The Marquis' Mansion, still brightly illuminated with lanterns, the lanterns hanging under the eaves gently swaying, now bright, now dim.
The Long Princess paced nervously in the room, occasionally looking over at the sand timer next to her, "What's going on? So many people went, but not a single one has returned?"
"Princess, wait a little longer. All the people sent out this time are elite, there's no reason for them to fail."
The prince consort yawned and said, "I'm so tired."
"There's no time to wait. The carriage of the Prince of Jin has already returned with the Crown Prince. That woman hasn't died, and I'm worried about those people we sent out... If they all died, that would be fine. But I'm afraid if they were captured, with any living witnesses... Then I'm finished..."
The Princess stopped her pacing and turned back, her expression extremely poor, and she said with a worried look.
The prince consort was scared by the Princess' words and immediately woke up from his drowsiness.
"I didn't know they were all back in the capital?"
"What do you know? You only know to indulge in pleasures with your concubine in the room, and Min'er's plight is the result of not being properly disciplined by you as a father!"
The Long Princess was already angry, and she was now shouting at the prince consort.
The prince consort felt inwardly that she deserved it for being spoiled by him.
He didn't want to argue with the princess about this.
He immediately changed the subject, "We sent out all death-doers, and at most, they will all be defeated. Even if they are investigated, it won't be able to find us."
The advantage of death-doers is that even if the task fails, they will find a way to kill themselves, and will never leave any potential risks.
Seeing that the Long Princess's anger showed no sign of subsiding, he said, "Why don't we send someone early tomorrow to find out if there's any movement?"
The Long Princess gave him a cold look and said, "Why wait for tomorrow? By then, both of us will be finished."
She turned around and pushed the door out of the room, coming to the courtyard, quickly summoning a shadow guard over, and asking him to quickly check, while cleaning suspicious traces.
The palace, the Chiao Fang Palace, the empress's quarters.
"Madam, Bai Lian and others have not taken the blood of YAN Shi Zi!"
The nursemaid, who was nursing the empress, sitting in front of her dressing table, was saying to her.
The empress turned her head and looked at her, furrowing her brow and asking, "What's going on?"
"The nursemaid said to the empress: 'Bai Lian said that the carriage of the Crown Prince was also there. When they were attacking, the Crown Prince was helping, and he didn't know what to do. The YAN Shi Zi's martial arts were too high, and they couldn't get close to him, so they just returned.'"
The nursemaid gave a brief summary of the information they had obtained.
The empress listened and angrily slapped the dressing table with her hand, "These people are all blind? They dare to continue their actions even after seeing the Crown Prince's carriage inside? Can they not delay the time a bit?"
"Madam, please calm down!"
The nursemaid, seeing the empress's fury, immediately knelt to the ground in fear.
The two attendants who were responsible for helping the empress with her makeup and cleansing, were also kneeling on the ground, trembling and not daring to speak.
When the anger inside her body subsided, the empress was worried again, "How about the Crown Prince? Was he injured?"
"Madam, the Crown Prince is unharmed."
The nursemaid stepped forward and said.
The empress heard this and finally felt relieved, but then she frowned again, "Were there no clues left at the scene?"
Since the mission failed, it must not leave any traces. If discovered, the consequences would be unbearable for her, even though she is the empress.
"Madam, don't worry. The Crown Prince has helped clean up the tail, and the bodies left behind at the scene have been secretly burned by people sent by him."
The nursemaid, thinking of the news reported by Bai Lian, replied in time.
"That's good!"
The empress heard this and felt much more at ease.
Since the Crown Prince helped to clean up the tail, it is likely that he has realized those people were hers. He should come to the Chiao Fang Palace to ask her about this tomorrow.
The empress furrowed her brow, knowing she had to think carefully about how to explain this matter to the Crown Prince.
She also worried about whether she should tell the Crown Prince about the matter involving the Marquis of Jin and the Emperor.
Seeing that the nursemaid was still kneeling on the ground, she said, "Get up. Don't kneel anymore."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The nursemaid stood up.
Remembering the messages brought back by those people, she said again: "Madam, there is another matter. Bai Lian said that there was another group in action at that time, who looked like death-doers. Their target seemed to be the concubine of YAN Shi Zi."
The empress was surprised and turned her head to look at the nursemaid, "The concubine of YAN Shi Zi? Do you know whose people they are?"
The nursemaid lowered her eyes and recalled, "Bai Lian said that the handlers looked like those from the Marquis' Mansion, but I couldn't be sure."
The empress slightly paused and said, "Do you remember that ZHAO Min's imperial lady disappeared?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," the nursemaid replied. "The Ministry of Rites is investigating, but they have yet to find any clues."
The nursemaid stepped forward to help the empress remove the remaining hairpins on her head, and then disheveled and combed her hair into place, with three thousand strands of hair falling.
"The nursemaid asked, 'Madam, did Princess Chang target the concubine of YAN Shi Zi, suspecting that the disappearance of Lady ZHAO Min was related to her?'"
The empress was not concerned about this matter, "This has nothing to do with us. Help me go to rest."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The nursemaid quickly helped the empress to rest.
...
The East Palace, the study.
Nan Gong Mo stood on the window sill, holding a pair of tweezers, gently picking up the candle flame inside the lampshade, glanced sideways at the person kneeling on the ground coldly and said: "Are they all cleaned up?"
"Reported to the prince, the bodies left at the scene have all been burned, and no suspicious traces were left. It will definitely not lead to Empress Dowager."
"Also, the bodies of those who attempted to assassinate Lady Yan Shi Zi have been sent to the Ministry of Rites. I expect the Ministry of Rites will start an investigation tomorrow."
The shadow guard knelt on the ground, lowering his head and respectfully reporting.
"Very well done."
Nan Gong Mo nodded slightly.
He asked again, "Can we be certain that it was Princess Chang who did it?"
"Reported to the prince, your subordinate has investigated that the people from Princess Chang's mansion are looking around for this matter, and considering the similar methods, it should be about ninety percent certain."
The shadow guard respectfully said.
Nan Gong Mo's eyes flashed with coldness, "My good aunt, it seems that it was you."
"Have someone cripple the only son of Princess Chang, and send some beautiful thin horses to the prince consort's bed. I'm sure he will be very pleased."
How can she be killed without paying some price?
"Yes, Prince."
The shadow guard quickly retreated.
Nan Gong Mo also left the study and walked to the back yard, not knowing where to go.
He didn't want to go to the Princess Consort's place, nor did he want to go to Liangdi. Wuanyang Yuan was definitely not an option…
The other women were even more uninteresting.
Thought for a while, he decided to return and sleep in his own palace.
...
At the early morning court, Emperor Qimeng had just sat on the throne, and the literati and military officials on both sides bowed. The eunuch standing by him began to sing: "Any matters to be reported; otherwise, retire."
"Brother, I have something to report," Prince Jin immediately stepped forward.
"Oh, it's your brother. Come and speak."
Emperor Qimeng raised his eyebrow and smiled, lifting his hand with a very amiable attitude.
But if you look closely, you would find that his smile did not reach his eyes and was even tinged with coldness.
No one knew that he had been jealous of this brother for decades.
But he did not deprive him of wealth, honor, or respect for having helped him raise women and children.
"Your brother has something to report. I would like to file a complaint against someone."
After saying that, he didn't care about the mutterings of the officials on both sides and raised the petition folder he had prepared in his sleeves high above his head.
"File a complaint against the court? Present it."
Emperor Qimeng, seeing Prince Jin's solemn manner, nodded directly to the eunuch on the side.
When the eunuch handed him the petition, he opened it and immediately saw that his expression turned dark. In the end, he snapped the petition shut with a loud sound.
Dare to assassinate YAN's son and his wife, especially since his wife was pregnant.
That's his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. It's simply audacious.
However, the words coming out of his mouth were different.
"brazen bandits, how dare they be so audacious! They actually dared to assassinate the Prince Jin and his wife!"
Upon Emperor Qimeng's words, there was an outcry among everyone present. What does this mean? That the son and daughter-in-law of Prince Jin were attacked? Who dares to challenge the Marquis of Jin?
Although Prince Jin is a spare prince, he has no real power. However, he is well-regarded by the emperor and receives much favor. He is not only the younger brother of Empress Dowager but also has a close relationship with Emperor Qimeng.
Assassinating his son and daughter-in-law is like pulling hair from a tiger's mouth.
Apart from the few who were at the estate yesterday and had already heard the news, the other officials were all very shocked.
Princess Chang's prince consort was nervous, but tried to hide any signs of anxiety on his face.
