But Daoist Luoshan had gone mad.
When he saw the pigpen, he ran toward it as if he had lost his mind.
Clinging to the fence, he shouted, “I’m home! I’m home!”
“You are the Phoenix Star, she is not the Phoenix Star. Only the Crown Prince’s word counts you don’t count, you don’t count, even my words don’t count!”
“Greetings, Your Highness! Please don’t kill me, Crown Prince! I’ll speak, I’ll speak she is the Phoenix Star, she is the Phoenix Star!”
The soldiers could not drag him away, so they had to send someone back to the palace to report the situation.
When the emperor learned of Daoist Luoshan’s condition and his words, his expression darkened.
Before he could make a decision, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, Wei Zian, rushed into the hall in panic.
“Your Majesty! The Crown Prince suddenly has severe leg pain it is extremely intense!”
Emperor Jingle frowned. “Wasn’t he already able to walk a few steps?”
Wei Zian lowered his head further, hiding his expression.
In truth, the Crown Prince could indeed walk a few steps.
But in order to please Second Miss Shen, he had gone out of the palace yesterday to fly kites with her.
His injury had not fully healed, and running about had caused a relapse.
However, the Crown Prince had forbidden anyone from mentioning this.
Instead, he had ordered Wei Zian to say:
“After the Crown Prince went to sleep last night, he suddenly dreamed of the disaster star, Eldest Miss Shen.”
“Dreamed of Eldest Miss Shen?” Emperor Jingle narrowed his eyes.
“And what did he dream?”
Wei Zian replied, “He dreamed that Eldest Miss Shen was holding an axe and viciously struck his leg, blaming him for abandoning her to choose Second Miss Shen instead. The Crown Prince woke up in pain and has been crying out about his leg ever since.”
In the past, the emperor would have immediately summoned imperial physicians.
But now, recalling Daoist Luoshan’s words in the pigpen, his expression grew even darker.
He asked, “Did the Crown Prince go to the Shen residence yesterday to look for Second Miss Shen?”
Wei Zian felt guilty. His eyes darted around, not daring to meet the emperor’s gaze.
“Raise your head and look into my eyes when you speak. If you dare utter a single lie, I will have you executed by lingchi.”
Wei Zian’s face turned deathly pale.
A beheading was one thing quick and clean.
Lingchi meant being bound to a post and sliced a thousand times, enduring unimaginable agony.
Worse than death.
Terrified, he no longer dared to lie.
He said truthfully, “Y-Your Majesty… yesterday the Crown Prince did accompany Second Miss Shen to fly kites.”
“But he was fine at the time. The pain only began after he returned to the Eastern Palace and had a nightmare.”
Emperor Jingle’s anger rose for no reason after hearing this.
“His leg is injured. Why did you not stop him from going out and resting properly?”
Wei Zian felt wronged.
Did he not try to stop him?
He did.
But once Second Miss Shen started crying and making a scene, the Crown Prince agreed to everything.
The emperor’s voice came again, cold and sharp:
“And what about Second Miss Shen?”
Wei Zian trembled. “Your Majesty… I truly do not know. I did try to advise His Highness…”
At this point, Emperor Jingle understood everything.
The Crown Prince had ignored state memorials, focusing instead on Shen Second Miss.
Now that his injury had worsened, he still tried to shield her by shifting blame onto Shen Zhao.
The emperor was instantly furious.
Already troubled by news of Shen Rong’s severe injuries and unsure how to face Shen Huaiming, he now turned his resentment toward the Shen family.
The Shen household had failed to restrain their daughter, allowing her to constantly lure the Crown Prince into frivolity.
This was neglect of duty bewitching and misleading the heir of the nation.
“Go. Immediately. Summon Shen Huaiming and his wife to the palace.”
This time, he also summoned Daoist Lianping.
For the moment, the news of Xie Chenyu’s return from the dead was kept secret from the outside world.
That night, not only Shen Huaiming and Cui Xuenian were summoned to the palace, but even all court officials were dragged from their beds by imperial decree.
Everyone thought the Duke Jin’s body had been found.
Shen Huaiming thought so too.
Only Cui Xuenian’s eyelid kept twitching all the way in the carriage.
Every time something bad was about to happen, her right eye would twitch violently.
But seeing so many officials’ carriages lined up outside the palace gates, she slightly relaxed.
As they entered the palace gate, a maid from the Empress’s palace approached her.
“Madam Shen, Her Majesty the Empress requests your presence.”
After speaking, she glanced behind Cui Xuenian and asked, “Has Second Miss not been brought into the palace?”
Cui Xuenian froze and exchanged a glance with Shen Huaiming.
He replied, “His Majesty only summoned me and my wife. Our daughter was not summoned, so we did not dare bring her.”
The maid said expressionlessly, “Then please send someone back to fetch Second Miss. The Empress wishes to see her.”
Cui Xuenian’s eyelid twitched again this time violently, without stopping.
Before she could even speak to Shen Huaiming about it, Eunuch Cao had already summoned him into the hall.
Shen Huaiming went toward the Hall of Governance.
Cui Xuenian followed the palace maid toward the Phoenix Palace.
But as soon as she reached the entrance
The maid turned and said, “The Empress orders Madam Shen to kneel here.”
“What?”
Cui Xuenian’s expression changed instantly.
The maid continued, “This is Her Majesty’s decree.”
“Madam Shen has failed in educating her daughter and allowed Second Miss to pester the Crown Prince outside the palace.”
“Failing in educating her daughter, Madam Shen allowed Second Miss to leave the residence and pester the Crown Prince.”
“As a result, the Crown Prince’s leg injury has not healed and has now worsened.”
“His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress are both in a thunderous rage.”
Upon hearing the last sentence, Cui Xuenian’s legs gave way and she collapsed heavily to her knees.
Her face had already turned deathly pale.
Only then did she realize her right eye twitching was a sign of disaster.
At the same time, Shen Huaiming also entered the Hall of Governance.
The court officials stood in neat rows, all turning to look at him as he arrived late.
He walked straight in, and the officials kept watching him.
He wore a red official robe and a black official hat.
Because he had drunk quite a bit that night, the smell of alcohol had not yet faded, and his face was flushed red, almost like Guan Yu.
As all eyes fell on him, Shen Huaiming felt awkward and instinctively lowered his head.
He quickened his steps, but accidentally tripped.
He fell forward and landed flat on the ground before the hall.
The court erupted into murmurs.
His face turned even redder.
At that moment, he also felt resentment toward Cui Xuenian for holding a celebratory banquet before their eldest son had even returned in triumph, causing him to lose his composure in court.
Trying to salvage the situation, he quickly thought of his eldest daughter, Shen Zhao.
With a choked, tearful voice, he bowed and said to Emperor Jingle:
“This humble minister greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years.”
Emperor Jingle narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze falling on Shen Huaiming’s reddened ears.
Anyone could tell he had been drinking and quite a lot.
The emperor said coldly, “You’ve had quite a bit to drink. The entire hall reeks of alcohol from your body.”
Shen Huaiming felt a chill rise inside him, but he raised his sleeve and wiped away his tears.
“Your Majesty, this humble minister has been deeply troubled. My eldest daughter’s fiancé, the Duke Jin, has died in battle in Yanqing, and I am uneasy and worried about her future.”
“My wife, seeing that I could not sleep at night, brought me two jars of wine to numb my worries so I could rest for a while.”
The court fell silent.
No one there was foolish enough to believe that.
Yet the emperor showed no expression.
“I understand your concern,” he said calmly.
“At noon today, I urgently summoned the court because of the Duke Jin’s matter.”
He turned to Daoist Lianping.
“Daoist, the soldiers I sent to retrieve the Duke Jin’s body have reported back none have found his remains.”
“The Duke Jin is a pillar of Great Yan. I must see him alive or see his body in death.”
“You are highly skilled in divination. Perform another reading for the Duke Jin and ask the spirits where the body of our Great War God lies.”
Daoist Lianping stepped forward confidently.
“Yes, Your Majesty. This minister will calculate it immediately.”
He did not actually divine anything, merely pretended to calculate with fingers and a solemn expression.
Because Daoist Lianping already knew where the Crown Prince and Shen Rong intended to kill Xie Chenyu.
Now…
He would simply use his mouth to let the emperor “retrieve a corpse.”