After many months, the trial of the eighth prince about the mine incident was still carrying on. Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng had gone to visit Xu Jing Yuan. It had to be known that this case was not that easy to try. Although there were people acting as witnesses, the eighth prince claimed that those people were framing him. Adding in all of the concubines of the imperial harem helping him tidy up, a number of problems had been created. This led to the trial becoming more and more complicated.

  Although the members of the imperial family that were part of the eighth prince’s faction were women that had been sent into the palace and ended up without children, which resulted in their maternal families not being able to stand as tall as the first and second rank officials, the Emperor had given these people quite the lucrative positions to make it up to these people. It was for the sake of keeping these people quiet and to ensure that they did not cause trouble by using Imperial Concubine Yun as a talking point.

  It was also because of this that Xu Jing Yuan was running into all kinds of difficulties with this trial. It was practically every day that he would need to put up with difficulties that came from all angles. But while there was no actual progress in the case, Xu Jing Yuan had forced the eighth prince to report to the Board of Punishments every day, leaving him no time to worry about the matters of the court. Thinking about it that way, it was quite beneficial.

  But Xuan Tian Ming said that ever since they had returned to the capital, the eighth prince had changed quite a bit, as had the path that he was taking. He began to inquire about the Emperor’s well-being. Aside from attending court, he would make daily visits to pay respects to the Emperor. He would say nothing else aside from asking if he was in good health and say some kind words. This information had come from Zhang Yuan. The Emperor was getting older and older. While he might have been proud and demanding of his sons in the past, when people reached this age, they would begin to cherish family bonds more and more. That was why the eighth prince’s actions were quite to the Emperor’s liking.

  When Xuan Tian Ming said this, it was time for bed, and the two were laying in bed. Unable to fall asleep, they simply began to chat. Feng Yu Heng said: “How about you also go into the palace more often? Old eighth can’t be allowed to enjoy this on his own.”


  Xuan Tian Ming shook his head and said: “I never wanted that throne. Why bother going to mess around with old eighth like this? If he really can focus his efforts on something proper and just, while no longer harming the circumstances of the common citizens for the sake of obtaining the throne, and while governing well, so what if the imperial throne is given to him? It’s just a pity that his heart is not in the right place. If I tolerate his sinister actions, I fear that the ones to bear the burden in the future will be the people of this world.”


  “Yet you still won’t go and fawn on Father Emperor?” Feng Yu Heng said: “You even understand the reasoning, yet you still say that you won’t meddle with him?”


  Xuan Tian Ming continued: “It’s not that I won’t go mess with him. Instead, I feel that him doing all of this isn’t going to have much effect. The old man is growing to be more and more muddled by the day, but he’s actually quite sharp! Or it might be that the old man wanted us to compete at the beginning, but old eighth’s actions have been exposed. I fear that he himself has already given up on that idea. Where is there any need for this prince to tear him down?”


  “That’s also true.” Feng Yu Heng pondered to herself for a while then said: “I fear that the matter with the mine won’t be able to trip him up, but he can’t get off easily for that evil. I still want to think of a way to regain what we’ve lost from him. After all, the reparations that I paid added up to quite a large sum. I need to go and claim this expense.”


  Xuan Tian Ming laughed, “Wasn’t that large sum stolen from his place? You didn’t suffer a loss. But regardless of who actually owned the stolen things, since they fell into our hands, they belong to us. Paying it out will feel quite distressing. Husband supports you in trying to seek recompense, but there is no need to rush on this matter. We can discuss it properly at a later time. Right now, the most pressing matter…… dear wife, look, it’s the dead of night. The dark of night has spread, the night is silent, the moonlight is dim, and the wind is strong……”


  “What are you trying to express?” Feng Yu Heng was completely speechless. He had even mentioned that the moonlight was dim and the wind was strong. Was he wanting to go and kill someone?

  Of course, it was not to go and kill someone, but someone would definitely be eaten. A certain person rolled over and used their actions to express themselves……

  The next day, Xuan Tian Ming went to court, while the little lamb that had been eaten for half a night slept until noon before waking up.

  In the Imperial Palace, the eighth prince went straight to visit Noble Lady Yuan after court was dismissed. He then very helplessly spoke about the recent situation with the Board of Punishments.

  Noble Lady Yuan was frustrated from hearing about it and could not help but complain: “You too, the things that you did were not done well. How many times have I told you not to trust people so easily? Since you intend to use people, you need to get a firm grasp on people to ensure that they will not turn around and bite you. You need to have a grasp of something or someone that they care about. Only people like that can be used.”


  Who knew how many times Noble Lady Yuan had said these exact words since the beginning of this trouble? He was truly helpless and could not argue back. After all, what Noble Lady Yuan had said was correct, and she was his birth mother. He had always been close with his birth mother, and he had never said anything harsh to her. Thus he could only continue to nod while saying: “What Imperial Concubine Mother said is true.” In truth, he had already been careful in this aspect. it was not as though he did not have a grasp of those people. Unfortunately, the people blowing up the mountain had lost their sons, and those chips had been lost.

  Noble Lady Yuan sighed: “Now, you can’t even call me Imperial Concubine Mother. Only people of that rank and above can be called that by their sons. As for me……”


  “Imperial Concubine Mother, don’t worry.” Xuan Tian Mo gritted his teeth and said with hatred: “Imperial Concubine Mother, don’t worry. Everything that has been lost, son will get it all back for you! There will come a day when we won’t need to pay attention to what others think. Your son will sit on the highest seat and allow you to enjoy the worship of the world!”


  Noble Lady Yuan nodded very emotionally and was slightly moved. She knew that her son definitely would not be mediocre. He definitely would not lose to the ninth prince, who had reached his position by relying on the favor his Imperial Concubine Mother had obtained! But after feeling moved, she began to worry about the case of the mine, and she could not help but ask: “Just how long will this trial with the Board of Punishments continue? Just dragging it out like this the entire time isn’t any way to do things. A few days ago, Imperial Concubine Hua came here to speak. Thinking about it, the people outside are also feeling uncertain and anxious.”


  “Just let them feel anxious! If one only plans for smooth sailing when trying to accomplish something great, it’s truly a little too naive. Just what sort of level is this? There still needs to be a measure of skill against old ninth and that girl!”


  “Huh?” Noble Lady Yuan suddenly recalled something, “A few days ago, that daughter of a concubine from the Feng family, the one that was engaged to the fifth prince, came into the palace. The fifth prince brought her directly to Jing Si Palace, and she stayed inside for a long time before coming out. After that, a palace maid from Jing Si Palace left and used the excuse of sending a wedding gift to the ninth prince and that girl to go out. The Empress gave some face in this area, allowing her to go out. I originally thought that your aunt was working together with that daughter of a concubine from the Feng family, while favoring the fifth prince. But she then took the initiative to send something to Feng Yu Heng, and that’s making things a little harder to understand.” When she brought up this matter, she was very unhappy, “Hmph! Normally speaking, we are a family. She should be favoring you. Her son still has rights to 30 thousand troops!”


  Xuan Tian Mo did not care too much about this, consoling her: “It might be that aunt has her own considerations. After all, she has also given birth to a prince. It’s impossible that she would not make considerations for sixth brother. As for the Feng family’s daughter of a concubine, she is someone willing to throw caution to the wind. Unfortunately, their Feng family lost Feng Jin Yuan, who had been a dignified left prime minister, and they had gone against Imperial Daughter Ji An. This meant that they lost their pillar of support. That daughter of a concubine is also lacking in any ability. Even if she does some sinister stuff, she is still a worthless piece.”


  Noble Lady Yuan nodded, “That’s right. It doesn’t seem like that daughter of a concubine is capable of accomplishing anything great; moreover, the fifth prince is not someone that can be propped up. In this world, aside from my Mo’er, there is nobody that is worthy! So what about the ninth prince? He’s just someone that rose to power through his imperial concubine mother’s favor. If there comes a day when Imperial Concubine Yun loses favor, I’ll see just how he intends to compete with you.” Although it had been said like this, after she finished speaking, Noble Lady Yuan sighed internally. Imperial Concubine Yun losing favor? She had waited for over 20 years, yet she had still not seen such a day come. “As a mother, I can’t help you with much. I heard that the Emperor has been going to visit Winter Moon Palace every day for three meals. Although he has not stayed overnight, compared to the previous 20 years, there has been quite a bit of progress. As I see it, Imperial Concubine Yun has also noticed a trend. Knowing that your Father Emperor’s health is no longer what it once was, she needs to make plans for her son. That’s just how women survive. During the previous 20 years, she pretended to be lofty, but what about now? Isn’t she making changes for the sake of her son?!”


  When Imperial Concubine Yun was mentioned, Xuan Tian Mo felt his head hurt a bit. It was not as though he had not considered making moves on Imperial Concubine Yun’s side, but Winter Moon Palace was very secure. In addition to this, there had been a series of incidents for her. The previous time, the old man nearly took away all of his right to command the imperial guards. Although he still had that right for the time being, he needed to remain quiet for a while. Old ninth had just returned triumphant, thus he definitely could not make any mistakes at this critical juncture.

  “I will also prepare a grand gift to be sent to the Yu Palace later. In any case, my brother got married. Not sending something might cause the old man to quibble.” Xuan Tian Mo spoke to himself; however, he was pondering how he should get the Emperor to favor him a bit more.

  When Xuan Tian Ming got married in the desert to the South, aside from the fourth prince and the seventh prince, none of the other princes were able to participate. Although they all went to express their congratulations to the Yao family while also presenting their gifts. Now, the main characters of that wedding had returned. As a brother, he would need to express himself. This was also the manner in which Noble Lady Li’s palace maid obtained permission to leave the imperial palace from the Empress.

  When it came to presenting gifts, none of the princes had neglected doing so, including the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan. He was quite good at knowing how to cater to people’s likes, as he prepared a set of ancient medical books that had failed to be passed down and sent it to the Yu Palace. This made it clear that it was something that he had stumbled upon many years ago. Who knew if it would be able to catch Feng Yu Heng’s eyes, as it had been meant to simply congratulate the newlyweds. After all, things like gold, silver and precious gems did not have much purpose to Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng. If he were to provide a gift from Xuan Tian Ming’s angle, he was unable to present any weapons even better than steel.

  But this set of unique medical books really was a rare treasure. It had been reported that Yao Xian had been searching the world for it many years prior. Of course, this was the previous Yao Xian and not the current one from modern times. Unfortunately, the previous Yao Xian could not find it; however, who knew that it would fall into the fifth prince’s hands.

  Receiving this sort of gift, Feng Yu Heng was quite happy. She also knew that these princes had already sent congratulatory gifts to the Yao manor on the day of her wedding, thus she felt a bit embarrassed to accept it. Thinking about it, she felt as though the fifth prince paid quite a bit of attention to taking care of himself, thus she pulled out a set of men’s skincare products as a return gift.

  This back and forth was actually quite normal; however, it aroused Feng Fen Dai’s envy. Hearing that a set of ancient medical books had been so easily given to Feng Yu Heng, the anger in her heart was like ten thousand horses running madly. It simply could not be suppressed……