Ma Wangkun and Ma San exerted every ounce of their strength traveling back and forth to the capital. The northwest had descended into complete chaos, but fortunately, they were born bandits themselves, so dealing with the mountain bandits roaming the roads and thieves taking advantage of the disorder to rob people came quite easily and naturally to them.

After rushing about for more than half a month, they finally arrived in the capital. The first thing they did was head to their residence—they couldn’t go to the Song family to find anyone now. Cui Shaoting had said that the Crown Prince had traitors even close to him, so there might well be some at Earl Changning’s residence too. They had already been absent from the capital for so long that appearing suddenly would certainly arouse suspicion. It was better to avoid that if they could.

But which residence should they return to? Ma Wangkun hesitated somewhat. “Should we first return to that residence of ours near the Yellow Immortal Temple? Normally Luo Gui comes there to find us, and next door are Old Kong and the others…”

Ma San not only looked fierce but also had the clearest and most rational mind. He decisively shook his head. “His Lordship said that there are traitors close to His Highness. Who knows which one the traitor might be? It never hurts to be extra cautious about everything. We’ll go to the residence on East Sixth Alley.”

In any case, they had ways to contact Song Chuyi. They just repeatedly instructed Luo Gui to tell Qing Ying, “Please ask Sixth Miss to absolutely not mention to the Crown Prince that we’ve returned.”

Luo Gui was full of questions, not understanding why the two of them would even need to hide from His Highness the Crown Prince. But this wasn’t something he should be asking about. He was just a messenger. Since they said so, he would tell Qing Ying exactly that.

Qing Ying was also somewhat curious why Luo Gui this time didn’t come in through Qing Zhuo but mysteriously took the route through Fourth Young Master Song Yan of the Song family to deliver the message. When she heard what he said, she realized it was Ma Changjiang and Ma Wangkun’s intention. After a moment’s thought, she knew there must be something going on, so she solemnly agreed. She was just about to return to the palace to tell Song Chuyi when she saw Xiangling from Mingcui Palace rushing in urgently, saying, “Your Highness, something has gone wrong with Her Majesty the Empress! The Crown Princess requests that you go together with her!”

Song Chuyi was just about to read the letter that Song Jue had Song Yan deliver. Upon hearing this, she was quite shocked. She let Qing Tao help her change her outer robe and instructed Qing Ying, “Go to the front hall and request His Highness’s presence!”

Zhou Weizhao had a rest day today and was not handling affairs at the Crown Prince’s Household Office.

Zhou Weizhao came very quickly. He first looked Song Chuyi over thoroughly, seeing that she was dressed fairly warmly and had also changed into deerskin boots so her feet wouldn’t get cold. Only then did he take her hand and leave together.

The Crown Princess walked while frowning. “She was still fine yesterday. How could things suddenly become this serious?”

So serious that she had coughed up a mouthful of blood while dining with Zhou Weiyin and Zhou Weiyang, then fell unconscious.

It sounded extremely frightening. How could she suddenly deteriorate to this extent when she had been perfectly fine?

Song Chuyi tightened her grip on the hand holding hers and grasped it back, softly comforting her. “Mother, don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”

Her voice was as calm as always, as if there was nothing in this world that could make her worry. If someone else had said these words, Crown Princess Lu would have felt they carried no persuasiveness at all. But when Song Chuyi said them, she smiled hesitantly, then immediately furrowed her brows with worry again.

Right now, the northwest had already become a chaotic mess. Datong City had fallen, and the Tatars had successfully occupied the city that Han Zhengqing had abandoned, burning, killing, and plundering without restraint. The peace and tranquility that countless ancestors had shed so much blood to obtain had been destroyed in a single day by the hands of this wretch.

And now, if something happened to Empress Lu, how would this situation end? The rumors that Song Chuyi was a star of calamity who brought death to her relatives, and that Prince Gong had only fallen out of favor with Emperor Jianzhang because the Eastern Palace had conspired to frame him, were already rampant.

With Empress Lu falling ill like this, others would certainly gloat over her misfortune. These common people who were anxious and worried about the capital’s safety would surely find an outlet for their anger. They would all think it was Miss Song Six’s fault, it was the Crown Princess’s fault, that the Crown Princess was a star of calamity, and that with the Crown Princess present, everything had deteriorated to this extent.

The human heart was originally immeasurable.

So when that group of people back then had painstakingly fabricated the matter of the imperial mausoleum stone tablet, it wasn’t impulsive or reckless, nor was it meant as a killing blow. They were building upon the foundation that Prince Duan and Master Yuanhui had already laid, continuing to add bricks and mortar.

Although saying this might seem somewhat unfilial and heartless, Empress Lu’s illness this time really came at an inopportune moment. Crown Princess Lu let out a sigh, said nothing more, and rushed even more urgently to Qingning Hall.

Minister Xie Siyi led the palace servants in bowing to them, her voice still choked with tears. “I don’t know how this happened. She had clearly been getting much better…”

As she spoke, Attendant Hu had already respectfully withdrawn, his graying beard trembling incessantly. Upon seeing Zhou Weizhao, Crown Princess Lu, and Song Chuyi, he deeply furrowed his brows. “Her Majesty the Empress has been worrying too much. Her Majesty’s health has never been very good…”

Ever since the Crown Prince and Prince Gong had successively encountered trouble, Empress Lu’s health had declined day by day. Crown Princess Lu naturally knew this. She glanced at Song Chuyi and Zhou Weizhao, wanting to say something but holding back.

Empress Lu’s illness really came at a bad time, but inopportune or not, there was no help for it. After all, being ill meant being ill.

Since the Empress was ill, attending to her during her illness was a very necessary matter. Crown Princess Lu looked at Song Chuyi warmly. “I will attend to Mother Empress during her illness. I’ll leave the affairs of the Eastern Palace to you, Xiaoyi.”

After all, the Eastern Palace couldn’t be without someone in charge, and there was still the ailing Crown Prince to consider.

After Song Chuyi quietly agreed, Minister Xie presented a hot towel to the Crown Princess, looking somewhat troubled. “What should be done about the two young princes?”

The status of these two young princes was now so awkward…

In fact, one more reason the common people were so disgusted with Prince Gong was this—even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its cubs, yet Prince Gong had so easily and casually left his sons in the capital. He clearly knew what consequences his children would face after he rebelled, but he hadn’t given his children even a passing thought.

To expect such a person who was disloyal, unrighteous, unfilial, undutiful, and also lacking in benevolence and compassion to love the common people?!

Just as the storytellers said—he must be dreaming!

But innocent children bear no guilt. Regardless of anything else, Emperor Jianzhang was after all the children’s own grandfather. If he ordered the deaths of these two such young children, public opinion would likely shift again, because after all, what could such small children understand?

So what now? These two children were like hot potatoes—whoever took them in would probably face trouble. Empress Lu was still their paternal grandmother, so keeping them with her could be justified. Putting them with other consorts—who would dare take them? If they were raised well, the Emperor might not be pleased. If they were raised poorly, people throughout the realm would think the imperial family did it deliberately.

Minister Xie was so worried her hair was practically turning white. Crown Princess Lu also froze for a moment.