The palace became exceptionally quiet after nightfall. The fire in the Wangxing Tower of Prince Cheng's mansion outside alarmed half of the capital city, but it did not have much impact on the deep palace.
In Fengxi Palace, Jinzhi was dozing off on a small couch in the ear room. She was startled by a sudden knock on the door.
"who?"
"Aunt Jinzhi, it's me."
Jinzhi recognized the voice of the person who was speaking, and quickly stood up, stepped on her cloth clogs, lifted the curtain and went out, and saw a thin figure standing in front of the door.
She lowered her voice and showed displeasure: "Didn't I tell you that the Queen has been feeling unwell and unable to sleep recently, so I asked you not to disturb her at night..."
"Something happened outside." The young eunuch said hurriedly, "The news just came from outside the palace, saying that Prince Cheng secretly hid military equipment and recruited soldiers with the intention of rebellion, and was caught by Marquis Wenxin and Governor Xiao."
"impossible!"
Jinzhi's expression changed instantly, and she shouted reflexively: "How could King Cheng rebel?!"
The young eunuch said, "It's true. Marquis Wenxin and his men seized a lot of forbidden items in the palace. After presenting them to His Majesty, His Majesty was furious and had Prince Cheng and his son imprisoned."
"I heard that the old dowager of Prince Cheng's mansion was murdered, and that Prince Xie was not the biological son of Princess Cheng. His Majesty has ordered the Privy Council to investigate the matter and depose him from the position of Crown Prince."
"Prince Cheng's mansion has been surrounded. It looks like they are going to confiscate all the property. Right now the news hasn't spread because it's dark. By daybreak, the whole capital will know about it."
The eunuch's words made Jinzhi pale, and he was also worried: "The Second Prince was also involved in tonight's incident. I don't know why he was with Wen Xinhou and the others."
"Your Highness has been in trouble recently because of the Lu family. If the Second Prince uses the matter of Prince Cheng to gain merit and win favor in front of His Majesty, then our Highness will be in even more trouble. Aunt Jinzhi..."
He was worried that the Fourth Prince would be overshadowed by the Second Prince, and was also worried that the Second Prince would overpower their prince after gaining power and then seize the position of the Eastern Palace. However, halfway through his words, he saw Jinzhi with her face down and his expression could not be seen clearly.
"Aunt Jinzhi..."
"Aunt Jinzhi?"
The young eunuch couldn't help but call out twice, and seeing that Jinzhi was distracted, he reached out and gently pushed her shoulder.
Jinzhi seemed to be suddenly awakened and let out an "ah".
The young eunuch was puzzled: "Aunt Jinzhi, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so absent-minded?"
Jinzhi only felt her heart beating violently and her face turned pale. Fortunately, it was very dark at night and there was wind and rain to block her view. She stood in the dark in front of the door and the young monitor in front of her did not notice anything unusual.
She grabbed her sleeve tightly, suppressed the panic in her eyes, and tried her best to speak in a normal tone: "It's nothing, how could our prince lose to the second prince."
Jinzhi said this casually, and then she felt her mouth dry. She just wanted to get rid of the people in front of her as soon as possible: "I know about the matter of Prince Cheng's Mansion. You have done a good job. The Queen and His Highness will remember your contribution."
"I'm afraid it's a mess outside right now. You continue to gather information and pay attention to temporary changes. If there is any news, come back and tell me immediately. Don't forget to tell me whether it's Prince Cheng's Mansion or the Second Prince and his men."
As Jinzhi spoke, she pulled out a delicate silver bracelet from her sleeve and stuffed it into the young eunuch's hand: "This is a reward for you."
The young eunuch was delighted when he received the reward: "Thank you, Aunt Jinzhi."
"Okay, do your job well, and you will get benefits in the future."
"Yes, then the servant will withdraw first."
The young eunuch stuffed the bracelet into his sleeve and left happily in the night. After everyone left, Jinzhi's body swayed, and her legs became weak and she almost couldn't stand.
She propped herself up against the door frame and straightened herself up, taking several deep breaths before her weak legs regained some strength. Jinzhi spoke in a steady voice and dismissed the palace servants guarding the outer room to move away, then quickly turned around and entered the back hall.
Queen Lu was still asleep in the inner room. Ever since the incident in the Lu family, she had been restless and unable to sleep at night. Even when she finally fell asleep, she would be awakened by the slightest noise.
Jinzhi had just walked to the bedside when the slightly heavy footsteps made Queen Lu open her eyes.
"Golden Branch?"
Queen Lu had her long hair dishevelled, and her eyes were filled with deep displeasure as she spoke in a hoarse voice. The irritability of being woken up after finally falling asleep gave her a splitting headache.
But before she could open her mouth to scold him, she saw Jinzhi's pale face. She frowned and said, "Why do you look so bad? What happened?"
"Your Majesty…" Jinzhi's lips trembled. After seeing her master, she could no longer hold back: "Prince Cheng…something happened in Prince Cheng's mansion…"
Queen Lu paused as she rubbed her brows and asked, "Something happened?"
"Prince Cheng secretly stored military equipment and intended to rebel, but was captured on the spot by Marquis Yongxin and Xiao Yan..."
Swoosh——
Queen Lu sat up suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could Xie Tianyu rebel?"
"It's true. Prince Cheng's mansion has been surrounded. Prince Cheng and his son have been imprisoned. And...and Prince Xie's background has also been discovered..."
Jin Zhi was so panicked that she didn't know what to do. Her voice was trembling as she spoke: "Your Majesty knows that he is not the son of Princess Cheng, and has verbally stripped him of his title of Crown Prince. He has handed the matter over to the Privy Council and Xiao Yan to investigate."
"My queen, Xiao Yan and the people from the Privy Council are mad dogs. They have been biting the Lu family's affairs before. If they find out that Master Xie is your son from the Lu family..."
"Shut up!!"
Queen Lu shouted coldly before Jinzhi could finish her words.
Seeing Jinzhi shivering with fear and looking at her with a pale face, Empress Lu sat on the bed with a stern expression, curled up in the quilt in front of her, and spoke word by word.
"Xie Yin is Xie Tianyu's son. He and Rong Yue have raised him for more than ten years. Just based on some rumors that came from nowhere, they say he is not the son of Princess Cheng. Where is the evidence?"
Jinzhi trembled: "But Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty doesn't like Prince Cheng in the first place, and he's just taking this opportunity to embarrass him. But who can prove that Xie Yin isn't of royal blood?"
Empress Lu looked up at her and said calmly, "Even if it is discovered that he is not Rong Yue's son, it was Xie Tianyu who deceived Rong Yue with someone else's bloodline. It has nothing to do with me and the Lu family."
"I feel very sorry for Rong Yue. As a woman myself, I also feel sorry for her and think it's not easy for her."
She paused for a moment before continuing:
"You have followed me for so many years, you should know what to say and what not to say. Don't lose your sense of proportion and say nonsense because of irrelevant things."
Jinzhi's face turned pale, and she was still panicking: "But if Prince Cheng opens his mouth..."
"He won't tell you."
Queen Lu looked indifferent.
He privately stored weapons and secretly stationed troops, but he had not really rebelled. At most, he would have lost his life. If he could find a way to take advantage of Emperor An's concern for his reputation and use the royal family's bloodline to force him, it would not be impossible to save Prince Cheng's life.
But if Xie Tianyu said something he shouldn't have said, he and Xie Yin would surely die, and even everyone related to him would not be able to survive.
He may not care about Xie Yin's fake son, but he cannot ignore his own blood.