At this moment, the capital was hit by a once - in - a - century blizzard.
The next day, the snow had piled up to knee - deep. Countless beggars and some unidentified people froze to death in the suburbs of the capital.
"Your Highness, those dead men are soldiers of the Yu Family Army."
Zhongli Mingye raised his eyebrows disdainfully.
"These men should have been guarding the safety of our Great Xia on the border. Now, they died in the suburbs of the capital."
"All for some people's lust for power. It's truly detestable!"
It was likely that someone had taken advantage of the natural disaster to plot something this time.
The snow came so suddenly that the Yu Family Army lacked supplies. They had intended to achieve a quick victory but were caught off - guard by the snow disaster. Many soldiers were directly frozen to death.
Yu Huai was extremely anxious. Although the supplies sent by the Prince Cheng's Mansion were sufficient, there were not enough cotton - padded clothes and quilts. Then, a large amount of food and forage was inexplicably burned.
Who was it? Who was behind these petty actions? A terrifying light flashed in Yu Huai's hawk - like eyes. The words of the Prince Cheng were a provocation to him. They had had the upper hand, but a natural disaster had ruined their advantage.
The map of the capital's defense in his hand was gradually soaked by the melted snow.
That night, the emperor did not summon any concubines. Instead, he asked Eunuch Li to fetch a lot of snow.
"It's so cold..."
Eunuch Li accompanied him and said, "Your Majesty, the snow isn't cold. It's just that the room was warm before."
Shaking off the snowflakes in his hand, the emperor straightened up. "How could I allow them to covet my kingdom?"
"It's a pity about those soldiers! But... they really deserved to die!!!"
The emperor then lay back on the dragon bed, coughing continuously. After the queen attended to his illness, the crown princess brought a bowl of snow clam soup.
The crown prince, Zhongli Chengze, served the emperor as he drank the soup.
"Father's health is gradually deteriorating. This assassination must have been masterminded by the Prince Cheng!"
He was talking with Grand Tutor Shen, but the latter disagreed. "Your Highness, don't act rashly. There must be someone more anxious than us."
The Prince Cheng repeatedly requested to attend to the emperor's illness, but all his requests were rejected by the emperor, right in front of the crown prince and the crown princess. It was obvious to everyone that the Prince Cheng had suddenly fallen out of favor.
This made him extremely embarrassed.
Next, Liao Zhengye's actions became even more hateful. He secretly associated with the Prince Duan'an. By the time Zhongli Shuoyi discovered it, the two of them were already chatting amicably.
He was extremely frightened, fearing that Liao Zhengye would reveal his true identity to the Prince Duan'an. If that happened, how could the son of a fake "eunuch" be worthy of the princess of the prince's mansion?
The Prince Duan'an would not stage a palace coup for the son of a eunuch. Zhongli Shuoyi began to regret more and more. Recently, Yu Duanya's pregnancy was very stable, and he began to yearn for a peaceful life.
However, Liao Zhengye wasn't that stupid.
The actions of the director of the Eastern Depot did not escape the shadow guards of Zhongli Mingye. He roughly guessed what the Prince Cheng was up to.
So, he arranged more people to keep an eye on the Eastern Depot.
Why had the Eastern Depot become so closely associated with the Prince Cheng? Zhongli Mingye was a bit puzzled. Liao Zhengye was a calculating man. He wouldn't easily side with any prince, especially since the Eastern Depot was an institution established by the emperor himself. The growth of the Eastern Depot's power in recent years was due to the emperor's indulgence as well as Liao Zhengye's scheming.
"Investigate the Prince Cheng's comings and goings in the harem within the past three months."
There were so many strange things going on. Zhongli Mingye didn't want to miss any suspicious details.
However, before he could figure it out, Ming Ruyi came to his door, fanning himself.
"Uncle, is this true?"
Even though Zhongli Mingye was well - prepared, he still couldn't believe that the Prince Cheng was not the emperor's son.
Ming Ruyi seemed quite pleased. He laughed and said, "The emperor has too many concubines. It's not impossible for a fake eunuch to sneak in."
Liao Zhengye was a fake eunuch? Although Zhongli Mingye had been keeping an eye on the Eastern Depot for several years, he had never discovered this information. He couldn't help but be a bit suspicious of Ming Ruyi.
Was this uncle of his really uninterested in the throne as he seemed?
"Uncle... I don't want you to get involved in this matter!"
Seeing his solemn expression, Ming Ruyi laughed. "You two are father and son. What does it have to do with me?"
"I'm just telling you to solve your doubts."
As a member of the Zhongli family, he couldn't just watch Liao Zhengye taint their bloodline. The Prince Cheng, Zhongli Shuoyi, had no chance of inheriting the throne at all.
Zhongli Mingye looked at the information brought by the shadow guards. These speculations gradually proved that what Ming Ruyi said was very likely to be true.
Concubine Zhuang, the Zhuang family, the Prince Cheng... All these people were going to lose their heads!
Suddenly, he summoned Qingfeng and gave him detailed instructions.
"Maybe, things aren't that bad."
A few days later, rumors spread throughout the palace that there were fake eunuchs in the Eastern Depot. Several maids had even become pregnant!
When the emperor heard the news, he was furious and ordered a thorough investigation of the Eastern Depot.
Liao Zhengye was extremely panicked at this moment. Watching as several of his trusted eunuchs were taken away for body checks one by one, he tried to remain calm but could only watch helplessly as the situation got out of control.
It seemed that a storm was coming.
That night, he picked up a knife and cut off his manhood. To make it look more like he had been castrated decades ago, he cut very thoroughly.
Concubine Zhuang was trembling in the palace. She was extremely panicked. When this rumor spread, she knew it was targeted at Liao Zhengye.
After a thorough investigation of the Eastern Depot, several eunuchs who had not been completely castrated were indeed caught.
For a moment, the Eastern Depot was in a state of panic, and everyone was afraid to make a sound.
The emperor's face was ashen. This was simply ridiculous. The eunuchs of the Eastern Depot dared to have an affair with the maids right under his nose.
They had even touched his women. All the concubines and maids in the harem of three thousand beauties were his women!
The Prince Cheng was not in a good situation either. He went to visit Concubine Cheng and sternly demanded that she keep her mouth shut.
Then he changed into a strong - man's outfit and secretly met Liao Zhengye.
No one knew what he said that day. After he left, Liao Zhengye looked as pale as death.
Zhongli Mingye and Ming Ruyi were playing chess when a guard came in to report. "His Majesty has summoned the two princes to the palace..."
They glanced at each other and understood.
"..."
Liao Zhengye fought back desperately and stabbed the crown prince. It was all because the crown prince had insulted him during the investigation of the Eastern Depot.
Originally, the crown prince was doomed to die, but he grabbed a concubine beside him to block the fatal blow. So he only suffered a minor injury.
After being captured, Liao Zhengye immediately committed suicide to atone for his sins.
The whole thing was strange. Although the emperor was angry, he wasn't stupid. He had the body re - examined and found that Liao Zhengye was indeed a eunuch, so he let it go.
Ming Ruyi was puzzled. He wondered why Zhongli Mingye hadn't told the emperor that the Prince Cheng was not his son.
"If the Prince Cheng dies, I'll be the next target." He wasn't married yet and didn't want to be involved in this dispute too early.
Zhongli Mingye wasn't that stupid. This time, he had only managed to force Liao Zhengye to death. The emperor had long wanted Liao Zhengye dead, as well as Concubine Zhuang and the Prince Cheng!
As for whether the emperor knew the true identity of the Prince Cheng or not, that wasn't the business of these princes.
The Yu Family Army was still stationed outside the city. Although they had suffered heavy casualties, the situation in the southern border was still unstable. The main force of the Yu Family Army was still there, and the nephew of the Prince Duan'an was also alive.
Although the Prince Cheng was in power now, the Prince Duan'an was a bit rash in his actions. It was obviously not the right time to stage a palace coup. There would probably be more games between him and the emperor.