Ye Lingfeng nodded. Seeing that his mother's expression was not good, he knew that she had indeed been hit hard recently, first by the matter of the officials in the West Prefecture, and now by this matter. Not wanting to upset her, Ye Lingfeng comforted her, "Don't worry, Mother. Your son will definitely find out whoever is behind this and will never let them get away with it."
The Empress Dowager nodded, but her expression remained grim; she hadn't expected such a thing to happen in the palace.
Inside the Qingqian Palace's sleeping quarters, Hai Ling and Ye Lingfeng, dressed in black night clothes, led several subordinates out of the palace.
Tonight they will lie in wait and wait to find out who is hiding in the deep palace.
This person may not have left the palace. During the day, the palace was thoroughly searched, so it was impossible for him to leave. Nighttime was his chance. Therefore, they hid in the shadows and followed this person to see who he was and how he dared to hide in the palace and harm the palace maids.
Tonight, there is no moon, no stars, just a deep, dark expanse.
Ye Lingfeng held Hai Ling tightly, huddled in a corner of the palace wall, glancing around from time to time. The entire palace was quiet, without a sound.
Hai Ling couldn't help but yawn, feeling drowsy. She didn't know if that person was still in the palace. They might not be able to catch him even if they kept watch like this, but they couldn't let their guard down. Anyway, Ye Lingfeng's embrace was very thick and comfortable, so she just treated it as a change of scenery to sleep. Thinking this, she actually snuggled into his arms and fell asleep.
Ye Lingfeng looked at her with doting eyes; with her by his side, he didn't feel bored at all.
The subordinates nearby were also very considerate and did not disturb the Emperor and Empress.
In the middle of the night, Hai Ling was suddenly awakened by Ye Lingfeng. She immediately perked up, knowing that the bad guy hiding in the palace had appeared. She quickly looked up and saw a shadow moving in the dark. It was a figure that had leaped out from a corner of the Cold Palace. As soon as it appeared, it was as light as a swallow. What amazing skills!
Ye Lingfeng and Hai Ling quickly followed the figure from a distance. They saw him moving through the palace walls with an air of familiarity, as if he were in a completely different world. He soon left the palace and disappeared into the distance.
The group of people behind him followed him all the way, not worried that he would discover them.
Because Ye Lingfeng's skills are extremely formidable, they are not something that ordinary people can detect.
The figure eventually entered the Prince Anyang's residence. Hai Ling and Ye Lingfeng's expressions turned grim. Could it be that the Prince Anyang's residence had sent someone to infiltrate the palace?
They hadn't paid any attention to the people from the Prince of Anyang's residence until now.
The Prince of Anyang had always been well-behaved and did not associate much with people in the court. Why then did he send people into the palace at night and kill nearly ten palace maids?
Ye Lingfeng and Hai Ling were full of doubt, but they did not hesitate. With a wave of their hand, they entered the Anyang Prince's Mansion, carefully avoiding the guards.
Outside the study.
A stern reprimand could be heard coming from inside the room.
"You scoundrel! How dare you take advantage of those palace maids in the palace? I only sent you into the palace to investigate the situation!"
"Your Highness, spare me! Last night I couldn't help myself, that's why..."
With a loud slap, it was clear that the subordinate had been struck by the Prince of Anyang. His voice, filled with exasperation, followed: "You can't even handle a small task! I only asked you to go into the palace to investigate whether I was being suspected in the case of the Minister of Revenue, and you've caused such a huge mess! And now, you're coming back in the middle of the night—did anyone notice?"
"No, Your Highness, please rest assured."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard knocking on the gate of the Prince's mansion, indicating that someone had surrounded the Prince's mansion.
This startled everyone in the study, and the entire Anyang Prince's Mansion was also alarmed.
"What's going on? What exactly is happening?"
When the Prince of Anyang opened the door, he saw several of his men lying on the ground outside the study. Standing outside the door were the Emperor and Empress, along with several of their men.
The Prince of Anyang's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, kneeling down in fear.
"Royal brother, royal brother?"
Ye Lingfeng looked down at Prince Anyang: "Prince Anyang, you actually sent people into the palace and harmed nearly ten palace maids. What exactly are you trying to do?"
The Prince of Anyang was speechless. Just then, someone shouted, "Kill the dog emperor!"
As soon as these words were spoken, a large number of men in black suddenly appeared from the Prince of Anyang's mansion and rushed towards Ye Lingfeng, Hai Ling, and the others. The Prince of Anyang was still hesitant at first, but now he knew that the arrow was on the string and he had no choice but to release it. If he did not take action, he would probably die as well. So he waved his hand and gave the order.
"Kill! Someone has broken into the Prince of Anyang's residence at night. Beat them to death!"
At the prince's command, the guards attacked with all their might. Ye Lingfeng and Hai Ling did not expect that the Prince of Anyang would pull this stunt at the last minute. Fortunately, they had made arrangements in advance, ordering Shi Zhu and others to lead people to surround the Prince of Anyang's mansion. Otherwise, it would have been unknown what would have happened tonight.
"Ling'er, be careful."
As Ye Lingfeng attacked, he instructed Hai Ling, and the two of them huddled together to deal with the attacking guards.
People outside the Prince of Anyang's mansion quickly stormed in. After a chaotic battle, the people of the Prince of Anyang's mansion were defeated and captured.
The entire palace was in chaos, filled with screams.
The Prince of Anyang was ashen-faced, like a wilted eggplant, and remained silent, letting Ye Lingfeng do as he pleased.
Princess Yan Xiaoxiao of Anyang was not relentless and questioned him repeatedly: "Ye Lingfeng, you bastard, why did you arrest people from our Anyang Prince's Mansion? You should know that our Anyang Prince's Mansion helped you get the throne. You ungrateful wretch! We will haunt you even as ghosts."
She simply couldn't understand why the magnificent building had collapsed in an instant, turning her from the admired Princess An into a prisoner.
Ye Lingfeng ordered his men to throw Prince Anyang and Princess Anyang into prison.
Before dawn, a minister entered the palace and reported to the Empress Dowager, who then ordered someone to summon Ye Lingfeng.
"Feng'er, have you gone mad? You just dealt with a few officials in the court, and now you've arrested Prince Anyang and Princess Anyang?"
The Empress Dowager was extremely anxious, fearing that her son's impetuousness would ruin the kingdom of Beilu.
When he ascended the throne, the Prince of Anyang's Mansion had contributed greatly. Now that he is so ungrateful and pushing the Prince of Anyang's Mansion to the brink of ruin, the ministers in the court are all heartbroken.
Ye Lingfeng's face was cold. In fact, he never thought that this matter would be related to the Prince of Anyang's mansion. He just didn't expect that the people in the palace were actually sent by the Prince of Anyang to gather information. That person even killed a palace maid. What was most hateful was that the Prince of Anyang was so angry that he wanted to kill him. Would he be indifferent?
"Your Majesty, I had no intention of harming him. It was Prince Anyang who wanted to kill me."
"What? Such a thing actually happened?"