Zi'an suddenly had an epiphany: he was the Grand Tutor.
It was the Taifu's people who wanted to harm Concubine Liang, and only this blow could drive her crazy.
Why did the Grand Tutor do this? It was simple. Concubine Liang committed suicide, so the King of Liang had a stain on his reputation and it would be difficult for him to be made the Crown Prince.
Zi'an was not surprised at all that the Grand Tutor did not allow Prince Liang to become the Crown Prince, because in his eyes, there was no such thing as family affection.
If he wanted to turn things around, he could not rely on King Liang. King Liang had already despised him and didn't even want to look at him.
He had cooperated with King Nan Huai before and knew that King Nan Huai was a villain, so he would not cooperate with King Nan Huai again. Moreover, King Liang said that those who used to be the Grand Tutors in the court are now against King Nan Huai.
So, who will Taifu cooperate with
Concubine Yi? But Concubine Yi is currently tied to Prince Nan Huai.
Zi'an was really puzzled.
Could it be that he was secretly cooperating with Concubine Yi, while Concubine Yi was ostensibly allied with Prince Nan Huai? If so, it would make sense, because before, Concubine Yi looked confident. If she didn't have the support of her connections, how could she be so confident
Concubine Yi seems arrogant and reckless, but when you think back on what she did, it seems like there were clues hidden deep inside.
She colluded with the prince and had an affair with him in order to get close to Tutor Liang and learn about his every move from the prince. The prince was stupid and didn't guard against the person next to him, so he naturally told her everything.
After the Grand Tutor fell from power, she approached him and asked for his connections in order to form an alliance with him.
She had been making a scene in a very arrogant manner before, seemingly without any purpose, but in fact, she wanted to divert attention and make everyone think that she was targeting her as the Regent Princess, so that she could turn around and deal with Concubine Liang, making it unexpected and impossible for anyone to stop her.
If it was true, Zian knew that his rival had never been the Noble Concubine Dowager, but the Noble Concubine Yi.
Zi'an left the palace early the next morning to find Hu Huanxi.
Hu Huanxi is the only one who can understand her thinking. Although Zhuangzhuang is smart, he sometimes cannot keep up.
She and Hu Huanxi explained the current situation and considered many possibilities. Zi'an also analyzed the alliance between Concubine Yi and Grand Tutor Liang.
Hu Huanxi listened to Zi'an's analysis and pondered for a moment. "Your concerns are justified. If Taifu Liang and Imperial Concubine Yi form an alliance, who will they target next? You should have guessed it, right?"
Zi'an's face turned pale, "Yeah, I know."
"Now that Aunt Ah She is in the Noble Concubine's palace, you will all relax, thinking that if you keep a close eye on the Noble Concubine, the palace will be peaceful. Even when Sun Fang'er entered the palace, she was unable to discuss anything with the Noble Concubine, so you will feel more at ease."
Zi'an felt more and more frightened, "Huanxi, I'd better talk to you to clear my mind. I have to go back to the palace immediately."
"Zi'an!" Hu Huanxi called her, "If you need help, I have some here."
"No need. Before Old Seven left, he left a secret guard for me." Zi'an left quickly.
If it was just a harem fight, the next person they would deal with would definitely be Zhuangzhuang, and then her.
However, if it was not just a fight in the harem, but a fight for succession, and if ruthless tactics were used from the beginning, then Concubine Yi would not have taken action against Zhuangzhuang.
After Zi'an returned to the palace, he immediately went to Concubine Mei's palace.
"Where is the third prince?" Zi'an asked as he came in.
"I went to the study. I usually go there at noon and come back to rest for an hour before going again." Mei Fei saw that she looked nervous and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zi'an was still unsure, and didn't want to make her worry, so he said, "It's okay. I suddenly remembered that the prince asked me to ask about his homework before he went to war, so I came here today when I had some free time."
"Why don't you come back at noon?" Mei Fei said, "It's rare that you care about him so much. I will definitely urge him to study hard."
"Okay, then I'll leave first and come back at noon." Zi'an said with a smile.
Naturally, he couldn't wait until noon, so Zi'an went to the study again. In the study, Lord Wen was angry. Lord Wen was the teacher assigned to the third prince by Murong Jie later, as the previous one had been replaced.
Lord Wen is a Grand Secretary and a student of Grand Secretary Yuan. Although he is only in his forties, he is highly knowledgeable and has a high reputation. Murong Jie praises him highly.
"Lord Wen!" Zi'an asked as he walked in.
Lord Wen saw Zi'an coming and stood up to greet him, "Is it the princess who came? I am sorry to meet you."
"No need to be so polite. I'm here to see the Third Prince. Where is he?" Zi'an looked around but didn't see him.
"Look, I'm getting angry now. He said he had a stomachache and went to the toilet. He hasn't come back for half an hour. I ordered the students to look for him, but they couldn't find him. He hasn't been like this since I started teaching him. I thought he had changed his temper. When Lord Qi taught him before, he said he liked to skip classes." Lord Wen complained.
"He went there half an hour ago?" Zi'an frowned, "Did he really have a stomachache?"
"I thought so too. He held his stomach and kept saying it hurt. He ran out like a fly, also heading for the guest room. I waited for a quarter of an hour, but didn't see him come back, so I asked the students to look for him. There was no one in the guest room at all, and the eunuchs near the guest room also said they had never seen him come."
Zi'an's heart skipped a beat, but he still tried to comfort Master Wen, "How about this, I'll have someone look for him. If it's confirmed that he really skipped class, I'll punish him severely."
"Thank you, Princess." Lord Wen bowed.
"You're welcome!" Zi'an turned and left. After he left, he told Boss Dao, "Pass my order immediately and have the people from Huiqing Palace go out to look for the Third Prince."
"Yes!" Boss Dao took the order and left.
"Wait!" Zi'an walked up quickly and said in a low voice, "This matter should not be made public. Don't let the emperor hear it first."
"yes!"
Zi'an returned to Huiqing Palace and told Zhuangzhuang about the disappearance of the third prince. Zhuangzhuang immediately ordered all palace gates to be blocked, forcing no one to enter or leave the palace.
They searched until dark but still couldn't find the third prince.
The palace has been sealed off, and all those who left the palace today have been recorded in a book. Zhuangzhuang took the list back from the palace guards and discussed it with Zian.
Concubine Mei also knew that the third prince was missing. She came to Huiqing Palace with red eyes. As a mother, she was strong and tried hard not to cry, fearing that the news would spread.
"Check the people who left the palace and see where they went after leaving." Zhuangzhuang gave the order. No one should be let go and they all had to be checked.
"Do you want to invite Aunt Ashe?" Zi'an asked.
"Okay." Zhuangzhuang told Qinzhi to invite Aunt Ashe.
The old lady is not here today. She left the palace last night.
When Aunt Ashe heard that the third prince was missing, she asked Qinzhi for three copper coins and threw them on the table. She sorted out the positions of the coins and frowned.
"The person is still alive, but he is no longer in the palace. He has been transported out of the palace." Aunt Ashe said.
Zi'an and Zhuangzhuang looked at each other. It would be difficult to find the person if he was outside the palace.
Concubine Mei asked, "You know by tossing a coin like this that the person is not in the palace?"
Aunt Ah She said calmly, "Your ancestor has always been good at medicine, divination and astrology. I have followed her for so many years and have learned a little bit."
(End of this chapter)