After a long while, Yin Chen returned to the Cold King's mansion with several guards.
"Your Highness, Your Consort, something terrible has happened. The palace has been taken over, and we cannot get in," Yin Chen said with a troubled expression, his face etched with worry.
"Who exactly has taken control of the palace? What is the situation with the Emperor and the Empress Dowager?" Jun Mo Han asked, his expression filled with concern.
"I managed to get some information from the palace gatekeepers. It's said that the Emperor suddenly fell gravely ill tonight, and in response, he ordered the entire palace to be sealed. At the same time, he issued three imperial edicts. One pardons the King of Ning, another reinstates him to a position of importance, and the content of the third is still unknown, to be announced at the morning court tomorrow," Yin Chen reported truthfully to the King and Consort of Cold.
"Your Highness, this matter is truly too strange. Yesterday, the King of Ning had someone else take his place in prison, and today he is suddenly being heavily relied upon by the Emperor... It's truly baffling. The Emperor is such a shrewd person; this does not seem like his usual way of doing things," Leng Ruo Li mused after hearing the report.
"Father Emperor must have been controlled by the King of Ning. I suspect he will have further actions to take," Jun Mo Han stated gravely.
"Then we should make preparations in advance," Leng Ruo Li agreed.
"Ye Ying, go to General Leng's mansion immediately. Inform General Leng to go to the military camp outside the city at once and have the army encamp near the capital's city gates. I fear that the King of Ning is making such a big move because Lin Zhen Fan's army is close to the city," Jun Mo Han speculated.
"Yes, your subordinate obeys!" Ye Ying disappeared from the spot the moment he received the order.
"Ruo Li, I wish to go into the palace myself," Jun Mo Han said, his face full of worry.
"Alright, I'll accompany you," Leng Ruo Li said. Seeing the worry on Jun Mo Han's face, she decided to go with him to the palace.
A moment later, the King and Consort of Cold left the Cold King's mansion together.
Meanwhile, within the palace, the King of Ning had swiftly gained control of the entire imperial palace, including all the imperial concubines, princes, and princesses in the Emperor's harem. Any who resisted would be executed!
Normally, Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han could enter the palace at any time, but from this night onwards, they would be barred unless summoned personally by the Emperor. However, they had no idea of the Emperor's current situation within the palace. If they waited to be summoned, it would be too late.
"Jun Mo Han, since we can't enter through the palace gates, we'll have to sneak in."
"That's the only way," Jun Mo Han agreed with a nod.
Leng Ruo Li added, "You are more familiar with the palace than I am. Let's find a place with weaker defenses and a lower wall to climb over."
"I know of a place where the wall is relatively low," Jun Mo Han replied calmly.
"Where?" Leng Ruo Li asked curiously.
"It's in the abandoned royal garden of the cold palace. There used to be a tree there whose branches grew over the wall. When I was young, the King of Ning, the King of An, and I often climbed that tree to sneak out and play. Later, Father Emperor discovered our actions and ordered the tree to be cut down. However, the tree wasn't killed, and it sprouted new shoots after a while. When we discovered the Queen's secret chamber in the cold palace some time ago, I saw that the branches growing out of that tree had gotten bigger again..." Jun Mo Han recounted, his tone calm, but a hint of regret crossed his face as he spoke of his childhood.
"Oh, I didn't expect you, the King of Ning, and the King of An could play together back then," Leng Ruo Li expressed her surprise at Jun Mo Han's words.
"We were quite good friends for a while when we were young. Later, for various reasons, we fell out," Jun Mo Han explained to Leng Ruo Li.
"Let's go, we need to find a place to sneak into the palace quickly," Jun Mo Han added.
Thus, Jun Mo Han and Leng Ruo Li arrived at the outer wall of the cold palace and indeed found a place where a tree branch extended over the wall.
"Jun Mo Han, if you could think of this place, surely others have discovered it too, don't you think?" Leng Ruo Li thought of this issue the moment she saw the branch extending over the wall.
Jun Mo Han nodded, remaining silent, as he had already noticed signs of climbing in this area; the moss on the wall had been disturbed.
Just as the two were about to use their light footwork to scale the wall, a person suddenly appeared on the branch.
"Don't come after me! If you dare to follow, I'll jump down!"
Hearing the familiar loud voice, the King and Consort of Cold realized that the person on the tree branch was the Idle King.
Leng Ruo Li was about to tell the Idle King to jump down when the people chasing him spoke.
"Your Highness Idle King, this subordinate advises you to return with us to see our master."
"The third prince is attempting to usurp the throne, and you are aiding and abetting him?" the Idle King retorted, his face full of anger.
"Your Highness Idle King, do not speak nonsense. When did Prince Ning attempt to usurp the throne? The Emperor has simply reinstated Prince Ning to a position of importance," the lackey who followed Prince Ning's every command immediately contradicted the Idle King.
"Hmph! You don't need to speak so righteously for Jun Mo Xiao. He is a traitor who murdered his father and usurped the throne. Otherwise, why would he prevent me from seeing the Emperor and instead try to imprison me? Fortunately, I realized something was wrong and fled. Otherwise, I don't know how he would have harmed me," the Idle King said coldly, full of disdain.
Seeing that the Idle King was stubborn, Prince Ning's lackeys had no choice but to take action. Two of them exchanged a glance and then used their light footwork to fly towards the Idle King. When the Idle King saw them approaching, his legs suddenly felt weak. He was usually a lazy and pleasure-seeking prince, a small scoundrel who hadn't mastered light footwork or martial arts. (This was his second royal sister-in-law's evaluation of him.)
Being asked to jump from a wall nearly fifteen meters high, he was truly frightened. He turned and, mustering his courage, glanced down fearfully at the ground, about to close his eyes and jump.
However, he saw two people who surprised him; his second royal brother and his second royal sister-in-law were also at the bottom of the wall.
"Haha..."
"Heaven truly helps me!"
The Idle King closed his eyes and jumped from the wall, muttering for Jun Mo to catch him.
Jun Mo Han glanced at the foolish Idle King, wishing he would fall and be incapacitated. However, after considering for 0.01 seconds, he still flew out and caught him just before he hit the ground. Then, they and Leng Ruo Li quickly fled the scene.