If I were born again, I would marry a strong but short-lived husband.

In order to be on the safe side, He Zhiyuan called several of his confidants to his house last night and personally told them that they must stop the Emperor from conferring the title of Prince Lu Yuanchen today at all costs, and also make every effort to have Concubine Liu be conferred the title of Imperial Concubine.

He never expected that Ruan Xinglin would play so dirty.

"Ruan Xinglin, you framed me!" He Zhiyuan lost his temper and cursed.

"Master He, your leg is injured, not your brain. I still have my notebook in my hand, and I haven't said a word." Ruan Xinglin said with a smile.

Emperor Fu's face was gloomy and slightly pale at this time.

In the hall, all the ministers who came out to report were from noble families. They were able to stand up and sue these people today, so they must have already obtained evidence.

He even promoted some of them.

He looked at He Zhiyuan with a stiff expression, wanting He Zhiyuan to come out and block it all for him.

What is said in these memorials cannot be investigated further.

Those whom they sued were all those who supported Yu'er now. Once a thorough investigation was conducted, at least half of the people he had available would be gone.

This is not what he is most worried about.

What he feared most was that the Ruan family would also find out about that matter.

"Your Majesty, what Lord Lin and the others said has no real evidence, it is pure slander." He Zhiyuan said in a deep voice.

Ruan Xinglin: "Whether it is a false accusation or not, as long as the emperor orders a thorough investigation, the truth will come out."

Their emperor thought that only the powerful families of the nobility were a threat. In fact, the people from humble backgrounds whom he promoted had absolute power, so what they did was no different from what the nobility did.

The officials from humble backgrounds who were promoted by the emperor only saw the superficial splendor of the aristocratic families and desired to be on an equal footing with them.

They enclosed land for their own use and collected taxes privately, thinking that the people would not dare to resist.

Although the aristocratic families own land resources and taxes and control personnel development, they also build roads and bridges to benefit the people. They have many people who depend on them. The healthy ones cultivate their fields, the strong ones join their family army, their children join the imperial guards and the central government of the court, and the aristocratic families even have three generations of marriages.

How could such a deeply rooted aristocratic family, which had been in business for hundreds of years, be destroyed just because an emperor wanted to?

The emperor wanted to use civil and military officials to prevent Lu Yuan from becoming king, so the Ruan family would naturally be willing to do so.

"Investigate, of course we have to investigate." Emperor Fu gritted his teeth.

Ruan Xinglin: "This is a serious matter. I think the three courts should hold a joint trial and conduct a thorough investigation of the case."

Emperor Fu's heart sank.

"Marquis Wu'an, Marquis Wu'an, what's wrong with you?" Suddenly, there was a panic commotion in the hall.

It turned out that Concubine Liu's brother had fainted.

Emperor Fu immediately stood up and said, "Quickly call the imperial physician, adjourn the court, adjourn the court, and discuss it again tomorrow."

Ruan Xinglin raised his eyebrows lightly, saluted slowly, and watched Emperor Fu leave with a grim face.

The fainted Marquis Wu'an had already been carried away by the palace servants.

"Tsk tsk, I heard that Marquis Wu'an is already old, but he still has a sixteen-year-old concubine in his room." Ruan Yilang sneered.

"As you get older, it's better to cultivate your character and learn more from our Master He, right, Master He?"

He Zhiyuan snorted coldly and looked at Ruan Xinglin with a gloomy look.

"What a good move, Prime Minister Ruan."

"Alas." Ruan Xinglin sighed, "I turned my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon only shines on the ditch."

"Sir He, I really don't know what they are going to report today. There is still some evidence that has not been collected and needs to be verified."

He Zhiyuan was very clear that what the emperor and he had planned today would never be revealed.

"It's a matter of fate, Prime Minister Ruan." He Zhiyuan retracted his gaze. He also had evidence of corruption and abuse of power by certain noble families.

But he didn't expect Ruan Xinglin to be so cunning and actually be one step ahead of him.

Ruan Yilang chuckled, he lowered his eyes to look at He Zhiyuan's legs, "This saying goes, what goes around comes around, Lord He really understands it thoroughly."

"Let's go." He Zhiyuan ordered his nephew.

"Brother, Marquis Wu'an was really frightened and fainted." Ruan Yilang said with a smile.

Ruan Xinglin straightened his back and walked out of the hall, "It's better to scare him."

……

After the court session, Emperor Fu didn't even have time to care whether Marquis Wu'an could wake up. He went to Kunning Palace to find Queen Ruan.

"It's you! It's you who made the Ruan family make things difficult for the Liu family and Yu'er today, Queen, you are so vicious!" Emperor Fu was almost furious.

Queen Ruan frowned slightly, "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Stop pretending to be ignorant. You have known for a long time that I wanted to give the title of Prince Chen to Yu'er, so you deliberately wanted to deal with him." Emperor Fu said.

"So the emperor wanted to give the title of Prince Chen to the second prince. Why didn't you say so earlier? Yesterday in front of mother, you didn't say that you wanted to give the title to Yu'er." Queen Ruan was neither humble nor arrogant, and her words were neither hurried nor slow.

But Emperor Fu was so angry that he almost fell over.

"Those people came out in the court today to impeach us. Do you, the Ruan family, have any evidence?" Emperor Fu asked.

Empress Ruan raised her eyes and looked at Emperor Fu quietly, "Your Majesty, just ask the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation and we will know."

Emperor Fu was afraid of the consequences of a thorough investigation.

He was even more afraid that Queen Ruan might know about the incident.

No, not possible.

If she knew, she wouldn't be so calm.

"I can give the title of Prince of Chen to Lu Yuan, but Concubine Liu must be the Imperial Concubine." Emperor Fu said.

If both sides make concessions, the Queen should be satisfied.

Empress Ruan looked at him coldly, "Your Majesty conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort today, aren't you afraid that you will collect her body tomorrow?"

"You threaten me?"

"Love does not last long, I am just reminding Your Majesty with good intentions."

Emperor Fu looked directly into Empress Ruan's eyes. Those calm eyes were as dark and bright as ever, but seemed to have a hint of coldness that he could not understand.

He remembered that Ruan Danyang was not like this when she was young. At that time, she did not live as coldly as she did now, but was bright and flamboyant, like the hottest sun.

"Okay, okay!" Emperor Fu was so angry that his hands were shaking.

He pointed at Queen Ruan in the air.

He was completely unprepared today and was caught off guard by the Ruan family.

It doesn't matter, it's just a title, isn't it? He can just give it to him.

Queen Ruan calmly watched Emperor Fu's helpless rage. Only when she saw him turn around and leave Kunning Palace did she slowly sigh.

"Qingli, spread the message out of the palace and let those who have dirty hands be dealt with. He Zhiyuan, that old fox, will not let it go so easily."

Today was a surprise attack, so they were completely unprepared.

They are all officials in the court, so whose hands are clean?

Qing Li: "Yes, Madam."

Queen Ruan took a deep breath and said, "Send someone to clean up the mansion on Zhuque Street."

That was the palace she had prepared for Lu Yuan a long time ago.

Ever since she learned that he was in Yong Dynasty, she had the house renovated and waited for his return.

"Yes."

Queen Ruan finally felt a little relieved when she thought that Lu Yuan would be on the disc soon.

"Let the Imperial Observatory and the Minister of Rites come to see me." She wanted to ensure that the sacrificial ceremony two days later would be foolproof.