Ever since the previous night, Xiao Hongyi had not seen Feng Zhao.
In the past, Feng Zhao never told him where she was going or what she was doing. If he asked too many questions, she would get angry. Over time, he learned not to bother asking and simply focused on his own affairs.
But for some reason, when he thought about everything that had happened since the Emperor’s death, he couldn’t help feeling worried.
So early that morning, he ran out of his quarters.
He figured that no matter where Feng Zhao had gone, today was the day of the late Emperor’s coffin-sealing ceremony. As the Empress, she would certainly be there to bid him farewell.
Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the entrance of the mourning hall, the eunuch guarding the door refused to let him enter.
“Today’s coffin-sealing ceremony is a state ritual. Not just anyone is allowed inside!”
The eunuch was one of Wen Meier’s people.
Within the palace, Wen Meier wielded tremendous influence. The gatekeeper didn’t know exactly what was happening inside the mourning hall; he only knew that after today, the First Prince would become the next Emperor of Cangyun.
If he could keep the troublesome Ninth Prince blocked outside, there would surely be a handsome reward waiting for him.
The eunuch saw money.
Xiao Hongyi saw someone preventing him from finding Feng Zhao.
In the past, he would have accepted the refusal and left. But now, memories of Feng Zhao’s dazzling figure kept surfacing in his mind, along with her words:
If someone bullies you, you must fight back.
So he clenched his fists, summoned his courage, and looked the eunuch directly in the eye.
“Open your dog eyes and look carefully! I am the Ninth Prince! What right does a mere eunuch have to speak to this prince in such a manner?!”
The little boy was soft and chubby, his bun-like face adorable rather than intimidating. Yet his eyes shone with determination, even as the tightly clenched fists at his sides revealed his nervousness.
“If you don’t let this prince in today, I’ll have you punished!”
The eunuch was stunned by Xiao Hongyi’s sudden change.
Then he looked him up and down before letting out a mocking laugh.
“A prince? You really think you’re a prince?”
“You are nothing more than a bastard born to a palace maid. Don’t think that being adopted by the Empress makes you a legitimate heir.”
“You’re just a pawn she uses to secure her position. The Empress only took pity on you and raised you!”
Xiao Hongyi knew perfectly well what his origins were.
But that didn’t mean this man had the right to say it.
Turning to the chief eunuch beside him, Xiao Li, he ordered,
“Slap him!”
Even Xiao Li was surprised by how forceful his master was being.
Still, he was the Ninth Prince’s servant and naturally obeyed.
Stepping forward, he grabbed the eunuch and began slapping him across the face.
Years of serving an unfavored prince had left Xiao Li strong from hard labor. In terms of brute strength, he far surpassed a watchdog who only knew how to bully others by relying on powerful backers.
The eunuch couldn’t break free.
He could only endure the beating.
Twenty slaps on the left cheek.
Twenty on the right.
By the end, his face was swollen beyond recognition.
Furious and humiliated, he ran inside to seek reinforcements.
“Just you wait! I won’t let this go!”
Xiao Hongyi took a deep breath.
Even now, he could hardly believe he had actually ordered someone beaten.
And not just anyone—a eunuch guarding the mourning hall.
This would surely lead to even greater trouble.
Xiao Li had thoroughly enjoyed delivering the beating, but now that it was over, he couldn’t help worrying about his master’s safety.
How were they supposed to clean up this mess?
“…Let’s find Mother Empress first.”
For now, Xiao Hongyi didn’t want to think about what came next.
He only wanted to find Feng Zhao.
With no one left to block his path, he successfully entered the mourning hall.
The hall was located inside the late Emperor Lingxiao’s former palace residence and was enormous.
Something unusual had clearly happened.
The main hall was nearly empty, while loud voices and heated arguments echoed from a side hall.
After a moment’s thought, Xiao Hongyi headed toward the commotion.
Inside the side hall, Feng Zhao and the Wen family had reached the final stage of their confrontation.
The Wen family had no moral justification for their position, yet they were unwilling to surrender the throne. As a result, both sides had been locked in a prolonged stalemate.
Now matters were on the verge of turning violent.
Feng Ying held military command, and many guards had quietly gathered around him.
All they needed was a single order.
Then they would strike.
Feng Ying wasn’t afraid.
If it came to fighting, so be it.
The army he had brought back from his victorious campaign numbered fifty thousand troops stationed outside the capital.
Even if he lost his head today, the entire Wen family would be buried alongside him tomorrow.
At that moment, the swollen-faced eunuch entered the hall.
The instant he spotted Noble Consort Wen, he dropped to his knees.
“Your Highness, please save this servant! The Ninth Prince insulted me and had me beaten!”
Ever since the incident involving Fuling, Wen Meier had barely dared to speak. She had relied entirely on her family to fight for the throne.
The balance between both sides was already stretched to its breaking point.
Now this fool of a servant had barged in.
The moment Feng Zhao heard Xiao Hongyi’s name, she spoke.
“You claim the Ninth Prince had you beaten?”
“Then I’d like to ask how a five-year-old child managed to insult a thirty-year-old servant like you.”
Feng Zhao knew exactly what sort of timid personality the original owner had raised Xiao Hongyi into.
For him to resort to violence, this eunuch must have done something first.
“Well?”
“Why aren’t you speaking?”
“Mother Empress, I have something to say!”
At that moment, Xiao Hongyi arrived.
The moment he saw the beaten eunuch kneeling before Wen Meier and accusing him, he immediately understood what was happening and shouted loudly.
He absolutely would not give the eunuch an opportunity to twist the facts and make things difficult for his mother.
“Mother Empress, this man insulted your son!”
“He spoke disrespectfully to me and even claimed that because I was born to a palace maid, I was unworthy of being a prince!”
The little boy tore open his own deepest wound.
Feng Zhao’s brows instantly knitted together.
And she wasn’t the only one.
Many ministers who opposed the Wen family glared at the eunuch.
Even members of the Wen family themselves looked as though they wanted to tear him limb from limb.
“How dare a mere servant comment on a prince’s birth!”
The eunuch had thought he was bringing useful leverage against Xiao Hongyi to the woman who would soon become Empress Dowager.
He never expected the first people to scold him would be the Wen family.
“Drag him outside and execute him immediately!”
Wen Chenglin didn’t waste words.
All he wanted was to eliminate the useless fool who had caused trouble.
“Wait.”
Feng Zhao spoke.
There was no way she would hand over such valuable evidence.
Wasn’t Wen Chenglin relying on his control over the court to refuse giving up the throne?
Fine.
She would make them beg on their knees to take it.
“Wen Meier.”
“I tried to reason with you, yet you refused to listen.”
“First you slandered my honor.”
“Then you poisoned me.”
“And now you even demean my son’s royal bloodline.”
“What is it?”
“Does the Wen family now intend to dominate the entire realm and treat the imperial family as beneath your notice?”
“If that’s the case, then I shall simply hand the throne over to you.”
“From this day onward, should Cangyun bear the surname Wen instead?”
The accusation landed like a mountain.
Wen Meier was instantly stunned.
Wen Chenglin wanted power. He wanted his grandson on the throne.
But he absolutely did not want to ascend to power in the way Feng Zhao had described.
Replacing the imperial Xiao clan with the Wen clan?
That would be blatant usurpation.
A stain that would endure for ten thousand years.
He wanted to be praised by future generations and immortalized in the history books.
Not remembered as a traitorous minister condemned by all.
Taking a deep breath, Wen Chenglin bowed respectfully.
“Your Majesty, you overestimate this old minister.”
“I would never harbor such thoughts.”
“It was merely a foolish servant acting on his own assumptions.”
“This matter has nothing to do with me.”
Feng Zhao had no interest in discussing whether it was related to him or not.
There was only one thing she cared about.
“The legitimate son shall inherit the throne and preside over the coffin-sealing ceremony.”
“Minister Wen, what do you think?”
In other words:
I want the throne for my son.
Are you going to hand it over—or not?