The queen is sober in the world, and she is winning every step of the palace fight.

If Aunt Chu said that the matter was of great importance and it was just an ordinary conflict between concubines, but this matter involved Prince Rui and could not be concealed, she would order Xia He to secretly tell Cao Bin the news.

Cao Bin was racking his brains trying to track down Lin Shui's whereabouts.

The emperor was very dissatisfied with him the last time he tried to investigate the banned drugs. If there was no result this time, would he still be able to serve as the eunuch in front of the emperor?

This news was like a blessing in disguise for him.

Without any clues, it would be difficult to search like a headless fly. But with a direction for investigation, Cao Bin immediately led his men to check the entrance guard of the Palace Administration Office and several palace gates of the Inner and Outer Palaces to see how Linshui got out.

He also informed the Huben Guards who were responsible for espionage and quietly rushed to Prince Rui's palace.

There have been spies from the Tiger Guards in Prince Rui's Palace for a long time.

After accepting the mission, they worked together inside and outside, and soon found out that there was a secret compartment and passage in the outer study of Prince Rui's Mansion.

Someone had indeed entered the study recently and hadn't left since. Even the Prince Rui's confidants serving in the outer study didn't know who this person was. The food and snacks delivered to the study were twice as much as usual.

The Huben Guards secretly kidnapped a close confidant of Prince Rui and asked him to describe the man's appearance, and obtained a portrait of his back and side profile.

It was the palace maid Lin Shui who was wearing men's clothes.

"To avoid alerting the enemy, the spies have not entered the secret passage, but they have determined the method to open it. As long as there is a warrant, they can enter and arrest them at any time."

"Prince Rui has been away from home quite a bit lately, often going to restaurants and brothels for entertainment. After returning home, he hasn't been hanging out in the backyard with his concubines or feasting with guests like he used to. Instead, he's been spending a lot of time in his study. I heard he was composing poetry with a few of his husbands, but even Princess Rui wasn't allowed into the study to disturb them. The princess even thought the prince had a new lover and was hiding in the study to favor her, so she caused a scene. I heard she had a miscarriage and has been lying in bed since yesterday to nurse the baby..."

"Also, I have discovered that those who helped Linshui escape the palace were secretly accepting money from the Rui Palace. I have already dealt with them all."

Cao Bin reported carefully.

The emperor stood with his hands behind his back, listening silently.

After finishing the report, he sneered softly.

He walked out of the warm room, went to the small study room inside, and picked up a secret letter on the table.

A memorial from Jiangnan.

It contained the inside story of how people in the disaster-stricken area of ​​Jiangnan burned down government offices and issued manifestos of rebellion.

The investigators sent to Jiangnan were ostensibly imperial envoys, but secretly they also had a team of elite Tiger Guards.

The Huben Guards found out that the rebellious group of disaster victims were ostensibly caused by problems with the local work-for-relief program. Officials forced the people to do hard labor, and in order to meet deadlines, some people were exhausted or beaten to death. They also withheld money and food, acted arrogantly and oppressively, and instigated civil unrest.

But secretly, some of the leaders of that group of disaster victims fanned the flames, adding fuel to the fire and escalating the situation.

The carrier pigeons they secretly sent out were shot dead by the Tiger Guards.

The obtained letters were also delivered to the emperor along with the secret memorial.

"...Your Majesty, rest assured. Everything is safe and secure here. The surrounding areas of Liaozhen, Heqi Prefecture, Tongjia Prefecture, Sihuai Prefecture, and others are also planning an uprising. They will soon launch an uprising and support each other. By then, the conflagration will have spread across the land, and half of this great cause will have been accomplished... I only hope that Your Majesty will be safe and sound, and that you will soon sit facing south..."

The letter actually said that civil unrest would occur not only in the local area, but also in other surrounding states.

"A great event throughout the ages", what a great event!

“Sitting facing south”, what does that mean?

The emperor's hand, holding the secret memorial, trembled slightly with anger.

The golden ring on the pigeon's foot is engraved with the pattern of the Jade Rabbit.

It was a painting Prince Rui had drawn as a child, a replica of his mother's Ten Spring Scenes. Layers of jasmine blossoms cascaded, and snow rabbits frolicked beneath them. The late Emperor had often praised the elegant atmosphere of Prince Rui's mother's palace.

Prince Rui is so arrogant and rebellious.

The carrier pigeons used for rebellion actually dared to blatantly use the patterns he liked.

He is not afraid of being discovered at all!

Or……

He is very confident of winning.

Ha ha!

The emperor folded the secret memorial and the secret letter one by one and put them back neatly.

When he turned around, he had regained his composure.

With a smile on his face, he ordered, "Cao Bin, tell Zhang Lin, the commander of the Tiger Guard, to come to the palace to meet the emperor in an hour."

"Yes."

Cao Bin thought about it, and finally mustered up the courage to ask, "Your Majesty, does the interrogation at the Palace Administration Office... have to continue?"

The emperor raised an eyebrow and looked at him: "What do you think?"

……

"Your Majesty, you've been looking at me for a long time. Could you please rest your eyes for a moment?"

Ciyun Palace.

That night, Nanny Shixiang entered the inner hall and saw the empress dowager still reading under the lamp, so she comforted her softly.

"No problem, I don't feel any pain in my eyes." Without even looking up, the Queen Mother turned another page and jokingly said to herself, "If I don't read a few more pages while my eyes are still bright, in a few years when I can't see clearly anymore, I'll have read all the books in my life."

Nanny Shixiang smiled and said, "The Empress Dowager has read books all her life, yet her eyes are still very good. This is as the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says: 'Sufficient kidney qi leads to bright eyes and strong teeth.' I'm sure you'll be the same in ten or a hundred years. I'm sorry for being so talkative."

Placing a plate of pastries on the table, she lit another lamp and moved it over to increase the brightness.

The Queen Mother then raised her eyes and said with a smile, "Ten years, a hundred years? I'd be forgiven if I could live another three to five years. These eyes, though fine for reading, are terrible at seeing people. If I had known the Emperor was so cruel and ungrateful like a wolf cub, I shouldn't have supported him. They say the heir should be the heir, or if there's no heir, the eldest son, but that's not necessary. He's a few years older than Prince Rui, but he's nowhere near as honest and kind. Earlier, I should have pushed Prince Rui forward, even at the cost of some effort."

Nanny Shixiang looked terrified and lowered her head, not daring to say a word.

The Queen Mother looked at her and smiled.

"Tohka, it's just you and me here. We've been together for so many years, what's there to be afraid of? Others talk about the succession of the crown prince with great secrecy, but for us, it's just a journey we took in the past. Now that times have changed, it's no big deal to talk about it."

Shixiang hesitated, raised her eyes, glanced at the Queen Mother's face and smiled awkwardly: "It is because of my cowardice that I have disappointed the Queen Mother. I deserve to die for not being able to entertain the Queen Mother..."

The Queen Mother sighed.

He smiled helplessly and said, "It can't be helped. There were so many people around me back then, but in the end, only you are left. If Shanhu were still here, it would be so nice if you two could accompany me together."

Shixiang said ashamedly, "I am an old servant who is dull and ignorant of poetry and literature. I am far inferior to Sister Shanhu. Sometimes I still dream of her, dreaming of the happy days when we were young. Unfortunately, she was in poor health and could not survive the serious illness. She passed away too early."

It’s not that he died early because he was seriously ill.

Coral's illness came in a strange way, and her death was also strange.

The Queen Mother, who was still the Empress at the time, was furious with the imperial physicians for not doing their best.

After all, Coral knew too many of her master's secrets, so she had to die.

The corals that Tohka saw in her dreams all looked like ghosts, crying and saying that they died unjustly.

"Where did these snacks come from? They are so exquisite." The Queen Mother suddenly noticed the plate on the table.

Shixiang quickly collected her thoughts and said, "It was secretly sent by Concubine Zheng. She made it herself and said it has both sweet and meat fillings. She was worried that the Queen Mother hadn't been eating well recently, so she made this especially for you to replenish her body."

The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows.

He put the book down, took the handkerchief handed to him by Tohka, wiped his hands, picked up a lotus-shaped mung bean cake, put it to his nose and smelled it.

"Qingxiang, she's thoughtful. But, with all the security around here, how did she manage to deliver the snacks?"