Zhou Shaojin kept walking around in the room until the second watch drum sounded, and then Cheng Chi came back.
When he came back, he was wearing black clothes, as if he was hiding his whereabouts.
Zhou Shaojin became even more worried, and sent the servants to help him change his clothes while asking in a low voice, "Have you seen your second uncle?"
"I saw it!" Cheng Chi whispered, "We'll talk about it later."
Zhou Shaojin understood, and the two washed up, turned off the lights and went to bed. Hiding in the quilt, they whispered: "Second uncle is fine. The emperor asked him to go over because he was a little hesitant about the seventh prince's matter, and wanted second uncle to accompany him to relax. Who knew that something big would happen - Empress Yuan was the niece of the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager somehow remembered that the next day was the death anniversary of Empress Yuan, so she called His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the eldest grandson of the emperor to the palace to discuss the matter of offering sacrifices to Empress Yuan. In addition to the Crown Princess, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only had a concubine who served him since childhood and gave birth to his eldest daughter. But privately, his favorite was a maid named Dai beside him. But because this maid named Dai had never given birth, she had no status. And because this maid named Dai came from the Empress Dowager's palace. So when the Crown Prince entered the palace that day, he also brought this maid named Dai with him.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the eldest grandson of the Emperor went to the side hall to talk to the Empress Dowager and Concubine Lin, while the maid surnamed Dai was talking to several other maids in the tea room.
“The Second Prince came suddenly.
"Knowing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the eldest grandson were talking to the Empress Dowager and Consort Lin in the side hall, I didn't ask the eunuch to report it, saying that they were waiting outside.
"The servants in the Cining Palace were afraid that the Empress Dowager would have something to say to the Crown Prince, so they did not report it.
“The weather was a bit cold, so the Second Prince strolled to the tea room.
“Several palace maids avoided him.
"The Second Prince recognized the maid surnamed Dai and started talking to her.
“No one in the Cining Palace cared.
"As a result, when the Crown Prince and the eldest grandson of the Emperor came out of the side hall, they saw the Second Prince and the palace maid surnamed Dai hugging each other in dishevel.
“The Crown Prince was so angry that his face turned blue and he fainted on the spot.
"The Queen Mother immediately summoned the imperial physician. The Second Prince and the maid surnamed Dai were also tied up and gagged, and locked up, under the supervision of the Queen Mother's personal eunuchs and maids.
“But the crown prince has not yet woken up.
"The Emperor personally interrogated the Second Prince and found out that the maid surnamed Dai had had some ambiguity with the Second Prince when they were in the Cining Palace. The Second Prince originally wanted the Queen Mother to give the maid to him, but before he could even ask, the Queen Mother gave the maid surnamed Dai to the Crown Prince.
"The Second Prince was supposed to be working at the Ministry of War today, when a little eunuch suddenly appeared and put a note in his hand, saying that the maid surnamed Dai was waiting for him in the Cining Palace and had something important to ask. The Second Prince thought about it again and again, but still went. He didn't ask what it was, but when they met, they hugged each other with tears in their eyes.
"Originally, I just couldn't help myself. But at this moment, the Crown Prince barged in..."
Zhou Shaojin heard a lot of loopholes and said, "How could it be so coincidental? Let's not talk about the Empress Dowager's sudden idea. Even at the Second Prince's place, the maid surnamed Dai is not a fairy. Now she is the Crown Prince's person. How dare he go to the Cining Palace and hug the maid surnamed Dai? The Cining Palace is also very strange. Not to mention the inner palace, even in a family like ours, everyone is surrounded by a group of people serving, and there are people holding curtains and lanterns when going in and out. The Crown Prince is the crown prince of the country, and he is always yelling and shouting wherever he goes. Even if he reduced the etiquette by half at the Empress Dowager's place, it is impossible that he would not make any noise when he left the side hall?"
Cheng Chi listened, and his eyes became warm and affectionate as he looked at her.
He kissed Zhou Shaojin's forehead and said softly, "Shaojin, you are getting more and more powerful! You can see the clues of the royal family's affairs."
Zhou Shaojin was embarrassed.
This is also the case of "birds of a feather flock together".
She followed Cheng Chi, listened to Cheng Chi's "treasonous" words and did "disrespectful" things, and she no longer had the same awe for the emperor's affairs as before, and began to regard their family as an ordinary wealthy family.
"The reason why the emperor was shocked is because of the reasons you mentioned." Cheng Chi continued to whisper to her, "This involves a royal scandal. The emperor can't afford to lose this person, so he asked his second uncle and the commander of the imperial guards, Han Ding, to help investigate the matter. But everyone has a reason. The two of them were busy for two whole days and only found half a stick of aphrodisiac incense that had not been burned completely in the tea room.
"The emperor was anxious and angry, and the prince passed away that night. He couldn't just lie there forever, so he had to ask my second uncle to write an imperial edict and announce the death."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned to find such a thing in the Cining Palace. After a long while, he said, "Could it be the Fourth Prince?"
"If he can come up with such a strategy, I think I'd better submit to him sooner rather than later." Cheng Chi was very skeptical and said, "This move has killed the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, and the Seventh Prince has also been angered, so it can be said that it kills three birds with one stone. I have sent people to investigate this matter. The Emperor is blinded by one leaf, so we can start investigating from the Fourth Prince's side. Feihong Yinxue, no matter how perfect the strategy is, it is impossible for it to leave no trace at all."
Zhou Shaojin nodded and said, "Then what did Second Uncle ask you to do?"
"First, tell me about this matter." "Wasn't I very close to the Seventh Prince some time ago? Second Uncle was afraid that I would do something reckless. Second, he wanted me to pass on a message to my eldest brother, lest he misunderstand at this critical moment and anger the Emperor. Third, he also wanted to hear my opinion on this matter. Now that the Crown Prince is gone, the Second and Seventh Princes have been demoted to commoners, the Fourth, Third, and Fifth Princes have all reached adulthood, and the Crown Prince has left behind a grandson who is both civil and military. The court will only change in the future, and everything will change in an instant. The Cheng family has a second uncle who is a commoner friend of the emperor, an elder brother who is a prime minister, and me who works in the Censorate. We can attack or defend. Even if we don’t participate in the fight for the throne, others will not let us go. We need to come up with a plan as soon as possible. And Gu Xu, he is already capable of standing on his own, and he is also Zheng Jie’er’s husband. With the death of the crown prince, what is his future? If we can take the opportunity to pull him on board with us, we will have another arm... Once the national mourning is over, there will be major changes in the court, and we must make up our minds before that.”
So sometimes the higher you stand, the harder you fall.
Zhou Shaojin asked: "Then what do you say?"
Cheng Chi did not answer, but asked: "How do you think we should do it well?"
Since I can't retreat, I'll just have to go ahead with it.
But this life is very different from the previous life, and this concerns the lives of dozens of people in the Cheng family. How dare Zhou Shaojin make a decision
"It's okay." Cheng Chi said, "I just want to talk to you. I want to hear what you have to say."
"Didn't you say that we can't let the Fourth Prince take the throne?" Zhou Shaojin said, "We think it's best for us to keep a low profile and remain neutral. If that's really not possible, unless there is a huge change in this world, the Emperor will definitely make the eldest grandson the Crown Prince. We can keep a low profile and watch for a while. If the Emperor makes the Crown Prince, we will naturally follow him, after all, he is the legitimate one. We can use him to get rid of the Fourth Prince. Then no matter who takes the throne in the future, the Cheng family will at least not have to follow the old path of the previous life."
Cheng Chi laughed and said, "Yes, I think so too. So no matter whether it was done by the Fourth Prince or not, I will make it appear that the Fourth Prince did it. Even if the Emperor doesn't believe it, I have to make the Emperor's eldest grandson believe it."
Isn't this a false accusation!
Zhou Shaojin opened his eyes wide.
Then he thought of how the Fourth Prince killed the entire Cheng family in his previous life, and his heart hardened again. He felt that since they had met on a narrow road, they would naturally have to fight to the death.
The two of them talked a lot, and Zhou Shaojin couldn't remember when he fell asleep. He was woken up by Cheng Chi early the next morning.
"Get up quickly!" His voice was filled with unmistakable regret and self-blame. "Mother is going to the palace with me to mourn today. Can you stay at home alone with Yun'er? My eldest sister-in-law, the second sister-in-law and A Zheng are also going to the palace. How about I send someone to send a message to Yushu Hutong and ask your sister to come and accompany you?"
Mrs. Guo was granted the first-rank imperial edict because of Cheng Jing, while Mrs. Qiu was granted the third-rank imperial edict because Cheng Wei was sent to Shandong as an inspector.
How could she forget that Old Madam Guo and her second sister-in-law would also go to the palace to mourn
Zhou Shaojin got up all of a sudden, rubbing his eyes and hurriedly saying, "I'll get up right away..." He didn't realize how seductive he looked with sleepy eyes and half-unbuttoned sleeves. Cheng Chi's eyes darkened and darkened, and he finally controlled his emotions, and carried Zhou Shaojin to the big kang next to the window.
Chun Wan brought in a maid to wash Zhou Shaojin's face. Zhou Shaojin finally came to his senses and discussed with Cheng Chi: "Everyone has to go to the palace to mourn in the next few days. How about I take A Bao and A Ren over to take care of them? My second sister-in-law always helps me enthusiastically when we have something to do."
Cheng Chi was afraid that she couldn't take care of several children, but Shao Jin had the same intention. He thought he could let her try, and if it didn't work, he could just let her take care of Yun'er in the future.
"Then take it over?" Cheng Chi said, "We'll ask her what she thinks when we go to pay our respects to her later."
Of course.
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile and asked someone to tell Madam Guo to go over for breakfast. After he and Cheng Chi washed up, they went to Tingxiang Courtyard.
Mrs. Guo was waiting for them to have breakfast.
Yun'er was sleeping in Mrs. Guo's green gauze cabinet and had not woken up yet.
Zhou Shaojin told Mrs. Guo that he wanted to bring Abao and Aren over.
"Great!" Mrs. Guo was relieved and happy to hear this, and said, "Brothers should be considerate and take care of each other. Even if you can't take care of it, don't you still have those old women and wet nurses? Just keep an eye on them and don't let anything happen to them."
Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly, sent Nanny Shang to Qiu's place, and sent someone to ask Cheng Zheng if she wanted her to help look after Gu Ning and Gu Zhong.
Qiu originally entrusted Abao and Aren to Cheng Sheng. When Cheng Sheng heard that Zhou Shaojin had sent someone to pick up Abao and Aren, he thought it would be more fun with Zhou Shaojin, so he followed with Rui Ge'er.
Cheng Zheng entrusted the child to Cheng Xiao. When Cheng Xiao heard that Cheng Sheng had taken the child to Zhou Shaojin's place, he also took Gu Ning and Gu Zhong to Chaoyang Gate.
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Dear friends, today’s update.
O(∩_∩)O~
The evening update is around 10pm.
PS: I have been running back and forth between the hospital and home every day, and I have lost track of the days and months. A friend reminded me that today is the last day of August. Please support me with a guaranteed monthly ticket…
※(To be continued)