The pampered heiress holds the script and leads her cannon fodder family to a counterattack.

The Crown Prince is already stuffed with shock today.

He never expected that the Shadow Organization was also created by the Yan family!

The Shadow Organization was controlled by a poisonous curse, and none of them knew who their superior was. The Marquis's residence also failed to confirm that the Yan family was behind it.

[Unfortunately, there's no evidence for this, so we can't directly tell His Majesty that the Shadow Organization was created by the Yan family. Otherwise, we could have brought down the Yan family directly.]

The Crown Prince took a deep breath. Your heart has already told me.

The Crown Prince is already being cuckolded. Yan Yuelan has long been secretly dating and exchanging letters with Xiao Dongqian.

The prince felt a surge of blood rushing to his chest.

This Yan Yuelan is unfaithful! She actually secretly went on a date with Xiao Dongqian behind my back!

The Crown Prince saw Yan Yuelan and Xiao Dongqian exchange a glance, and there was a hint of tenderness in Yan Yuelan's eyes.

Yan Yuelan never looked at him like that.

Of course, although Yan Yuelan always acted very affectionately towards him, she never showed that kind of tenderness.

The Crown Prince did not love Yan Yuelan; he just thought she was suitable.

After all, almost everyone's marriage is arranged by their parents, and this was especially true for him, who was born into the royal family.

However, he has his own ideas about marriage.

He originally planned that after marrying Yan Yuelan, he would not marry any other women, but only one woman, to avoid unrest in the household.

The thought that these two were exchanging flirtatious glances right under his nose was unsettling.

She realized that Yan Yuelan was only using her to pave the way for her future husband.

The crown prince was filled with resentment.

Yan Yuelan and Xiao Dongqian left the table one after the other.

In addition to dining, the Hundred Flowers Banquet also includes flower viewing, with designated areas for free movement.

[Are these two on a date? The prince is definitely being cheated on.]

Xiao Dongqian sent one of his most skilled attendants to whisper a few words to him, instructing him to follow Yan Yuelan quietly without being discovered.

The attendant accepted the order and left.

Qin Wanying also decided to take a stroll in the Imperial Garden.

So he took his fifth brother, Qin Rufeng, with him and they left together.

Qin Rufeng and Qin Wanying are about the same age, and they often play together at the mansion these days.

The air in the Imperial Garden is fresher than elsewhere.

At first glance, the various flowers on both sides of the path are a feast for the eyes.

Is this what royal life is like? The quality is certainly very high!

Qin Wanying and Qin Rufeng were walking and chatting when someone walked towards them.

The man was dressed in official robes, and Qin Wanying and Qin Rufeng had never seen him before, so they stood up and bowed.

The man nodded in return. When he looked at Qin Wanying, his expression was somewhat strange.

And so it passed by by mistake.

Qin Wanying noticed the strange expression on that person's face.

So, he turned around and stared at the person for a few seconds.

Oh, so it's the Imperial Observatory.

The Imperial Observatory holds quite a few secrets.

Qin Rufeng was curious: what secrets did the Imperial Observatory hold?

However, Qin Wanying stopped herself from speaking, and Qin Rufeng didn't dare to ask.

After walking around, Qin Wanying and Qin Rufeng returned home.

The banquet entered its second phase, and the entertainment program began.

The prince's attendants also returned, whispering a few words in the prince's ear, which made the prince's face very ugly.

Those two shameless bastards!

The Crown Prince was not entirely convinced of Qin Wanying's true feelings at first, but after Qin Rufeng was appointed as the Director of Studies of the Imperial Academy and revealed the affair between Xiao Dongqian and Yan Yuelan, the Crown Prince now completely trusts Qin Wanying.

He thought that perhaps the appearance of this woman was a blessing from heaven for his Great Yao, and also a blessing for him, not wanting the Great Yao's kingdom to fall into the hands of evil people, nor wanting him to die such a miserable death.

Qin Wanying watched the program and almost dozed off.

What's so interesting about all this music and dancing? The entertainment options here are so limited!

The crown prince agreed in his heart; he thought so too, wondering what was so interesting about these songs and dances.

A smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

After the singing and dancing, the third part of the banquet began.

"Summon the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to the banquet—"

Qin Wanying still found it strange that she had just seen the Imperial Observatory.

The Hundred Flowers Banquet was mainly for the children of officials, as well as princes and princesses, with the children's fathers primarily serving as attendants.

Logically speaking, the Imperial Observatory should not be located here.

The Empress Dowager spoke up, saying, "Today's banquet is lively, and coincidentally, there were unusual celestial phenomena a few days ago, indicating the prosperity of our Great Yao Kingdom. Therefore, I summoned the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to divine the fate of Great Yao."

Qin Wanying frowned.

She sensed that the Imperial Observatory's visit this time was ill-intentioned.

It was the Empress Dowager who sent him.

The Empress Dowager must have disliked the Marquis's residence for a long time!

Qin Yunzhu's expression was slightly cold.

Previously, he was almost killed by an imperial edict issued by the Empress Dowager.

The Imperial Observatory held a very high position during the reign of Emperor Yao.

From the imperial family to the common people, everyone under Emperor Yao revered the Imperial Observatory as a deity, believing that its director was personally chosen by the gods and that his words carried great weight. The Imperial Observatory was responsible for formulating the calendar, observing celestial phenomena, and divining the fate of the nation.

Although the Director of the Imperial Observatory was only a fourth-rank official, the officials of Emperor Yao were not judged solely on their rank.

The Director of the Imperial Observatory was highly respected among officials. Even if he met a first-rank official, that official would have to bow first before the Director of the Imperial Observatory would return the bow.

When he entered, everyone stood up as a sign of respect.

Even those in the Marquis's household who weren't officials knew a thing or two about the ways of officialdom.

It feels like something big is about to happen.

The Empress Dowager also personally rose to greet them.

The crown prince frowned deeply.

The Emperor leaned close to him and whispered, "Are you aware of this part?"

The Crown Prince replied, "Your subject was unaware of this; it was the Empress Dowager who added it herself."

Having been caught up in the palace intrigue for so many years, how could the Emperor and Crown Prince not see through the shady dealings? The Empress Dowager's actions today are definitely suspicious.

The Emperor said, “Mother, today is the Hundred Flowers Banquet, a day for the officials to feast and make merry. If we were to ask Heaven for a decree today, it would be too unserious. Heaven might think that the Great Yao has no respect and might even be angered. I think we should choose another day to perform divination.”

The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Today's date has also been calculated. It is a once-in-a-century event. Today's divination will make the will of Heaven even more accurate. Emperor, please don't be disappointed."

That's not a pleasant thing to say. The Emperor's face darkened.

The Empress Dowager had always been like this, bossing him around and showing him no respect in public.

However, the emperor could only endure it.

Even the imperial guards in the palace were all the Empress Dowager's men, so the Emperor himself had no soldiers to guard him in the palace.

Qin Wanying had wondered before while reading the book: since even the Imperial Guards were the Empress Dowager's people, why not just force her to abdicate?

I only understood later that it was because of the will of the people.

At this point, forcing the emperor to abdicate and appointing Xiao Dongqian as crown prince would be illegitimate and lack legitimacy.

Moreover, among the troops in the four border regions, there are those loyal to the emperor. If the emperor is imprisoned, they will surely rise up in rebellion.

There are also ministers in the court who support the emperor, and if a coup is forced, those ministers will certainly not give up.

Moreover, the Crown Prince is benevolent and has an excellent reputation among the people.

If Xiao Dongqian is to be made crown prince, then he needs to be the popular choice.

Even if troops from all four borders come to the rescue, they will be seen as having gone against the will of the people, and can be labeled as traitors.

What they need to do next is to win Xiao Dongqian the hearts of the people.

The Emperor looked at the Empress Dowager with displeasure, but he could only suppress his anger.

The Empress Dowager is determined to do what she wants today, and it seems there's no stopping her.

With a smile in her eyes, the Empress Dowager said to the Director of the Imperial Observatory, "Director, please begin."