577 The Queen Is Caught
“Not good! Second Master! Second Master, not good!”
In his half-asleep state, Yu Shaoqing heard someone knocking on his door. The vigilance created by many years in the military camp made him sit up in an instant. He recognized Yu Gang’s voice and quickly stood up to open the door for him. “What’s wrong? Why are you shouting in the middle of the night? Don’t wake Second Madam and Old Madam up.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Yu Gang hurriedly lowered his voice and pulled Yu Shaoqing to the corridor at the side. His face was pale as he said, “The Grand General has been thrown into prison by His Majesty!”
“Why was my big brother… ahem, Helian Beiming thrown into prison?” Yu Shaoqing asked seriously.
Yu Gang was in a terrible fix at this moment and did not notice how rare it was to hear the word “big brother” from Second Master. He said, “I don’t know what happened either. In the middle of the night, His Majesty’s guards came to summon the General for an audience. I followed the General. I waited at the palace gate for half a day but the General did not come out. When I asked, I found out that he had been imprisoned!”
“Oh, what happened?”
The two of them happened to be standing outside Yan Jiuchao and Yu Wan’s window. Yu Wan murmured in a daze.
Yan Jiuchao pulled her little head into his arms. “It’s fine. Go to sleep.”
“Oh.” Yu Wan continued to sleep.
The sleepiness in Yan Jiuchao’s eyes faded.
Outside the window, Yu Shaoqing deliberately lowered his voice. “I’ll talk to Ah Shu and the children tomorrow morning. Don’t leak the news in the manor first, especially in front of Old Madam.”
“I understand.”
“Go back first.”
The conversation stopped, and the two of them returned to their room and courtyards.
Yan Jiuchao sat up gently. “Shadow Thirteen.”
Shadow Thirteen flashed in. “Young Master.”
Yan Jiuchao gave him a look. Shadow Thirteen understood and returned to his room to wake Shadow Six up. He infiltrated the Nanzhao Palace with him.
It was difficult to enter the Nanzhao Palace, and the two of them had spent a lot of effort to avoid the eyes and ears of the sacrificial soldiers. However, it was too difficult to approach the prison. Fortunately, Eunuch Wang sighed as his “good grandson” served him.
“…It’s a pity that the General has been loyal to the Emperor for his entire life, but in the end, he ended up losing his integrity.”
“Grandpa, why is he losing his integrity?”
“Collaboration with the enemy and treason, don’t you think?”
Upon hearing this, Shadow Thirteen and Shadow Six understood what was going on. It seemed that the Young Master’s identity had been exposed. The crime of colluding with the Great Zhou Royal Family had sent Helian Beiming to jail. As for why the Emperor of Nanzhao did not arrest the Young Master, he was probably too angry to react.
The two of them listened for a while more before using their qinggong to return to the Helian Manor. They told Yan Jiuchao everything they had heard.
Yan Jiuchao sat behind the curtain and gently tapped the little black egg’s butt with his index finger. “Helian Beiming didn’t defend himself?”
“No,” Shadow Thirteen said.
Yan Jiuchao narrowed his eyes. There was clearly room for explanation.
“Young Master, should we do something?” Shadow Six asked.
“No need,” Yan Jiuchao said thoughtfully. “Don’t do anything.”
Shadow Six scratched his head.
Was it really good for them to ignore the Great General’s arrest? This time, they were not framing him. Young Master was indeed from the Great Zhou Royal Family. The Helian family had taken in a member of the Great Zhou Royal Family and even hid it from the Emperor. This was a serious crime.
Although he had only been in the Helian family for a while, Shadow Six already liked the Helian family. He did not want anything to happen to Helian Beiming.
Just as Shadow Six opened his mouth to say something, Shadow Thirteen pulled him away in time. Shadow Thirteen held Shadow Six’s hand until they returned to their room. Shadow Six’s hands were tender, and a red mark appeared on his wrist.
“Why are you pulling me?” Shadow Six asked.
Shadow Thirteen said, “If I don’t pull you along, then do you want Young Master to deduct your monthly salary?”
Shadow Six shut up at the mention of monthly salary.
Shadow Thirteen explained, “Young Master cares more about the general’s safety than you and I. He must have his own intentions.”
“Oh.” Shadow Six turned, kicked off his shoes, and climbed into bed.
Shadow Thirteen opened his mouth. “This is my bed.”
Shadow Six rolled the blanket into a ball. “I know, but I haven’t changed my sheets. I’m too lazy to change.”
Shadow Six was sloppy and always did not change his sheets for a month or two, unlike Shadow Thirteen’s bed, which was always clean and emitted the fragrance of soap.
Shadow Thirteen looked at the guy who refused to leave his bed and turned off the light helplessly.
At breakfast the next day, the Old Madam asked Helian Beiming, “Where’s your brother?”
Yu Shaoqing, who was asked, said calmly, “Something happened to one of his subordinates’ families. He was invited over to deal with it. He’ll probably only return a few days later.”
The old madam did not suspect anything and went to pick up food for her grandson with a smile.
The news in the manor was sealed tightly, but the outside world was not so optimistic. Almost overnight, the news of Helian Beiming colluding with the Great Zhou Royal Family spread throughout the Capital.
The Capital exploded.
Who was Helian Beiming? Helian Beiming was the Divine General of Nanzhao, a high-ranking minister, and the head of the Helian family. He had been loyal to the Emperor and patriotic all his life and had dedicated most of his life to the imperial court of Nanzhao. If there was anyone in the world who was the most loyal to the Emperor of Nanzhao, it would be Helian Beiming.
However, such a general who was deeply trusted by the Emperor actually colluded with the Great Zhou Imperial Family and even recognized him as his biological nephew?
At first, the commoners did not believe it, but when more and more people discussed this matter heatedly and said it with great meaning, they had to believe it even if they did not believe it.
Besides, it was the truth.
The eldest young master of the Helian family was indeed the heir of the Great Zhou Imperial Family.
“This time, he won’t be able to escape even if he has wings.” In the pavilion of the Queen Manor, Nangong Li poured a cup of flower tea for the Queen and himself. “With Grandpa’s temper, he won’t tolerate the heir of the Great Zhou continuing to stay in Nanzhao, right?”
Of course not.
Although the Great Zhou and Nanzhao had never become enemies, they were not on good terms. Before Helian Qi’s death in the Great Zhou could be settled with the Great Zhou, the Princely Heir of the Great Zhou rushed to infiltrate the Capital of Nanzhao.
The Emperor was not a pushover. How could he be controlled by the Great Zhou?
The Queen took a sip of tea.
Nangong Li continued, “Mother, do we need to release the news that Yan Jiuchao is the culprit who killed Helian Qi?”
The Queen said indifferently, “There’s no need. If we make a bigger fuss, the Helian family will really not be able to clear their crime.”
From the beginning to the end, they only had to deal with Yan Jiuchao. The Helian family was still useful. If they were trampled to death, where could they support such a powerful family?
When the time was right, she would plead with her father.
She will say that the Helian family had been deceived by Yan Jiuchao. She will then earnestly beg her father to forgive them on account that the Helian family had been loyal to the Emperor for generations.
Her father would not disagree. Because her father wanted to pave the way for her.
She had subdued the Helian family and truly subdued the military power of Nanzhao. With military power in her hands, why would she worry about not being able to sit on the throne?
The Queen asked, “But how did you think of spreading the news? I originally thought that your grandfather would suppress this matter and quietly resolve it.”
Nangong Li could not hide his smug smile. “I didn’t expect things to go so smoothly either. I just got someone to say that Helian Beiming has been imprisoned so that the military camp will be unstable and the people will be uneasy. Under pressure, Grandpa will send Yan Jiuchao out of Nanzhao faster and end this matter… I didn’t expect the news of Yan Jiuchao being the heir of the Great Zhou to also leak out. This is even better. The bigger the commotion caused by the commoners, the more strict Grandpa will be.”
The Queen frowned slightly. “That’s true, but since you didn’t say it, who else could it be? Could it be that other than us, someone else wants to kill Helian Beiming?”
Nangong Li smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter who it is. In short, we’ll just sit back and reap the benefits. As for clearing Helian Beiming’s name, it won’t be difficult for the Queen Manor.”
It was indeed not difficult.
As long as the Emperor was on their side, any fake evidence they handed over would have true effect.
In the past, the Queen did not have to go through so much trouble to deal with the Helian family, but who asked the little commandery princess to stay in the Helian family? Helian Beiming kept saying that he would not form alliances for personal gain, but in the end, he hid the Eldest Princess’s children.
What did he want to do? Find a suitable opportunity for the Emperor to recognize the Eldest Princess’s bloodline?
When his father was alive, he had often defended the Eldest Princess. Now that his father had passed away, he still refused to give up. She did not understand. What had she done wrong to the Helian family? Why could the Helian family not be loyal to her wholeheartedly?
She would not give Helian Beiming such an opportunity. She would let him know that the empire of Nanzhao was hers, the Princess was hers, and the throne was also hers!
In the afternoon, the incident fermented even more violently.
The Queen thought that the imperial guards should go to the Helian Manor to capture Yan Jiuchao into the palace, but at this moment, a team of imperial guards rushed towards the Queen’s Manor with cold expressions.
The Queen looked at the imperial guards who had rushed into her courtyard with a livid expression. “How dare you! Who allowed you to come in!”
The leader of the cavalry rode on his horse and said seriously, “The Emperor has ordered us to bring the Queen for questioning.”
Bring?
The Queen had always been invited. The other party’s rudeness was obvious.
The Queen said dignifiedly, “Are you mistaken? Are you sure I was the one my father asked you to bring to the palace, and not the young master of the Helian Manor?”
The leader of the cavalry said, “We will bring Young Master Helian away, but we have to bring Your Highness too!”
The Queen frowned.
What was wrong with her father?
They could just capture Yan Jiuchao. Why did they capture her?
“Your Highness! Your Highness!” The head guard, Mo Sang, rushed over and cupped his hands and bowed in front of the Queen. “The Prince Consort was taken away by the people from the palace on the streets!”
The Queen’s expression darkened. She looked at the leader of the cavalry and said, “Why did you capture the Prince Consort?”
At this point, the leader of the cavalry decided not to hide it. “Someone reported that the Prince Consort is Prince Yan of the Great Zhou. The Queen colluded with Prince Yan to rebel. His Majesty is furious. If you have anything to say, Your Highness, you should talk to His Majesty yourself!”
The Queen’s face turned pale!
