Chapter 251 The End
The Daming Palace was also brightly lit.

The emperor was sitting cross-legged on the couch, counting beads in his hands and reciting Buddhist scriptures silently.

At this time, the clock in the corner rang twice, the emperor paused, and with a rustling sound, the Buddhist beads scattered all over the floor.

The emperor suddenly opened his eyes.

Xia Shouzhong, who was standing beside him, also looked at him in surprise.

Looking at the Buddhist beads scattered all over the ground, the retired emperor’s face was gloomy.

There was silence.

Xia Shouzhong couldn’t help it and asked tentatively: “The Emperor?”

The emperor suddenly stood up and looked out the window at the night sky: “Oh no! Something bad is going to happen.”

Xia Shouzhong was shocked.

The Emperor Retired: “Go to the old concubine.” Then he hurried out.

Emperor Yongchang was still sitting on the couch, his expression as calm as usual.

The door curtain was lifted, and Dai Quan walked to the bed with a bowl of medicine in his hand: “Your Majesty, you can drink it now.”

Emperor Yongchang said unhappily: “No, I’m not sick.”

Dai Quan smiled and said, “This is Eight Treasures Medicinal Ink, not medicine.” Then he took a sip himself.

Emperor Yongchang looked at him.

Dai Quan also looked at him with an apologetic smile.

Emperor Yongchang sighed lightly, sat up straight, took the medicine and drank it in one breath. Seeing Dai Quan brought warm water again, he took a mouthful of warm water, rinsed his mouth and spit it into the medicine bowl, handed it back to him, and took the towel and wiped his mouth: “How should I deal with him?”

Dai Quan dared not answer directly, so he could only say: “Thunder and rain are blessings from heaven.”

Emperor Yongchang knew that there would be no result from the discussion with Dai Quan, so he asked, “Is he in good health?”

Dai Quan was in a dilemma. Was it a good thing or a bad thing?
At this moment, the eunuch on duty came in hurriedly and reported to Emperor Yongchang: “Your Majesty, you are a step late.”

Emperor Yongchang moved his body: “He committed suicide out of fear of crime?”

The chief eunuch was stunned for a moment, then replied: “The emperor is not in the Daming Palace. He has gone to the old concubine.”

Emperor Yongchang stood up, paced a few steps, and then said, “The old concubine has made great contributions. I pray that the old concubine will live a long life.” Then he turned to Dai Quan and said, “Go there in person and bring Xia Shouzhong out.”

Dai Quan: “Yes.” He answered and walked out.

The footsteps outside the palace were getting farther and farther away. Emperor Yongchang turned to look at the chief eunuch and asked, “Is there any progress on that matter?”

The chief eunuch knelt down and said, “I am incompetent. The Queen has not found any problems.”

Emperor Yongchang stared at him: “Can’t find out? Or don’t dare to find out?”

The eunuch was shocked when he heard this and quickly replied, “God is above, Your Majesty is above, if I dare to deceive you, I will die without a burial place!”

With a humph, Emperor Yongchang said, “Get out of here.”

The chief eunuch answered and quickly crawled out.

Emperor Yongchang had a bewildered look in his eyes, and murmured, “Am I overthinking this?”

Yuqing Palace

Li Hu and the prince sat opposite each other in silence.

Zhao Tong walked in quietly and reported to the prince, “Your Highness, the Crown Princess said that it is already the second watch. Should we serve a bowl of lotus seed soup to General Li?”

Prince: “Bring it in.”

Zhao Tong: “Yes. Bring in the lotus seed soup.”

A young eunuch holding a food box walked in.

Zhao Tong opened the lid of the box and personally handed a bowl of lotus seed soup to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the bowl of lotus seed soup and started eating.

“You did the right thing. What is the emperor’s order?” There was no trace of blame in the prince’s words or tone.

Li Hu stopped spooning: “His Majesty asked me to come to Yuqing Palace to wait for the decree.”

The prince nodded.

Li Hu: “By the way, I think I saw the Fourth Prince.” Then he started eating again.

The prince said nothing.

After a while, Li Hu finished the soup in the bowl and handed the empty bowl to Zhao Tong.

The prince spoke: “Go to the Yangxin Palace and ask when General Li can leave the palace?”

Zhao Tong: “Yes.” He answered and walked out with the empty bowl.

The prince: “By the way, let me show you something interesting.” He took out a piece of paper from the case file and handed it to Li Hu.

Li Hu took it and looked at the prince in surprise.

The prince smiled and said, “You can’t believe it, right?”

Li Hu nodded. The former Duke of Yansheng did not die in the fire, but died at the hands of the current Duke of Yansheng, Kong Laoer. He probably guessed that the murderer was the royal family, so he sneaked back to Qufu. He was afraid that the news would leak out, so he only told Kong Laoer. As a result, Kong Laoer killed him on the night he received the imperial edict of conferring the title, and even crushed his bones and scattered his ashes.

The prince: “In this family, only Kong Qingxiang is relatively normal.”

Li Hu smiled.

At this time, Zhao Tong’s voice came from outside the warm room: “Your Highness, Chief Steward Dai is here.”

Prince: “Please come in.”

Li Hu stood up.

The banner door was gently pushed open a little, and Dai Quan stepped in sideways, walked to the front of the prince and knelt down: “This old servant kowtows to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”

The prince hurriedly smiled and said, “Chief Dai, please get up quickly.”

Dai Quan kowtowed, then stood up with a smile and said to the prince, “Your Highness, please take a good rest. You don’t have to attend the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven.”

The prince said, “Thank you, father, for your grace.” He was about to kneel down, but Dai Quan stopped him.

Li Hu blinked a few times: “Look at the weather. It will definitely rain and snow tomorrow. Can I not attend the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony?”

Dai Quan said unhappily: “I eat your salary and worry about your worries.”

Li Hu pretended to be distressed and said: “Your Majesty has fined me a year’s salary.”

Dai Quan was amused: “You still care about this little salary!”

Li Hu: “Who would complain about having too much money? Why don’t you give me some money to spend?”

“You are a piece of shit!”

“Why are you still swearing?”

Dai Quan was too lazy to pay attention to him and said to the prince, “Xia Shouzhong was beaten to death.”

Li Hu and the prince were both shocked.

Dai Quan looked at the prince and said, “You chose your own path, you can’t blame anyone else.”

The prince was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Li Hu looked at Dai Quan and then at the prince. What did he mean?
Dai Quan smiled and turned his gaze to Li Hu: “Please.”

Li Hu was stunned: “Where are we going?”

Dai Quan: “Send you out of the palace.”

In a blink of an eye, it was the Yin hour of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The sky over the entire capital was dark and starless. The wind had stopped, but there was still no sign of snowfall.

Li Hu boarded the carriage, yawning. “Don’t go the section outside Zhengyang Gate,” he said, closing the carriage door.

Wang Daniu jumped on his horse and said, “Let’s go.”

The carriage started to move slowly. Li Hu’s body swayed slightly with the rolling of the wheels, and he felt drowsy.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Hu was awakened by a loud explosion, followed by several more explosions.

Li Hu understood that the Second Prince had taken action.
The four red silk lanterns with the words “Second Prince’s Mansion” that usually hung under the eaves of the doorway have been replaced with white gauze lanterns.

The mighty general Feng Tang came on horseback with a group of soldiers, and when they got here, they all pulled the reins.

Feng Tang: “Half of the people will guard the front and back doors, and the rest will wait for the order from the Grand Master!”

Then, a group of guards came with a large apricot-yellow sedan chair.

The curtain of the sedan chair was lifted, and Da Zong Zheng walked out. He raised his head slightly, looked around for a few seconds, and then waved his hand.

A team of imperial guards immediately rushed up and slammed the door knocker: “Open the door! Open the door!”

A voice soon came from inside: “Who is it? Who is it? In the middle of the night…” The side door creaked open, and a man who looked like a doorman stuck his head out with sleepy eyes, and was startled!

Before he could react, he was immediately held down by two imperial guards.

The concierge: “How dare you! You are blind to know that this is Da, Da Zongzheng.”

The Grand Master of the Imperial Clan came over and said, “Let him go.” He then said to the doorman, “Go and tell your Second Prince that the imperial edict has arrived.”

The doorman said, “Yes.” Then he ran in like the wind, shouting, “There is an order! Open the middle door! Open the middle door!”

After a while, the two heavy middle doors opened.

Da Zongzheng walked in holding the imperial edict.

Feng Tang thought about it and followed in with a team of imperial guards.

The butler hurried out from the ceremonial gate.

Da Zongzheng: “Where is your Second Prince?”

Butler: “Reporting to the Grand Master, His Highness is waiting in the main hall.”

Da Zong Zheng ignored him and walked straight into the ceremonial gate.

Feng Tang led the imperial guards and followed in.

The Grand Chancellor suddenly stopped, and Feng Tang and the imperial guards also stopped abruptly.

The door to the main hall was wide open. A chair was placed in the hall, and the second prince was sitting on the chair.

Da Zongzheng walked in holding the imperial edict.

The second prince stood up.

The Grand Master was silent for a moment and said, “Please go and read your father’s imperial edict yourself.” Then he handed it over with both hands.

The second prince just stretched out one hand to take it, looked at it, and then sneered.

Da Zongzheng: “Your father said that when your mother’s mausoleum is completed, you will go to keep vigil for her.”

The second prince smiled and said, “What now? Where are you going to lock up a commoner like me?”

Da Zongzheng: “You will stay here during this period, and your salary will remain the same.”

The second prince smiled again and bowed deeply to the imperial court: “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!” After that, he turned around and walked into the back hall.

Da Zongzheng sighed.

Feng Tang walked over and said softly, “The guards of the Second Prince’s Mansion are not here.”

Da Zongzheng didn’t care: “He must be with those assassins.”

The butler standing by the door lowered his head.

“It’s snowing!” an imperial guard exclaimed.

Da Zongzheng walked out immediately, and snowflakes fell from the dark sky.
Although it was snowing heavily, the sky gradually brightened. The snowy ground in front of the Circular Mound Altar was filled with officials, each with white snow on their bodies, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

By now everyone knew that it was the Fourth Prince who was offering sacrifices to heaven on behalf of the Emperor, and they looked at the figure in front with complicated eyes.

A flash of cold light quickly flashed across the third prince’s eyes, and in an instant he returned to his usual calmness.

This sacrifice to heaven was very hasty, but many things needed to be prepared.

The drums and music started, and the ceremony officially began.
(End of this chapter)