Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

The princess had her maid bring her a jade flute, which was entirely emerald green and smooth as jade.

The flute had several obvious cracks, which had been carefully repaired with gold powder, giving it a beautiful sense of rebirth after being broken.

"Tell me, what exactly are you keeping in suspense?" the princess asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Liu Wenying lowered her head: "Please, Your Highness, accompany me to a place."

They walked through winding corridors and arrived at a secluded and elegant room at the deepest part of the villa.

Liu Wenying stopped at the door and stepped aside to indicate, "Your Highness, please come in."

The eldest princess glanced at her, then pushed open the door and entered.

The interior of the elegant house was simply furnished, with a small table and a couch, on which sat a pot of tea, the steam rising gently.

A figure with brocade robes stood with his back to the door. He was tall and slender, and his noble demeanor was undeniable.

Hearing footsteps, he slowly turned around.

Upon seeing his appearance, the princess covered her mouth, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.

She stumbled forward, then stopped abruptly, unable to believe it. "Heng... Heng'er...?"

Xiao Yiheng knelt down, lifting his robe, and performed a grand salute: "Nephew Yiheng greets Imperial Aunt."

"You're alive! You're really alive!"

The eldest princess quickly stepped forward and helped him up with both hands.

"For the past six months, everyone in the palace has been saying you're dead, and even your father, the Emperor, has..."

She choked up and couldn't speak.

"It is your unfilial son who has caused your imperial aunt worry."

Liu Wenying quietly closed the door and stood guard at the entrance.

The eldest princess wiped her eyes with the corner of her sleeve, looked at Liu Wenying with a complicated expression: "Did you save Heng'er?"

Liu Wenying nodded, "It was I who found His Highness outside the city. At that time, he was covered in wounds, his eye disease was severe, and he was barely clinging to life."

"It's a miracle that he made it to the capital. Although I helped, it's only because His Highness was not destined to die that he survived."

The eldest princess nodded, and after understanding the situation, the three of them sat down.

"Heng'er, what exactly happened when you led the team to the Northern Border that day?"

Xiao Yiheng then recounted the details of the attack.

"...Those who ambushed me were not bandits. They used weapons from the Central Plains, but their fighting techniques were unique to the Northern Di army."

"Those people are soldiers from the Northern Barbarians, disguised as bandits."

The eldest princess's expression changed drastically: "How could the Northern Di soldiers have penetrated so deep into the heart of the Great Wei? And how could they have such a precise ambush on the current prince?"

She suddenly clenched the handkerchief in her hand, a terrible thought creeping into her mind: unless someone was working in cahoots with her from the inside…

"Xiao Chenlin has become utterly depraved!"

They colluded with foreign enemies to murder the prince.

He might even be involved in his elder brother's death.

"Imperial Aunt, what was the situation in the palace on the day Father Emperor passed away?"

The eldest princess slowly recounted that the late emperor was still in good spirits, but he fell ill in the afternoon.

Crown Prince Xiao Chenlin entered the palace under the pretext of attending to the ailing emperor. That very night, the death knell tolled, announcing that the late emperor had suddenly fallen ill with a heart ailment and passed away.

"...When I arrived, your father's body had already been prepared for burial. Xiao Chenlin was kneeling before the coffin, weeping bitterly, saying that his father had passed the throne to him before his death."

"You were attacked five days before your father's death. It would take ten days to travel from the northern border to the capital, even by the fastest horse. Those northern barbarians must have been lying in ambush beforehand."

"You were poisoned the moment you left the capital, your father fell ill and died shortly after, and Xiao Chenlin ascended the throne without any apparent cause. What kind of coincidences are there in the world?"

Upon hearing the inside story, Liu Wenying was shocked and looked at Xiao Yiheng with worry.

Xiao Yiheng's eyes were deep and dark, exceptionally calm, yet like the calm before a storm, making it hard to breathe.

"Imperial Aunt, how many officials who originally supported me are still around?"

"Seventeen people were dismissed on the surface, ten were exiled, and three others died suddenly from illness."

The eldest princess closed her eyes as she recalled the scene of Xiao Chenlin murdering officials in front of the late emperor's coffin.

"But don't worry, there are still some people I've managed to protect; they're all waiting for you in secret..."

"Heng'er, what are your plans for the future?"

"The Northern Di soldiers were able to disguise themselves as bandits and infiltrate the heartland of the Great Wei. There must be someone in the court colluding with foreign enemies. The cause of my father's death is unknown. Xiao Chenlin is bloodthirsty. My nephew will naturally take back this empire."

"I am relieved that you think this way."

The eldest princess took out a handkerchief from her bosom, which was wrapped tightly.

She placed it on the table, gesturing for Xiao Yiheng to open it.

Xiao Yiheng peeled back the layers one by one, revealing a torn piece of bright yellow silk ribbon lying inside the handkerchief.

He couldn't see the dark brown stains on the ribbon, but he could feel that it was already dry and hard.

"This is……"

"Dragon ribbon, the ribbon that hangs above your father's bed."

According to ancestral rules, if the emperor's dragon sash remains unbroken, the emperor is in good health; if the sash breaks, it indicates that the emperor's death is in doubt.

"It was the most loyal old eunuch by your father's side who risked his life to protect it."

"That night, when my elder brother passed away, the old eunuch hid the dragon sash in his sleeve before Xiao Chenlin arrived."

"Later, Xiao Chenlin noticed something amiss at the bedside and severely tortured the palace servants. The old eunuch was beaten to death, and his body was thrown into a mass grave."

The princess said in a deep voice, "It was my men who found it in his stomach. He swallowed it before he died, which is why it wasn't taken away."

"Father was indeed killed by him."

Xiao Yiheng spoke slowly and deliberately, the veins on the back of his hand gripping the dragon sash bulging.

Liu Wenying sat to the side and said softly:

"I once accompanied the Princess to the palace and met the late Emperor. At that time, the late Emperor was in his prime and full of vigor."

She paused, then said, "How could such a healthy king suddenly pass away?"

The eldest princess sneered, "I had my doubts before. My brother has always been very health-conscious, and the Imperial Physicians check his pulse daily. If he had a pre-existing heart condition, how could there have been no signs at all?"

"Moreover, on the day of his death, the three imperial physicians on duty all died for various reasons afterwards."

She looked at Xiao Yiheng, her voice icy.

"If the Imperial Medical Bureau can't find any clues, there's another possibility: the medicine used is one that the imperial physicians of the Great Wei have never dealt with before."

"If Xiao Chenlin colluded with the Northern Di and used a rare poison, some of which cause symptoms similar to heart disease, making it difficult to distinguish the true cause even during an autopsy."

Xiao Yiheng's chest heaved violently.

He wanted to roar, to rush into the palace and expose that patricide and usurper.

But the thought was suppressed as soon as it arose.

Expose it? With what can we expose it? The power of a single piece of dragon ribbon is far from enough.

Without military power or concrete evidence, Xiao Chenlin could easily crush him to pieces.

The eldest princess noticed Xiao Yiheng's dejection and pressed his hand, "Heng'er, don't worry, there is still a way."

"The Crown Prince's maternal family is greedy. The late emperor was able to ascend the throne largely thanks to the support of the Empress's family."

The price of supporting them was that the entire imperial court would be controlled by them.

The late emperor was a puppet for several years, and it was only with great difficulty that he finally broke free from their grasp.

He knew better than anyone that if Xiao Chenlin ascended the throne, those people might make a comeback, turning the Great Wei into their private property and changing its name and identity.

"Heng'er, you still have a secret edict from your elder brother that you can use."

After the princess finished speaking, she fell silent and looked at Liu Wenying.

Liu Wenying understood and stood up. "Your Highness, this humble woman is not in a position to listen any further. I shall take my leave now."

"Hearing the Oriole".

Xiao Yiheng suddenly grabbed her.

"Imperial Aunt, please speak freely. She is not an outsider."

…………