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

In the middle of the night, the melted red liquid piled up at the base of the golden candle tray. When the yellow window paper dimmed, the tassel curtain beside the bed was pulled loose, and only the soft friction sound of the silk being unfolded could be heard, mixed with two sounds of different pitches.

"Sweet dreams, bro."

"Come closer, it's not cold."

As the breathing of the young man sleeping in the middle gradually became steady, two large hands of different skin colors touched Xie Chengze's body at the same time.

The moment their hands collided, the two stood up silently. In the dim light, Xie Jinyu narrowed his eyes, his aggressive black eyes showing no hostility at all. "Brother has been fighting against the Huns for many years, and he doesn't use any light or heavy hands. Let me do it."

Xie Shoujun raised his eyebrows and retracted his hand. He crossed his arms and shrugged, "Your Majesty left all the memorials to the Third Prince. I'm sure the Third Prince has been so busy practicing martial arts that he has less time to practice. But don't click on the wrong place. Not only will you wake someone up, but I will have to clean up your mess."

"Brother, you worry too much."

Xie Jinyu said calmly, raising her hand and pressing the sleeping young man's sleep point to ensure that their subsequent conversation would not wake up Xie Chengze.

"What do you want to say?" Xie Shoujun tapped his arm with his fingertips. He originally wanted to ask Xie Jinyu some questions, but he didn't expect Xie Jinyu to have the same intention.

"I intercepted your letter and gift." Xie Jinyu said directly, "I thought you would stay at the border for the rest of your life, but I didn't expect you to come back."

Xie Shoujun thought thoughtfully, "When I was sent to the border, were you also included?"

Xie Jinyu smiled, his moon-like eyes twinkling strangely in the night. He said calmly, "Brother, you don't have a strong maternal family to rely on in the palace, but you are born with excellent physique and are smart and studious. It's not easy to survive in this harem. It's better to go to the border to survive than to die quietly in the palace, isn't it?"

Xie Shoujun was silent for a moment.

He knew it best. His mother was just a palace maid who helped His Majesty to open up her mind. She gave birth to a prince before the Queen, which made her vulnerable to criticism and fear. He had experienced many poisonings and assassinations when he was young. If it weren't for his mother's caution, he would have died countless times.

The assassinations did not stop until my mother died.

But those people were still eyeing him covetously. If it weren't for Concubine Hua's care, he would probably still have died in an "accident".

"So..." Xie Shoujun asked, "Do you regret sending me to the border now?"

He returned from the border and still held military power. The soldiers under his command were more loyal to him than to Jian'an.

As an emperor, you will always be cautious.

Xie Jinyu laughed inexplicably, "Of course I will be wary, but now, it's just right."

"I originally thought you were the one behind this, but now it seems that the person Shen Yuan said took away my second brother was not my eldest brother."

Xie Jinyu's strong aura dissipated, and the back of his hand slowly brushed the sleeping young man's cheek, as if gently caressing a treasure. He lowered his eyelids and said lightly, "That's right, how could someone who could have his birthday gift intercepted without knowing it be involved with the officials of the court? I was jealous for a moment, so I mistakenly thought that my eldest brother had such a capability."

Xie Shoujun: …

There was clearly not a single swear word in his words, but why did I feel that he was swearing so vulgarly?

"What does Shen Yuan mean by picking it up?" Xie Shoujun put aside his distracting thoughts and asked.

"Some of my men rebelled and secretly cleaned up the Second Brother's forces, but I didn't find out who ordered them. Shen Yuan said that whoever supports the Second Brother at this time is the one with ulterior motives." Xie Jinyu glanced at Xie Shoujun, "It just so happened that you 'picked up' the Second Brother at this time, it's hard for me not to suspect you."

"Wait, let me correct you." Xie Shoujun interrupted him, "Ozawa clearly came here on his own initiative, how can it be considered that I picked it up?"

Xie Jinyu snorted softly.

"So, who is the person with ulterior motives?" Xie Shoujun asked.

"I guess it should be the master behind the poisoner." Xie Jinyu pondered for a moment, "You just came back from the border, many people are unfamiliar with you, and are unwilling to meet with officials. If they want to win you over, they can only rely on the relationship with my second brother."

Xie Shoujun did not comment, "Then how did the other party know that you would come to Wude Hall? And how did they poison you?"

"My second brother and I are political enemies in the court. If he comes to win over my eldest brother who holds military power, I will naturally not sit idly by." Xie Jinyu shook his head and explained.

Xie Shoujun looked at Xie Jinyu, who had a foxy look on his face, and then at Xie Chengze, who was sleeping like a harmless kitten. It was hard to imagine that the two were political enemies who were fighting to the death.

With Xie Chengze's sincere character, wouldn't he be eaten alive by the prince?

Oh, no, Xie Chengze has the old fox Shen Yuan by his side, so he should be able to fight on equal terms with the prince.

"What if the person who poisoned was not someone else, but Xiaoze directed and acted it out himself?" Xie Shoujun asked. Although he knew it was impossible, he was very curious why Xie Jinyu did not guess that the person who poisoned was Xie Chengze.

Xie Jinyu laughed, his tone a little more empty, "If Second Brother wanted to harm me, why would he use such a lowly method as poisoning?"

A simple "never see you again" can break his heart.

"So, what did big brother want to say to me just now?" Xie Jinyu turned around and asked Xie Shoujun.

"Oh." Xie Shoujun touched the bridge of his nose, "I wanted to ask you about what you said about Xiaoze having a bad temper in the past few years."

He thought about it over and over again, and felt that something was not right. Xie Chengze's temperament was clearly as pure and kind as when he was a child, and there was not a single trace of temper or mischief.

Xie Jinyu was silent for a moment, "This is the only thing I cannot answer you about."

This matter was too mysterious, even he could only rely on his senses to identify it. If he said it out loud like this, it would be a bit absurd.

"Is it because of Concubine Hua's death? Or did he know..." Xie Shoujun paused.

Xie Chengze is not of royal blood, and all his brothers know it.

Xie Jinyu shook her head and lay back down beside Xie Chengze, hugging the young man's waist as if they were children, "The second brother before was not the second brother at all."

After saying this, he closed his eyes and said no more.

Xie Shoujun frowned and thought for a long time without getting an answer, so he simply stopped thinking about it and lay down.

Well, as long as Xiaoze is happy now.

……

The next morning, there was chaos in the Wude Hall.

During the morning meal, the prince was poisoned again. The people from the Imperial Medical Bureau ran around and felt his pulse, indicating that he was severely poisoned. Emperor Jian left court early and rushed to the Wude Hall. Many officials also followed him to secretly inquire about the situation.

The poisoning of the crown prince is no small matter. If his bones are damaged, it will be hard to say who will be the next emperor.

The ministers had different thoughts. It was too coincidental that the prince was poisoned at such a coincidence. It happened when the second prince was under house arrest, when the eldest prince who held military power returned to the capital, and when the second prince and the eldest prince were secretly meeting in the Wude Hall.

Did the Second Prince deliberately poison the Crown Prince to sow discord in order to force the First Prince to support him, or did the First Prince already have the intention of treason and took advantage of the Second Prince's presence to deliberately poison and frame the Crown Prince?

Nobody knows.