Fortunately, this time truly no one could spare attention for His Highness the Crown Prince, because Grand Secretary Chang had just entered the palace to discuss this urgent matter with Emperor Jianzhang, when another piece of news flew into Qingning Palace as if on wings—Princess Consort Gong, Lady Yang, had died.

Lady Yang’s death was something expected. Back when Zhou Weizhao had said that after Lady Yang went to the imperial mausoleum she would gradually fall ill and never recover, Empress Lu had already mentally prepared herself. Therefore, when she heard the news, she only sat in silence for a while before gently nodding her head after a long moment. “Has the death been announced to Prince Gong?”

She had only belatedly realized that she couldn’t escape responsibility for Lady Yang’s death either. Although she had never wanted Lady Yang’s life, it was she herself who had ordered her to set out for the imperial mausoleum to accompany Prince Gong. Prince Gong, with whom relations were already severely strained, would undoubtedly place the blame on her head without a second thought. She rubbed her temples. The good mood she had just been in from tonight’s banquet vanished without a trace in an instant.

Xie Siyi quietly moved to her side, reached out her hands to press against her temples, and began massaging with appropriate pressure while responding, “Escorting the Princess Consort to the imperial mausoleum were not only the Chief Administrator from Prince Gong’s household but also several Imperial Guards. Right now the Imperial Guards have returned to report, while they left several people at the imperial mausoleum.”

Empress Lu made a sound of acknowledgment and didn’t speak for a long time. After a while, she asked, “What happened outside? I seem to have vaguely heard someone knocking at the palace gates?”

Tonight it was supposed to be Minister Cen on night duty at the Western Garden—why had Grand Secretary Chang entered the palace instead? This was a rare occurrence, difficult to see even once in over ten years. Normally, unless there was some matter of extreme urgency, outer officials shouldn’t be entering the palace at this hour.

Fortunately, Xie Siyi knew something about this matter. She lowered her voice to reply to Empress Lu, “I heard that today on Zhuque Street there was some incident—a fire broke out, quite a few people were burned to death or injured, and many were also trampled.”

Empress Lu’s eyes widened. “What have the Five Divisions Cavalry and the Shuntian Prefecture officials been doing?! In previous years they all knew to maintain order—why did something happen this year in particular?”

Xie Siyi lowered her voice even more. “Someone was riding a horse on Zhuque Street, which triggered a riot… I heard it concerns matters in Hubei…” The rest truly wasn’t something she should know. What she did know was indeed limited, all pieced together from fragments.

Since it concerned court affairs, Empress Lu herself understood the gravity and sensibly closed her mouth, no longer inquiring. Instead, she asked about Zhou Weiyun, “Where is the Young Prince? Is he all right?”

Prince Gong had been expelled from the capital to guard the imperial mausoleum, and Princess Consort Gong had also been sent to accompany Prince Gong. The three children Prince Gong had brought back to the capital had all been taken into the palace by Empress Lu to be raised—even Emperor Jianzhang had given his approval. After all, they were parents—how could they truly feel at ease leaving these young children in that vast prince’s mansion?

How could young children suddenly separated from their parents possibly be well? Xie Siyi helplessly shook her head. “I just came from the side hall. Both the Young Heir and the Young Prince’s grandson are making quite a fuss.”

Empress Lu felt somewhat disheartened—Zhou Weiyun’s health had never been very good. Although he was small, and no one dared tell him what situation his father and mother were currently in, young children were always exceptionally sensitive. It was as if he knew something had happened to his father and mother, and he cried ceaselessly all day long. She sighed and instructed Xie Siyi, “I’ll go see him.”

Far away at the imperial mausoleum guarding the ancestral tombs, Prince Gong felt nothing of Empress Lu’s supposed good intentions. His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fingers, the veins on the back of his hands protruding. He stared fixedly at Chief Administrator Ling before him, his voice as cold as winter ice. “What did you say?”

Chief Administrator Ling’s head hung very low as he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth. “The Princess Consort has passed away…”

Prince Gong, who rarely showed emotion, couldn’t help but widen his eyes and shouted a rebuke, “Nonsense! You dare curse the Princess Consort!”

Ever since receiving the news that Lady Yang had been sent by Empress Lu to the imperial mausoleum to accompany him, Prince Gong had vaguely felt something was wrong and had been quite anxious. Who knew that after waiting all this time, what he would receive was news of Lady Yang’s death? Lady Yang’s health had always been excellent—even headaches and slight fevers were rare for her. She often said she didn’t dare fall ill because if she did, there would be no one to care for him and the children. Prince Gong felt his eyes ache terribly. He stood up abruptly, feeling a wave of dizziness. With difficulty he steadied himself, his lips pale as he roared, “You’re lying!”

Chief Administrator Ling simply lowered his head even further. He cupped his hands toward Prince Gong, not intimidated by his fury, and sighed. “Your Highness, please accept my condolences. Her Highness the Princess Consort has truly passed away.”

Prince Gong let out a cold laugh, like a trapped beast, pacing back and forth in the room no fewer than several dozen times. Only when the room had fallen into deathly silence did he finally stop and sit in a chair without moving for a long time.

“How could something happen?” He buried his face in his hands and asked quietly, “You were all with her. Everything was fine—how could something happen?”

Chief Administrator Ling knew that now Prince Gong could listen to what people said. Unhurriedly, he began explaining the cause to Prince Gong. “Illness—it was illness. Her Highness caught a cold the night before leaving the city. By the time we reached Langfang, she was already so ill she couldn’t get up. We had brought a physician with us, but even that physician couldn’t explain why what was merely a cold, even after taking medicine, showed not the slightest improvement. So we requested that the Imperial Guards escorting us return to the city to report.”

Seeing Prince Gong raise his head, his next words became even more crisp and straightforward. “An imperial physician came, but even the imperial physician was helpless. Her Highness’s illness worsened day by day. She couldn’t hold on past seven days before…”

Chief Administrator Ling sighed. “When the Central Palace issued the decree requiring Her Highness to come to the imperial mausoleum, I felt something wasn’t quite right. I specifically wrote to report to you… When Her Highness was in the capital, she did do certain things…”

Having been husband and wife, Prince Gong knew all about these matters. Lady Yang had also written to tell him about them, saying she truly couldn’t bear to watch the Du family kick others when they were down, and therefore wanted to teach them a lesson.

They were merely a few provocative words. The light in Prince Gong’s eyes flickered on and off, finally dimming completely in the end.

His mother, who claimed with every breath to love him, had done nothing but harm him with every action she took.

Because of a few provocative words, before Zhou Weizhao’s side had done anything, she had panicked first, terrified that she wouldn’t be able to rely on Zhou Weizhao in the future, and had rushed to pledge her true loyalty to Zhou Weizhao.

Prince Gong almost let out a cold laugh from his throat. The Crown Prince was gone, and he too had earned his father’s disgust. Empress Lu had placed all her bets on this beardless youth. He would make sure she knew whether the person she relied upon could truly be depended upon or not.