After the incident passed, Xu Yuehuai immediately went to find Hengniang and explained the matter to her in detail.
Hengniang originally thought that Consort Jia's miscarriage must be related to the Empress, but now that she heard these words, she couldn't help but have doubts.
"Princess, is this true?" Hengniang couldn't help but confirm.
Xu Yuehua nodded: "Of course it's true. Don't you believe me?"
Upon hearing this, Hengniang shook her head repeatedly.
If it weren't for Xu Yuehuai, her family's nobleman would probably have starved to death. Naturally, she wouldn't disbelieve Xu Yuehuai, but...
"After all, the Empress still has a Crown Prince, so she must be making plans for him. What if Qiqi is lying to you? Wouldn't that be deliberately confusing us?" Hengniang thought for a while before asking.
Xu Yuehuai pursed her lips, pondered for a moment, and then said, "It shouldn't be, this Crown Prince..."
He is not the real crown prince.
Although she didn't know how the Empress had determined that Ah Qi wasn't her child, she had to admit that the Empress's intuition was quite accurate.
"What's wrong with the Crown Prince? Princess, please continue." Hengniang became even more anxious when she saw that she was stunned, and quickly asked.
Xu Yuehuai chuckled and replied, "This Crown Prince is more like Consort Min's child than the Empress's. Have you ever seen a child who isn't close to his own mother?"
As soon as she said that, Hengniang realized the problem too.
Hengniang quickly spoke up: "What the princess said makes sense. Consort Min has only had one daughter over the years and has always been thinking about how to get ahead. If the Crown Prince deliberately gets close to her, he will definitely give Consort Min a chance. In that case, the suspect is not the Empress, but Consort Min?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai immediately smiled.
The reason she chose Hengniang to speak was because Hengniang was smart enough and was even a confidante of Consort Jia. Consort Jia would definitely believe her.
After a long while, Hengniang sighed and said, "Princess, although that is true, we still don't have any solid evidence. Besides, I heard that Consort Min is unwell, so I have already summoned the Prime Minister and his wife to come and see her. I'm afraid you won't be able to go to her place to investigate for the time being."
Xu Yuehuai remained calm upon hearing this, as Consort Min's anxiety was not due to Consort Jia's miscarriage, but rather because of her involvement in helping Xu Mingzhi purchase an official position.
However, now that the Prime Minister has come, she naturally won't be a fool to walk into the lion's den.
"Since we can't go today, let's do it another day." Xu Yuehuai said, stretching and preparing to return to Qiyunxuan for a short rest.
Hengniang wanted to say something more, but after thinking for a while, she shut her mouth.
...
However, just as Xu Yuehuai returned to Qiyun Pavilion, the Prime Minister and others arrived at Consort Min's palace.
The Prime Minister has already offended the Marquis of Ningyuan. Since they can only rely on Consort Min in the palace to help them, if something happens to Consort Min, then the Prime Minister's mansion will be finished.
Therefore, as soon as the prime minister entered the door, he began to cry and wail: "Oh dear, my good sister, how did you suddenly become so heavy?"
Consort Min was perfectly healthy and had nothing to do with herself, but she couldn't help but frown after hearing the Prime Minister's tearful wailing.
"Brother, I'm not dead yet, why are you crying?" she complained. "Tell me, if I didn't pretend to be sick to trick you into coming to the palace, how else could I have brought you here?"
Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister immediately stood up, wiped away the tears on his face, and then said, "So you're alright. I was really scared to death. Tell me quickly, what's the matter that you called me here in such a hurry?"
He had barely finished asking the question when the Prime Minister's wife pouted in displeasure and said sarcastically, "I say, Your Highness, you have nothing better to do than make fun of me and your brother. Your niece is currently living in dire straits, and instead of helping her, you resort to this kind of trickery. I really don't know what you're thinking. Do you intend to watch this Prime Minister's residence be destroyed before you're satisfied?"
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, sister-in-law. It was Zhao Min who had wicked thoughts, which made His Majesty angry with her. How can you blame me?” Consort Min also felt that she was really wronged.
She had come here specifically to get advice and suggestions, but instead, they ended up criticizing her.
She was furious and immediately wanted to kick the person out.
Fortunately, at this moment, the Prime Minister spoke up: "Alright, all of you should say less. Whether it's the Prime Minister's residence or the Imperial Concubine, if either of them gets into trouble, they can't protect the other. Instead of wasting your time making wild guesses, you might as well shut up."
He took two deep breaths to suppress his anger.
As expected, both sides immediately shut up.
Just then, Consort Min remembered her important matter and hurriedly asked, "Brother, what exactly did you do outside that made Marquis Ningyuan target you?"
Consort Min originally thought that she and Marquis Ningyuan were on the same side, and that as long as Aqi ascended the throne, they would be able to enjoy wealth and honor. However, she never expected that her well-laid plan would be completely ruined.
"Right now, Xu Yuehuai already knows that I bribed the chief examiner to give Xu Mingzhi the second place. If we don't find a way to shut her up, I'm afraid even the Prime Minister's mansion will be lost." She finished speaking and then sighed.
Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister immediately panicked: "Wh...what?"
“Xu Mingzhi is Xu Yuehuai’s younger brother. He became the second-place scholar in the imperial examination, so Xu Yuehuai naturally benefited as well. Of course, he could also betray him after using him.” He was quite surprised.
Originally, he had hoped to improve his relationship with the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion through Xu Yuehuai, which is why he agreed to Consort Min's request. However, he never expected that his good intentions would backfire so badly, as he had now offended two of the founding heroes.
"Ouch! Ouch!" The Prime Minister collapsed to the ground, bursting into tears. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that Xu Yuehuai looked down on his own brother? If I had known earlier, I would never have listened to you."
"What's the use of saying all this now? The mistake has already been made. Let's think of a solution as soon as possible," Consort Min couldn't help but remind her.
But right now, none of them can do anything about it.
To curry favor with the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, they had to expose Xu Mingzhi's affair, but unfortunately, once the affair was exposed, they were finished.
Consort Min took two deep breaths and suddenly had an idea: "Brother, you haven't said why Marquis Ningyuan wanted to target you. If it's not something serious, then we can try to win over Marquis Ningyuan. That way, we'll have a way out."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com