The substitute prince: Reported the emperor's brother at the beginning

The Minister of Works, Zhao Yinghong, not only collected some money, but also secretly bought a large courtyard and kept two prostitutes outside.

There are no other major disadvantages. Even if these are reported, they will just be thrown away like garbage by the Martial Emperor. There is also a high possibility that his own intelligence system will be exposed.

It's really hard to catch Zhao Yinghong's weakness.

Ning Yi frowned, looking dissatisfied. The shopkeeper looked at him quietly and said with a bow, "Your Highness, are you going to deal with Zhao Yinghong?"

Ning Yi glanced at him calmly: "Just do your own thing and don't ask too many questions."

"I know I'm wrong." The shopkeeper knelt down quickly, very humbly.

Although he looks cautious now, Ning Yi knows that this old guy is very cruel and ruthless in front of outsiders.

But with someone like this, things go very smoothly.

The shopkeeper stood up and said, "Your Highness, although Zhao Yinghong doesn't have any major problems, his son Zhao Jianwen has a long history of bad deeds."

"Oh?" Ning Yi became interested: "Is there any record?"

"Of course there is." The shopkeeper said confidently, "Your Highness, please wait a moment."

The shopkeeper placed it in front of Ning Yi as if it were a treasure, full of confidence.

He could naturally see that His Highness wanted to cause trouble for Zhao Yinghong. As the head of intelligence, he naturally had to help his master solve the problem.

Ning Yi flipped it open and saw that Zhao Jianwen was indeed quite arrogant and domineering, capable of all kinds of evil. Fighting was not his worst offense. He also raped women and beat people to death in the streets.

He smiled happily and said, "In this case, this prince is very satisfied."

"Where does Zhao Jianwen often go?"

The shopkeeper immediately replied, "He often goes to the best restaurant in the capital, Wangyue Tower."

"It's just that Your Highness..." The shopkeeper explained hesitantly, "This Wangyue Tower is a restaurant on the surface, but it also operates as a brothel."

This is quite normal in the capital. Many big restaurants have brothels inside, but they also operate as restaurants on the surface.

Ning Yi closed the notebook and stopped talking about Zhao Jianwen.

He also began to report an important news: "Your Highness, this old servant has some important news from the palace."

"Huh? What news?" Ning Yi asked in confusion.

The shopkeeper looked at Qin Haifeng behind him with concern.

Ning Yi understood: "Haifeng, go and keep an eye on the door."

Qin Haifeng didn't dare to believe all the things he heard. After all, many of them concerned his life and property.

Qin Haifeng looked at the shopkeeper and left tactfully. He also knew that if His Highness didn't want him to know, he shouldn't ask about it.

After the shopkeeper and the others left and closed the door again, he whispered, "Your Highness, there's news from the palace that the Emperor vomited blood last night."

"Hmm?" Ning Yi frowned, "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely true," the shopkeeper assured. "This information was relayed by a palace maid who, after much effort, had infiltrated the Emperor's entourage."

This matter was no small matter, but Ning Yi was still worried: "Is the palace maid okay?"

"Of course, no problem." The shopkeeper explained, "We have her parents under control, and we've promised that as long as she behaves, we'll let her out of the palace and give her and her parents a large sum of money. She's also passed on some other news about the Emperor before, such as what he was doing at a certain time."

"If she doesn't obey, she will be beaten to death, and her parents will also die."

Ning Yi nodded in satisfaction: "So, the emperor's condition has worsened."

The shopkeeper reported in a low voice, "Last night, the best imperial physician was sent to the palace to examine the patient. He only said that the patient needed to be properly treated, but he didn't say anything else. However, the emperor ordered everyone to keep the news secret and ordered the imperial physician to stay in the palace permanently and not go out."

Ning Yi understood that this was a plan made by Emperor Wu to block the news.

I'm worried that some people will get anxious and act recklessly at this time.

No wonder Emperor Wu recalled all the Jiangdong Imperial Guards, even those from Jiangdong.

Fortunately, Gao Qingshui had been in good shape for some time and was protected by thousands of local guards. He also knew that he had offended many local powerful families. If he did not have the protection of the army, he would probably be assassinated by many people.

At that time, even if the imperial court sent people to investigate, they would simply blame it on the rebels, and the matter would end up in nothing.

Ning Yi nodded: "This matter is indeed of vital importance. Others may not know about it yet, right?"

No wonder the shopkeeper had to call Qin Haifeng out. After all, the fewer people who knew about this kind of thing, the better.

The shopkeeper shook his head slightly: "According to the information we have gathered, the Fourth Prince and the Second Prince already know about it."

"What?" Ning Yi was very surprised: "How did they know? Do they have spies in the palace?"

The commander of the Imperial Guards has been replaced. Is the Fourth Prince so bold that he can't change his bad habits and is going to randomly place people around Emperor Wu again?

The shopkeeper said, "The Fourth Prince was notified by the Concubine Xian. Our spies close to the Concubine Xian have also provided information that the Concubine Xian has spies close to the Emperor Wu."

Ning Yi was speechless. With spies planted everywhere, the walls in the palace were almost leaky.

This is only what they know. Who knows how many people may have spies who don’t know. Maybe many ministers and princes and nobles know about it.

The old man Wu Huang still thinks that the news should be blocked so that outsiders don’t know. I guess people outside are talking about it everywhere.

Once the Fourth Prince knows about it, the Prime Minister, who is in the same boat with him, will definitely know about it as well.

"The fourth child has a powerful mother and is lucky, but how did the second child know this?"

"Did his mother also pass on the news?"

"That's not the case," the shopkeeper explained. "According to the information sent by our spies around the Queen, the Queen and Emperor Wu don't have a close relationship. She hasn't seen Emperor Wu for many days, and the Second Prince rarely comes to the palace to pay her respects."

Ning Yi naturally knew that even though the second prince was born to the queen and was named the crown prince, the relationship between mother and son was actually average.

Of course, the Queen had no worries at all about being buried alive with Emperor Wu.

As the legitimate queen, no matter which prince ascends the throne, she will be the queen mother, because she is the legitimate queen, not the imperial concubine.

Except for Emperor Wu, anyone in the palace who sees her has to bow to her. Being the mother of the country is not just talk.

The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "Your Highness, you may not know that the one who delivered the message to the Second Prince was Eunuch Zhao, who is beside Emperor Wu."

"Eunuch Zhao?" This time, Ning Yi finally showed a stunned and shocked expression.

"So, Eunuch Zhao has actually defected to the Crown Prince."

"How did you find out?" Ning Yi asked immediately.

The shopkeeper explained with a smile, "It was the spy we arranged in the East Palace who passed on the news. There are always young eunuchs in the palace who go to the East Palace to deliver news."

"And the young eunuch who was assigned to go was traced back to Eunuch Zhao by us."

Ning Yi was indeed very shocked. This eunuch Zhao was so bold.

He is the most trusted eunuch around Emperor Wu, no doubt about it.

Emperor Wu arranged for him to do many things. If Eunuch Zhao secretly defected to the prince, would there be anyone loyal and reliable around Emperor Wu?

How ironic and sad this is.