The Cold King Demands Love and Pleasure

Xia Tongsheng gently pushed him away, "Go!"

Watching Min Youan's departing figure, Xia Tongsheng said goodbye to Yingling and went to Yanxiang.

Upon arriving at Yanxiang, Xia Tongsheng said to San'er, "Go and call Ji Shuihan and Mo Chen over. Tell them I need to speak with them."

"Yes!"

Not long after, Ji Shuihan and Mo Chen appeared in Xia Tongsheng's room.

"Shui Han, go and investigate whether anyone is behind the scenes instructing the Imperial Observatory to spread the news that the prince and the emperor are incompatible."

"Yes!"

Just as Ji Shuihan was about to leave, Xia Tongsheng called out to her, "Wait, while you're at it, investigate why the emperor vomited blood. I have a feeling something's not right about this."

"Okay, I'll have someone check it out right away."

Xia Tongsheng nodded. "Be careful while you're investigating. Also, I'd like to talk to Mo Chen alone. You can go out now."

Ji Shuihan glanced at Mo Chen, nodded, and left the room.

Only Mo Chen and Xia Tongsheng remained in the room. Xia Tongsheng looked at Mo Chen and asked softly, "Did Nan Leci ask you to do this?"

“It wasn’t us. Our mission in Beimin is to protect you, and we haven’t heard of Lord Nanle making any moves in Beimin recently.”

"That's good, otherwise I was worried that Ji Shuihan would find out your identity."

"do not worry."

Xia Tongsheng glanced at the time. "Alright, since you didn't do it, I'm relieved. I'll head back now."

"I send you!"

"it is good."

Mo Chen escorted Xia Tongsheng to the entrance of the Prince's Mansion and then did not go any further inside.

When Xia Tongsheng returned to the Prince's Mansion, Min Youan had not yet returned, and she knew that Min Youan might not come back today.

At this time in the palace, the Empress summoned Min Zhifu to her palace late at night to discuss matters, "How is that matter going?"

"Don't worry, everything is proceeding as planned. I have already spread the news that the Emperor and Prince An are incompatible, and I have also rallied many ministers to submit petitions. I think there will be quite a few people in the court tomorrow morning who will petition the Emperor to confine Prince An to his residence."

The Empress nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, and you must be careful about the poisoning. Don't let the Emperor discover anything, or not only you, but your ninth brother will also be implicated. None of us will escape."

Min Zhifu looked at the Empress with a cold expression and slowly said, "Mother, do you intend to leave the throne to Ninth Brother?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I have said that this throne is for you. Only when you become emperor will my secret be safe from being discovered."

Although this statement was correct, Min Youan still felt something was off. "But why did you say that the song and dance performance I prepared was prepared by Ninth Brother at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet tonight?"

"I was just afraid that the Emperor was still angry with you, so I didn't dare to mention you in front of him," the Empress said, seemingly trying to reassure him. Her tone was no longer as cold as before. "Now that your ninth brother is favored, that means that my son and I are favored. As long as we can live peacefully until the day your Emperor passes away, that's enough."

"Don't worry, I'll live until then."

Min Zhifu is now being extra careful in everything he does. He has to protect himself. At this point, if anything goes wrong, wouldn't he be doing all the work for someone else for nothing?

"Alright, if there's nothing else, you can go now. I'm going to sleep."

"Yes!"

As Min Zhifu was leaving the palace, he bumped into Min Rongfan, who was about to enter the palace to find the Empress.

Min Rongfan immediately put on a smile and acted like a child, "Second brother, you're here too. Did you also come to Mother's place to find something to eat because you didn't get to eat mooncakes at the banquet?"

Min Zhifu nodded quickly, "Yes, we just finished eating and were about to go back!"

"Mother is really not being fair. She only let you eat mooncakes by yourself and didn't even invite me to eat with her."

Seeing how carefree he was, Min Zhifu found it irritating and made an excuse to leave, saying, "Second brother has something to do, you go in first."

After Min Zhifu finished speaking, he left, and Min Rongfan then regained his serious expression.

Although the two share the same mother, Min Rongfan still harbors suspicion towards Min Zhifu.

Upon arriving at the palace, the Empress saw Min Rongfan, her eyes filled with maternal affection. "Rong'er, what brings you here?"

"I was thinking of asking Mother for some food. I wonder if Mother would be willing?"

"Of course I'm willing, I'll give you anything," the Empress said, and quickly called over a servant, "Someone, send some mooncakes to the Ninth Prince."

The Empress led Min Rongfan to the courtyard, where the mother and son leisurely admired the moon together. "Look, the moon is so bright tonight."

"Yes, it's not just bright, it's also a bit dark red."

The Empress examined it closely and said, "It is somewhat red."

"On the contrary, I think this blood moon looks like Father's bloodstains."

Although Min Rongfan's tone was neither light nor light, it struck the Empress's heart like a heavy hammer: "What do you mean?"

"Your Majesty should understand what I mean!"

The Empress stared at the tall Min Rongfan in front of her, "Son, you've grown up. I can no longer guess what you're thinking."

Thinking of the Empress's hard work and dedication to him over the years, Min Rongfan's expression softened a bit. "Father coughing up blood, is it related to you?"

"How could you think that?"

"Your Majesty, I just find it too coincidental. My second brother has been deposed, and my fifth brother is in dire straits because of the Imperial Observatory's claims. Why do you have to speak well of me in front of Father Emperor at this very moment?"

The Empress felt a pang of bitterness when she saw her son doubting her. "I am your own mother. Is it wrong for me to want your father to notice your excellence?"

"But why do I always have this feeling that my mother knew in advance that my father would vomit blood?"

Min Rongfan never felt that his mother was wrong to praise him in front of his father, but the timing always seemed too coincidental, as if it had been deliberately planned.

"Your father vomited blood because Prince An brought misfortune upon him," the Empress said, rising to her feet. "If your father hadn't vomited blood tonight, would you not have suspected me?"

"That's not what I meant."

The Empress refused to look at him, saying, "It's a festival today, and I don't want to argue with you. You should go back now."

Min Rongfan saw that the Empress was truly angry. He rarely saw his mother lose her temper with him. Perhaps he had misunderstood her and was just overthinking things.

After the Emperor was escorted to his palace, he looked at Cha Mian and asked, "Cha Mian, have you dealt with everything?"

"It's been dealt with, but the eunuchs on duty the other night were very tight-lipped and unwilling to say who their master was."

The emperor had long anticipated this outcome and wasn't particularly surprised. "Cha Mian, look at them. They can even plant spies in my palace. What else can't they do?"