Yun Chu was holding the well-fed Jue’er in the sunshine.

The physician said that newborn babies needed plenty of sun to grow strong bones and become taller.

Although she already had two children before, this was her first time caring for an infant. Whenever the wet nurse finished feeding him, she would hold him in her arms to soothe him.

After Jue’er fell asleep, she would sit by the cradle and quietly read.

Before long, Tingfeng came to report matters. She tiptoed out.

“Princess Consort, Prince Gongxi has been confined by His Majesty.” Tingfeng reported news from the palace. “The Gui family was implicated and dismissed from office for investigation. The situation in the palace has also undergone earth-shaking changes. The Empress’s power to manage the six palaces was previously divided and given to Consort Hui. Now that the Gui family has fallen into trouble, Consort Hui has also been confined to her palace chambers. The Empress has resumed control of the inner palace, and the Gongsun family is also holding their heads high…”

It wasn’t just the Prince Pingxi’s estate discussing this matter.

The entire capital was also talking about it, becoming the main topic of conversation among both nobles and commoners after meals.

“Hey, did you hear? Prince Gongxi has been deposed. Tsk tsk, being the Emperor’s son isn’t necessarily a good thing. How many princes have gotten into trouble now?”

“Prince Gongxi brought it upon himself. Of all things to do, he committed examination fraud. If he weren’t an imperial prince, his head would have already rolled by now.”

“I wondered why that exceptionally talented poor scholar couldn’t even pass the imperial examination a few years ago. Turns out he didn’t establish connections with Prince Gongxi. What a pity.”

“Who knows how many poor scholars have been delayed like this. Prince Gongxi truly deserves this.”

“My grandson is so capable, he’s definitely examination material. He didn’t pass last year—it must have been Prince Gongxi’s doing. This old man won’t let him off!”

“My son was delayed the same way!”

“…”

A group of scholars’ family members, furious to the extreme, gathered together and rushed to the entrance of Prince Gongxi’s estate, throwing stones at the mansion gates.

Some passersby, filled with righteous indignation, also kept throwing rotten eggs and spoiled vegetables.

Chu Mo stood in the front courtyard of the estate, clearly hearing the countless people cursing outside and the pounding sounds of the main gate being struck.

He clenched his fists tightly: “Unruly commoners! A group of unruly commoners!”

The servants in the estate knelt down in panic.

A group of advisors stood trembling under the eaves. They were people of Prince Gongxi’s estate and had also been confined, including Xie Shi’an.

“Usually you’re all so eloquent. Why are you mute now?”

Chu Mo looked at those dozens of advisors and threw the cup in his hand. The unlucky one standing at the front was hit on the forehead and collapsed to the ground.

The group of advisors was so frightened they all knelt down together—all except Xie Shi’an.

Over this past year, he had grown much taller and was now the height of a normal man. When everyone else knelt, he appeared even taller.

He lowered his head and walked over: “Your Highness need not be dejected.”

“It’s all your fault!” Chu Mo raised his hand and slapped Xie Shi’an across the face. “If you hadn’t told this Prince that Chu Yi was investigating the examination matter, this Prince wouldn’t have bothered silencing witnesses, and the witness wouldn’t have fallen into Chu Yi’s hands! Tell me, are you an undercover agent sent by Chu Yi!”

He reached out and grabbed Xie Shi’an by the throat.

Xie Shi’an was nearly choked unconscious. A servant nearby hurriedly reminded: “Your Highness, Xie Shi’an has always been clever. Perhaps he has some ideas. If he speaks honeyed words, it won’t be too late for Your Highness to kill him then.”

Only then did Chu Mo release him.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Xie Shi’an covered his throat and fell to the ground. A flash of coldness crossed his eyes, then immediately transformed into an obedient expression.

“Thank you, Your Highness, for giving Xie a chance.” He knelt on the ground. “Everyone knows the Crown Prince is mediocre. The Fourth Prince is dead, the Fifth Prince deposed, the Sixth Prince crippled, the Eighth Prince sent to his distant fief, and the Ninth and Tenth Princes are still young… Although His Majesty has ten sons, truly only Your Highness and Prince Pingxi are capable of great responsibility! If both the Crown Prince and Prince Pingxi encounter trouble at the same time, His Majesty would only have Your Highness left as a son capable of bearing great responsibility. In that case, would His Majesty still punish Your Highness?”

Chu Mo narrowed his eyes: “You’re saying this Prince should deal with both the Crown Prince and the Third Prince at the same time? Ha, you think too highly of this Prince!”

Not to mention, he was currently confined with people arranged by Father Emperor to monitor him. He didn’t have such great ability!

“Your Highness, the Duke’s wife—no, I should say Madam Jin—should be put to use now. Dealing with the Empress should be more than sufficient. Once the Empress falls, the Crown Prince will naturally fall as well.” Xie Shi’an raised his head. “As for Prince Pingxi, Xie is willing to serve as the vanguard to prove Xie’s unwavering loyalty to Your Highness. I beg Your Highness to give the order!”

Chu Mo pondered.

Since cooperating with Li Jingshu, she had made multiple moves against the Empress, causing the Empress’s power to manage the inner palace to shift away.

This proved that Li Jingshu indeed had some lethality against the Empress and could indeed be threatened and enticed.

As for the Third Prince… dealing with him was truly thorny. Having Xie Shi’an try wasn’t impossible.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke: “Since ancient times, witchcraft and curse arts have been the imperial family’s greatest taboo. See if you can use this angle to deal with the Prince Pingxi’s estate.”

Xie Shi’an bowed: “Xie understands Your Highness’s meaning. Xie will handle it immediately!”

The Prince Pingxi’s Estate.

During this troubled time, Yun Chu had assigned additional patrol personnel to prevent anyone from breaking into the estate at night.

Guards were arranged outside the estate, and there were also many guards inside, surrounding the entire estate so tightly not even water could leak through.

Late at night, Chu Yi finally returned. Seeing Jue’er sleeping in Yun Chu’s arms, he called the wet nurse to take the child away.

“Chu’er, I’ve made you worried.” Chu Yi lay down beside her. “As you predicted, even after being confined, Chu Mo isn’t behaving. He arranged for someone to secretly meet with Madam Jin, Li Jingshu. Next, the Empress will probably not have peace.”

Yun Chu asked: “Has the imperial physician made any progress treating that mad woman over the past year?”

“That mad woman’s madness is too severe.” Chu Yi’s eyes were heavy. “I investigated and came to this conclusion—there’s no proof, just listen. That mad woman keeps calling for ‘Erlang,’ which should be referring to my Father Emperor. In her youth, she and Li Jingshu were likely both entangled with my Father Emperor. Li Jingshu became jealous and schemed to drive the mad woman insane, confining her to an estate for nearly thirty years.”

Yun Chu thought: “I feel it’s not quite as you describe…”

After a year of treatment with no improvement, recovery seemed unlikely.

To investigate all this clearly, it seemed she would need to visit the Li family.

Due to Li Jingshu’s connection, the Li family had been promoted and ennobled over the years. Now Minister Li was already a second-rank official of the current court.

As it happened, the Li family’s old matriarch was celebrating her birthday soon.

Normally at such a critical juncture, a birthday banquet shouldn’t be held, but the old matriarch happened to be turning eighty-eight, an auspicious age, and invitations had been sent out half a year ago. It would be awkward to cancel now, so they could only bite the bullet and continue entertaining guests.

Yun Chu attended the banquet with Changsheng.

Over the past year or two, with Xie Xian as her study companion, Changsheng’s personality had become bolder and bolder. She who previously never dared attend banquets had gradually begun to adapt.

Sometimes she would even chat with young ladies from noble families of similar age at banquets and had made two or three friends.