"Your Majesty, I am but a eunuch, and I am always stupid. How could I possibly know these things? I have no idea," Lai Fu hurriedly bowed and answered cautiously.
This is not a matter for someone of his status to discuss or study. Eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in court affairs. Lai Fu has been by the emperor's side for so many years, how could he not know this rule? Anyone who dares to speak casually and is so self-righteous is probably already buried with grass growing tall on their grave.
The Emperor didn't expect Laifu to actually say anything; he was just slightly confused.
Xu Xingfeng has always been a supporter of the Crown Prince, so why would he suddenly turn against him? Could it be that the Crown Prince did something in secret that angered Xu Xingfeng?
However, even if the Crown Prince did something, Xu Xingfeng wouldn't be so bold.
The Emperor did not believe that the person that night was really Xu Xingfeng, but now all the evidence points to Xu Xingfeng, indicating that Xu Xingfeng was the one that night.
The Emperor relaxed his body slightly and leaned back in his chair. When Laifu saw this, he quickly went to the side, poured the Emperor a cup of hot tea, and gently placed it beside the Emperor's hand.
Perhaps it's time to investigate the Xu family...
On the other side, Xu Xingfeng followed his father outside with a puzzled look on his face. "Father, it's already early winter, how come butterflies are still flying into the palace?"
Apart from some pine and cypress trees, the other plants had long since withered, so why would butterflies suddenly appear now?
“There are greenhouses in the palace that are specially used for cultivating flowers. Perhaps a butterfly from there accidentally flew in.” Xu Ding was pondering why the emperor had suddenly summoned them to the palace but only told them to wait here without coming to see them. Hearing this, he simply replied casually and did not take the matter to heart.
Is that so? Xu Xingfeng frowned slightly, but seeing that his father had said so, he didn't say anything more.
The Empress was unaware of what had happened here. She was also trying to investigate the people who entered the Crown Prince's residence that night. Although she lived in the inner palace, she did have quite a few people under her command over the years.
Normally, such matters can be investigated quickly, but this matter has been under investigation for several days without any results.
The Empress was so angry that she threw a huge tantrum in the palace, smashing many things. Only after her anger subsided somewhat did she think for a moment before ordering someone to invite the Crown Prince to the palace.
The Empress still felt that the Crown Prince must know something, so she invited him to the palace to ask about what happened that night. Perhaps she could get some different clues.
Before the servant who went to invite the crown prince had even left the palace, he saw the crown prince walking angrily toward them.
"Greetings, Your Highness." The eunuch who delivered the message quickly bowed to the prince.
The crown prince paused, recognizing the person before him as someone from the empress's palace, and then looked at him coldly.
What are you going to do?
"Your Highness, I am on the Empress's orders to go find you."
"The Empress Dowager is looking for me? Then let's go. I also have something to discuss with the Empress Dowager." The Crown Prince flicked his sleeve and strode towards the Empress's palace.
The prince walked very fast, and the eunuchs behind him practically had to pedal like wheels of fire to keep up with him.
The Phoenix Palace had long been repaired and restored to its former splendor, as if the theft had never happened.
Incense was burning inside, and wisps of smoke rose from it. A stove nearby was burning, making it warm and cozy. The Empress was sitting there, sipping hot tea, when the Crown Prince suddenly burst in.
The Empress paused in her tea-drinking motion. How did the Crown Prince arrive so quickly?
Although he was furious, the Crown Prince managed to control his temper upon seeing the Empress and bowed to her, saying, "Your subject greets Your Majesty."
"Get up, Your Highness. How are your injuries?" the Empress asked with concern, quickly instructing a palace maid to bring a chair for the Crown Prince to sit down.
The Crown Prince did not sit down, but stood there, looking up at the Empress with a serious expression and a tone that was both questioning and suppressed anger, "Mother, did you do the thing that caused Nuanyun's miscarriage?"
The Empress paused, slowly putting down her teacup. The palace maid standing behind her immediately handed her a handkerchief. The Empress wiped her mouth, handed the handkerchief to the maid, and only then did she look at the Crown Prince.
Since the Crown Prince has already asked, it means he already knows about this matter. He has come here simply to get a definite answer.
"It was I who did it," the Empress admitted without any attempt to conceal it.
"Mother, why did you do this?" The Crown Prince was not expected that the Empress would admit it so directly, and his anger intensified.
"Your Highness, Ren Nuanyun's status is not worthy of you at all. She is just a concubine's daughter from the Marquis of Dingguo's mansion. Even though her birth mother has been elevated to the status of a secondary wife and she has been granted the title of Princess, the Marquis of Dingguo's power has long since waned and is of no help to your future. She is not worthy of the position of Crown Princess at all," the Empress earnestly advised.
“Mother, although Nuanyun’s status is not very prominent and her family background cannot help me, she has absolute wisdom, outstanding talent, and extraordinary intelligence. She also knows how to advance and retreat. These are the qualities that a Crown Princess should have. I am the Crown Prince, and I don’t need a woman to maintain these official matters.”
“I have my own way of building my own power. I don’t need to rely on a woman’s family to guarantee my future. Ren Nuanyun is very good to me. What you are doing is simply disrespecting me.”
"Clever? How is she clever? As the daughter of an official, instead of staying in the mansion, she actually seduced you into having that kind of thing before the wedding. Humph, where did she learn all her manners? How can someone with such no manners be a Crown Princess?" The Empress's face was very ugly when she saw the Crown Prince getting angry at her because of this.
"Not only that, she's also pregnant. Your Highness, do you even know your place? You are the Crown Prince of a nation. You're not married to her, yet you already have a child. Do you know how many people are waiting to laugh at you if this gets out? The Imperial Censor's memorials alone could crush you."
When the Empress heard the Crown Prince say this, she was very angry. The tassels on her hair kept trembling, indicating that she was very emotionally unstable at the moment.
"Mother, I'm already thinking of a solution to this matter. Besides, it wasn't Nuanyun who seduced me, but rather I couldn't control myself and forced myself on her."
No sooner had the Crown Prince finished speaking than the Empress grabbed a teacup from the side and smashed it on the ground, shouting, "Insolence!"
The teacup with peony pattern shattered on the floor, and the tea inside even splashed onto the prince's shoes. The prince was shocked; this was the first time his mother had ever been so angry in front of him.
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