Noble Lady

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Xue Houlian knelt down again.

"Xue Hejun made this grave mistake and deserves death, but he still has value at the moment."

"I can only speculate based on the documents I've obtained that there may be an army hiding in Lingnan, but I still don't know who is supporting this army, its specific location, or how many troops it has."

"If we can find out from Xue Hejun the time of their transaction and how they communicated, we can use this opportunity to track down the whereabouts of that army."

His Majesty pondered for a moment, "Marquis Xue is indeed a loyal minister and a capable general. Even if he is your own brother, would you be willing to let him go?"

"Your Majesty, I may be dull, but I can still distinguish right from wrong."

"Xue Hejun has disregarded the laws of the country and committed such treason. I dare not shield him! I absolutely cannot shield him! Otherwise, I would be gambling with the lives of my entire family."

His Majesty nodded. "You and I are brothers, there's no need to say this. I naturally trust you. But if your old lady knew about this, I'm afraid she wouldn't be willing to reconcile with you."

Apart from the disputes between the monarch and his subjects, and between their beloved women, there is also a friendship born of their youth between them.

"Your Majesty, Xue Hejun's offense is against the law of the land. My mother comes from a scholarly family and knows the seriousness of the matter. If she insists on making trouble with me, I can only send her back to her hometown in Liyang and never see her again."

This is a very bad idea, but considering the old lady's personality, it is indeed a last resort.

"Well, I'll leave this case to you. I've given you a secret decree to act at your own discretion. You can do whatever you need. Just one thing: you must find out the location of that army, who is raising it, how many people it has, and what equipment it has."

Your Majesty just needs to make it clear that once the situation is ascertained, there will be no leniency!

An army like a ghost, no one knows how powerful they are or what they can do.

If you cannot hold such power in your own hands, it would be like having an uncontrollable tiger beside your bed, and you would not be able to rest peacefully day and night.

"I accept the decree!"

After finishing the business, Marquis Xue received the secret order and left.

His Majesty left Prince Cheng alone to talk. "You've been going to the Marquis' Mansion too often lately. You even dared to get involved in something like this, confiscating the property and exterminating the clan."

Prince Cheng bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

His Majesty was so angry that he laughed, "You ran to the Marquis' Mansion, what do you want me to forgive you for?"

"I can see my beloved every day, but Your Majesty cannot. So please forgive me."

Your Majesty: "..." This child is good in every way except that he offends people everywhere with his mouth. Everyone knows how many people he has offended since he was a child.

There's nothing good about growing up in the palace. He knows everything he should and shouldn't know.

Thinking of this, His Majesty recalled the secret that the Queen told him when she invited the Queen Mother to come along.

That secret is too shocking.

Although it is still under investigation and has not been fully confirmed, this child is indeed the one who looks the most like him and the least like him among all the younger generations.

"Your grandmother has something to say to you."

"The Empress Dowager has something to say to me, so why bother Your Majesty to pass it on? I am truly flattered." Situ Zhen seemed quite arrogant because of his favor.

"get out!"

"I will definitely go to the palace early tomorrow to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. I will take my leave."

Prince Cheng bowed and left with a playful smile.

In the huge Qinzheng Hall, only His Majesty and the eunuch Wang Gonggong beside him were left.

"Wang Ren, do you believe that Marquis Xue really knows nothing about what Xue Hejun did?" His Majesty withdrew his gaze from the door, and his joy towards Situ Zhenshi faded a lot.

"Your Majesty said he didn't know, so he didn't know," said Eunuch Wang.

Wang Ren entered the palace at a young age and served His Majesty for many years. He was already a seasoned hand and this kind of question was not difficult for him at all.

"I believe he doesn't know." His Majesty looked at the business documents on the table, frowned for a moment, and then relaxed his brows.

"Marquis Xue is very different from his brother who grew up in luxury. He has been stationed at the border with his father since he was seven or eight years old. He grew up on the battlefield. No one knows the cruelty of war better than him."

"I would believe anyone who wants to rebel, except him."

"This peaceful and prosperous era was won by them, father and son, and countless soldiers who sacrificed their lives. He will not overthrow it with his own hands."

What's more.

Wanqing simply disdains to do such a thing.

If she thought about it, she would have entered the Eastern Palace back then. Even if she was not the queen in the harem now, she would still be second only to the emperor.

Why would she risk her life and death to do such a thing and drag her most beloved children into it?

Eunuch Wang lowered his eyebrows and said, "If your Majesty believes it, I will naturally believe it too."

His Majesty took another look at the documents on the table, then slowly closed his eyes.

His thoughts were in turmoil, and he couldn't help but think of the matter that the Queen had specially invited the Queen Mother to tell him -

"Your Majesty, Prince Cheng, Situ Zhen, is not the true Prince Cheng. He is the child of the late Queen and your Majesty's only legitimate son."

……

"Your Majesty's only legitimate prince..."

In Jinyang Palace, the queen looked at the dark sky outside the window and muttered to herself.

After a long moment, he lowered his head and laughed sarcastically, "Situ Zhen is actually the legitimate son of the late queen. I told Your Majesty this myself, but I don't even want to believe it."

The old lady had clearly known this secret for a long time, but she was reluctant to tell her until the Han family was on the verge of collapse. Only then did she reluctantly give her some alms.

To put it bluntly, she looked down on the prince from the very beginning, just as she looked down on her eldest brother from the very beginning.

At this moment, Aunt Du walked in from outside, "Your Majesty."

The queen glanced at her calmly, "How is the princess?"

"The lights in the princess's room are off, and there is no movement now, but judging from the princess's temper, she probably hasn't rested yet." Nanny Du said.

After saying that, he couldn't help but say worriedly, "The princess only ate half a bowl of millet porridge all day today, and then refused to eat anymore."

"Ever since you, Your Majesty, stopped the princess from going out, she's been like this almost every day. She's lost a lot of weight."

Queen Han pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "What a stubborn fellow! I wonder who he inherited this stubborn temper from."

Nanny Du didn't know what to say. She thought to herself, the princess has such a stubborn temper. Isn't it because she inherited it from her mother, the queen?

"If she refuses to rest, let her be. In two days, we will send her to the Han family and to her grandmother."

Madam Du was stunned. "Why did Her Majesty send the princess to the Han family for no reason?"

All right?

Queen Han couldn't help laughing. She was about to send her daughter away, how could everything be fine?

"You don't have to think too much. Help the princess prepare her things first. I will notify you to send her over when the time comes. You can go down too."

Nanny Du left as instructed.

After staring at the candle for a long time, the queen finally blew out the light.

Now, the physical evidence proving Situ Zhen’s identity is already there, and all that’s missing is the human witnesses.

If his identity could be confirmed, the crown prince's position as crown prince would probably be lost.

but.

The so-called legitimate son born to Concubine Hui and registered under her own name was probably just a disposable chess piece in the eyes of the old lady.

Even for her, the old lady seemed to want to keep her if she was obedient and sensible, but would replace her if she dared to throw a tantrum.

I don't know what is important in her eyes.

……

At this time, the lights were also on in the Han Mansion. The elderly Madam Han had not yet gone to bed. She sent a maid out to check twice before coming back to report that Mother Zhou had returned.

After a while, Mother Zhou came into the room and asked, "Madam, why aren't you resting at this late hour?"

Madam Han waved her hand to let the errand girl leave. "Let's get down to business. Is there any news from Prince Cheng's Mansion?"

Mother Zhou nodded. "Old Madam's guess was correct. You had the Empress personally deliver the news that Prince Cheng was the late Empress's legitimate son to the Empress Dowager and His Majesty. Although those two appeared to be holding back, they were actually investigating every servant in Prince Cheng's mansion."

"However, time is still short, and some servants who were dismissed by Princess Cheng long ago are indeed difficult to find. According to your instructions, Old Madam, I have had someone secretly pass the news to them."

Madam Han nodded.

Back then, the late Queen, Concubine Hui, and Princess Cheng all accidentally ate something cold at a palace banquet and fell ill at the same time.

But at that time, the Queen had a conflict with His Majesty, and Concubine Hui was favored by His Majesty because she was somewhat similar to Madam Xue from the Marquis of Wu'an's Mansion.

Under the circumstances, Princess Cheng had no time to leave the palace, so she was placed in the side hall to give birth.

If not for this, there wouldn’t have been so many mishaps later on.