Chapter 212: The Ficklest Thing Was Human Heart!

Shen Ninghua was holding a letter in her hand. After reading it, she threw it into a charcoal brazier aside.

Chu Junyi walked into the room bringing with him the cold wind. He handed his cloak to Bai Ruo. When the maids left as ordered by him, he asked, “Ninghua, did you hear what happened?”

“Yes, Baili Jinchuan’s tendons and arteries were damaged. He doesn’t have internal strength and he is unable to carry heavy objects. Now, he even couldn’t kill a man standing still before him, let alone fighting the enemy in a battle. However, why did Father Emperor agree so easily when he asked to go to the battlefield?”

Chu Junyi sat beside her. His beautiful eyebrows frowned slightly. “His Majesty would not have agreed to do that so easily. But when someone close to him puts forward a suggestion, he might change his mind.”

Shen Ninghua looked up and said, “Someone close to him? Did you mean… Liaochen?” After thinking about all the persons around Baili Qingcang, Shen Ninghua finally thought of Liaochen. Only his suggestion could easily influence Baili Qingcang. After all, he had always been a virtuous master known throughout the country!

Chu Junyi nodded. “His Majesty has summoned Liaochen several times recently. I heard that they often had a long talk in the Palace. In fact, His Majesty has personally issued a decree to award Liaochen. However, he refused it on the ground that it was inappropriate for a monk to accept the reward.”

Shen Ninghua sneered. “If a monk really can’t accept a reward, why did he go all out to curry favor with His Majesty like this? I think Father Emperor must have realized something was wrong. That’s why Liaochen succeeded in taking this chance to win his trust.”

“Yes, the princes in the harem had an accident one after another. The Second Prince was crippled. The Fifth Prince was punished for a series of mistakes. His Majesty may have some doubts in his heart. But he was angry at that time and didn’t think over the situation thoroughly. Now that he has calmed down, and Liaochen added fuel to the fire, it was easy for him to realize that someone was making a plot to seize the throne.”

“When it comes to suspicion, all monarchs are the same. His suspicions are inevitable. However, once he realized his mistakes in handling the situations and started to give them official posts again, then our previous arrangements would be in vain.”

Baili Jinchuan had a rough time recently. The Fifth Prince Baili Jinze was even more miserable. His mother was a low-ranking consort and had passed away early. Besides, the Emperor also disliked him at the moment. So, his life in the Palace was really difficult. Even the charcoal he used in the winter was leftover that wasn’t wanted by others. His servants also despised him and took the chance to add insult to injury.

Originally, Shen Ninghua had wanted to take the opportunity to completely beat him down. But the Emperor had noticed the fight for power at the moment. If she took action now, the Emperor would surely become more suspicious of her. If he was certain that the Second Prince and the Fifth Prince had been framed, then she didn’t know when she could take her revenge.

“Ninghua, they are easy targets out there while we are hidden in the dark. Don’t worry, there are plenty of opportunities for you to take revenge.” Seeing the sadness and unwillingness on Shen Ninghua’s face, Chu Junyi stepped forward and hugged her tightly.

“Yes, I know.”

Chu Junyi smiled. But he felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart. When he heard Baili Jinchuan offered himself for a military assignment and went to the northwestern border, he immediately thought of what Baili Jinchuan had said to Shen Ninghua in Baili Anning’s palace.

“I will make you regret what you have done to me. I will make you regret the decision you made!”

The decision he mentioned must be that Shen Ninghua decided to choose him and refused to marry into the mansion of the Second Prince. There were many ways to make Ninghua regretful. But Baili Jinchuan would surely choose the best way at his will to vent his anger. That meant that he would try to take the power and ascend to the throne. Then he would ruthlessly trample him beneath his feet.

With this thought, Chu Junyi seemed to understand why he would volunteer to go to the battlefield again.

The court was shocked when the Second Prince regained military power. However, thinking of his ruined appearance and unhealed body, the officials suppressed their restless minds. After all, since his appearance was ruined, he would no longer be qualified for the throne. Even if he regained military power, he might not be as glorious as before.

In the Palace, Baili Jinze who was imprisoned in his mansion was even more excited. When he looked at the newly delivered charcoal, his eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope. Although Father Emperor did not give an order to let him move freely, he punished the servants who embezzled the allowance to his mansion. This kind of reminder was like a signal, a signal to regain freedom.

He was too confident last time. He didn’t expect that the country villa, which was hidden so deeply, would be exposed. If he could rise again, he would definitely exercise patience in every possible way!

He had kept a low profile for more than twenty years and didn’t care to keep in this way for a few more years. As long as he could ascend to that supreme position, he could do whatever he wanted to history books. No one would dare to oppose him at that time!

His cold eyes were filled with sinister joy and hints of arrogant ambition. Only after quite a while could he suppress the excitement in his heart and return to his usual gentle and courteous appearance.

“Someone.”

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Bring me the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. I will copy scriptures for Father Emperor.”

“Yes, Your Highness, I will go and prepare some fine writing paper and Huizhou ink.”

Baili Jinze shook his head, and a deep smile appeared on his lips. “No. The ordinary writing paper is ok. Besides, just give me the most commonly used ink in the Palace.”

The eunuch was stunned. He couldn’t understand what Baili Jinze meant. But he didn’t dare to ask any further and hurriedly went to prepare those things as ordered.

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Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi started the investigation with the Internal Affairs Department. The more they investigated, the more shocking the results became. In the end, even the Empress became a potential target of the investigation.

The Internal Affairs Department was controlled by the Zhao family. This was not a secret. After all, the Empress was the head of the harem and responsible for making decisions on many matters in the Internal Affairs Department. However, the Empress could get whatever she wanted from the department and the fact that the department that served the royal family was completely controlled by a woman was abnormal.

In recent years, several million taels of silver as well as countless precious porcelains, wooden articles, and tributes had become missing in the Internal Affairs Department. The most shocking thing was that the items the Internal Affairs Department sent to the palaces of all consorts were personally selected by the Empress. All of them were made by special methods. It was no wonder that for many years, no consort in the Palace gave birth to a child safely.

When Shen Ninghua saw the results of the investigation, she was shocked. “The Empress is really good at controlling the harem and suppressing anyone who dared to cause trouble for her!”

“In the past, I only knew the harem had a dark history. But I never expected that the cruelty there was not inferior to that of the previous dynasty in the slightest.” Chu Junyi was also shocked. “I wonder if there were some secrets regarding my mother’s death.”

Shen Ninghua raised her head and placed her plain white fingers on his palm. She comforted him warmly. “Although so many years have elapsed, killing a consort is not an easy task. There will always be clues left behind. Besides, even if there are no clues, if you want to take revenge, just create a clue.”

Chu Junyi was moved and held her hand tightly in his palm. “Yes, I understand.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and lowered her head to look at the findings of the investigation. “Do you have any plan? Do you want to report these things to Father Emperor directly?”

Chu Junyi muttered to himself, “The Internal Affairs Department involves the Zhao family, Crown Prince, and the Empress. We don’t have the strength to subdue them at the moment. Moreover, the Empress gave the order promptly to destroy all evidence. Even if we report these findings to the Emperor, there is no evidence to prove them. In this case, the Empress’s associates could likely make a charge against us.”

Shen Ninghua nodded in agreement. “That’s right. But we can’t just give up so easily. We’ve investigated on a large and spectacular scale for so long. If the investigation ends up with nothing, Father Emperor will definitely have doubts about us at that time.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Chu Junyi frowned and thought deeply. Then he suddenly smiled. “I remember the dead Consort Yin. Is her father an official in the Internal Affairs Department? Although we can’t attack the Empress, we can get rid of one of her most capable assistants first!”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes lit up. When she thought of the shocking results of the investigation, she nodded and said, “Well, then I’ll go into the Palace.”

“Yes, be careful.”

After experiencing the incident in Baili Anning’s palace, he was always worried when Shen Ninghua entered the Palace.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

When the Empress received a message that Shen Ninghua had entered the Palace, her eyebrows tightened. She turned to look at Master Liaochen, who was standing beside her. “Master, His Majesty likes Princess Zhaohua a lot. However, she is merely a foster daughter. His Majesty treats a foster daughter even more favorably than his own daughters like Anning and others. Doesn’t this hurt Anning and other princesses?”

Liaochen’s expression was compassionate as he narrowed his eyes and chanted Buddha’s name, “Amitabha. His Majesty rules the country. All the people of the country are His Majesty’s subjects. All people are equal. There is no difference between his foster daughter and his own daughters. Your Majesty, don’t worry about it.”

Zhao Huiying’s eyes moved. “Master, you are right. However, Anning and Anqing will inevitably feel uncomfortable in their hearts.”

“People’s hearts are the hardest to control. How many people can maintain a peaceful heart? Amitabha. May blessings be upon you.”

“Heart…” Zhao Huiying slightly curled her lips. “That’s right, the hardest thing to control is people’s heart.” Anning and Anqing’s jealous heart, His Majesty’s doting heart, and Shen Ninghua’s peaceful heart were all easy to change. As long as they were slightly guided, who knew what would happen?

The Empress’s mood improved. After seeing Liaochen off, she directly called Fangxue over. “Princess Anning and Princess Anqing are both getting married soon. Their marriage dates are close. Both their titles were awarded by His Majesty. As their Mother Empress, I should think more for them. I will call them over these two days and ask them to help me manage the affairs of the Palace. After getting married, they will be able to manage the matters of their own mansions with ease.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Empress was in a good mood after having a well-designed plan. However, the southern study was shrouded in dark clouds. The tense atmosphere was like the sky before a storm. It was thick and oppressive to the point that one could barely breathe.

Baili Qingcang fiercely threw a report to the ground, and his vigorous anger carried cold killing intent. “Internal Affairs Department, Consort Yin… what a good trick! Doctor Chen, you can also read it. The Academy of Imperial Physicians also contributed to the success of Consort Yin’s plot!”

Chen Yun hurriedly knelt. He picked up the report and read it quickly.

Consort Yin’s father took advantage of the Internal Affairs Department to send fake pregnancy grass into the Palace. After taking the drug, Consort Yin showed the symptom of pregnancy. These people were extremely daring. They even plotted the follow-up steps. They used the shameful secret of an imperial physician at the Internal Affairs Department as a threat against him and they bribed him for his “special” service. They even kept a dozen pregnant women privately. When it was the time Consort Yin gave birth to a child, they would send a baby boy into the Palace through the Internal Affairs Department and that imperial physician. Then that boy would become a “prince”.

“How dared she contaminate the royal bloodline! Bitch! She is really a despicable bitch!” If Consort Yin was still alive, Baili Qingcang would definitely have her sliced into pieces!

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