The Queen's birthday was coming up in a few days, and the Emperor, contrary to his previous indifference towards her, announced a grand celebration.

The queen was naturally delighted and she couldn't hide her joy as she hugged the second prince.

Ever since the birth of the third prince, the emperor's attitude towards the second prince had suddenly become much colder. He no longer showed the favoritism he had shown in the past. As a result, he became more and more annoyed with his first wife, and her throne was on the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, His Majesty still remembered their old friendship and even summoned the Prime Minister and several other powerful officials to a dinner to celebrate her birthday.

How could she miss such a good opportunity?

The third prince is still young, and it is unknown whether he can live to adulthood. Even if the imperial concubine wants to win over powerful officials for him, I am afraid that the prime minister and his ilk will not buy it.

The empress sat beside the emperor, looking down at the envious eyes of the concubines from her high position. However, she saw that the imperial concubine did not look up, but was whispering with a palace servant beside her, and her nail-stained finger quietly pointed at the seats of the court officials.

Her movements were covert, and if the Queen had not been sitting high up she would not have noticed. Looking in the direction of her finger, she saw the Prime Minister wearing a scarlet crane court robe, and with a cold expression he rejected the toast from his colleagues.

Hmm? What is she trying to do?

The Queen sat up straight.

"Did she look at me? Did she see me?"

Jiang Xinlian lowered her voice and Qiu Ye nodded secretly.

In the eyes of the queen, she saw the palace servant take the order and retreat, and when he came back, he was holding a sandalwood treasure box in his hand, but she didn't know what was inside.

The imperial concubine seemed very happy. She raised her head, her eyes swept straight past the queen, and then looked at the emperor tenderly and affectionately.

The emperor nodded, a smile of triumph flashing across his eyes.

The Queen saw the quarrel between the two, and for a moment, she was shocked and angry.

What does this mean? Could it be that His Majesty has instructed the Imperial Concubine to please the Prime Minister? Could it be that His Majesty has already chosen the Third Prince to be the Crown Prince and is now trying to win over powerful officials for him?

What about her second prince? Jiang Xinlian was the most vicious person. When the third prince ascended the throne, how could they and their son survive?

Even if we cannot win over the prime minister for the second prince, we must not let Jiang Xinlian succeed!

So, when Jiang Xinlian picked up the cup and seemed to stand up, the queen intervened and said:

"Today is my birthday. I am very happy that you are here. I would like to offer you a toast."

As soon as she finished speaking, the emperor was caught off guard, his face changed drastically, and he glared at the queen in shock and anger.

This stupid woman!

The Queen valued them so much and spoke so politely, so how could the ministers not respond? They raised their wine cups and said "no, no" repeatedly. Even Zhuang Heming, who didn't like drinking, raised his cup and drank it all.

The emperor broke out in a cold sweat.

Nothing, nothing, he kept comforting himself.

The poison would not take effect so quickly. He could just let the imperial concubine toast the prime minister with another glass of wine and then put all the blame on the wine offered by the imperial concubine, and he would be able to achieve his goal.

As he was thinking this, he was about to call the imperial concubine to come forward, but he heard the sound of a wine glass falling to the ground at the table.

"grown ups?"

The minister sitting next to him saw the prime minister, who was always polite and calm, and for some reason he lost his composure and threw the cup.

Zhuang Heming leaned on the table, one hand on his chest, his brows tightly furrowed, an expression of pain on his face.

The next moment, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and his tall body collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion.

"grown ups!"

"Master Prime Minister!"

The emperor stood up suddenly, unable to believe it.

The effect of this poison is so fast!

There was chaos in the hall. The ministers were surrounding Zhuang Heming in panic, and the concubines were at a loss as to what to do. Just in the midst of the chaos, a young eunuch jumped out.

The "eunuch" took off his hat and threw it aside, pointing at Zhuang Heming and laughing up to the sky: "It's worth it that I have been lurking in the palace for many years. Today I finally succeeded! I can't kill the dog emperor, but can I kill you?"

After that, he turned around and ran away.

The assassin was very familiar with the layout of the palace. The guards tried their best to stop him but failed to catch him. They could only watch him escape right under their noses.

Accidents happened one after another at the banquet, and now an assassin who had been lurking in the palace for many years appeared.

The emperor fell back into his seat.

*

On the Queen's birthday, the Prime Minister was assassinated and his life or death is unknown. The assassin escaped and his whereabouts are unknown.

The emperor returned to the Qianqing Palace under the protection of his guards. After sending everyone away, he sat in front of his desk in a daze.

What on earth is going on? How did it turn out like this?

The imperial concubine in the dream died early and her loyalty was hard to tell. With Zhao Yueli's previous experience as a lesson, he was worried about her. It didn't matter if she died, but nothing could happen to the third prince.

So he came up with a plan to kill two birds with one stone. He poisoned the prime minister, put the blame on the concubine, and then executed her to appease the public anger.

At that time, the third prince will be sent to the queen to raise, which will not only deal with Zhuang Heming, but also win over the queen's mother's family in disguise.

But now, everything is ruined, and there is even an assassin hiding in the palace who wants to kill him!

When he thought about the assassin who had been hiding in the palace all these years, he felt creepy, and he suddenly felt fear and confusion in his heart.

Now that things have come to this, he only hopes that Zhuang Heming will die, otherwise this matter will be difficult to resolve.

Just as he was thinking about it, Li De hurried in and reported: "Your Majesty, the second prince is ill, would you like to..."

"Why is he sick again? Didn't he not leave the palace today?"

The emperor was upset and said impatiently, "If you are sick, call the imperial physician, don't bother me."

Li De was scolded and prepared to leave. The emperor suddenly thought of something and asked, "Didn't you say the third prince was ill a few days ago? How is he now?"

He thought of Jiang Xinlian and felt uneasy again: "Pass the decree down, and the Third Prince will be raised by my side from now on."

In the dream, his Fourth Prince was taught by Zhao Yueli to be loyal to that vicious woman. It seemed that he had to keep the prince by his side.

He was extremely anxious and would not listen to Rongshun's advice. Now was the time when the Third Prince was sleeping. When Xu'er was brought in, he was pouting and his chubby face was puffed up with anger.

The emperor looked over and immediately frowned, angrily asking: "What's wrong with the prince's face? How does the imperial concubine take care of the prince?"

Why is your face covered with red rashes? It looks creepy.

"Your Majesty, calm down."

Rong Shun explained, "The prince caught a cold a few days ago and developed a rash. The imperial physician has checked it out and it will go away in a few days."

Xuer also seemed to dislike the "rashes" on his face and kept touching his face with his little hands.

Rong Shun was afraid that these red marks would be wiped off by the young master, so he hurriedly said:

"But the imperial physician can't say whether these rashes can be transmitted to humans. Your Majesty, look at this..."

Upon hearing this, the emperor took a step back, frowned and ordered:

"In that case, until this rash disappears, you will stay in the side hall and serve the prince. I don't need you to come here anymore."

Rong Shun respectfully accepted the order.

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