Back at the mansion, Steward Wang led her to the front hall.
The Crown Prince and her husband were both there, their faces etched with extreme displeasure.
"This subject's wife pays respects to the Crown Prince. May the Crown Prince be well!"
Zhao Jiaqi curtsied. After the Crown Prince signaled her to, she sat down on a chair. As soon as she was seated, she heard the Crown Prince complain to her.
"Madam, your husband is truly more foul and stubborn than a rock in a latrine. He can't distinguish between right and wrong. He clearly knows the Emperor is furious, yet he, of all people, goes out of his way to tug at the dragon's beard, saying things no one else dares to!"
Zhao Jiaqi listened, utterly bewildered, completely clueless about what was happening. She cast a questioning glance at the other person.
Fan Zehao said angrily, "Where did I speak incorrectly? In the time I've been at court, all I've seen is the Prime Minister diligently performing his duties. Where is this abuse of power, or these treasonous acts? Secretly forging dragon robes? Colluding with foreign states?" Even he found it laughable to say it aloud.
"This is clearly a frame-up. Even I, a simpleton, understand this truth. Why doesn't the Emperor?"
Huangfu Yifan, breathing heavily, retorted resentfully, "Do you think Father Emperor is unaware of the truth you understand?"
"Then why investigate the Prime Minister's mansion? Why dismiss me from my post? Dismissal is fine, does he think I care? 'Loyal words are unpleasant to the ear,' as the saying goes. It's true!"
Huangfu Yifan found he had nothing more to say to him. He stood up abruptly. After taking two steps, he felt it was improper and turned back to Zhao Jiaqi, saying, "Madam, please try to persuade him."
Zhao Jiaqi didn't respond. She was completely in the dark. Persuade him about what?
After the Prince left, Fan Xudong also entered the room from outside, his face full of indignation. "Brother, I'm not doing this anymore either. Even loyal officials can be wronged. Where in this world is there any place to reason? It's better to go home and farm, and live a comfortable life."
Zhao Jiaqi grabbed Fan's second son by the ear and threw him out of the front hall. "Go home and find your wife. Don't add fuel to the fire here!"
Once the front hall was quiet, Fan Zehao, without her having to ask, explained everything that had happened that day.
"You wouldn't believe it, the Prince of Xian presented a stack of papers, claiming they were evidence of the Prime Minister colluding with foreign states. The Emperor's face turned green instantly. After reading them, he didn't even give the Prime Minister a chance to speak before passing judgment."
"And then? Did those ministers not speak up for the Prime Minister?" she asked curiously.
Fan Zehao nodded. "That's why I stepped forward to speak a few words of justice. Then the Emperor became enraged and flew into a temper with me, saying I had ill intentions and was separated from the Prime Minister by only a wall, so perhaps I harbored thoughts of rebellion myself."
This... it couldn't be!
"Could it be the Emperor's angry words? We've never had contact with those civil officials, nor have we interacted with any of the princes. How could he say we intended rebellion?!"
Fan Zehao looked up and sighed, gazing into his wife's eyes, and said solemnly, "No, it wasn't angry words. The Emperor has appointed Xiao Ce as supervisor. If it weren't for today's commotion, he would have returned to our fiefdom with us tomorrow. And I could see the Emperor completely believed Prince Xian's words. You should have seen his face when he uttered the word 'confiscate,' he was gritting his teeth!"
Supervisor?
"Why didn't you mention that Xiao Ce was a supervisor?"
He chuckled coldly. "I only found out today!"
He clasped her hand in his large palm, looking at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, wife. I have no official position now. You will have to bear hardship with me in the future."
"No matter how hard it is, it'll be better than when we first got married. But this is also good. You're no longer a prince, so the burden on you is much lighter. We can return to our hometown and continue farming. I bought a lot of seeds; we can try them one by one when we get home." Zhao Jiaqi's thoughts returned to her longed-for life, and a happy smile appeared on her face.
It was good to leave the political arena. The deceit and treachery, who knew what would happen next? It was just that the Prime Minister and his wife this time...
That night, under the cover of darkness, Zhou Qiangwei scaled the wall and entered the Fan residence. The moment she saw Zhao Jiaqi, she immediately knelt down and choked back sobs, "Thank you for sending word in advance, otherwise..."
"Madam Zhou, what are you doing? Please get up." Zhao Jiaqi quickly helped her up.
At her age, kneeling to her made her feel quite awkward.
"Madam Zhou, our household was also in a turmoil today. We still don't know how the Emperor has dealt with the Prime Minister!"
Zhou Qiangwei wiped the tears from her face and replied, "They searched the mansion today and took away all the valuable jade and silver. Even the household registration and letters from the study were confiscated. Fortunately, you had Qiufen send word promptly. I managed to hide some of the silver notes and jewelry. But my husband is still in prison. I followed the wall to climb over to ask the Prince for news. What exactly happened!"
She and her household were confined to the residence, unable to leave. Her anxiety made her risk climbing over the wall in the dark.
Zhao Jiaqi patted her hand and sighed, saying, "It's said that the Prime Minister secretly forged dragon robes at home and wrote numerous letters to spies from foreign states. Prince Xian discovered this and reported it to the Emperor, which led to this... My husband couldn't bear it and spoke a few words of justice, but as a result, the Emperor stripped him of his princely title. Now, even if we want to help, we are powerless!"
Zhou Qiangwei was stunned upon hearing about forging dragon robes. Upon learning that Fan Zehao had been stripped of his princely title, she felt extremely guilty.
"I truly... I truly apologize to you!" Zhou Qiangwei covered her face and wept. No amount of words could help.
As she cried, she sobbed, "My husband was such a loyal and devoted person, how could he be framed with such a crime? And the Emperor actually..."
After crying for a while, she finally stopped. Her tear-filled eyes looked pitiful. She said with a wry smile, "It's good that the princely title is gone, it saves us from being embroiled in the struggle for succession in the capital and ending up as a dog cooked after its master's use."
Having said that, she changed her tone and grabbed her hand, saying, "But don't worry, my husband once told me that the Emperor would not let the Prince go easily. He is skilled in battle and still of great use to the Yun Kingdom. It's best that you leave the capital now and avoid the upcoming turbulent waves here."
Hmm?
Wasn't the Crown Prince already established?
Zhao Jiaqi didn't ask further, nor did she want to know. As she said, it was a place of strife, and the sooner they left, the better.
In this vast capital, she received very little information and had never investigated the influence of the various powerful families.
Although she hadn't experienced the event of the Nine Princes vying for the throne, she had learned about it in books. It was exceptionally brutal.
The next day, as dawn broke, the family left in a carriage, their departure low-key. When the Emperor learned of Fan Zehao's silent departure, he didn't try to appease him at all. In his anger, he smashed several expensive jade ornaments.
The entire imperial palace was shrouded in a layer of mist, which was quite astonishing!