How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

The court was in chaos.

The Cao family is targeted by the second prince, so Emperor Jian naturally takes the opportunity to suppress the Cao family, intending to use these impeached people to implicate more people. In order to preserve the Cao family's position in the court, Cao Lingde plans to sacrifice the small for the big and completely shut up these imprisoned people.

However, what Cao Lingde did not expect was that these people who were supposed to plead guilty and commit suicide as planned, actually all turned against him and revealed a lot of evidence of the crimes of his subordinates. When Cao Lingde was in a state of panic, his close confidants betrayed him or were thrown into jail. Even Cao's family members began to disobey his orders and started to follow Cao Que's lead.

After a major purge, the Cao family still stood firm in the court and continued to control the power of the imperial guards. However, the master was quietly replaced. It was no longer Cao Lingde, but Cao Que.

No one had expected this, even Emperor Jian was surprised. After all, Cao Que had been quite low-key and inconspicuous in the past, but this coup had directly sidelined Cao Lingde and taken control of the current Cao family. It was hard to figure out whether this person was hiding deeply or there was another hand pushing him from behind.

The Cao family coup also means that many things need to be rethought.

For example, is the Cao family now simply an appendage of the prince, or is it still a powerful family that can influence the court and dare to challenge the emperor?

If it is the former, then the possibility of the prince ascending the throne will naturally be more stable. But if it is the latter, Cao Que is not a direct descendant of the prince. Once he presents a new woman from the Cao family to Your Majesty and she gives birth to a new prince, it is hard to say who will ascend the throne in the future.

The ministers of the prince's lineage were a little worried, and they all advised Xie Jinyu to make friends with Cao Que and convince the other party to support his ascension to the throne.

But Xie Jinyu just frowned.

He had seen by chance that Cao Que had met the queen.

Cao Que, is he Cao Qingran’s man?

Standing in front of the gate of Kunning Palace, Xie Jinyu stared at the palace gate for a long time before he walked in.

He had never entered the Kunning Palace.

When he was young, Cao Qingran was extremely strict with him, even to the point of being outrageous. The few times they met were always when he was inspecting his homework in the East Palace. When he heard that he had not completed the task satisfactorily, he ordered his palace servants to punish him by whipping him with a cane.

He hated Cao Qingran in his heart, but later he began to become indifferent and indifferent.

If he hadn't had so many doubts in his mind and was not worried that she would harm his second brother, he would not have been willing to set foot into Kunning Palace.

Lifting his foot slightly, Xie Jinyu walked in.

The guards at the gate did not stop him nor report it, just like the gatekeepers of the East Palace, who would never stop Xie Chengze.

"Your Highness?" Nanny Qing, who was delivering vegetarian food to Cao Qingran, happened to run into Xie Jinyu on the way and couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise, "Why are you here?"

She thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would never set foot in Kunning Palace in his life!

"Where is she?" Xie Jinyu looked at Nanny Qing with a gloomy gaze. Her handsome face, which was always gentle and smiling, was now so cold that it made people shiver without her usual gentle disguise.

This "she" naturally refers to Cao Qingran.

He never called her mother unless it was necessary on important occasions.

Nanny Qing showed a bit of depression on her face, "Your Highness has been in the East Wing the whole time. You have never been to Kunning Palace. I will lead the way for you."

After saying that, she turned around with the food box in her hand and led the way. The prince followed behind her without saying a word, but his aura was rising steadily. It was obvious that he was going to confront the queen, which was why he was releasing his aura like that.

"Your Highness, the Queen actually..." Nanny Qing wanted to say something, but Xie Jinyu just interrupted her coldly, "There's no need for an outsider like you to butt in."

Nanny Qing sighed and said no more.

When they reached the east wing, Nanny Qing said to Cao Qingran, who was chanting with her eyes closed, "Madam, the Crown Prince is here."

Cao Qingran paused, she opened her eyes slightly, her eyes were a little out of focus, and she obviously hadn't reacted yet. It was not until Nanny Qing called her again that she came back to her senses and turned to look at Xie Jinyu at the door.

This child has grown into an adult, looking like both Emperor Jian and her, even more like her.

She seldom looked at the child's face, but unknowingly, he became more and more like herself.

Cao Qingran knew why Xie Jinyu came to Kunning Palace today, and he also knew that only matters concerning the child could make him so anxious and give up his principles.

She slowly turned around and looked up at the Buddha statue on the table. "Are you asking if Cao Que is mine?"

"It seems so." Xie Jinyu stood at the door and did not step into the room. Instead, he said coldly from a distance, "You really have a good plan to suppress my second brother and change the owner of the Cao family."

Hearing this, Cao Qingran chuckled, "Prince, you are still too young."

Xie Jinyu's face suddenly darkened, "It's not your turn to comment on what I am like."

"Do you really think that I want to suppress the Second Prince?" Cao Qingran shook her head. She slowly stood up, turned around and walked towards Xie Chengze with a proud attitude. When she stood in front of him, she looked at the handsome and gentle young man in front of her but with a gloomy face, and raised her hand to touch his head.

However, Xie Jinyu took a step back in disgust.

Cao Qingran did not feel sad. She calmly withdrew her hand, brushed her sleeves and said lightly, "The first two ministers who came forward were not instigated by me, and the Cao family just took advantage of the situation to step on them. Otherwise, they would not have made such unprepared and ridiculous remarks. Not only did they not punish the Second Prince, but they were tricked by the other party."

Whenever the Cao family wanted to overthrow their political enemies, wasn't it her who provided and guided those impeccable memorials behind the scenes?

This time they thought they could throw dirty water on Xie Chengze and suppress the Second Prince's power, but they didn't know that this was what Xie Chengze and Shen Yuan were waiting for.

"You should have tortured those two, but they died before they confessed, right?" Cao Qingran affirmed.

Xie Jinyu narrowed her eyes, "How do you know?"

Didn't she always eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures, and never attend court? Could it be...

Thinking of Cao Que, Xie Jinyu felt a sense of absurdity in his heart. It was as if he had met Cao Qingran for the first time, and for the first time he realized that he seemed to not understand her at all.

"Jin Yu, this court is far from as simple as you see. You think that this court is dominated by the Cao family, the two dragons are fighting, and the treacherous are conspiring, but you don't know that the biggest cancer is hidden in this unknown place, watching you fight and fighting, and reaping the benefits."

She didn't want to get involved in court affairs, but since Xie Chengze was back and might even be supported and used by him, she couldn't just sit back and watch.

Cao Qingran stepped out of the door and passed by Xie Jinyu. She said calmly, "If you have any doubts, you might as well ask Shen Yuan. This person is indeed capable. You can learn a lot from him."

As for her...

The prince has not yet grown to the point where he can accept her guidance.