That night, Feng Yuheng left for the palace before midnight and stood guard in the courtyard where Zirui was staying; however, she did not disturb Zirui. Instead, she observed this child. She wanted to see what this child did when she was not around.

  In truth, there was not much for Zirui to do. After the previous night’s scare, he went to sleep very late. He just sat in his room and drank tea on his own. He drank so much that he needed to go out many times. There were servants in the courtyard that were watching him, and who knew if that child had noticed, but so what if they watched him? Zirui was not doing anything. He just acted as usual and simply asked the servants for a book to read under the candlelight. He looked to conform with the appearance of a student of Yun Lu Academy.

  Gradually, Feng Yuheng noticed that there was a palace maid that was different from the rest. The one standing guard initially was not her, but she handed the person standing at the door a silver ingot and chatted for a while before having that person go to rest. After successfully taking over the position, that palace maid very cautiously stood guard outside the door. During this time, she also entered the room once and said to Zirui: “This servant will be just outside. If young master Feng has any requests, just call for this servant.” Seeing that Zirui nodded without any other reaction, the girl gave Zirui a look and quietly added: “This servant is someone from His Highness Prince Feiyu’s side. Young master Feng, please be at ease.”


  When Feng Yuheng heard this, the corners of her lips curled into a smile. She knew that this person was definitely not one of Xuan Feiyu’s people because Xuan Feiyu himself could not get into the palace. How could he possibly send a servant in? But she knew that this person was doing this out of goodwill for Zirui, and she could guess that this person was one of Tian Fu Palace’s subordinates. Back when she had sought out the second prince for help, the second prince had promised that he would have Imperial Concubine Shi De think of a way to provide help. Yesterday had been the first day, and they could not possibly have made any arrangements. Today, they finally sent someone over, and the reason that they had used Xuan Feiyu’s name was that Zirui was familiar with Xuan Feiyu. If Her Highness Imperial Concubine Shi was brought up, it was possible that this child would not know who that was.

  Sure enough, after hearing that it was someone from Feiyu’s side, Zirui relaxed a little; however, he remained very vigilant. He did not express anything and only let out a sigh of relief after that palace maid left the room. He then closed his book and gently climbed into bed and went to sleep.

  Feng Yuheng was very heartbroken over this younger brother. He was so young, yet he had already suffered so much. Back then, Zirui had lost a finger after being sold out by Feng Jinyuan. Now, because of her own situation, Zirui was forced to enter the palace and become a hostage. Although nobody decided that he was a hostage, the truth was that he was no different than a hostage. The eighth prince and Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu were insistent on keeping Zirui in the palace, and she needed to consider more things when making moves. They were threatening her like this; however, who knew what might go wrong.

  But…… Feng Yuheng made up her mind that she would protect Zirui at night. As for during the day, Xuan Tianming had made arrangements on his side to ensure Zirui’s safety. However, his time spent as a hostage would not last too long. Sooner or later, she would sneak Zirui out then place the responsibility for losing the child on Xuan Tianmo. At that time, she would like to see how that person would explain it.

  In Zhao He Hall, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu was at the Emperor’s side once more. The two were side-by-side in bed and looked to be very harmonious. No longer having Zhang Yuan at his side to keep an eye on things, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu had already begun to have the imperial physicians prepare supplements for the Emperor. In addition to this, foods that would supplement his male vitality were prepared every day to ensure that the Emperor would have sufficient vitality.

  While she was pleasing the Emperor, the entirety of the inner palace was being searched due to the rumor of Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu having lost her bracelet. Not even the Empress’ Jing Ci Palace was spared.

  The Empress was woken in the middle of the night and faced a large number of imperial guards who had barged in. She instantly became furious; however, nobody paid her any mind. To these people, the current Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu was far more important than an empress.

  There was nothing that the Empress could do. She wanted to send someone to invite the Emperor over; however, she heard that the Emperor was currently favoring Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. Going to send an invitation now would be like running into a sword. She breathed heavily in her anger but could only swallow it. So what if she could not swallow it? Who would she vent this on? Who in this inner palace still listened to her? She even considered that if she brought out her jade seal to take these people away, it would be taken away given how much the Emperor favored Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. It was possible that the seal would end up in Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s hands. When that happened, the outcome would be even worse.

  The people arrogantly searched Jing Ci Palace but could not find anything. They then arrogantly left, seemingly not thinking anything of the Empress as an existence. Feng Zhaolian coldly watched all of this, as only one thought filled his mind: Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu is not searching for a bracelet in the slightest. It was most likely that she was searching for a person!

  Finally, the people searching the palace had scoured the entirety of the inner palace. Aside from the rather-shocking things found in Imperial Concubine Li’s palace, nothing else was found in the other courtyards. There was still one place that they had not gone, and that was Winter Moon Palace. There were people who asked the granny if they should search Winter Moon Palace, but that granny shook her head. She still recalled what Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu had said: “Aside from Winter Moon Palace, it’s fine to go anywhere else.” Though she did not know why Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu still dreaded Winter Moon Palace, she let out a sigh of relief over not needing to search that place. The Empress was easy to deal with, but the one in Winter Moon Palace was a master who feared nothing. It would be best to avoid offending her so quickly.

  The small courtyard where Zirui was living was also searched. It was searched even more carefully than the other places. Feng Yuheng hid in the shadows and knew very clearly what they were searching for, and this caused her to laugh internally. She thought to herself that the eighth prince had not entered the palace for the entire day, and it was possible that he was feeling extremely uneasy, and it would be such that he forgot to send a letter to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. Even to this moment, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu did not know that the person that she had been searching for was in her son’s palace, and she had been left in a half-dead state by her own son.

  With no desire to continue watching the mess play out in the palace and with Zirui’s safety ensured for the night, Feng Yuheng did not continue to stick around. Hiding herself, she headed to Zhang Yuan’s side.

  On Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s side, the Emperor was finally unable to withstand the loving warmth of his beloved imperial concubine. After doing the deed, he fell into a deep slumber. Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu got out of bed and sneakily walked out of the hall. Her personal palace servant, Yue Xiu, immediately stepped forward and told her about what was discovered in Imperial Concubine Li’s Zhang Ning Palace.

  Hearing that Imperial Concubine Li was still secretly performing curses of Xuan Tianming in the palace, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu instantly burst into laughter. After laughing, she waved her hand and said: “Don’t make any trouble for her. If she wants to make a fuss, just let her. Either way, the person being cursed is the ninth prince. Could it be that we should worry about the ninth prince being cursed to death? Hmph! It would be great if he really did die. I’m afraid that Imperial Concubine Li does not have that ability. But if she’s willing to carry that burden, why should we not rejoice? Voodoo is extremely taboo in the palace, yet she still continues to go against the current. Sooner or later, there will come a day when she will help block a disaster for us.”


  Feng Yuheng stood guard at Zirui’s side for too long. When she reached Zhang Yuan’s side, the sky was already starting to get brighter. This was the first time that she had come into the palace for such a long time. Calculating it, Xuan Tianming should have already reached the palace’s gate and would be attending morning court, but when she had just passed by Zhao He Hall, she had seen Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu walking out. It was likely that the old emperor was in quite a bad state. It was possible that he would be unable to attend morning court.”


  Zhang Yuan’s injuries were now much better. She sat on a large tree and looked down. There were two palace servants carrying him out of the firewood storage shed. Although his gait was still a bit awkward, it was not quite to the same degree as when he nearly lost his life from the beating. In addition to this, she had given him some pain medicine. If he truly could not bear it any longer, he could just take a couple pills. There was no threat to his life.

  The palace servant helping him into the courtyard said to him: “Eunuch Yuan, you will be sent to the department of guilty servants today. Speaking of, we both served His Majesty in Zhao He Hall. Over the years, there has been a bit of a connection. This servant wanted to help you. For example, turning a blind eye and letting you leave with the bundle that you’re carrying, but you know that it’s currently Eunuch Wu who is in charge. If he found out that we let you go with a bundle of things, and there was quite a large sum of silver in there, our lives would all be lost!”


  The eunuch spoke with a strange tone, and his emphasis was even stranger. It was very unnerving to listen to.

  Zhang Yuan heard what he had said and quickly hugged the bundle tighter. No matter what was said, he refused to let go, but the two people at his side were much stronger. In addition to this, he was already injured. In just a few moments, his bundle was stolen by those two.

  The bundle really was filled with quite a large sum of silver. This struggle caused the silver to fall to the ground, causing more eunuchs in the yard to come and try to snatch some.

  Zhang Yuan watched these people steal his money, and he wanted to cry but had no tears. He said in a hollow voice: “I never treated you poorly in the past, so why is it that you aren’t even willing to leave me a bit of money to survive? It’s not like you don’t know what sort of place the department of guilty servants is like. If I go over there without the slightest bit of money, won’t I end up dead in just a few days? Just how can you be so greedy?”


  One of the palace servants replied: “The past is the past. The present is the present. In the past, you were the one favored by His Majesty, and it was natural that we would need to curry favor with you, but now, you’re basically the same as a god of plague. If anyone got too close to you, their lives would be hard to preserve. It’s not like you don’t know what happened yesterday morning. Those two who went to help you were beaten to death, and it was all because of you.”


  Zhang Yuan watched all of his silver get stolen away, and there were two who began to fight over a bit of money. He sighed bitterly and turned to look at the large room that was once his. He felt extremely emotional. Thinking back to the two eunuchs who had been beaten to death, he felt even more choked with emotion. He kneeled in the direction of Zhao He Hall and loudly called: “Your Majesty!” He then kowtowed three times. When he stood up once more, his forehead was bleeding.

  He was escorted out of the courtyard and brought to the department of guilty servants; however, Feng Yuheng stared at the large room and came up with an idea.

  Her figured flashed into and out of view a few times, as she entered the room. Previously, this was Zhang Yuan’s room, and everything inside had been given by the Emperor. In the past, the Emperor had doted on Zhang Yuan as if he was his own son. If there was ever anything good, a portion would be given to him. There were times when Zhang Yuan would find something that he liked and would ask the Emperor for it without any reservation. Either way, he could not possibly leave the palace in this lifetime, and he had no relatives on the outside. Once the things had been given to him, they would stay in the Imperial Palace. It was such that this room for the head eunuch was almost as elegant as Zhao He Hall.

  But recently, all of these things now belonged to Wu Ying, not to mention the money that Zhang Yuan had hidden. Feng Yuheng thought to herself that she could not let that eunuch have worked so hard in the first half of his life for nothing. She would do a good deed and temporarily hold onto these items!

  Thus she exerted her consciousness, and all of the items in the room were quickly emptied. This included the silver hidden in a hollow trunk, the banknotes hidden under the pillow and the jewels in the bed……