The emperor was throwing a tantrum in the palace. Being an emperor is really not easy. If his father and brothers hadn't been so unreliable, he wouldn't have ended up on this path of no return.
Now his father and other brothers are all living carefree lives, while he alone is the one suffering the injustice, having to face all sorts of troubles.
"Your Majesty, the Empress invites you to have your meal."
Normally the emperor would go there by himself at this time, but today he was too angry and was afraid of affecting the empress's mood, so he didn't go there immediately and instead vented his anger here.
Although the Empress did not care about the affairs of the court, she knew that the Emperor was angry in court. After many years of marriage, she also knew that he was processing his bad mood on his own because he did not come immediately. The Empress was afraid that he would get sick from anger, so she quickly sent someone to invite him.
The emperor did not want to go today, but worried that the empress would overthink it, so he went anyway.
The emperor didn't want to bring his bad mood to the harem, and the empress didn't ask. The two sat down to eat together. During the meal, the emperor felt the baby move, and his mood improved considerably. He leaned over the empress's belly and interacted with the baby, finally managing to smile.
At this moment, someone rushed over without saying what it was about, but handed over a sealed letter, the contents of which no one knew.
The emperor recognized who had sent it, took it and examined it. His expression visibly softened, and his smile became even more pronounced.
Is there some good news?
The Empress dismissed everyone around her before asking in a low voice.
"It was Lu Baichuan who sent it, haha! I knew that kid couldn't be so unreliable, he could have handled things like this!"
As he said this, the emperor visibly breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "How could Lu Baichuan let someone say those things in court? Isn't that giving people a signal to escape in advance?"
Unexpectedly, this kid had a backup plan; he had worried too much.
Next, all we need to do is cooperate with their act and fool all those old fogies in the court.
"In that case, Your Majesty should relax and not harm your health over these matters."
The Empress advised, "Recently, there have been many troubles in the court. The Emperor has not been able to be happy from morning till night. If this continues, his health will definitely suffer."
"I understand the reasoning, but the people in the court are not united. They don't do their jobs properly and only know how to scheme against each other. It's no wonder I'm angry!"
The emperor sighed and continued, "But even if Lu Baichuan has a solution, this matter cannot be left unresolved. The officials in the court urgently need to be reformed, and I will slowly begin to clean up the court."
His throne was passed down from the retired emperor without any changes, and the court had no opportunity for reform. As a result, the officials believed that the emperor had no chance to deal with them and gradually became arrogant. If the situation was not rectified, the internal strife would be no less severe than that of the Eastern Court.
The Empress insisted, "Whatever the Emperor's plans are, he should take care of his health first; that is the most important thing."
Seeing the worry on her face, the emperor smiled and said, "Of course, I want to live a few more years and watch our children grow up."
This is why the emperor firmly chose her as his wife. No matter what, she always stood gently behind him, and every time he turned around, he could see her gentle and lovely smile.
In a house somewhere in the city, a steward was slapped to the ground by his master.
"I sent you out on a errand, and what a mess you made! I told you to be careful, but you still managed to expose such a huge flaw!"
The man wore a long cloak, covering himself up completely, and even spoke in a deliberately low voice, just like the eunuchs in the palace.
The steward was unaware of what mistake he had made, and his body trembled uncontrollably. If he had indeed revealed a flaw due to his carelessness, his master would certainly not protect him, and his fate would be predictable.
"Master, I really don't know where I gave myself away! I've been very careful!"
The steward knelt on the ground, his voice trembling. He really didn't know what he had done wrong.
The man was getting impatient, but remembering that the servant was a loyal man he had kept for many years, he patiently said, "That woman saw the mole on the web of your right hand and mentioned it in court. Now everyone is looking for you. For the time being, you should stay here and not go out until things calm down."
After all, he was a loyal servant who had served him for years, and the man couldn't bear to kill him outright.
The steward was stunned for a moment, then looked at his right hand in disbelief and said, "But...but I don't have a mole on my right hand!"
Fearing that his master wouldn't believe him, he even proactively stretched out his hand to show him.
The man was also a little confused when he heard this. He looked down and saw that the manager had nothing in his hands.
If that's the case, why did the woman say that?
Could I have misread it?
Or perhaps the woman was lying?
But it doesn't look like it!
"Think back to the situation at that time. Did you reveal any flaws?"
The steward hurriedly shook his head: "Master, I have been working for you for many years and have always been careful and cautious. I would never have given anything away. That woman might be saying this because she wants to get benefits from the other party but doesn't want to offend us, so she lied."
At this point, regardless of the truth, he had to say this in order to completely absolve himself of responsibility.
As for that woman, her master will naturally find a way to deal with her.
After something like this happened, no matter what that woman thought, she has to die.
The man agreed with his point, but he didn't dare to be careless and still advised, "No matter what, be careful during this time."
The manager responded and then wiped his sweat with his sleeve.
However, neither the master nor the servant knew that, unnoticed by them, a dark figure had quietly left to return and report the news.
The dark figure quietly entered the Lu family home, where Lu Baichuan and Jiang Jiuniang were waiting for him in the study.
After the figure went inside, he reported, "General, Madam, it was indeed done by people from the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion."
The two men, master and servant, who were sneaking around just now, were the Earl of Chang'an and his steward.
Even though the Marquis of Chang'an was completely covered up, it didn't prevent him from being recognized, since the shadowy figure had followed him all the way from the Marquis of Chang'an's residence to that house.
The information Yinghong provided had nothing to do with the steward; it was directly from the Chang'an Earl's Mansion.
It was also a coincidence. She knew the coachman who drove the carriage for the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion. He had almost injured her when he rode his horse recklessly in the street before, so she remembered him.
That night, it was that driver who took the carriage.
If the Marquis of Chang'an had truly been kind enough to help her, she wouldn't have easily betrayed them. But since they wanted her dead, she couldn't be blamed.
In comparison, the Marquis of Chang'an's family used her, while Jiang Jiuniang saved her life; the two are incomparable.
After hearing this, Jiang Jiuniang snorted coldly and laughed, "I originally thought that the Marquis of Chang'an was a reasonable person, but I didn't expect that he was holding back a big move to drag us into this mess. Sure enough, you can't sleep in the same bed with two different kinds of people."
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