After all, Zhenzhu and Manao were women in the inner courtyard. No matter how capable they were, the information they can find was limited. Their sensitivity to politics was also limited.
But the shadow guards left by Prince Xiao were different. The duty of the shadow guards staying in the capital was to keep an eye on the movements of the imperial court, royal family, and ministers.
The news Zhenzhu and Manao can only tell were what everyone can see, but shadow guards can find out deep and unknown information.
“The Empress fell into a coma for no reason a while ago, and the imperial doctors were helpless. Imperial Concubine Zhou thought of praying for the Empress’s recovery, so she went out of the palace in disguise and was assassinated outside the palace. Fortunately, Lin Furen rescued her.”
“After diagnosis, the Empress has been poisoned with ‘Pinming’. Imperial Doctor Qin had seen people who were poisoned by this poison in the Central Empire. The poison seems to be related to the imperial family. The specific family has not yet been identified.”
“This poison attacks once a month, and each attack will make people feel unbearably painful, and each attack will be more painful than the last one. There is no cure for this poison, and it will not end until the poisoned person dies of pain.”
“According to the imperial doctor’s estimation, the Empress has been poisoned for at least 15 years before she fell into a coma. And according to the effect of ‘Pinming’, the Empress has at most 2 years to live.”
“Imperial Concubine Zhou proposed to go out of the palace to pray for the Empress after the imperial doctors announced that the Empress’s case was hopeless. She deliberately chose the temple that Lin Furen often visited. If there is no accident, those assassins should be arranged by the Zhou family.”
As for the reason? Of course, it was to separate Prime Minister Lin and the Crown Prince.
“The Crown Prince entered Miss Zhou’s room by mistake, which is also related to the Zhou family. Although Miss Zhou who mistakenly slept with the Crown Prince was the legitimate eldest daughter of the Zhou family, she was not the daughter of Madam Zhou. Madam Zhou had dystocia back then, and the child she gave birth to died. This Miss Zhou is an outsider, but she was quietly carried into the Zhou Family mansion to replace Madama Zhou’s daughter.”
Obviously, the Zhou family was playing a big game of chess. Both Miss Zhou and Lin Furen were chess pieces of the Zhou family.
“Keep an eye on the Zhou family and Imperial Concubine Zhou, I don’t want any surprises!” Xiao Tianyao closed his eyes slightly and tapped his fingers on the table.
The Zhou Family, Imperial Concubine Zhou, the Third Prince… Sure enough, if they don’t make a move, it was alright, but if they make a move, it was better to hit back.
Two things in a row, it seems that the Zhou family suffered a big loss, but in fact, it destroyed all the external power of the Crown Prince in one fell swoop.
The crown prince slept with the daughter of the Zhou family, so he had to marry in. The Crown Princess came from the Zhou family, so the Crown Prince had no way to get help through marriage.
Lin Furen rescued Imperial Concubine Zhou, the Crown Prince will hold grudges against Prime Minister Lin, and the fact that the Crown Prince has been refusing to marry Lin Wanting also makes Prime Minister Lin very annoyed. In this way, even if Prime Minister Lin doesn’t support the third prince, he will not support the Crown Prince anymore.
“Yes.” The shadow guard nodded, and waited for a while, but didn’t hear any new orders from Xiao Tianyao, so he continued: “Young Master Su Cha sent a message that the matter in the Northern Country has been resolved, and they have returned secretly. If there are no accidents, they will be back in two months.”
“News also came from the Mo family in the Northern Territory. The King of the Northern Territory has been in frequent contact with people in the capital. It has not been found out who they are in contact with within the capital. We have also checked here, but still have not received any news.”
“There is news from Tiancang Pavilion that… no matter how high the price is, no matter how high the price is, they will not sell wangye’s news. The Shadow Moon Tower will also not accept any missions to assassinate you.”
“It seems that something happened to the Meng family. Meng Xiuyuan left the capital in a hurry, but he left a message for wangfei to write to him if she has any problem.”
“The Prince of West, after returning, let go of all his rights as you said and indulge in the mountains and rivers. He didn’t participate in power struggles. With this, he won the favor of the Emperor of the West.”
“After Nannuo Li, the fifth prince of the South, and Princess Nannuo Yao returned, they were jointly suppressed by several other princes and princesses. They may not be able to leave the south in a short time.”
“The former imperial family of the south has quietly gathered and is secretly preparing for the mutiny.”
“… …”
The shadow guards in Xiao Tianyao’s hands can’t be said to be top-notch in detecting news, but they were no worse than the spies from other countries. Although they could find only limited news about North, South, and West Countries, it was not a problem to focus on a few people.
The shadow guard reported to Xiao Tianyao one by one the information he found during this period, and did not dare to hide anything.
When the news from the four countries was added together, the number was unusually large. By the time the shadow guard finished reporting all the news, it was already dark. The shadow guard quietly entered the darkness. Xiao Tianyao sat at the desk and checked the official reports, as well as some secret letters.
So, more than half an hour has passed. Housekeeper Cao, who was standing outside the courtyard waiting for Xiao Tianyao to come out, couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. He waited and waited but still didn’t see Xiao Tianyao coming out.
“Alas… wangfei wants to wait for wangye to have dinner together, without letting others disturb wangye. Seeing that the time for dinner has passed, what should I do?”
“Should I go in and ask? If wangye is busy and forgets to eat, wangfei will have to wait all night.”
“But if I disturb wangye’s work, will wangye kill me?”
“Oh…what a dilemma. It would be great if Young Master Su Cha is here.”
Housekeeper Cao, with his hands behind his back, walked back and forth outside the courtyard, talking to himself non-stop, but after half an hour, there was still no result.
In the end, the guards couldn’t watch anymore, and stepped forward to stop Housekeeper Cao: “Housekeeper Cao, stop walking back and forth, we will faint in dizziness if you continue.”
The candle itself was dim, but Housekeeper Cao kept walking back and forth, blocking the light from time to time, which was killing people.
“Do you think I don’t want to leave?” Housekeeper Cao snorted angrily, then waved to the guards, and asked in a low voice: “Is wangye alone in the study?”
“Housekeeper Cao, you have asked this more than a dozen times. Wangye didn’t call anyone this afternoon, he is alone in the study.” The guard looked powerless. If he wasn’t afraid that their prince would be unhappy, he would have run inside to report Housekeeper Cao.
“Then tell me… if I go in to look for wangye at this time, will it disturb wangye’s work? Will wangye be unhappy because of this?” Housekeeper Cao didn’t know what to do.
In the past… no one dared to go in and disturb their prince when he was working.
But, but…the situation was different now.
Their prince can abandon his official duties to pick up their princess, but who knows if their prince will abandon his official duties to accompany the princess for dinner?
What if it happens?
When the time comes, he didn’t go in to report, and their prince misses the opportunity to have dinner with their princess, their prince may kill him.
“No one has tried it before, and this subordinate doesn’t know.” The guard shook his head, expressing his helplessness.
“No one has ever dared to use such a thing to disturb wangye’s s work.” Even Su Cha and Liu Bai didn’t dare. They only went to see their prince if something serious had happened.
“Should I give it a try?” Housekeeper Cao stood in front of the courtyard gate, quietly looking at the door of the study, still hesitating… …
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