The Crown Prince gave Lord Wang a deep look, sensing that there was an underlying meaning in his words. Several cases. What kind of cases could they be that had captivated Sheng Jinyu's attention so much? The Court of Judicial Review was a juicy piece of meat he had always longed to sink his teeth into to facilitate his own schemes. However, the Emperor had never been willing to let go. After his energy waned, he directly put Sheng Jinyu in charge. In the past two years, the Crown Prince had exhausted every means to plant his own people in the Court, but he couldn't get them into the key positions.
Sheng Jinyu indeed had ulterior motives and had carefully planned everything in advance.
As soon as the Crown Prince stepped out of the main hall, he saw the Duke of He waiting at the entrance. He had been fine that morning, but in such a short time, a blister had popped up at the corner of his mouth, looking rather conspicuous.
As the Duke of He stepped forward, the Crown Prince shot him a displeased look. What was going on? Didn't he know how to avoid suspicion?
"I'm busy. I'll summon the Duke of He when I'm free."
The Crown Prince was usually amiable. When had he ever been so cold, addressing him by his title instead of "uncle"?
But the Duke of He couldn't wait. He rushed forward, disregarding the need to avoid suspicion, and whispered, "Your Highness, Prince Yu did it on purpose..."
The Crown Prince was impatient. How could he not know that Sheng Jinyu was cunning and had deliberately sacrificed one of his pawns? But now that things had come to this, what else could he do but abandon the Prince of Xiao? The only thing he could think of was to shift the blame onto Sheng Jinyu, making the clan members understand that it was Sheng Jinyu who was causing them trouble.
But at this moment, Sheng Jinyu had feigned fainting, clearly not wanting to stir up any trouble and trying to shift all the blame onto Lu Hongxi.
Seeing that the Crown Prince didn't seem to care, the Duke of He grew even more anxious. He followed the Crown Prince closely and continued in a hushed tone, "Your Highness, I saw clearly just now. There was an old case from fifteen years ago about Yan Songbai in the file. We mustn't let the Prince of Zhennan reverse the verdict!"
The Crown Prince was on the verge of losing his patience. Hearing the Duke of He harping on about such a trivial matter, he was extremely annoyed and was about to scold him when a sudden thought flashed through his mind. "Yan? The Yan family. What's their relationship with Sheng Jinyu?"
The Duke of He didn't dare to speak recklessly in the palace. He simply wrote the character "family" in the Crown Prince's palm and then hurried away.
The Crown Prince was initially displeased. Wouldn't going to the He family's mansion now just arouse the Emperor's suspicion? But then he thought about it and knew that the Duke of He was being cautious. After all, the He family's mansion was the safest place.
It wasn't just the court session that day. Lu Wanning had entered the palace with the Princess Consort and was sitting in the Palace of Gathered Elegance. She saw He Kang haughtily raising her head and acting coquettishly in front of the Empress.
She didn't show any particular reaction and instead kept circling around Shi Aohan, cheerfully calling her "cousin" at every turn. This made the Princess Consort cast frequent sidelong glances, wondering when her daughter had become so close to Shi Aohan.
Shi Aohan spoke softly and was very polite, but she was on guard against Lu Wanning at every turn. Even when speaking, she made sure to keep a certain distance from her.
Lu Wanning tried several times to get closer but failed. If she got any closer, she might arouse suspicion, so she had no choice but to give up and sat down at the table to eat the fresh fruits in the Palace of Gathered Elegance.
He Chan disliked Lu Wanning. Seeing Shi Aohan being so nice to Lu Wanning made her even more uncomfortable. She sneered and said, "She looks like she's never seen food before. Isn't she ashamed?"
Lu Wanning immediately looked up at her and stood up, reaching for the curved saber at her waist.
He Chan was startled and quickly ran to the Empress on the main seat. "Auntie, look. Look, she's brought a weapon into the palace."
Lu Wanning rolled her eyes and sat back down. "The Empress Dowager and the Emperor have both allowed it. Why are you so worked up? I'm not going to go around hacking people."
He Chan shouted, "You clearly wanted to hack me just now."
Lu Wanning stroked her curved saber. "No, I didn't. Cousin Shi, you know that this curved saber of mine is only for hacking scumbags, not others. Right?"
Shi Aohan forced a smile and nodded reluctantly. "Yes... Yes... Chan'er, don't worry. There are so many people here. Nothing will happen."
It was clearly a statement to reassure He Chan that Lu Wanning wouldn't harm her, but Lu Wanning pretended not to understand and immediately nodded. "That's right. I've only used this curved saber on Fu Rongxuan. I've never used it on anyone else."
The Princess Consort was embarrassed and scolded, "Ning'er."
Lu Wanning pouted. "Okay, okay. I know. I was just joking with her. Does the Empress have anything else to do? If not, I'll go to the Palace of Longevity and Peace first."
The Princess Consort was so angry that her face turned red. "Ning'er, how can you be so rude?"
Lu Wanning muttered, "There are two people here that I don't like, and Cousin Shi doesn't pay much attention to me. I'm bored."
She turned to look at Princess Qin. "Are you going to the Empress Dowager's place?"
Princess Qin was a quiet and reserved person. She was sitting in the corner like a backdrop. She shook her head after hearing Lu Wanning's words. "The Empress Dowager hasn't summoned me. I'm not going."
Lu Wanning pouted and left first.
The Princess Consort was so angry that her chest ached. She tugged at Lady He's sleeve and said, "Sister-in-law, Your Ladyship, look at this child. I've really spoiled her. She's so rude."
Lady He comforted her. "Children are like this. My Chan'er is the same. Chan'er, why did you say that about your cousin for no reason?"
He Chan wasn't satisfied and acted coquettishly in front of the Empress. The Empress took a hairpin and inserted it into He Chan's hair.
"Alright, alright, Chan'er. Don't be angry. This hairpin is a new one. Auntie is giving it to you."
He Chan beamed with joy and happily went down with the hairpin in her hands.
The Empress patted He Jia's hand. "He Kang, Chan'er doesn't come to the palace often. You take her and Miss Shi for a walk around."
He Kang seemed innocent, but in fact, she knew her own situation well. She bowed to the Empress and then led He Chan and Shi Aohan out.
Princess Qin slowly got up. "Mother, I also want to... take a walk with them."
The Empress looked down on this concubine's daughter and was used to her meek demeanor. She just waved her hand. "Go."
Princess Qin followed the three of them. There seemed to be a hint of envy on her face, but she lowered her head and didn't say much.
Shi Aohan was very observant. She immediately noticed Princess Qin's discomfort and quickly stepped closer. "Your Highness."
Princess Qin looked up woodenly. It took her a while to react and forced a rather unflattering smile.
Shi Aohan chatted with her for a while. After getting to know each other a little better, she asked, "Your Highness, are you on good terms with the Princess of Zhaoyang?"
Princess Qin blushed and paused woodenly before saying, "I've met her the most."
Shi Aohan understood. They weren't really close. Since she was the only princess in the palace and had been alone since childhood, the person she saw the most when paying respects to the Empress Dowager was Lu Wanning. Naturally, she regarded Lu Wanning as a friend in her heart.
But with Lu Wanning's personality, she probably wouldn't consider such a boring princess a friend.
After chatting for a while, Princess Qin said nervously, "It's getting late. I still have to go to the Empress Dowager's palace to pay my respects..."
A hint of pity flashed in Shi Aohan's eyes. She nodded and said, "Your Highness, you may go."
After walking for a while, He Kang and He Chan in front had already taken off their outer robes and were chatting and laughing in the pavilion. Shi Aohan also felt hot. Unlike them, she was more reserved. She reached out to take out her embroidered handkerchief to wipe the sweat off.
But when she felt around her waist, where was her embroidered handkerchief?