The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

The people in the court were in panic, and undercurrents were surging in Kyoto.

Emperor Longqing did not express his opinion in the court, and the seven-day holiday was not affected by this incident, but some officials seemed to be busier than on duty, and letters were sent out one after another.

In the Purple Palace, Emperor Longqing and the Crown Prince were playing chess. The black pieces on the board had already become dominant, and a single careless move by the white pieces would mean the entire game was lost.

"Prince, you lost again." Emperor Longqing said in a deep voice with a calm expression. He put down the black piece in his hand.

"Your son's chess skills are always inferior to yours, and I have never defeated you once in all these years." Qin Zhong threw the chess piece in his hand into the box, seemingly not caring at all.

Emperor Longqing looked at him and asked, "Are you aware of the private sale of official salt in Luzhou?"

Qin Zhong smiled and said, "Father, I don't know. I have been following your instructions and reporting to the Ministry of Revenue every day. I have been doing this for several years without any slackness. Don't you believe me, Father?"

Wang Quan placed a blue book on the table. "Your Highness."

Qin Zhong remained calm and composed. "Father, I heard a story. There was a wealthy businessman who handed his shop to his son. The son disliked the caravan and the shop managers who exploited him, causing the prices to remain high and the business to get worse and worse. So he came up with a way to sell the goods himself under the pretext that they were lost. This way, the price was lower, more people bought, and he earned more than before. Isn't this a good thing?"

"What about the money this son earns?"

"Since we're spending all the money on our own people, why does it matter where the money is?" Qin Zhong didn't care. The whole world belonged to their family.

After having the prince sent back, Emperor Longqing looked at Wang Quan, and all his thoughts turned into a long sigh, "I am standing alone on this mountain top, unable to advance or retreat. I am afraid that I will fall down accidentally, and then I will not be able to face Emperor Taizu in the underground." "Official salt is related to the foundation of the country, and it cannot be tolerated.

Upon receiving the news, Dingyuan Bo immediately rushed back to the palace. He remained calm and carefully questioned his younger brother. After confirming that his eldest son had indeed been injured in his right arm and would likely become disabled if not treated in time, he slowly sat down, his face darker than ever.

Cui had already cried once, and now she began to cry again. "There are so many servants in the mansion, but you let Mingyuan go. Now you are satisfied."

Ma sat on the sidelines, watching coldly. Zhao Tongyi sat on the side, the protruding veins on the back of his hand revealing his master's current emotions. It was really too much! "Brother, are you still going to wait?"

Earl Dingyuan looked at his younger brother and said, "The most urgent thing is to send someone to bring Yu Ge'er and Mingyuan back to the palace for treatment. As for other things, we can talk about them later. Today, someone in the court has impeached the prince for being involved in Luzhou and the disappearance of Madam Zhang." "It depends on how the emperor will deal with it next.

Xu Shiyun sat in the room, looking at the furnishings in the room. A disabled person probably could not become a prince.

No one dared to mention the Luzhou salt smuggling case for fear of getting into trouble. However, rumors that Zhang's disappearance was related to the crown prince intensified, with some even saying that the third young master of the second branch of the Dingyuan Marquis's mansion had gone to Luzhou to investigate the case and had not yet returned because he was being hunted.

Under the instigation of some scheming people, this news was passed to the old lady's ears. The old lady was terrified at the time and kept asking people to call the second master.

Mr. Lu Er hurried to Yannian Hall, and the old lady shouted at him, "My lord, hurry up and divorce your wife."

Lu Lingcong immediately knelt on the ground. "Mother, why is this happening? She has raised my children and taken care of the household for me over the years. There is nothing wrong with that. I'm sorry, I can't obey your order."

The old lady's chest heaved with anger. "You unfilial son, do you know that Zhang has offended the Crown Prince, and he is going to send someone to kill her? If you don't divorce her, who knows, the knife will be on you next."

Lu Lingcong was at a loss for words when he heard this. "Mother, the Crown Prince would never act like this. There is the Dali Temple, the Inspectorate, and the Emperor himself would not allow this to happen."

The old lady was stubborn and said, "You have offended the crown prince, so aren't you afraid that your official career will be cut off and your family will be implicated. Your brother is useless to begin with, and what will happen if he loses his title because of you? And Cheng'er has to take the imperial examination next year." She started to cry as she spoke.

When Qin arrived, she saw the old lady leaning over a chair and crying very sadly, and her brother-in-law was kneeling on the ground without saying a word.

"Uncle, what's wrong?" She leaned close to Lu Lingcong and whispered.

Lu Lingcong shook his head wearily. "My mother asked me to divorce my wife."

Qin was shocked. Where did this come from? She didn't know how to start.

Seeing her coming, the old lady raised her hand and pointed at her youngest son, "Please help me persuade her. Even if Zhang was a good person in the past, now that she has offended the crown prince, we can no longer keep her in our house."

Qin immediately understood. To be honest, the recent rumors in Kyoto were really chaotic, and some of them even scared her. But how could such unfounded rumors be taken seriously? The government had to rely on solid evidence. Divorcing his wife based on a few true and false rumors would be a joke if it got out.

"Old lady, it's just a few words, how can you take them seriously?" Qin advised tactfully.

The old lady's anger subsided a little, and she regained some of her rationality. "Then tell me, where is she now? My son is a third-rank official in the court. How dare ordinary bandits rob her?"

"This..." Qin thought to herself, didn't the doctor say that she was becoming more and more confused? "It's hard to say. There are always some people who are short-sighted, don't you think, brother-in-law?" She winked at Lu Lingcong.

"Sister-in-law is right. This is a matter concerning the Crown Prince, and the court has not yet reached a conclusion. It's better for us not to make any rash comments." Lu Lingcong also tried to persuade her. Seeing that the old lady had stopped crying, she was still worried, but she did not mention the idea of divorcing her.

The two of them took the opportunity to take their leave. After leaving Yannian Courtyard, Lu Lingcong solemnly bowed to Qin and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law." Returning to the courtyard, he looked at the gloomy sky above his head and sighed deeply, fearing that the rumors in the capital were probably true.

Xuemei, what on earth did you do? Lu Lingcong was so worried that he couldn't sleep all night.

The turbulent events at court hadn't affected the Hot Spring Villa. Today was New Year's Eve, and Lu Yun and Dashou were pasting blessing characters and couplets all over the villa. Nanny Guizhi and Caihe were handing them paste and brushes. Zhou Boli and Liuzi were in charge of carrying the couplets and hanging lanterns.

Taoist Master Qingxu followed slowly behind, giving instructions from time to time: "This is too high." "That is too low." Several people worked hard for a whole morning and finally finished pasting the couplets before lunch.

The lunch was a sumptuous affair, with a jar of white wine and a jar of red wine. Taoist Qingxu and Zhou Boli drank cup after cup, while Liuzi and Caihe smiled and said auspicious words. Madam Guizhi cooked a lot of meat for Dashou, her eyes full of love.