Overnight, the emperor spat out blood and fell into a coma. The crown prince was supported by the court officials and was authorized to handle state affairs on behalf of the emperor.
The crown prince grandly handled the funerals of the third prince and the queen. He announced to the public that the third prince had unfortunately passed away, and the queen, overwhelmed with grief, had followed him in death.
Although the story sounded plausible, it was hard to say how many people actually believed it.
"Lord Li, I've found out what you asked me to investigate. This is the information sent by my spy in the palace."
Lord Li read the letter. His heart sank as if it had fallen into an ice cellar. "Your Highness... Is this... true?"
"If you don't believe me, you can go and investigate it yourself."
"My daughter! Why were you so stupid!" Lord Li burst into tears upon reading the contents of the letter. It was his fault that his daughter had suffered so much. If he hadn't let her enter the palace to receive the imperial edict that day, she wouldn't have endured such torture.
"Lord Li, please accept my condolences." Seeing Lord Li on the verge of fainting from crying, Yuan Yuhan ordered his men to send him back.
Lord Li fainted on the way back and didn't wake up until the next day.
He was determined to avenge his daughter! He had long seen the cruelty of the current crown prince. Although the prince seemed gentle on the surface, Lord Li had once witnessed Yuan Yuchuan's brutal side.
If such a man were to become the emperor in the future, the common people would surely be plunged into deep suffering. At present, the most suitable candidate was Prince Jin.
"Your Excellencies, when will my father wake up?" Although he pretended to be filial on the surface, he knew very well that the emperor would never wake up.
A group of imperial physicians gathered together and discussed for a long time, but they couldn't come up with a result.
"Your Highness, the emperor fainted because he was overwhelmed with grief and anger. As for when he will wake up... Please forgive our incompetence."
Actually, they knew in their hearts that the emperor had been poisoned, and the poison had penetrated deep into his bones. There was no cure. As for who had poisoned the emperor, some of the imperial physicians quietly glanced at the crown prince...
"In that case, take good care of my father. If anything happens to him, I'll take your heads."
After the empress dowager learned what had happened recently and that the emperor had fallen into a coma, she knew what was going on. She took her servants to a small Buddhist chapel in the palace and decided to spend the rest of her life in solitude, no longer paying attention to anything outside.
The emperor remained in a coma for three years. During these three years, the crown prince was in charge of the court. He never said that he wanted to ascend the throne, and he handled government affairs quite well. But only the crown prince knew how he had endured these three years.
He was just a puppet. All the memorials in the palace were secretly sent to Lou Mingkou. He had no real power and had to suffer Lou Yueying's violence every day.
He was in great pain. He had privately approached Yuan Yuhan many times, but they always told him to wait for the right opportunity. Wait for the opportunity!
"Lou Ming, why did you bring Lian'er back with you?"
"I was injured at that time and had nowhere to go. I was afraid that I couldn't protect Lian'er well, so I had to bring her back." His implication was that he didn't want to bring Lian'er back either, but he had no choice.
Lou Mingkou believed Lou Ming's words. After all, he had been seriously injured when he came back, and it had taken him a long time to recover.
"Don't worry. I won't treat Lian'er badly in the future. I'll definitely find a good family for her to marry into." He knew that Lou Ming was not interested in anything, except for his younger sister, who was his only weakness.
"Yes."
That night, Lou Ming went to Jing Xunche's residence. "I'm here to give you something." Lou Ming took out the seal from his bosom and handed it to Jing Xunche.
"How did you get it?" His secret agents had been planted in the Lou Mansion, but they hadn't found any evidence against Lou Mingkou. He didn't expect that Lou Ming would bring the seal here.
"I've been recuperating for the past three years. I had nothing to do, so I learned how to engrave seals. Yesterday, I swapped Lou Mingkou's seal. This one is the real one, and the one in his study is a fake."
Jing Xunche looked at the seal in his hand. He knew that with this seal and the letters he had found in the Southern Qing Kingdom, he would surely be able to bring down Lou Mingkou.
"Why don't you just stay here and take Lian'er away?"
"No. If I don't go back, Lou Mingkou will soon find out something is wrong. Then all your plans will be ruined."
"Don't worry about me. This is what I promised you. I just hope that if anything happens to me, you will take good care of my sister."
"Don't worry. You should be careful yourself."
"I'll take my leave."
The next day, someone presented a memorial.
"Your Highness, this is what I've found out about Lord Lou. Please investigate carefully." The person who presented the memorial was none other than Lord Li.
"Present it." A glimmer of excitement flashed in the crown prince's eyes. He wondered if Lord Li's memorial could cut off one of Lou Mingkou's arms.
The crown prince read the contents of the memorial. The more he read, the angrier he became. But deep down in his eyes, he was extremely excited. This memorial had really helped him a lot.
"Presumptuous! Lord Lou, what do you have to say for yourself?" The crown prince threw the memorial on the ground and looked at Lou Mingkou angrily. He wanted to vent all the anger he had endured in the past three years. He must seize this opportunity.
Lou Mingkou picked up the memorial on the ground and said, "Your Highness, I've never done such a thing. Please investigate carefully!"
"Lord Lou, do you think I'm blind? The seal on this letter is clearly yours. Everyone knows that your seal is special. It was personally bestowed by my imperial grandfather!"
"Don't tell me this seal is a fake! I don't believe that there is anyone in this world who has the guts to imitate something of the royal family."
Lou Ming: Now there is. The one in Lou Mingkou's study was imitated by me.
Lou Mingkou stared deeply at Yuan Yuchuan. He knew that the crown prince wanted to vent all the grievances he had endured in the past three years and wanted to wipe him out. Humph! How overconfident!
"Guards! Lord Lou framed General Jing's family and colluded with the enemy. His crime is unforgivable. Arrest him and execute him in three days!"
Lou Mingkou stood there calmly and was quietly taken to the prison.
He had already made preparations just in case. As soon as the news spread, Lou Ming would lead his private army into the palace.
As for why he didn't turn to Lou Xingzhou and Lou Yueying, it was because Lou Xingzhou was now indulging in wine all day long. No one knew if he would be able to wake up from his drunken stupor.
And Lou Yueying? She had already married the crown prince. Although she was now the one in charge of the crown prince's mansion, she was still a woman. If anything unexpected happened, everything would be lost.
As for Lou Ming, he was not worried at all that Lou Ming would betray him. He had already told the steward that if something happened to him one day, he should use Lian'er to threaten Lou Ming.