Shen Baozhu also understood what was going on. She whispered to Qiuqiu, "The Fourth Prince's body was severely damaged. He's repairing it now."
Qiuqiu whispered back, "Baozhu, why do we have to talk so quietly?"
"You silly girl, we sneaked in here. Of course we have to keep our voices down," Shen Baozhu reminded Qiuqiu, but she forgot something even more important.
She had brought Qiuqiu into the palace with her, so there would be no one in the Yong'an Marquis Mansion to cover for them.
At this moment, Yan Mingli was pacing around the main courtyard of the Yong'an Marquis Mansion. Not only could he not find Shen Baozhu, but Qiuqiu was also nowhere to be seen.
Unable to find the two children, Yan Mingli was sweating profusely. "This is bad! This is really bad!"
...
While Yan Mingli was sweating in the Yong'an Marquis Mansion, Yan's father was sweating under the pressure of Lord Yin and Lord Yan.
Lord Yin grabbed Yan's father's right hand. "I remember your youngest son has a good relationship with Shen Baozhu. They often go to the restaurant together. Now that Shen Baozhu is in trouble, are you really going to stand by and do nothing?"
"My Mingli is just a child. Baozhu is only five. At most, they're just two kids eating together. What kind of friendship could they have?" Yan's father tried to pull his right hand back, but Lord Yin held on tightly. Unable to break free, he had no choice but to let Lord Yin hold it.
Taking advantage of the situation, Lord Yan grabbed Yan's father's left hand and pleaded earnestly, "Think it over carefully. The Crown Prince is so domineering. How can he shoulder the great responsibility in the future? Why not take this opportunity to... It'll also save the common people from suffering."
Startled by Lord Yan's words, Yan's father trembled. He wanted to cover his ears, but both hands were held. He could only emphasize, "No, don't talk to me about this. You're the Empress Dowager's younger brother. It's okay for you to say a few words in private, but I'm different. I can't even listen to this."
Lord Yin and Lord Yan exchanged a look but still refused to give up on Yan's father. His son was the fiancé of the female marquis, and there was a god behind the female marquis. If they could win over Yan's father, the plan to depose the Crown Prince would be more than half successful.
Fed up with them, Yan's father said angrily, "No matter what you're going to do, I won't get involved!"
Seeing this, Lord Yin and Lord Yan were afraid of angering the god, so they had to turn around regretfully and leave the Ministry of Revenue.
They went their separate ways, each with a clear goal. Lord Yin went to find the Director of the Imperial College, while Lord Yan went to find the Imperial Tutor.
They had secretly found their allies last night. During the day, they could look for some more legitimate ones, such as the Director of the Imperial College, who disliked people of low character, and the Imperial Tutor, who attached great importance to the education of the royal family.
The former would make the matter public, and the latter would be used to depose the Crown Prince.
It couldn't be said that the Crown Prince had done anything so heinous that he had to be deposed. But whenever Lord Yin thought of the words the Crown Prince had said to threaten Yin Susu, he would feel a chill down his spine.
He was the Crown Prince's own uncle and thought he had been kind to the Crown Prince. He never dreamed that the Crown Prince would have such an attitude towards the Yin family. Besides feeling heart - broken, he was also filled with fear. This was the reason why the Yin family was so determined to depose the Crown Prince.
Lord Yan hadn't had this plan originally. He had just complained casually. After all, the Crown Prince was protected by the Queen, and his older sister was not the Emperor's mother. Even though his grandson had been disfigured by the Crown Prince, he couldn't say anything.
But last night, the Empress Dowager had suddenly sent a message back, saying that she was very angry about the Crown Prince's actions and asking the Yan family to come up with a way to unite the ministers to depose the Crown Prince.
The Yan family owed their current status to the Empress Dowager. Although Lord Yan didn't agree with deposing the Crown Prince, he still spent the whole night discussing with others and decided to choose a good day in a few days to give it a try. Maybe the Emperor would be in a good mood that day and wouldn't be angry when he saw the memorial to depose the Crown Prince.
At the same time, Shen Qingshan was looking at the dozens of letters in front of him. He thought proudly, "So what if the Emperor tried his best to drive me out? My decades of influence in the court are not for show. The Shen family has been maintaining these relationships all these years. It's time for the Emperor to see what we're capable of."
Shen Qingshan wasn't worried about being exposed. After all, the Yan family, backed by the Empress Dowager, would take the lead. The Emperor would only think that the Yan family was too powerful and wouldn't suspect him.
...
Time flew by, and it was noon in a blink of an eye.
In the Qianqing Palace.
The Emperor looked up at the scorching sun and played with the green jade beads in his hand. "Such a nice day. It's perfect for sunbathing."
The senior eunuch replied with a smile, "Your Majesty is right."
Soon, the person who was going to "sunbathe" arrived. A figure quickly knelt on the square in front of the Qianqing Palace.
The Emperor squinted his eyes and looked for a long time before he recognized that the person was Inspector Zhang from the Censorate. "What is he doing kneeling there?"
According to the procedure, Inspector Zhang should have asked the Emperor to depose the Crown Prince first. The Emperor would have refused and scolded him. Then Inspector Zhang would have pleaded, and after a few rounds of tug - of - war, he would have knelt on the square. But Inspector Zhang skipped the previous steps and knelt directly on the square, which made the Emperor confused for a moment.
Ping Hai understood what the Emperor meant and quickly went to the square to call Inspector Zhang over.
Inspector Zhang followed Ping Hai with a strange look on his face. "Your humble subject pays homage to Your Majesty."
"Who told you to come? I have important matters to attend to today. Didn't the Prime Minister tell you?" The Emperor thought Inspector Zhang was here to cause trouble, so his tone was rather harsh.
Inspector Zhang was nearly thirty years old and tall, but at this moment, he looked extremely aggrieved. "Your Majesty, I didn't want to come, but no one else was willing. So the Prime Minister made us draw lots. I was the unluckiest one and drew the red lot, so I had to come."
The Emperor was stunned. He still felt a bit guilty towards the Crown Prince, so he had handed this matter over to Prime Minister Sima and hadn't even asked who would be the first to speak today. He didn't expect that no one wanted to come. After a moment's thought, he understood the reason. Even if the Crown Prince was deposed, he would still be the Third Prince. Those people were afraid of being resented by the Third Prince, so they didn't want to get involved.
Thinking that Inspector Zhang was so unlucky and had to take the blame for him, the Emperor's tone softened a bit. "Then why did you kneel directly?"
Hearing this, Inspector Zhang looked a bit embarrassed. "I thought that since I had to kneel anyway, I might as well skip the previous steps and kneel directly to show my determination. It would also save some trouble."
The Emperor glanced at Inspector Zhang. "You're quite good at being lazy. But if I don't argue with you, what if the Crown Prince resents me in the future?"
Then the Emperor raised his hand and smashed the teacup on the ground. Pointing at Inspector Zhang angrily, he said, "How dare you accuse the Crown Prince! Go kneel outside!"
Inspector Zhang instinctively knelt down to plead for mercy, but then he quickly realized that they were acting. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and ran back to the place where he had been kneeling.
The news spread like wildfire outside the palace.
Lord Yin was pestering the Director of the Imperial College. They were old friends from their youth. Because of their close relationship, the Director thought Lord Yin had gone crazy.
The Director said helplessly, "Why do this? The Crown Prince is your own nephew. Are you really willing to see him deposed? The Emperor and the Queen were young lovers. They have a deep affection for each other, and the Emperor only has one Crown Prince. Because of the Eldest Princess, the Emperor is very kind to the Crown Prince, and his treatment far exceeds that of other princes and princesses."
"When the Crown Prince was five, he could even enter and leave the Qianqing Palace freely. If his temper hadn't worsened this year and he hadn't often quarreled with the Queen, he wouldn't have lost this privilege."
"You're the Crown Prince's own uncle. Instead of trying to persuade him, why are you adding insult to injury and trying to depose him?"
Facing his old friend, Lord Yin stammered and couldn't say a word. He still wanted to save some face for the Crown Prince.
It wasn't until he heard that someone had accused the Crown Prince and wanted to depose him that Lord Yin didn't want to miss this good opportunity. He gritted his teeth and told his friend about his daughter being beaten and the heartless words the Crown Prince had said.
Lord Yin was also very helpless. "He's only seven years old, but he already hates the Yin family so much. He even beat Susu. I'm scared. I'm afraid that when he gains more power in the future, he'll take revenge on the Yin family, and others will even praise him for being just."
Hearing the news, Lord Yan and Shen Qingshan also quickly took action.