As the New Year was approaching, a heavy snow fell in the capital.
The eldest princess had been ill for three days, running a high fever and delirious. She kept shouting, "Concubine Mei, you bitch, don't even think about harming my younger brother!"
The Concubine Mei she mentioned had once, relying on the late emperor's favor, taken away the custody of the current emperor when he was still a young prince.
However, she was vicious and mentally twisted. She tortured the young prince in various ways. The eldest princess tried her best to protect him and even had one of her legs broken by Concubine Mei. (The detailed description of this plot is in Chapter 132. Readers who have forgotten can go back and check.)
The news of the eldest princess's illness reached the emperor's ears. In the end, he softened his heart and personally went to the eldest princess's mansion to visit her.
As soon as the emperor arrived, the eldest princess regained consciousness. The siblings hugged each other and cried bitterly.
That night, the eldest princess entered the palace in full regalia and accompanied the emperor and the empress for dinner.
The whole court was shocked.
It seemed that overnight, the eldest princess had regained her former glory.
She felt that she had endured humiliation and bided her time. Now that she was back in full strength, she would never let any of her enemies go!
The first on her list were Liang Yuzhou and the Crown Prince.
On the same day in Yunzhou, the north wind howled and dark clouds gathered. Another freezing rain fell.
People said that this was the coldest winter in Yunzhou in twenty years.
As the Crown Prince delved deeper into the investigation of the Yue family, many of their crimes gradually came to light and were presented to the people of Yunzhou.
Needless to say, Yue Chenkong's crimes were numerous.
His two sons, Yue Feng and Yue Xiang, extorted merchants, abducted civilian girls, seized people's fertile fields, and often beat people in the street.
The two were cruel by nature and had many perverted hobbies. No one knew how many of the beautiful maids and young daughters - in - law in the Yue family had died at their hands.
They even caused several deaths in brothels.
Even their servants dared to bully the common people, occupy their houses, force good - willed people into prostitution, and forcibly buy shops in good locations.
The Crown Prince personally ordered the arrest of Yue Feng and Yue Xiang.
Not long after the two were thrown into prison, news came from the capital that Grand Tutor Wen had been impeached by the Censorate.
Grand Tutor Wen was not only the Marquis of Pingwei among the Eight Marquises but also the Crown Prince's mentor.
He was too upright. After the eldest princess was lifted from her restrictions, he submitted a memorial to the court the next day, severely scolding the eldest princess's crimes.
The emperor was furious in court, expelled him from the Golden Hall, and ordered him to stay at home and reflect.
Grand Tutor Wen's inability to attend court was like the Crown Prince losing an arm.
"The teacher is too straightforward. The eldest princess has just regained her status, and Father is in high spirits with her. Scolding the eldest princess at this time is like poking a tiger in the nose with a straw stick," the Crown Prince worried about his mentor's situation.
But at the moment, he couldn't return. The struggle with the eldest princess had reached a fever pitch.
He had to go all out to uproot the Yue family.
Destroying the Yue family was equivalent to directly declaring war on the eldest princess.
Yue Feng and Yue Xiang were full of crimes. Even if the emperor intended to reduce their punishment, the two would still be exiled for three thousand miles.
These two no longer posed any threat.
The key to bringing down the Yue family lay with Old Lady Yue.
She was shrewd and ruthless. The crime of indulging her descendants in crime was not enough to cost her life.
But she was very secretive in her actions. The Crown Prince had been investigating for nearly a month but still couldn't find any evidence of lives lost due to her.
On the surface, this old lady seemed spotless.
"It's a pipe dream for the Crown Prince to take down Old Lady Yue in an above - board way," Liang Yuzhou and Shi Minglang were sitting around a stove, boiling tea.
Liang Yuzhou was dressed in a sky - blue Taoist robe, looking calm and leisurely. As the fragrant tea steam rose, the mist gathered around him, making him look like an immortal who didn't eat the earthly fireworks.
Shi Minglang thought he had the air of a hermit. It was hard to imagine what Liang Yuzhou would be like when he was involved in the mundane world.
Only someone as stunningly beautiful as Song Wanchu could pull him off the altar.
Shi Minglang blew away the steam from his teacup and frowned slightly. "The Crown Prince will be a wise emperor in the future. Naturally, he wants to convince the world. If he just wanted Old Lady Yue dead, he would have a hundred ways to do it, but he doesn't want to be criticized."
"You can't have it all. Things in the world won't become perfect just because he is the future emperor," Liang Yuzhou openly showed his contempt for the Crown Prince. "He pursues being above - board too much, so he acts slowly and misses the best opportunity to destroy the Yue family. Now that the eldest princess has been lifted from her restrictions, her followers have become rampant again, and Old Lady Yue has more energy to confront the Crown Prince."
"The Crown Prince has a special status, and he has his own concerns," Shi Minglang was also secretly anxious. "You're always so decisive. Why don't you think of a way for the Crown Prince?"
If these two could join hands, not to mention the small Yue family, the eldest princess would not be their match!
Liang Yuzhou snorted softly. "Why should I help him? Help him solve the major problems in the court so that he can spare the time to steal my Wanchu?"
Shi Minglang silently sipped his tea.
The Crown Prince had been dealing with official business day and night these days and had no time to see Song Wanchu at all.
He didn't know how many times Liang Yuzhou had secretly met with Song Wanchu.
By the time the Crown Prince could spare the time, maybe the two would already have had several little Taoist kids.
Liang Yuzhou finished his cup of tea and got up to leave.
"Why are you in such a hurry to go back? It's the Laba Festival today. The Laba porridge is almost ready. Have a bowl before you go," Shi Minglang warmly invited him. "The Laba porridge from the government was cooked by the imperial chef accompanying the Crown Prince."
Liang Yuzhou coldly threw out a "Who cares" and left.
The Yue family was almost like a tree that had fallen, and the monkeys had scattered. The news spread from mouth to mouth among the common people, and everyone was overjoyed.
Old Lady Chu's "illness" finally got better.
The Chu family began to go out and receive guests again. Everything returned to normal.
Every year on the Laba Festival, the Chu family would set up a porridge shed in Songhe Temple and distribute eight - treasure porridge to the people who came to pray.
This year was no exception.
Ning Shi was about to give birth and was not convenient to go out. Song Wanchu replaced her and accompanied Old Lady Chu to Songhe Temple to distribute porridge.
The Chu family was wealthy but not stingy with their money. They were praised by everyone.
In front of the Chu family's porridge shed in Songhe Temple, a long queue had formed early.
The Taoist priests in Songhe Temple helped maintain order.
Song Wanchu was about to hand a bowl of porridge to the young man in front of her.
A hand with distinct knuckles reached out and took the bowl from her hand.
"I'll do it," Liang Yuzhou leaned over and half - embraced her in his arms.
His chin accidentally touched her ear and gently rubbed it. A warm feeling spread.
It was cold, and Song Wanchu was wrapped tightly in a brocade fur cloak, but his breath seemed to penetrate into her marrow.
"Distributing porridge requires sincerity. How can you let others do it for you?" Song Wanchu whispered. "I can do it myself."
Liang Yuzhou frowned, looking unhappy. "It also depends on whether the people receiving the porridge are worthy."
Song Wanchu had been concentrating on scooping and handing out porridge and hadn't looked up much.
All she saw were a pair of hands.
Following Liang Yuzhou's gaze, she was shocked to find that the long queue in front of her was actually made up of all young men.
Each of them was staring at her stupidly, grinning.
"The fairy is here to distribute porridge for us!"
Liang Yuzhou's face darkened. "Do you ordinary people think you can just look at the fairy?"
Song Wanchu was speechless.
At this moment, a ragged little girl stumbled into the queue and knelt straight in front of Song Wanchu.
"Princess Consort, please save me, save my whole family. We're just servants of the Yue family. We don't want to die!"