Harem Daily Life

After contacting his eldest son, Marquis Zhongyong was not idle either.

He thought of spreading rumors on the border, shaking the army's morale, and forming an internal and external alliance with the Xia Kingdom to delay Gu Yi. Then he would raise an army in the capital to force the emperor to abdicate. With the emperor facing internal and external troubles, he would definitely agree with his opinion and make the eldest prince the crown prince.

Even looking at the situation, if he could overthrow His Majesty in one fell swoop, what would happen if he directly made the eldest prince the emperor?

Anyway, things have come to this point, and he has no choice but to move forward.

Because he had already made arrangements and plans in the early stage, and placed his own people in various important positions, the soldiers under him only listened to the generals, so he won over the generals to use them for his own purposes. When he secretly contacted various places and prepared to raise an army, he did receive a response.

There were unusual movements in the camp outside the capital, and Ningyuan Hou was unable to sleep all night. However, he remained calm, waiting for Zhongyong Hou to fall into his trap.

Tao Yanyan was still in a dream when he heard Mingyue come in to report that there was a fire in Fengyi Palace. The palace maids were putting out the fire while spreading the news that it was the Queen's bad morals that attracted the punishment of heaven, and that the god of fire had been sent down from heaven to burn the palace.

Tao Yanyan: "..."

She instantly lost her sleepiness, and after instructing everyone to keep an eye on Changle Palace, she put on her cloak and headed towards Fengyi Palace.

The palace is made of wood. If the fire is not put out quickly, the entire palace will be burned to the ground.

Before she could reach Fengyi Palace, she was stopped by Eunuch Zhang, who was sent by His Majesty. Eunuch Zhang said anxiously, "Your Majesty, please do not go to Fengyi Palace. His Majesty has already sent the Imperial Guards to put out the fire. Please return to Changle Palace immediately, close the palace gates, and do not go out."

Tao Yanyan was startled and stepped forward to ask in a low voice: "Could it be tonight?"

Eunuch Zhang nodded and said, "His Majesty has instructed us to protect the Empress and the young masters. Please return immediately. The other palaces are also guarded by the Imperial Guards. His Majesty will handle the rest."

Tao Yanyan looked towards Fengyi Palace not far away. Although he was worried, he had no choice but to go back first.

As soon as I returned to Changle Palace, I saw Mingyue and Changtai had brought people to surround the eldest prince.

Chang Tai stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the eldest prince wanted to leave at night, but the servants wouldn't let him, and a conflict ensued."

Tao Yanyan looked at the eldest prince, only to see that his eyes were wide open and he was extremely angry.

"It's not even dawn yet. Where is the eldest prince going?" Tao Yanyan asked.

"I heard the noise and got up to check. I found a fire in the direction of Fengyi Palace, so I wanted to take people to put it out. But not only did your Majesty's people not let me out, they also tied up all of my men. This is such a rebellion, and your Majesty will not punish it?"

Tao Yanyan looked at the bound Haitang and the others serving the eldest prince, and sneered: "You are still young, and we don't need you to put out the fire. Go back to sleep obediently. I will let you out when the sun comes up."

"No, I must get out!" The eldest prince roared: "Let my people go, I want to get out!"

Tao Yanyan gave Chang Tai a look, and Chang Tai brought his men forward, hugged the eldest prince, and took him directly to his bedroom.

No matter how the eldest prince shouted, no one listened to him.

Haitang quickly said, "Empress, the eldest prince was just trying to help out with the fire out of kindness. Why are you restricting his freedom?"

Looking at the bound Haitang, Tao Yanyan said, "You know clearly whether you are really going to put out the fire or if you want to go out and cooperate with someone inside or outside. Come, put Haitang in solitary confinement and keep a good guard over her. Wait until the fire is out before dealing with her."

Haitang was startled, and felt a little worried at the thought that her private contact with Marquis Zhongyong might have been discovered. However, when she thought that the fire had already been set, and that the Marquis's men might have taken over the Qinzheng Palace in the chaos, and that the Marquis would come to greet the eldest prince at dawn, she slowly began to feel relieved.

Tao Yanyan was worried about the situation in the palace and could no longer sleep, so he went to the study to wait for news from His Majesty.

When dawn was about to break, a group of uninvited guests came to Changle Palace and broke into the palace gate. They were killed by the guards outside. Wushuang captured a living person, beat him up severely, and got a confession from him, saying that he was sent by Marquis Zhongyong with the purpose of capturing the queen and rescuing the eldest prince.

Tao Yanyan asked someone to send the assassin to Eunuch Zhang and continued to wait patiently for news.

When the children woke up, they found that Mrs. Dong did not come to the palace to teach today, and little Jinan did not have to go to elementary school. They knew that something might have happened, so they all ate breakfast obediently and went back to their rooms to study.

Only the two little ones knew nothing. After waking up and having a big meal, they insisted on going out to visit the Imperial Garden.

The weather is hot and it is only cool in the morning. It would be a shame not to go out and play.

So the carefree twins cried and stared at the palace gate with their eyes wide open, their eyes full of the expression "I want to get out".

Tao Yanyan was speechless. The Changle Palace courtyard was obviously large, with many trees, flowers and plants. Why did these two have to go outside? And they were all outdoors. How could they recognize that they were so hard to fool?

"Alright, alright, let's play in our own yard today, and I'll take you out tomorrow, okay?"

Tao Yanyan held the crying little Yu Cheng and coaxed him gently, but Yu Cheng didn't appreciate it. He still pouted and cried in front of her.

Feeling anxious and with the child making a fuss, Tao Yanyan almost went berserk.

Fortunately, there were many servants in the palace. Since Tao Yanyan didn't want to hold the children, others took them instead. If one didn't work, another one would try to coax them, and finally they coaxed the two children to sleep again.

After lunch, Eunuch Zhang came over and asked the queen to take the eldest prince to the Qinzheng Hall.

The "mother and son" ignored each other and went to see the emperor with cold faces.

The loyal and brave marquis, who was kneeling below and tied up, looked at Empress Tao and the eldest prince and said angrily: "Woo, woo, woo."

With a cloth gagged in his mouth and unable to speak, the Duke of Zhongyong could only glare at the queen with a murderous look.

He Linzhang had a bandage tied around his hand, clearly injured. Tao Yanyan ignored the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery and hurried forward to hold the emperor in his arms: "Your Majesty, are you seriously injured?"

Seeing the worry in her eyes, He Linzhang just smiled, with a clear sense of comfort: "Everything is going well, this little injury is nothing."

After saying this, he asked someone to remove the cloth from Marquis Zhongyong's mouth and said he had something to say to him.

"The victors are the kings and the losers are the bandits. Your Majesty, you can kill or chop him up as you please. However... the eldest prince has nothing to do with this matter. Your Majesty, please don't make things difficult for him."

There was a flash of pity in the eyes of Marquis Zhongyong when he looked at the eldest prince.

He Linzhang said, "If the eldest prince hadn't contacted your grandfather privately, you probably wouldn't have taken the risk of leading troops to force the palace."

Marquis Zhongyong wanted to deny it, but he saw Haitang had been tied up and brought to the palace, and when another person appeared with her, his eyes widened in shock.

The person who came was none other than the beautiful girl he met in Xicheng, and later became his concubine, Aunt Li.

"You, why are you here?" asked the Loyal and Brave Marquis in surprise.

Aunt Li knelt down and presented several letters. "Your Majesty, I have fulfilled my mission, lurking within the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's mansion for years. I have finally obtained evidence of his collusion with the Xia Kingdom and his secret alliance with the Yan Kingdom. I also have... correspondence with the Crown Prince regarding the possibility of raising an army to force the emperor to abdicate. Please review it, Your Majesty."