Zhao Yunwan is still confined to Kunning Palace by the emperor. The emperor, having tasted her sweetness, spends every night with her.
He's been attending court less often lately. The palace guards, seeing the Crown Prince return, immediately sent someone to report to the Empress.
The emperor happened to be in Kunning Palace as well. Xiao Jing had no idea that the crown prince's return to the palace was reported to the empress first, rather than the emperor.
He was only grateful to the woman he loved in his heart, and she was also worried about his son.
Seeing that the emperor had not inquired about it, Zhao Yunwan instructed Yuan Qibao, who was by her side, to send all the clothes and daily necessities prepared for the crown prince to the East Palace.
She then explained to the emperor why she had instructed people to keep an eye on the crown prince's movements.
“I’ve asked the palace guards to keep an eye out for Sheng’er’s return to the palace. Firstly, he must have grown taller recently, and his clothes from last year no longer fit. I’ve recently had the tailor make him a few new outfits. The weather is getting warmer every day, so I’ve also prepared some lighter clothes for him. Secondly, I want to know how he’s doing with Li Ting.”
"Wan Niang is the most considerate. Sheng'er was born without a mother's love. I'm so glad he has you, otherwise his life would have been so miserable. I'm busy with state affairs and don't know how to take care of children. Wan Niang, you've gone to so much trouble."
Zhao Yunwan thought to herself: Are you busy? You're just indulging in the beauties of the harem and cultivating your immortality every night.
But what they said was different.
"Jinglang, your affairs are my affairs. I only think about being good to you, and I do everything willingly." After saying this, she nestled into Emperor Hui's arms with a pitiful look.
The fragrance of Zhao Yunwan's hair stirred up romantic thoughts in Xiao Jing.
Seeing that the Crown Prince had returned to the Eastern Palace, several factions began to align themselves with it.
For some reason, only one force managed to enter the Eastern Palace. The rest of the forces circled the outskirts of the Eastern Palace several times before reluctantly leaving, lest they be discovered by the Imperial Guards.
It turns out that Zhao Yunwan and Lu Dacheng had already tampered with the Eastern Palace. Now, entering the Eastern Palace without permission is as difficult as ascending to heaven, unless one is a palace servant or eunuch.
When the people of the Eastern Palace learned that the Crown Prince had returned, they all came out to greet him. In particular, the ten outstandingly beautiful young women sent by the Empress, after staying in the Eastern Palace for more than a month, felt deeply that if they did not seize the opportunity, they would not be able to complete their mission and their lives would be in danger.
The Crown Prince, whom they hadn't seen for over a month, had grown considerably taller, and his appearance was no less striking than the Second Prince's. The beautiful young women sent by the Great Liang Kingdom sighed inwardly, thinking that once the Crown Prince matured, he would likely be a heartthrob for women. They wondered if the noble ladies of the capital would be fighting tooth and nail for him.
It's just a pity that their mission was to prevent the prince from growing up.
However, when Xiao Sheng saw the group of women waiting for him from afar, he felt a chill run down his spine when he remembered Li Xingran's words.
He turned around and entered his bedroom through the back door. Once inside, he instructed Xiao Ma to bolt the door and told others that he was too tired from practicing martial arts at Grand Tutor Li's house today and needed to rest.
For the past month, Xiao Ma'er has been living and eating at the Li residence with the Crown Prince, witnessing his growth firsthand and feeling countless moments of joy. The Crown Prince is no longer the same Crown Prince he was in the palace.
The Crown Prince is now probably surpassing the Second Prince in the civil service exam, and with the intensity of Grand Tutor Li's training in the military exam, the Crown Prince is visibly becoming stronger.
After Xiao Sheng closed the door and arranged the orchids, Qianmian went to the palace.
"Qianmian greets young master." Hearing Qianmian's slightly joyful tone, Xiao Sheng's gloom vanished.
"Thousand Faces, you don't need to be so polite when we meet again. Stand up and speak."
“Young master, I have been inquiring around the palace for the past twenty days and have learned that many palace servants were once maids and eunuchs serving you. However, for a period of time, they were all sent out of the palace by you. Those who did not leave the palace were sent to the laundry room to do heavy and tiring work.”
“I have met with all those people in the palace. They only said that during the time they left their master, the master had just given birth to the young master and was very weak. The master only said one thing, telling them to go to the most difficult places, which was to save their lives.”
"Several palace maids were obtained by the mistress after she became empress, using her position to ask Xu Ningyou, the leader of the Qianji Sect. They all possess martial arts skills."
"Those palace maids may have evidence of their master's murder, but they said they would only hand over the evidence if they saw the sect leader."
"Young master, what do you think we should do about this?"
"First, transfer them away from the laundry without leaving a trace, or even have them fake their deaths."
Xiao Sheng knew about the tactic of faking his death because he saw Consort Ning at the Grand Tutor's house.
He was startled when he saw Consort Ning, and Li Xingran teased him about it for several days.
Later, he went on to cram in the secret arts of the martial arts world. Although he didn't know them himself, he couldn't afford to be ignorant of them. Because he realized that there were too many things he didn't understand in front of Li Xingran.
"Yes, I will arrange it right away. By the way, young master, because I did a good job, I spent some money and the chief eunuch Zheng agreed to transfer me to the East Palace as a junior steward. We won't have to meet so secretly anymore."
"Really? When can you start your shift?"
"Early next month."
Xiao Sheng counted on his fingers; it would still be half a month until the beginning of next month.
"What else did you find out?"
"Your subordinate discovered that there is a secluded spot in the Cold Palace where opium is found."
Have you ever seen anyone go there?
“My subordinates went to keep watch several times, but found no one had been there.”
"Did the results come true?" It has to be said that Xiao Sheng really learned something during his time at the Li family.
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