Empress Lu had already kept watch here for an entire night. Princess Rongcheng glanced at the sky that was already showing fish-belly white and softly urged her to go back and rest first: “When there’s news, I’ll have someone notify you. Your health hasn’t been good lately anyway…”

Minister Xie hurried in, saying that Emperor Jianzhang had received the news and would soon arrive—after the great flood in Hubei, an epidemic had broken out, and Emperor Jianzhang was currently discussing with the Cabinet members how to manage the epidemic. He too had not slept all night.

Empress Lu let out a breath, gently patted Princess Rongcheng’s hand, and shook her head. The Crown Prince’s poisoning had come suspiciously; she always felt something wasn’t right somewhere. Looking around and not seeing Crown Princess Lu, she frowned: “Weizhao still hasn’t returned?”

At her mention, Princess Rongcheng suddenly realized that Ye Jingkuan had gone out for a whole night without returning, and couldn’t help but feel worried: “Yes… how come he hasn’t come back yet…” As she spoke, she looked at Empress Lu: “This daughter will send someone to inquire.”

The Crown Prince had been poisoned, and the Eastern Palace was being watched by the Imperial Guard. It was possible that Ye Jingkuan’s comings and goings were inconvenient and time had been delayed.

Empress Lu was about to agree when a palace maid from outside came in to report that Princess Duanhui had arrived. Ever since Cui Yingshu had been wrongly accused in Jiangxi and Princess Duanhui had been consequently neglected for a while, Emperor Jianzhang felt deeply guilty and favored her even more. Therefore, Princess Duanhui, like Princess Rongcheng, had been specially permitted to enter and exit the inner palace. Now hearing that she had come, Empress Lu wearily rubbed her brow: “Twelfth Lady has come? Quickly invite her in.” She sat up and also told Minister Xie: “You go to Mingcui Palace and have a look, and invite the Crown Princess here.”

Although these two husband and wife truly didn’t seem like a proper couple, the Crown Prince was now at a matter of life and death after all. If the Crown Princess kept not showing her face, it would inevitably invite gossip, and when Emperor Jianzhang saw this later, he would also be displeased.

Minister Xie agreed and was about to turn around when Princess Duanhui had already entered the hall. Her face carried some worry, and she quickly walked several steps to Empress Lu’s presence, immediately leaning toward Empress Lu’s ear: “Your Majesty, Weizhao has been injured, and the injury isn’t light…”

Empress Lu was so shocked that she immediately tensed her body. She looked at Princess Duanhui with surprise and doubt, then glanced at the inner hall where figures moved about, and lowered her voice to ask: “What happened?!”

She had known—even if the Crown Prince had been poisoned and the whole city was under martial law, there was no reason for Zhou Weizhao, as the Grand Prince, to be delayed for an entire night unable to enter the capital. What’s more, Ye Jingkuan had received the Emperor’s special permission to leave the city to check. As she spoke, she had already stood up and led Princess Duanhui outside. Red clouds gradually appeared at the horizon; the sun was about to rise. She raised her hand to block the light, led Princess Rongcheng and Princess Duanhui around the corridor to a side hall, had people guard outside, looked at Princess Duanhui and asked again: “What happened? How did Weizhao get injured?”

Princess Duanhui explained how Song Chuyi had been attacked at Qingxu Temple, and how Zhou Weizhao had received the message and been lured outside the city. She especially emphasized the later encounter with the wolf pack: “Inside the hidden compartments of the carriage were all filled with mutton and sheep organs, and the wheels had somehow been doused with blood. That wolf pack came suspiciously too—someone deliberately lured them to target them…”

Empress Lu understood immediately upon hearing this. Yes, where in this world were there truly such coincidences? The capital hadn’t seen wolves attacking people on a large scale for many years. What’s more, Song Chuyi had already encountered an assassination attempt before. Her expression turned ugly, as if she had already anticipated something. Her gaze burned as she looked at Princess Duanhui: “The same group of people?”

Princess Duanhui slowly shook her head: “That later group wasn’t the same as the previous one, but when Little Yi was assassinated, they had captured one person alive intending to bring him back for interrogation. Halfway there, people came to snatch the prisoner—among those two groups of people, one group was the same batch as those who assassinated Little Yi.”

Empress Lu was made somewhat dizzy by Princess Duanhui’s words. She gripped the armrests of her chair with both hands, somewhat anxiously: “Twelfth Lady, speak more clearly. This palace doesn’t quite understand.”

Princess Duanhui crouched down, grabbed Empress Lu’s hands that were resting on the armrests with both her hands, and said softly: “Your Majesty, I actually can’t explain it very clearly either. But you must be aware in your heart that at least that batch of people who assassinated Little Yi probably cannot be separated from His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Empress Lu leaned back against the chair back. Her mind exploded with a thunderous sound, like a firework going off. She knew the Crown Prince was obsessive, nearly as if afflicted with madness, but she had never dreamed the Crown Prince could do such a thing—sending people to assassinate Song Chuyi, was it to create trouble for Zhou Weizhao? Or… She understood her son’s character. Although she was unwilling to admit it, she had to acknowledge that the Crown Prince was capable of anything.

She had already thought through the matter in the worst possible direction. Looking up to see Princess Rongcheng’s shocked expression, she smiled bitterly and asked Princess Duanhui: “Where is Weizhao?”

“Fortunately, the Prince Consort left the city in time, otherwise Weizhao might not have been able to enter the city smoothly. He had finally escaped from the wolf pack, but according to the Prince Consort, if he hadn’t brought people out of the city, Weizhao probably wouldn’t have been able to return.” Princess Duanhui sighed: “As things stand now, the Prince Consort has first taken Weizhao to the Prince Zhennan’s mansion, because earlier someone had come to the mansion to report, and I happened to be wanting to leave the city with the Prince Consort to search for Little Yi, which was how we encountered them. The Prince Consort specifically had me enter the palace to report to you.”

She spoke, then lowered her voice again: “The Prince Consort’s meaning is to let you be mentally prepared. As for the Grand Prince’s matter, do you think… how should it be handled?”

The Grand Prince being assassinated was no small matter. Moreover, he now carried such serious injuries. Once this became public, it would inevitably be like the Tianshui Town incident last time, with far-reaching implications. Last time, over three hundred people from Huangjue Temple were executed—what about this time?

Empress Lu sat there in a daze for a long while, cold sweat dripping. Before she knew it, even her lip color had turned bluish-purple.

Princess Rongcheng was ultimately still more clearheaded than her mother. Suppressing the shock and contempt in her heart, she asked Princess Duanhui: “How badly is Weizhao injured? Miss Song the Sixth is alright, isn’t she?”

Princess Duanhui shook her head: “When I saw them, the situation wasn’t very good. Little Yi is fine, only some flesh wounds. But quite a few of those who accompanied them died or were injured. This matter cannot be concealed—we must think of a way to respond.”

Otherwise, if word got out that the Crown Prince had sent people to assassinate his own daughter-in-law, it would probably be recorded by the historians in the annals.

They had to clean up after the Crown Prince again. With him so recklessly disregarding human relationships and ethics, they still had to clean up his mess?! Water vapor gathered in Princess Rongcheng’s eyes. Her gaze heavy, she looked toward the location of the main hall—why was this madman still able to pick up his life? He might as well have died!