After being exiled for eighteen years, the prince returned to the capital as a veritable immortal.

The grandson of the emperor, how dare you!

They actually dared to provoke Empress Yu Gou at the gate of her palace.

The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince exchanged a glance, speechless with shock.

In the Great Qian Dynasty, there are two people you absolutely must not mess with.

One is the Martial Emperor; if he displeases you even slightly, he will confiscate your entire family and exterminate your ten clans.

The other was Empress Yugou, who was deeply favored by Empress Wu and could blow on the emperor's head every day.

After Emperor Wu entered middle age, he became extremely easily swayed. He believed many things after just a few words.

The Crown Prince case: the sixth prince has the potential to be an emperor... even Empress Wu was convinced by this praise.

After calming himself down, the Third Prince asked:

"What happened? Is nothing serious?"

The middle-aged palace maid replied:

"He slapped the face of the Empress's personal maid until it was swollen, and threw more than a dozen eunuchs several meters away..."

"Fortunately, no one was killed, there's still time to recover," the Fifth Prince said thankfully.

"The Empress's chief eunuch, An Dehai, died on the spot."

"Wow!" the two princes blurted out.

They dared to kill the Empress's chief eunuch.

The feud with the Empress is now irreconcilable.

Don't say that the Empress, as the mother of the nation, is arrogant and haughty.

Even if it's just the two of them, if anyone dares to kill their palace steward, they will absolutely fight to the death.

After announcing the news, the palace maid bowed and withdrew.

The third and fifth princes stood in the pavilion, speechless for a long time.

Zhu Family Fortress, Embroidered Uniform Guard, Empress Jade Hook...

Aside from the Martial Emperor, these are the three strongest forces in the Great Qian Dynasty.

The imperial grandson Si has offended them all at once, and they are all irreconcilable enemies.

After a long silence, the Fifth Prince seemed to be talking to himself:

"Third Brother, do you think Zhou Yi is fearless? How could he dare..."

He always thought he was brave enough, but there were three things he would never dare to do.

The third prince also had some self-doubt.

To succeed to the throne, one must do what others dare not do and act in ways that others dare not attempt.

He previously admitted that he had done some "outrageous" things.

Compared to the grandson of the emperor's work, it is like a firefly compared to the bright moon.

The Grandson of the Emperor acted recklessly, fighting and killing without regard for the consequences.

Thinking of the Crown Prince's entire family being wiped out, the Third Prince seemed to have grasped the root of the problem and couldn't help but sigh:

"Your Highness, you've been blinded by family hatred and want to perish together with your enemy."

The only explanation that makes sense is that it's like throwing an egg against a rock, resulting in both jade and stone burning.

"What my nephew did really got my blood pumping."

A hint of sadness, mixed with a trace of expectation, rose on the Fifth Prince's face as he sighed:

"Deep down, I really want to fight alongside him and have a good time."

The Third Prince nodded, his expression mirroring the same longing look, and said:

"That's right, he did what you wanted to do but didn't dare to do."

“Yes, he did what we wanted to do but dared not do.” The Fifth Prince finally found the root of his inner turmoil.

The third prince remained silent, but he too sighed inwardly.

Kill the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and beat up the Empress's arrogant servants...

He certainly wanted that too.

Who in the world wouldn't want that?

However, only the grandson of the emperor accomplished this.

After a long time.

The Fifth Prince asked:

"Third Brother, shall we still go to Yaomu Palace...?"

"Don't go."

The Fifth Prince pointed and said, "Empress Yu Gou has arrived."

……

Empress Yu Gou, with her head held high, entered the back garden surrounded by eunuchs and palace maids, heading towards the Hundred Flowers Pavilion where the banquet was to be held.

Not far behind her.

A prince dressed in a python robe, accompanied by a female official with an outrageously hot figure, strolled in leisurely, admiring the empress's beautiful back view.

Upon seeing the two princes, he rushed over with a beaming smile and bowed to the fifth prince:

"Oh, Prince Chang, Third Brother, you two are also admiring the Empress's beautiful figure."

Towards the end, he lowered his voice and said, "Tsk tsk, really awesome!"

This fourth prince, Zhou Li, has nothing but women on his mind.

"King Li should be careful with his words."

The Fifth Prince disliked such jokes. Looking at the voluptuous female official behind the other man, he teased:

"Fourth Brother, you've changed the prime minister again? The last time I saw him, he had a baby face."

The fourth prince slapped the female official Qiaodianyue and said with a wicked smile:

"The young man did not know how good his elder sister was, and mistakenly regarded the young girl as a treasure."

The third prince held his forehead, looking as if he wanted to strangle him.

He was born to the same mother as the fourth prince, and their relationship was slightly closer than that of the other princes.

"Fourth brother, if you have nothing to do, go back to your Prince Li's mansion and play with your birds."

"Hey, Third Brother, I've rushed here because I have some important military news to share with you."

"..."

The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince looked incredulous.

Major military intelligence?

Could it be that the capital has personally selected a new set of four great courtesans?

"What are you looking at?"

The fourth prince grew anxious. "I really have important news."

"The first one was the only son of the Crown Prince who escaped the net. He killed two Embroidered Uniform Guards as soon as he entered the city."

"That guy was so cool. The whole city worshipped him."

"Standing arrogantly on the carriage shaft, he made a boastful statement:"

“That, ‘The murderer, the man who lies across the land, whether he lies across the land or the land…’”

The Fifth Prince: "He who kills will be killed by others!"

"Yes, yes, that's it..."

The fourth prince suddenly stopped talking and said, "Oh, you two knew?"

"And there's something even more exciting."

"You know Feng Ji, right?"

"It was the old man who stole the imperial grandson from the Crown Prince's residence, threw him into the prison, and then got rid of him..."

The Third Prince interrupted him directly: "Kill Su Wen."

"You know that too?" The fourth prince chuckled awkwardly and continued.

"There's another thing, something you wouldn't even dare to imagine."

"I have to keep my voice down when I say this: Her Majesty the Empress's father-in-law was beaten to death..."

What the hell is this? The Empress's father-in-law?

The fourth prince spoke without thinking, and the third prince immediately stopped him:

"Fourth Prince, shut up! Go back...go back and talk to Mother."

"That won't do." The Fourth Prince insisted, "The Imperial Grandson Si will be here soon. I'll be waiting to see how he dies."

The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince exchanged a glance, feeling it was necessary to reach a consensus on the Fourth Prince's position.

Although this guy isn't very reliable, he is, after all, the Empress's own son.

Speaking out is not entirely without effect.

The Third Prince said:

"Fourth son, the grandson of the emperor, could be our nephew."

"Lady Yu Gou is still our Empress Dowager," the Fourth Prince protested.

The Fifth Prince chimed in, saying, "Fourth Brother, we must do our best to help the Imperial Grandson escape punishment."

"After all, there are only a few of my father's bloodline left."

"Third brother, fourth brother is right."

The fourth prince nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

"Mother, you can have as much as you want."

……

Surrounded by palace maids and eunuchs.

Empress Jade Hook arrived at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

Eunuchs, palace maids, and officers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard... came in an endless stream, with plates of delicious food laid out.

The imperial palace's treasured fine wines, stored for many years, were laid out on the table, suggesting that everyone could drink as much as they wanted.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

Everyone bowed and paid their respects to Empress Yu Gou.

A young eunuch said, "Chief Eunuch Jiang was delayed by some business and asked me to apologize on his behalf. Please wait a moment, Your Highness."

Empress Yugou's face darkened, and her hands unconsciously clenched.

Jiang Chong, that eunuch, hadn't even arrived yet.

She, an empress, arrived much earlier than expected.

To make outsiders see how eager she was to celebrate the birthday of a servant?

In previous years, Jiang Chong would have already arrived and been sitting in the pavilion by this time.

These imperial concubines, under the guise of strolling through the back garden, came over to offer their blessings and congratulations.

In this way, Jiang Chong was given face without losing face himself.

Today, Jiang Chong actually made her wait here.

Moreover, I left a message.

If there's no message, she can simply leave and come back later.

If we leave now, it would mean we're not taking Jiang Chong's words seriously.

Not to mention that Jiang Chong held absolute power in the harem, and anyone who offended him would definitely not have a good ending.

Now is the crucial moment for deciding the heir apparent, and Jiang Chong's influence on Empress Wu's will should not be underestimated.

I'm caught in a dilemma.

Empress Yugou turned her gaze to the side corner.

There, a guard with two embroidered stripes on his shoulders was secretly drinking alone.

The two cloud patterns represent that he is the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a fifth-rank official.

His name was Su Wu. Empress Yu Gou recognized him; he was the younger brother of Su Wen, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Empress Jade Hook walked over:

“Commander Su, some officials have caused trouble at the Yaomu Palace in this palace and killed the head eunuch.”

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is in charge of investigating officials. May I ask, Your Majesty, which official is this...?"

"The Imperial Grandson."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will certainly seek justice for you!"