was the third time that Li Rong had recently arranged the guards' patrol time, and it was all at night. Pei Wenxuan couldn't help but have some thoughts.

He immediately asked someone to check the specific details of the three guard patrol arrangements, and then went to bed. However, after falling asleep, he still couldn't fall asleep.

Thaksin still believed in Li Rong. Given their relationship, Li Rong would not do anything to betray her.

But he was also worried. Li Rong was a beauty. If he was not around, what if, what if she had some ideas and met some bad people and was tricked by them? What would he do then?

When Pei Wenxuan thought of this possibility, he was so worried that he couldn't sleep. He wanted to get up and look for Li Rong right away, but he also felt that he was overthinking.

Li Rong is not a silly girl, how could she be so easily coaxed?

After a night of twists and turns, the next day finally arrived. He arrived at the palace gate early and waited there. Finally, he saw Li Rong's carriage. He quickly asked someone to take Li Rong on his carriage, and he arrived at the palace gate at the same time as Li Rong, and then lifted the curtain together.

Li Rong couldn't help but smile when she saw Pei Wenxuan: "Master Pei, what a coincidence?"

Pei Wenxuan had to pretend to be indifferent in front of others, nodding and saying nothing.

Just receiving such a greeting made him feel somewhat happy.

The two of them went to court, and Pei Wenxuan secretly glanced at Li Rong who was standing in the front.

Now that he has been promoted, he is closer to Li Rong.

Li Rong was oblivious to Pei Wenxuan's emotions. She tapped her palms lightly with a small fan, waiting for today's performance.

Half of the court affairs were over, and Li Ming was asking as usual if there was anything else, when a minor official from the Historian suddenly stood up.

"Your Majesty," the official said calmly, "I have something to report."

"Go ahead," Li Ming was bored and drinking tea. He lifted his coat and knelt down, saying loudly, "I want to report to His Highness the Supervisory Commissioner, Si Pingle, that you knew about the case but did not report it, and instead threatened to send the person who filed the complaint away!"

Hearing this, Li Ming stopped holding the cup. Li Rong immediately stepped out of the group, knelt on the ground and said, "Father, I am innocent!"

Li Rong's intense reaction made Li Ming frown. He glanced at the official, put down his teacup, and said, "Why didn't she report the case? Tell me."

Everyone looked at the official, who couldn't help but tremble a little, but when working in the imperial court, courage was the most important thing. So he gritted his teeth and continued, "Sun Wen, a candidate from Chen County, was the champion of the autumn examination of Chen County last year. He was a candidate for the Chen County Township Contribution Examination this year, but he was persecuted by the local gentry and his quota was misappropriated. He was unable to participate in the spring examination, so he came to the capital to file a complaint and seek justice. However, when the complaint was sent to the Inspection Office, His Majesty Pingle not only did not investigate and report the case, but also sent Sun Wen away from Huajing, and now he is nowhere to be found. Such despicable behavior, I hope Your Majesty will investigate it strictly!"

"Pingle," Li Ming looked at Li Rong, "Do you have anything to say?"

"Your Highness... Your Highness..." Li Rong was obviously a little panicked. She quickly organized her words and finally said, "Your Highness is innocent. What evidence does he have to prove his claim?!"

"I have witnesses," the official said, neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Many people saw Sun Wen go to the Inspection Office to file a complaint."

"It's true that he came to file a complaint," Li Rong said immediately, "and I accepted his complaint, but before we started investigating, he left Beijing on his own. How can you say that I forced him to leave?"

"Okay."

Li Ming interrupted the two and said, "Wang Yushi has no evidence for this matter. Pingle, you will explain it to me later."

"yes."

Li Rong breathed a sigh of relief and knelt on the ground to thank Li Ming.

Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong kneeling on the ground and couldn't help but frown.

Seeing Li Rong lower her head, he always felt a little uncomfortable.

After the court session, Li Rong went to Yu's study. When Li Ming saw Li Rong come in, he didn't say anything and just asked her to kneel.

Li Rong knelt in Yu's study for a while before Li Ming spoke: "Is Sun Wen dead?"

"I don't know." Li Rong knelt on the ground without saying anything. Li Ming looked up at her and said, "I know all your crooked ways. I don't care if one or two people die. I only want to ask you one thing," Li Ming said coldly, "Will you investigate the imperial case?"

Li Rong froze in her tracks. Seeing her hesitation, Li Ming raised his head and stared at her closely. "I gave you the Inspection Office not for you to play with. The Sun Wen case involves the foundation of Da Xia's talent selection. I must investigate it as soon as possible. But you killed him. Tell me, do you not want to investigate it?"

"Your son..." Li Rong struggled to speak, "I did not kill Sun Wen."

"I'm asking you about the Ke Fu case. It doesn't matter whether Sun Wen is dead or alive. Are you going to investigate it or not?"

"Father," Li Rong said hesitantly, "I... don't dare to check."

"I dare not," Li Ming sneered, "If you don't dare, what use is there for me to have you! You should stop being the Director of the Inspection Department, right?"

Since Li Rong didn't say anything, Li Ming knew that she was determined not to investigate the case.

Li Ming thought for a moment and understood Li Rong's plan.

She must have seen through his intentions, so having come to this point, she did not intend to further deteriorate relations with the aristocratic family.

He is all about checks and balances, and what Li Rong is all about in the officialdom is balance.

But Li Ming would not tolerate her balance. He sneered and said, "Write your resignation letter and recommend Wang Su to be the head of the Inspection Department."

"Father, but..."

"If you hadn't written it," Li Ming said bluntly, "the Sun Wen case would not have stopped here."

Li Rong froze, as if someone had caught her soft spot, and knelt there in a daze. After a long while, she said in a hushed voice, "Yes."

"Go down." Li Ming said coldly, "You just got divorced recently, it's time to have a good rest."

"yes."

Li Rong responded and stood up in a daze.

Li Ming ignored her. Li Rong walked out in a daze. As soon as she walked out the door, she saw Concubine Rou coming in with soup.

Concubine Rou looked at Li Rong's appearance, just smiled and nodded to Li Rong, then walked into Yu's study.

Li Rong looked at Concubine Rou's proud and confident smile, held back her laughter, and clenched her fists as if she was pretending to be filled with hatred and resentment, as if she was trying her best to control her emotions.

At that moment, she felt that her acting skills were simply superb, as if they had reached the pinnacle.

Such a strenuous performance also pleased Concubine Rou. When Li Rong's resignation letter and Prince Su's letter of recommendation reached Concubine Rou in the evening, she couldn't stop laughing.

He praised again and again: "Cui Yulang still has a way. Look at him, he is like an inspector when he makes a move."

"Cui Yulang is such a talent," Concubine Rou sighed, "Why didn't I pay attention to him earlier? What a pity."

Concubine Rou and Hua Le were very happy in the palace, while Cui Yulang rushed to the princess's residence to discuss the next step with Li Rong.

When Pei Wenxuan got the news that Li Rong had lost the Inspection Office, he was discussing the next step with a few confidants. Hearing this news, he felt a little uneasy for a moment.

He knew that this was Li Rong's plan, but he couldn't help but think that Li Rong would be sad in the end.

She lost her position in the Inspectorate because Li Ming treated her as a pawn. If Li Ming had cared about her at all, he would not have lost her position in the Inspectorate so quickly and asked her to write a letter personally to recommend the king.

He was worried about Li Rong, and when he learned that Li Rong had transferred the guards again in the evening, he finally couldn't help it.

He had already obtained the time for the guards' transfer during these three days. After a quick comparison, he found that after the guards' patrol times and locations were staggered, a road was actually left empty, which meant that there were no guards guarding this road.

He pondered for a moment, and finally changed his clothes, put on a black cloak, and drove out through the back door in the cover of night.

He had people clear the road and made sure that there were no followers along the way before he secretly arrived at the princess's mansion.

He was wearing a black cloak on the outside, but a moon-colored silver-patterned robe on the inside. His hair was half-tied up with a jade crown and combed neatly. He even bathed and burned incense before leaving. Seeing this, Tong Ye couldn't help asking him, "Sir, are you going there to discuss business or to have a tryst?"

Pei Wenxuan was too lazy to pay attention to him. He had finally met Li Rong, how could he lose face?

Anyway, there are only two gaps in the transfer of Li Rong's guards. The first gap has passed, so we just have to wait for the second one.

Moreover, he also wanted to see for what purpose Li Rong had arranged this time.

Thinking of this, Pei Wenxuan's eyes became a little cold.

When he hurried to the princess's mansion, Cui Yulang and Li Rong had almost finished their discussion. When they saw the time for the guards to change shifts for the second time, Cui Yulang said respectfully, "Your Highness, since we have already discussed it, I will take my leave first."

Li Rong also felt tired, so he nodded and let Cui Yulang leave.

Cui Yulang left respectfully, and Li Rong stood up and asked someone to prepare flower petal bath beans at the Yuquan Hot Spring. She undressed her hair and walked towards the hot spring pool, intending to take a bath to relieve her fatigue.

She came to the hot spring bath yawning and was helped into the hot soup.

She had talked a lot with others today and didn't want to see anyone, so she asked the maid to leave and waited outside the door.

While Li Rong was bathing in the hot spring, Pei Wenxuan also arrived at the backyard wall of the princess's mansion. He calculated the timetable and found that at this point, there was an area that was not patrolled by the wall in the southwest corner of the backyard.

Pei Wenxuan reached the wall, asked Tong Ye to bend down, and then he stepped on Tong Ye to climb up.

At this time, Cui Yulang thanked Zhao Chongjiu and then climbed up the wall with difficulty, stepping on Zhao Chongjiu's shoulders.

So Pei Wenxuan and Cui Yulang climbed up the high wall at the same time. In the moonlight, they both discovered that a person was rising from the other side of the wall like a mushroom breaking out of the ground in the dark night.

Then the two of them looked at each other briefly, and Pei Wenxuan took the initiative and cursed: "So it's you!"

At the same time, without any hesitation, he threw an iron fist and smashed it hard!

When the two of them meet on the wall, they strike back with heavy punches.