Xiao Yi narrowed his eyes and carefully thought it over.
Then he frowned, seeming no longer quite so certain.
“What if your grandfather is keeping it from Xiao Lizi too?”
Duoduo tilted her head.
“Father, how about I go to the palace?”
“No one in this world can have exactly the same pulse as another person.”
“If I go to the palace and take Grandfather’s pulse, we’ll know whether the person is really him.”
Duoduo’s words reminded Xiao Yi of something.
“You mean Imperial Physician Li must know whether the person in that bed is Father?”
Duoduo nodded vigorously, utterly certain.
“Mm! Exactly!”
Xiao Yi rubbed his fingers together as he recalled the details.
“When I went to the palace, Imperial Physician Li was there too.”
“But he kept his head lowered, so I couldn’t see his expression clearly.”
Xiao Yi knew that even if he questioned Imperial Physician Li, the physician might not tell him the truth.
This concerned the emperor’s safety, after all!
He did want to find out whether his imperial father had truly been poisoned and rendered unconscious.
But he would never put Duoduo in danger.
The truth would eventually come to light anyway.
For now, the most important thing was to find a way to investigate who had framed him.
Xiao Yi did not know whether the person hiding in the shadows was targeting him alone or everyone who might ascend the throne.
That was also why he had decided to wait and watch.
As long as the mastermind made a move against the others, he would certainly notice.
Then he could follow the trail and perhaps uncover the person behind it all.
Xiao Yi unconsciously rubbed his left thumb with his right hand.
He suddenly realized what he was doing and let go.
At the entrance to Prince Ling’s residence, Prince Ling was carried down from the carriage by his attendants.
The moment he entered the residence, the steward hurried over.
Seeing Prince Ling being carried in by several men, the steward was startled.
“Your Highness, what happened to you? Quickly, someone come here!”
The steward hurriedly called for people to help.
After much effort, Prince Ling was finally carried back to his bed.
The servants, their foreheads covered in sweat, withdrew from the room.
Prince Ling saw that the steward had not left.
“Is there something else?”
The steward looked troubled. In the end, he braced himself and reported, “Your Highness, something has happened in the residence!”
Prince Ling abruptly tried to sit up.
“Ugh!” He cried out in pain and fell back down.
At first, when he had fallen, he had not thought the injury hurt that badly.
But after being jostled all the way back in the carriage, the pain in his backside had grown increasingly severe.
A nameless rage surged through Prince Ling’s heart.
“Speak! What happened this time?”
The steward shuddered in fright. No longer bothering to choose his words carefully, he blurted everything out in one breath.
“The Princess Consort is ill, the secondary consort has been confined, and no one is managing the inner residence. Everything has descended into chaos.”
“Yesterday, Commandery Princess Funing didn’t go to the Imperial Academy. The cooks didn’t know, and the maidservants serving the Princess didn’t go to the kitchen to collect her lunch.”
“Commandery Princess Funing was furious and ran to the kitchen, where she caused a huge scene.”
“Crash!”
Prince Ling hurled the cup beside the bed to the floor.
“What about the Princess Consort? She’s merely ill, not dead!” His expression twisted savagely.
The steward lowered his head even further.
“Afterward, the Princess Consort found out and had the cooks and Commandery Princess Funing confined.”
“She said…” The steward stammered.
“What did she say? If you keep stammering, you won’t need your tongue anymore!” Prince Ling’s voice was filled with murderous intent.
“The Princess Consort said that she is no longer managing the household. She will wait for Your Highness to return and deal with it.”
Prince Ling was so angry that he wanted to smash something, but there was nothing left on the bedside to throw.
He felt every vertebra in his spine throbbing with pain.
Prince Ling drew a deep breath.
“What about Nanny Rong? Have someone call her here!”
“Yes.”
The steward left and ordered a guard to summon Nanny Rong.
Lying on the bed, Prince Ling reflected on everything that had happened recently.
He felt that his luck had been utterly wretched lately!
Suddenly, Prince Ling remembered Song Shuyu’s reputation as a bringer of good fortune.
It seemed that during the period when Song Shuyu had first come to his side, everything had gone smoothly for him.
When had things begun to go wrong?
Prince Ling tried hard to recall.
He spent every day contending with his brothers. He had paid no attention to these minor details and could not remember them clearly.
Still, he did remember one thing: in the beginning, he had valued Song Shuyu greatly.
Later, as his life became smoother and smoother, he had gradually begun to neglect her.
At the thought of his own children, Prince Ling suddenly remembered them.
“The Heir Apparent and the Princess really came back? How did they return?”
“I sent so many people to search the entire city for them. How did they sneak back?”
The thought of Xiao Yun'an and Xiao Yunming slipping secretly back into the residence—and thus giving others leverage against him today—filled Prince Ling with inexplicable anger.
“Your Highness, no one in the residence saw how the Heir Apparent and the Princess returned.”
“It was a servant girl assigned to rough labor who discovered them when she went in to clean the room.”
“The Heir Apparent and the Princess had been stuffed into sacks. They don’t know how they got back to the residence either!”
“Go and drag them in here!” Prince Ling said darkly.
The steward hurried out again to summon them.
Just then, Nanny Rong arrived.
She entered the room and bowed to Prince Ling. When she straightened, she saw him lying on the bed, and surprise appeared on her face.
Prince Ling was utterly exhausted.
In the palace, he had to match wits with ministers and his brothers. Once he returned to the residence, he was faced with an endless pile of trivial household affairs.
Prince Ling massaged his aching temples.
No wonder his mother had always said that a man should marry a virtuous wife.
With a capable wife managing the inner residence, he would have more energy to devote to important matters.
“Nanny Rong, you were sent here by Mother to assist me!”
“Not only have you failed to help me, you actually stood by and did nothing!”
Nanny Rong’s legs went weak, and she fell to her knees with a thud.
“Please spare me, Your Highness! It’s not that this old servant didn’t want to help!”
“When I came here, Imperial Consort specifically instructed me never to interfere in the affairs of the residence!”
“She said that if I dared to meddle, she would show me no mercy!”
Prince Ling froze for a moment. He had not expected his mother to make such an arrangement.
“This residence answers to me!”
“From today onward, you will take over management of the inner household.”
“I don’t want to hear of any more problems in the inner residence!”
“If it descends into chaos again, I will hold you responsible!”
Nanny Rong hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him before withdrawing.
Not long afterward, Xiao Yun'an and Xiao Yunming were brought in by the guards.
Like frightened birds, the two children entered the room timidly, keeping their heads down, and knelt.
Seeing them like that, Prince Ling’s brows furrowed so deeply they could have crushed a mosquito.
“Straighten your backs! Raise your heads!”
Prince Ling could not help shouting.
“Waaah!” Xiao Yunming burst into tears after being frightened.
Xiao Yun'an was trembling uncontrollably as well.
Seeing how timid Xiao Yun'an was, Prince Ling felt deeply disappointed.
His mother had ruined this son!
Fortunately, he still had another son.
“Where is the Second Young Master?”
