“Princess Zhenguo, rest assured. This official will guard him strictly.” After Lu Jin spoke solemnly, he straightened up and said, “Now that we’ve obtained testimony from General Fu, this official will immediately send someone to invite Imperial Teacher Old Tan. Before the matter is thoroughly investigated, within the palace… the Grand Princess’s assistance will likely be needed, since before His Majesty fell unconscious, he entrusted the inner palace to the Grand Princess.”

Fu Ruoxi, still kneeling in the prison cell, trembled slightly. He knew… Lu Jin’s meaning was to place the Empress under house arrest!

When what the Empress had written in her letter… was spoken aloud by Fu Ruoxi, he knew this would be the result. Yet deep in his heart, he was unwilling to believe the Empress would send people to silence him.

Bai Qingyan looked back deeply at Fu Ruoxi, then lifted her feet to walk toward the exit of the Grand Court of Justice prison. Quan Yu also bid farewell to Lu Jin and followed behind Bai Qingyan out of the prison.

At this time, the sky over the capital had already darkened. The two lanterns hung high at the gates of the Grand Court of Justice prison swayed left and right in the wind.

The area around the Grand Court of Justice was usually avoided by people, even during the day, let alone at night. The gray high walls and cold silence, occasionally broken by screams and cries from interrogations, truly made one’s hair stand on end.

Bai Qingyan gazed into the dark depths. Ever since she emerged from that alley by the Crown Prince’s mansion, someone had been following her, but that person only dared to follow from a distance, not daring to approach.

“Princess Zhenguo, why doesn’t this servant escort you back to the mansion?” Quan Yu said respectfully to Bai Qingyan.

“Eunuch Quan Yu should return to the Eastern Palace immediately and inform the Crown Prince that I will now return to the Bai mansion to request grandmother enter the palace to take charge of the situation. With the grandmother presiding in the palace, the Empress surely won’t dare act rashly.”

After speaking, Bai Qingyan turned to face Quan Yu and continued: “Please trouble the eunuch to go back and tell the Crown Prince that General Fu stated the Empress claimed in her letter that His Majesty’s days were numbered. It seems His Majesty’s fall from his horse must be connected to the Empress! Now that Fu Ruoxi is imprisoned, what the Empress and Prince Xin… fear most should be His Majesty truly awakening. They might have her brother Zhong Shaozhong contact former subordinates to rebel and force abdication. His Highness should send people to monitor early to prevent unexpected events! For all other matters, the Crown Prince can discuss with Imperial Teacher Old Tan before issuing orders together, to convince the masses!”

Imperial Teacher Old Tan was the person His Majesty entrusted with state affairs before falling unconscious. Combined with the Crown Prince as heir, such authority… would be more convincing to court officials, preventing them from thinking the Crown Prince was trying to force abdication and seize the throne early.

Quan Yu’s spine stiffened as he nodded repeatedly: “Princess Zhenguo, Quan Yu will relay every word to the Crown Prince!”

Seeing Quan Yu’s frightened expression, Bai Qingyan added: “However, His Highness the Crown Prince needn’t worry too much. At least there are twenty thousand soldiers brought back from Anping Military Camp outside the capital. The Empress and others won’t fight head-on, they can only use strategy. As long as we protect His Highness the Crown Prince’s safety and prepare defenses in advance, there’s nothing to fear!”

Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, Quan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed: “Princess, rest assured. No matter what, Quan Yu will swear to protect His Highness the Crown Prince with his life.”

“Thank you for your hard work! Return early!” After Bai Qingyan finished speaking, seeing that the jailer had brought her horse, she walked down the high steps, leaped onto her horse, and departed.

Quan Yu hastily bowed in respectful farewell. Only after he could no longer hear the horse’s hoofbeats did he raise his head and return to the Crown Prince’s mansion with the Crown Prince’s guards, relaying Bai Qingyan’s words to the Crown Prince.

At this time, with Wei Zhong’s secret assistance, Old Fang had already tracked down old servants who had been sold from the Fu residence and Empress’s maternal Zhong residence years ago, confirming that the Empress and Fu Ruoxi had indeed been betrothed, and that the Empress had once gone to the Fu residence, forcing Fu Ruoxi to propose to the Zhong family before the late Emperor’s imperial marriage edict arrived.

Not only that, because Old Fang was determined to use Prince Xin’s parentage as ammunition, he found a palace maid who had served beside the Empress when she first married His Majesty, but was driven out of the Crown Prince’s mansion with broken legs for making mistakes.

This palace maid harbored deep hatred for the Empress and had already been persuaded by Old Fang to come forward and testify that Prince Xin was not His Majesty’s son, and that the Empress had framed the Crown Prince’s birth mother, now Consort Yu, for pushing her to cover up that her pregnancy term was due.

Coincidentally, when the Empress was still Crown Princess… after becoming pregnant, Imperial Physician Ji Bingfu, who was then the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, had been taking her pulse. Ji Bingfu had years ago accused Jian Congwen… causing Jian Congwen’s entire clan to be executed, and he had long since died. His descendants’ whereabouts were now unknown.

Even if Ji Bingfu’s descendants were still in the capital, Old Fang wasn’t afraid. After all, since Duke Zhenguo Bai Weiting had overturned Jian Congwen’s case, Ji Bingfu had become a criminal official who framed the loyal. How would his descendants dare come forward to testify for the Empress? Even if they rushed out… would the testimony of descendants of a criminal official who framed the loyal be credible?

So in this game, Old Fang was confident he could help the Crown Prince bring down the Empress and Prince Xin, these two stumbling blocks.

The Crown Prince planned to make a trip to the Grand Court of Justice prison to discuss with Imperial Teacher Old Tan, secretly detaining the Imperial Guard officers that Zhong Shaozhong had contacted, and also wanted to temporarily place the Imperial Guards under Bai Qingyan’s command to prevent changes.

“This matter has been hard work for Old Fang. There’s another matter… previously, we only focused on watching Prince Xin’s mansion, but forgot about the Empress’s maternal Zhong family. The Empress’s brother Zhong Shaozhong was once Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards. We must send people to watch Zhong Shaozhong closely! Lest he contact former subordinates and attempt rebellion!”

The Crown Prince raised his neck, letting Quan Yu fasten his clothing buttons, his expression grave. He was already certain in his heart that His Majesty’s fall from his horse was the Empress’s doing.

“Your Highness, rest assured! This old man will immediately send people to watch Zhong Shaozhong and the Zhong residence. However… we must also prepare early!” Old Fang said.

After the Crown Prince sat down supporting himself on the chair’s armrest, Quan Yu knelt at the Crown Prince’s feet to put on his boots.

The Crown Prince looked at Old Fang and said: “With twenty thousand troops brought back from Anping Military Camp outside the city, military matters… Princess Zhenguo is more experienced than us. It was also Princess Zhenguo who had Quan Yu return to remind me. Princess Zhenguo surely has everything planned! I will go to the Grand Court of Justice prison to personally see Imperial Teacher Old Tan… and issue orders together with Imperial Teacher Old Tan, temporarily placing the Imperial Guards under Princess Zhenguo’s command.”

Upon hearing this, Old Fang pinched his robes and said gravely: “Your Highness must not. This old man believes… if we place the Imperial Guards under Princess Zhenguo’s command, it will inevitably alert our enemies! This old man knows Your Highness worries about Consort Yu’s safety in the palace. This time… we could use the people Your Highness has planted in the Imperial Guards over the years but never activated, to protect Consort Yu.”

The Crown Prince furrowed his brow tightly, straightened his sleeves, and nodded: “That makes sense.”

Seeing the Crown Prince accept his suggestion, Old Fang stepped forward again: “Your Highness, this Princess Zhenguo… her health seems to improve day by day! Princess Zhenguo is skilled at leading troops in battle, and her intelligence is truly outstanding! Such a person… Your Highness should use her, but must still guard against her! Don’t let down your guard just because Princess Zhenguo currently appears utterly loyal!”