In the small hours of the night, the sound of rain gradually rose. The wind rustled the leaves, sweeping the phoenix tree leaves in the courtyard onto the ground, covering the steps with wilted greenery.
However, Li Wanming slept soundly through the night without a dream until the first glimmer of dawn.
Just as dawn was breaking, Nanny Chen from Concubine Kang's side shouted at the top of her voice outside the window.
"Has the Crown Princess woken up? If so, hurry to the Hall of Reverence! The Prince and the Crown Prince haven't returned all night. The Princess and the Second Lady are in a complete panic! But the Crown Princess is so calm. Her own husband is still in a dangerous situation, yet she can sleep so soundly..."
Li Wanming immediately said, "Qing Lan, slap her mouth!"
"I don't know what dangerous situation you're talking about. All I know is that the Prince and the Crown Prince were summoned to the palace by the Queen Mother last night. If we follow Nanny Chen's logic, does that mean the imperial palace has become a den of iniquity and the Queen Mother has become a villain who harms court officials?"
Qing Lan's cold voice rang out outside the window, "Nanny Chen, slandering the government and openly defaming the current Queen Mother... Do you want to do it yourself or should I?"
Nanny Chen's face turned deathly pale. She knelt down with a thud and trembled like a sieve. "This old servant... this old servant doesn't dare... Please spare this old servant's life, Crown Princess..."
Without hesitation, Qing Lan raised her hand and slapped her.
Slap! Slap!
The crisp sound of the slaps was especially eye - opening in the morning light. Each slap seemed to tear a hole in the damp morning.
Li Wanming stretched and got up with Chuntao's help. She asked in a low voice, "The Prince didn't come back all night either?"
"Yes," Chuntao gently tied the belt of her undergarment for her and whispered, "I heard that the lights in the Hall of Reverence were on all night. Early this morning, the Princess sent Uncle Zhong to inquire at the palace gate. But just now the servant came back to report that the palace gates were tightly closed and no one was allowed to send messages..."
Li Wanming lazily put on her fine cotton silk socks and yawned.
"Why be in such a hurry? Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang are there. General Feng has just been promoted to the Duke Protecting the Nation. How could the Queen Mother eat them up?"
The trip of Xiao Jingnan and his father to the palace seemed dangerous, but in fact, it might just be a lot of noise and little action.
Zhao Yanke's actions outside the city gate had led to the conferment of a Duke Protecting the Nation with the privilege of "not hastening when entering the court and not announcing his name when paying homage", a Grand Master of the Palace who commanded the Tiger Guards, a Vice - Minister of the Ministry of War, and a Censor of the Court of Censors... All of them were high - ranking officials with generous emoluments and real - power officials.
Surrounded by these new nobles and with the two wily old foxes, Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang, mediating among them, what could go wrong?
After all, it was just that Queen Mother Kang was full of anger and wanted to find a place to vent it...
It was understandable. Their trip to the Southern Border not only prevented the Feng family army from being wiped out at the border as she wished but also achieved a great victory. Moreover, they had captured the supervisor sent there by her deliberately and the郡守 of Lingxi who had been planned for many years and brought them all back to the capital... How could this not make people angry?
Queen Mother Kang must be furious!
It would be unreasonable if she didn't torment them for a while...
Qing Lan helped her sit down in front of the dressing table and carefully selected some simple and unassuming hairpins. She whispered, "Crown Princess, you'd better go there quickly. The people in the Hall of Reverence have been as anxious as ants on a hot pan all night. I'm afraid everyone has stayed up all night..."
"What's the use of being anxious?"
Li Wanming adjusted her cuffs and yawned again. "The Queen Mother's anger hasn't been vented yet. Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang probably don't dare to provoke the Queen Mother at this time... What can I do even if I go?"
However, despite saying so, she still got up reluctantly. She let Qing Lan put on a simple lotus - colored cloud - patterned overcoat for her and lazily walked towards the Hall of Reverence.
The rain marks outside the eaves were still wet, leaving imprints with each step.
In front of the Hall of Reverence, the tall phoenix trees were washed shiny by the night rain. The water droplets dripping from the branches hit the ground, making a slight and crisp sound.
When Li Wanming stepped into the hall, a servant came to report, "Your Highness, I heard that Minister Xu of the Ministry of Punishment, Minister Zhou of the Court of Judicial Review, and Censor Yan of the Court of Censors were also summoned to the palace yesterday... And they haven't come out all night either."
"What?"
Princess Ning asked in a trembling voice. The color drained from her beautiful face, making her look pale and haggard.
"Yes..." The servant lowered his head and didn't even dare to breathe loudly. "Early this morning, the Duke of Qing was also summoned into the palace..."
...
Princess Ning swayed and seemed on the verge of collapsing.
Li Wanming quickly stepped forward to support her and comforted her softly, "Mother, don't be anxious. It's normal for important officials to be summoned to the palace when such a big thing happens. There's no need to worry..."
"Don't worry?"
Princess Ning suddenly shook off her hand, with tears glistening in her eyes. "Censor Yan and the Duke of Qing have both entered the palace. The imperial palace must be in a complete uproar... Jingnan and the Prince haven't come back all night. How can I rest easy?"
Concubine Kang gently fanned herself on one side, with a faint smile on her lips.
"After all, the Crown Princess is young and doesn't have much on her mind. Those who know you will say that you're calm and steady and don't care about the bloodshed in the palace. Those who don't know you might think that you don't care about Jingnan's life and don't have him in your heart..."
Li Wanming cursed silently in her heart: Xiao Jingnan was almost made childless by you, and you're still spouting nonsense here?
But on the surface, her face darkened. She walked up to Nanny Chen, smiled slightly, and said, "What, wasn't the slap just now painful enough? Why are you still so ignorant, Nanny?"
Nanny Chen was stunned. She subconsciously covered the bright red slap mark on her face and said angrily and shamefully, "This old servant didn't say anything..."
"Not saying anything is the biggest mistake!"
Li Wanming suddenly raised her voice.
"I told you just now that women in the inner courtyard shouldn't casually comment on the government, let alone slander the Queen Mother! What did you tell the Second Lady? How could she say that the imperial palace is a place of bloodshed?"
There was a chilling coldness in her tone. "If the Queen Mother finds out, won't she think that our Xiao family is dissatisfied with the royal family? When a great disaster befalls our Xiao family, it will all be your fault, old woman!"
"This old... old servant is wronged..."
Nanny Chen knelt down with a thud, banging her forehead heavily on the ground. The sound, mixed with the dripping water from the eaves, was especially clear in the hall.
Concubine Kang's face immediately froze. "You..."
"Enough!"
The Princess waved her hand impatiently. "I'm in a state of extreme anxiety here, but you're still only talking about these useless things."
She rubbed her temples. Under her once - clear eyes like autumn water, there were now faint dark circles. Even the rouge on her lips couldn't cover the paleness, which showed how anxious she was.
"Wanming," Princess Ning said softly, "Your husband has been detained in the palace all night. Instead of trying to help him, you're顶撞 your elders here... You're really so ignorant..."
Her voice was still gentle, but it really made Li Wanming furious!
Damn it!
I just risked my life to bring your son back from the Southern Border a few days ago, but you're still taking sides? Can't you hear that Concubine Kang was the one who sneered at me first?
Oh, clearly you're at your wit's end and want me to find out information, but you still have to play this game of suppressing and lecturing me!