When Shen Yun arrived at the imperial palace, Emperor Yongxing was already waiting for him.
"Minister Shen, quickly send someone to Tongzhou. You must bring Chen'er back to me."
Emperor Yongxing's tone was urgent, showing his great concern and affection for Liang Jingchen.
"Your Majesty, Prince Chen is severely wounded. I fear Minister..." Shen Yun hesitated.
This errand was not easy.
"No matter what, bring him back." Emperor Yongxing's heart felt as if it were being clutched.
He suddenly regretted his past decisions.
He shouldn't have harbored the thought of choosing his successor based on who was more outstanding between his two sons.
In reality, who was outstanding and who was mediocre, he wasn't blind. He had observed for over two years and had a general understanding.
He had merely intended to wait...
Yet, he didn't realize that the imperial palace would never be without schemes and machinations.
From this moment on, he no longer wished to wait.
As long as Prince Chen returned to the capital safely, he would establish him as the Crown Prince.
He conveyed this to Shen Yun.
Shen Yun was rather surprised.
He felt obligated to remind the Emperor from a position of utmost fairness, stating he would do his best to carry out the mission.
However, given Prince Chen's current condition, no one had personally witnessed it, so the outcome was uncertain.
He advised the Emperor not to make a final decision just yet.
While these words were not pleasant to hear, they were undeniably sensible.
This was because the news from Tongzhou indicated that Prince Chen was gravely wounded.
The precise extent of this was difficult to gauge.
Emperor Yongxing sighed, waved his hand, and appeared utterly dejected.
From Su Xiaoqi's perspective, it seemed as though he had aged ten years in an instant.
Shen Yun secretly left the imperial palace.
Before his departure, Su Xiaoqi gave him a spiritual medicine.
She had been doing many good deeds lately, and her supply of spiritual medicine in her spatial dimension was still sufficient.
She gave it to Shen Yun to be prepared for any eventuality.
Shen Yun, however, waved his hand and refused.
"This can save a life. No matter how severe the injury, as long as one takes this medicine, they will recover."
Su Xiaoqi thought Shen Yun was unaware of the quality of the medicine she was offering and took care to explain its potency.
Shen Yun still declined, leaning close to her ear and whispering three words: "No need."
He then turned and left.
Su Xiaoqi stood stunned, watching as Shen Yun's black carriage, pulled by a black horse, completely disappeared into the darkness of the night.
She suddenly seemed to understand something.
The next day, news of Prince Chen being assassinated in Tongzhou and sustaining severe injuries spread.
On the third day, all the officials in the court were aware of it.
And the rumors became increasingly terrifying.
The version had already escalated to Prince Chen being mortally wounded.
Another day passed, and the news reached the common folk. The story had evolved into Prince Chen being assassinated in Tongzhou and dying from his severe injuries.
They were immediately preparing to escort his coffin back to the capital.
The court was thrown into chaos.
Many officials who had previously supported Prince Chen as the Crown Prince fell silent.
Those who supported Prince Zhou, however, could not help but come forward.
Now, they thought, who could possibly stop them?
Thus, in the court, the voices urging Emperor Yongxing to establish a Crown Prince grew louder.
And the number of supporters also increased.
It seemed as though Emperor Yongxing himself was wavering.
But at the critical moment, Prince Chen surprisingly returned.
He was indeed severely injured and unconscious, so he could only be brought back lying down.
This matter quickly spread throughout the capital.
Zhao Xiaohua received the news and went to the small courtyard to find Mei Niang, expressing her dissatisfaction: "Didn't you say you were going to kill him?
How is he still alive?"
Mei Niang was also quite displeased: "Do you think I didn't want to?
I sent two waves of assassins after him, and they were all intercepted by his men.
Do you know how much I lost?"
Just for the assassination of Prince Chen alone, she lost thirty assassins.
Several of them were top experts within the organization.
It pained her so much that she hadn't recovered yet.
"How is that possible? Did you leak the news in advance, giving him time to be wary?" Zhao Xiaohua was furious.
According to her plan, Liang Jingchen should have been dead by now.
Then, there would be no one to obstruct her.
She would do everything in her power to support Prince Zhou's ascension to the throne.
Once he gained power, it would mean she was not far from taking the throne herself.
Alas, imaginations were beautiful, but reality was harsh.
No matter how perfectly she planned, it couldn't overcome the failure of the plan.
"We are people who kill for money, we know the rules. How could we leak anything?
I was going to ask if you were the ones who let the cat out of the bag!"
The two began to suspect each other in the small courtyard.
Their argument quickly reached Su Xiaoqi's ears.
She had been released from the imperial prison due to her meritorious service in treating Emperor Yongxing.
Furthermore, Shen Yun was also released for his contribution in rescuing Prince Chen.
Thus, they, a couple, became the only two people in the eyes of others who had emerged alive from the Imperial Prison.
And they were doing perfectly well.
Many people thought the Imperial Guards of Daliang had changed their temperament.
But they soon realized they were overthinking.
Because Ji Chenggang personally led a team and raided the residence of the Minister of War.
Assassins who had attempted to assassinate Prince Chen were found inside.
The Minister of War was immediately apprehended, and his family was also sent to the Imperial Prison.
His mansion was sealed.
Then, a few days later, it was heard that their entire family, old and young, had died in the Imperial Prison.
Subsequently, the Imperial Guards, with evidence, requested an imperial decree and arrested all the ministers connected to the Minister of War.
The investigation unearthed a great secret.
Prince Chen's assassination this time was related to Prince Zhou.
And the mastermind behind it was the Princess Consort Zhou.
The Imperial Guards then rushed to Prince Zhou's mansion to make arrests.
As the Imperial Guards, clad in their flying fish robes and carrying embroidered spring sabers, galloped through the streets of the capital,
everyone else was too afraid to come out, lest the Imperial Guards, in their frenzy, arrest them on sight.
Everyone was in a state of unease.
However, with such a grave charge, Prince Zhou naturally would not admit to it.
Since he denied it, the Imperial Guards, considering his status, did not dare to do anything to him.
However, they truly turned Prince Zhou's residence upside down during this period.
Nothing of value was overlooked inside.
Thus, while no direct evidence was found, they discovered account books detailing his involvement in smuggling salt with court officials and the Governor-General of Jiangnan.
This matter was indeed enormous.
It must be known that in Daliang, salt and iron had always been under the unified management of the government, with no private involvement.
But Prince Zhou had not only participated but also in immense quantities.
The sum of hundreds of thousands to millions of taels of silver made him richer than the imperial treasury.
When the findings were presented to Emperor Yongxing, he was furious.
Although these matters had been subtly alluded to during the planning stages,
they were still not as shocking as seeing the concrete evidence before their eyes.
"How dare he, how dare he!" Emperor Yongxing immediately smashed a jade lion paperweight, his anger reaching a fever pitch.
Fortunately, Consort Ming was by his side. Seeing him about to fall ill, she administered a pill left by Su Xiaoqi, which helped him recover.
"Rebellion, rebellion, these people are all troublesome," Emperor Yongxing was very angry.
He had long known that Prince Zhou was untalented and lacked strategy.
But he had never expected that he would also lack virtue.
He even dared to tamper with things that he had strictly forbidden.
Rebellious, audacious to the extreme!