The Righteous Scheme of Heaven 020: The Emperor's Question

  "This humble servant greets the princess." Xiaohua's entire body was prostrate on the ground, as if he wanted to bury himself in the earth. He had been outsmarted today, and the stomachache from pulling for an entire afternoon was secondary; he was too ashamed to face the princess.

  Yu Worry-free laughed and said: "Get up, move a chair for Xiao Huazi."

  Yu Cui let out a snort of laughter, moved a chair to behind him and placed it there, then bent down to pull up the little flower that was kneeling on the ground: "Sit down, I heard from Yu Zhu that you haven't had an easy time?"

  Xiao Huazi listened to Yu Cui's teasing voice, and stole a glance at Yuan Wuyou, seeing her smiling at him, his face suddenly turned red, feeling both shy and ashamed, stuttering and not knowing what to say.

  Yu Worry lightly coughed once, Jade Green pursed her lips and smiled, then retreated and went out.

  "I'm ashamed." Fortunately, those who plotted against him did not have malicious intentions towards the princess, otherwise, he would be unable to escape his guilt even if he died a thousand times.

  "Didn't I tell Yuzhu to let you know that it's nothing to worry about? It's just that you're alright, aren't you?"

  Xiao Huazi shook his head: "Thank you, master, for your concern. I'm fine now." Fortunately, that little Xiangzi just gave him some laxatives and let him have a stomach ache all afternoon.

  Yu Wu You smiled slightly: "It doesn't matter, you can naturally and quietly get closer to Xiao Xiangzi, but don't stare at him, nor do you need to deliberately make friends with him."

  Xiao Huazi hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Yes."

  "Last night's fire at the Moon Palace, have Xiao Gaozi thoroughly investigate the cause and effect, don't miss any details."

  Xiao Huazi's expression turned serious: "I understand."

  Yu Worry glanced at Yu Zhu beside him, and Yu Zhu nodded, handing a cloth bag to Xiao Huazi.

  "Give it to Xiao Gaozi, in the Imperial Palace, where every step is difficult without money, and ask him to bring me back some latest gossip articles and some excerpts from unofficial histories."

  "Yes." Xiaohua put away the cloth bag and placed it properly.

  Yu Wu Yu was silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "I remember you said that the eunuch in charge of Liang Jing Palace, Xu Ren, and you were both from the same batch of eunuchs who entered the palace, and you're also fellow villagers?"

  Xiao Huazi was somewhat surprised that the princess would bring up Xu Ren at this time, he remembered that the last time he mentioned Xu Ren to the princess, she didn't seem interested in him.

  "We both entered the palace five years ago in the spring, although we are from the same hometown but not from the same county. I'm clumsy and can only be assigned to do chores in a remote palace, while Xu Ren is clever and eloquent, so he was assigned to serve in the Miscellaneous Palace."

  Yu Wu You smiled and listened, in just four or five years, from a miscellaneous palace servant sweeping the floor to becoming the eunuch manager of one of the four major palaces in the harem, this Xu Ren was indeed an ambitious and capable person.

  "After working in the miscellaneous palace for a year, he somehow gained the appreciation of Wang Gonggong, the eunuch of the inner affairs palace, and was transferred to work in the inner affairs palace. After serving in the inner affairs palace for three years, it just so happened that the former head eunuch of Liangjing Palace was dealt with by Empress Liang for some reason, leaving a vacancy for a head eunuch position. Wang Gonggong strongly recommended Xu Ren to go to Liangjing Palace. Originally, Empress Liang had given birth to the seventh imperial son and was in favor with the emperor at that time, but..."

  Xiao Huazi said up to here, looked at Yuan Wuyou with some hesitation, wondering if he should continue speaking? The princess also knew what happened afterwards.

  The Fourth Princess angered the Emperor at the 100th day banquet of the Seventh Prince by mentioning the Worry-Free Palace, resulting in Consort Liang being demoted to Noble Lady and the Seventh Prince being handed over to Concubine Shan for care. The Liangjing Palace lost its influence, and Xu Ren naturally was no longer as glorious as before.

  Yu Wuyou said lightly, "Xiao Huazi, from now on, think of ways to get close to Xu Ren, but don't ask him about any news. Just tell him about the hardships you suffered while working at the Cold Palace."

  Xiao Huazi was slightly surprised and looked up, but didn't say anything. He just respectfully said: "Yes, I understand."

  See off Xiaohua, Yuzhu walked into the inner room, looking at the princess sitting in front of the table with a calm face, her mouth moved silently, and finally didn't ask anything.

  Although she had countless doubts in her mind, she told Yu Cui and also told herself: don't suspect, don't ask, and don't speak about the princess.

  Yu Worry got up and walked to the window frame, pushed open the window, a gust of cold wind mixed with rain blew on his face, chilling to the bone.

  The sky was pitch black without a single ray of light, no moon, no stars, only a deep, dark color.

  The king ordered her to investigate the truth behind the death of the eldest princess in the Moon Palace fire before the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, and now there is only half a month left until then.

  The king posed a difficult question for her and harbored hostility towards her in his heart. She had anticipated this, but the king's hostility was even deeper than she had expected.

  In half a month's time, she who was confined in the Cold Palace discovered that the Moonlight Palace had been ravaged by a great fire last night and concealed a message.

  Whether it's a challenge or a test, she has no choice but to accept and fight, and she must win!

  Yu Cuizhi hurried in with a pot of hot water and saw her standing by the window, blowing wind and rain. She quickly stepped forward and said: "Princess, it's windy and rainy outside, may I close the window for you?"

  Yu Worry nodded, Jade Green closed the window and then respectfully said: "The hot water is ready." After entering winter, every night Princess would like to soak her feet in steaming hot water before going to bed.

  Yu Wu sat down in front of the bed, letting the two maidservants attend to her. Looking at the two people squatting at her feet, she slowly opened her mouth: "Yu Zhu Yu Cui."

  "We're here." The two of them looked up and said in unison.

  "Tell the princess about some important people and things in the harem, especially the eldest princess and those related to her, no matter how big or small. Yu Zhu said, Yu Cui supplemented." Yuan Wuyou didn't have much information about the eldest princess Yuan Mengzhen in his memory, but he had some impressions of the third princess Yuan Xizhen, who was five months younger than him.

  Yu Zhu Yu Cui looked at the princess in surprise, and after seeing that the princess was very serious, the two lowered their heads and carefully thought to themselves.

  Yu Worry had no hurry, he just took off his shoes and socks by himself and put his pale feet into the steaming hot water.

  Yu Cui saw this and quickly regained her composure, stepping forward to attend to them. Yu Zhu slowly opened his mouth.

  "The eldest princess was born in the first year of the emperor's reign, I heard that the empress did not give birth to any children for three years while living in the Qingwang Mansion. After the emperor ascended to the throne, the empress was exempted from taking the child-avoiding medicine by the four noble consorts. The four consorts were only noblewomen before they gave birth to imperial princes and princesses. Yu Guiren was the first to give birth to the eldest princess, who was the first princess born in the palace, but because..." Yu Zhu's voice became much softer, as if she was saying something taboo.

  Yu Wuyou Dao said, "No need to be reserved, just speak freely."

  Yu Zhu looked up and glanced at the princess, confirming that her complexion was calm before continuing: "But because of your majesty's reason, the eldest princess is not favored by the emperor, nor is she in favor in the palace."

  Yu Cui suddenly interjected: "I've heard the palace ladies say that among the four consorts, Your Majesty likes Yu Fei the most. That's why she was allowed to give birth to the emperor's first child and became the first noblewoman to be promoted to the rank of fei."

  Yu Zhu continued: "Before you, there were only the eldest princess and the crown prince, but the emperor did not favor them, so the eldest princess and the crown prince did not dare to stand out."

  Later on, the Empress and Consort Yu and Consort Ning became pregnant in the same year.

  "The second prince born to Concubine Yu is three months older than you, and the third princess born to Concubine Ning is five months younger than you. After Your Highness gave birth to the princess, the Emperor was overjoyed. Except for you and Your Highness, none of the other princes and princesses can get even a bit of attention from the Emperor. Although the four consorts were promoted to imperial consorts, they dare not... vie for favor because they are intimidated by the Emperor's doting on you and Your Highness." The Emperor favors Your Highness and the princess, everyone in the harem knows this, plus Your Highness' maternal family dominates the court, their power is so great that no one dares to offend them.

  "Because they are not favored, the Crown Prince and the Princess are taciturn and rarely attract attention. However... I've heard that the Princess and the Crown Prince have a good relationship."

  Her eyebrows rose slightly, but she didn't interrupt Yu Zhu's words, just listening quietly.

  Yu Zhu furrowed her brow, trying hard to recall the rumors she had heard: "I've heard that the eldest princess and the second prince are siblings with the same mother, but they don't get along at all. The second prince often bullies and teases the eldest princess, and it's always the crown prince who helps the eldest princess, which has caused a rift between the crown prince and the second prince."

  Her eyes flickered slightly, and she thought that she should find a breakthrough from among the two princes.