The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

"My son, don't say anything more." Empress Feng gave the second prince a look, and then knelt on the ground. "Your Majesty, Feng Yu has always been close to me, but I did not realize beforehand that he had such wolfish ambitions. I am guilty and beg Your Majesty to punish me."

"Mother..." The Second Prince didn't understand what was going on and wanted to ask more, but remembering the warning Empress Feng had just given, he immediately shut his mouth. However, he saw Empress Feng kneeling on the ground with her brows furrowed, unable to relax.

A cold glint appeared in Emperor Mingde's eyes as his gaze shifted between Empress Feng and Feng Yu, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth suggesting a mocking tone.

"Empress, I will naturally investigate your crimes, but right now, it is this villain!" Emperor Mingde said coldly.

All eyes were on Feng Yu, who panicked even more. "Your Majesty, believe me, this dragon robe has nothing to do with me. This is..."

Emperor Mingde's eyes flickered, as if he knew what he was going to say, and the sarcasm in his eyes grew even stronger. "I am tired. That's enough for tonight. Guards, take Feng Yu to prison. I will make a decision another day!"

"emperor……"

Feng Yu wanted to continue his explanation, but Emperor Mingde waved his hand and then gently rubbed his forehead. Eunuch Qin immediately ordered the guards waiting outside the Imperial Study to take Feng Yu away.

"The dragon robe is not mine, no, Your Majesty, please listen to me..." Feng Yu shouted, even forgetting the proper self-address he should have used in front of Emperor Mingde. However, his shouts were completely ignored by everyone else.

As Feng Yu's voice gradually faded away, the atmosphere in the Imperial Study remained frighteningly gloomy. No one dared to speak first unless Emperor Mingde spoke.

Bai Yi looked at Emperor Mingde, his brow furrowing. Just now, his father could have easily ordered Feng Yu's execution, so why did he postpone it? If his guess was correct, his father clearly intended to take advantage of the situation to kill Feng Yu, but…

"Your Majesty, this matter concerning the dragon robe involves the Feng family. In my opinion, it would be best to let Old Master Feng know about this. How about this, Eunuch Qin, draft an imperial edict to invite Old Master Feng to the capital," Emperor Mingde said in a deep voice.

Empress Feng bit her lip, unable to fathom Emperor Tide's true intentions.

But Bai Yi saw it, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes. His previous speculation about Emperor Mingde had completely disappeared. It seemed that the Feng family was going to have a good show to watch this time!

Emperor Mingde dismissed everyone, and Bai Yi and An Mi also left the palace. In the carriage, Bai Yi and An Mi sat facing each other. Bai Yi, recalling the meaning he had just understood from Emperor Mingde, glanced at An Mi and said, "Don't worry, this time, Feng Yu can't escape death, but..."

“However, His Majesty doesn’t want to do it himself, but rather wants to use someone else to do the dirty work!” An Mi interjected, meeting Bai Yi’s eyes with a delighted smile.

Bai Yi was taken aback for a moment before a smile appeared on his face. His gaze towards An Mi softened and became more affectionate. "So you understood everything. Hehe, yes, you're so smart, how could you not understand?"

An Mi slightly lowered her brows, concealing the glint of shrewdness in her eyes. "I didn't expect that His Majesty already harbored resentment towards the Feng family."

Just now, after his anger subsided, Emperor Mingde did not delve too deeply into the matter and immediately concluded that the dragon robe was related to the Feng family. Perhaps Emperor Mingde hoped to use the dragon robe to dismantle the entire Feng family. However, the Feng family's power was deeply entrenched, and if one wrong step was taken, it could force the Feng family to rebel, which was clearly not what Emperor Mingde wanted to see. Therefore, since he could not dismantle the Feng family, he would let Feng Yu bear all the blame.

Feng Yu alone wouldn't cause the entire Feng family to make any major moves. If they guessed correctly, Emperor Mingde wanted to force Old Master Feng to personally take Feng Yu's life, which would undoubtedly be extremely beneficial to Emperor Mingde.

An Mi's lips curled into a smile. Her goal was to kill Feng Yu. She didn't care how he died. However, she felt that if the Feng family intervened, wouldn't that be even more ironic for Feng Yu?

As for Yi Zhuxuan... Thinking of this person, An Mi's eyes narrowed. It was time for her to go and see her!

Meanwhile, Empress Feng returned to her palace, but she couldn't calm down at all. The Second Prince had been accompanying Empress Feng, but she impatiently sent him back. In her room, Empress Feng bit her lip tightly, her brows furrowed, and she couldn't shake off the anxiety in her heart.

"Damn it!" Empress Feng cursed under her breath. Feng Yu was probably in grave danger this time. What was the Emperor planning this time, summoning her father to the capital?

Empress Feng thought about this matter almost all night, but she couldn't figure it out. The next day, Eunuch Qin issued an edict in accordance with Emperor Mingde's wishes, summoning the patriarch of the Feng family to the capital.

The news of General Feng Yu's imprisonment spread quickly, but no one knew why he was imprisoned. Many people in the court were surprised and secretly speculated about the reasons. When they realized that Empress Feng, who usually valued Feng Yu the most, had not made any move after Feng Yu's imprisonment, she instead kept the palace gates closed and ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist prayers in her palace.

At this critical juncture, many shrewd people chose to get closer to the eldest prince.

Regardless of the final outcome of Feng Yu's imprisonment, they all understood that at this time, getting close to the eldest prince was the wisest move.

Several days passed, and An Mi remained at the Bohai Prince's residence without making any moves. However, on this day, when An Mi called Liu Guang into her room, Liu Guang immediately understood that her mistress wanted to see Yi Zhuxuan...

Feng Yu was imprisoned in the imperial prison, while Yi Zhuxuan was imprisoned in the Bohai Prince's Mansion.

The room was pitch black, with all the doors and windows tightly shut. Even during the day, it was completely dark inside, so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

This house is located in the most remote part of the Bohai Prince's mansion. A few days ago, the Bohai Prince ordered that no one was allowed to approach this house. A couple of days ago, there were sounds of a woman shouting and things being smashed coming from inside the house. But as time went by, the sounds gradually subsided. In the last two days, the house has become quiet and there has been no movement at all, making people wonder if there is still someone in the house.

But no one saw anyone come out of the house. The servants even speculated that the people inside might have died long ago, since no one had brought any food into the house in recent days.

Night enveloped the entire Bohai Prince's Mansion, and this room, far from the living quarters, exuded an even more eerie atmosphere in this secluded place.

Suddenly, a creak broke the eerie silence. The door to the house was opened from the outside, and moonlight streamed in, faintly illuminating the previously pitch-black room. One could vaguely see a person lying on the cold ground.

The man seemed to hear a sound, and with difficulty raised his head. When he saw the person standing at the door, he opened his mouth as if he had seen a ghost, but he seemed to have no strength to utter a single word.