Who was that foreign man with the deep-set eyes?
There was an island nation in the southeast of Great Zhou, where the people lacked intelligence but had excellent physiques. They were often trained as expendable agents by various factions.
Was the assassination attempt on the Top Scholar the work of some restless elements within the country, or was it orchestrated by the covetous neighboring countries?
Emperor Jingming felt troubled.
The Empress Dowager’s health had not improved, and now this incident had occurred. Things hadn’t been going smoothly since the beginning of the year.
Pan Hai replied in a low voice, “This servant has instructed experienced subordinates to question her. It seems someone deliberately pushed Third Miss Jiang out, but she was unaware of it…”
Emperor Jingming pondered for a moment, then said calmly, “Then let her return. She’s a young lady and the sister of the future Princess of Yan. It’s not appropriate for her to stay in the palace for too long.”
“This servant understands.”
Emperor Jingming closed his eyes again, suddenly remembering an important matter. “Oh, select two clever and steady instructing palace maids and send them to the Prince of Yan’s residence.”
Pan Hai was startled but quickly nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Tsk, tsk. Even the Crown Prince’s instructing palace maids were arranged by the Empress, and the other princes’ instructing palace maids were all arranged by their respective mothers. Yet the Emperor himself was concerned about the Prince of Yan’s instructing palace maids. Thinking about it this way, the Prince of Yan truly had the Emperor’s favor.
For a father to worry about such matters naturally showed that he cared about his son. After all, there were so many princesses in the harem that the Emperor couldn’t even match their names to their faces.
As instructing palace maids were managed by the inner palace, Emperor Jingming’s move quickly reached the ears of the concubines, but their thoughts were quite different from Pan Hai’s.
The Emperor personally assigned instructing palace maids to the Prince of Yan—was this because he found the prince lacking and wanted to give a warning to his future daughter-in-law?
A prince raised outside the palace and a princess-to-be who was merely pretty but unremarkable in other aspects—no wonder the Emperor couldn’t stand it anymore. Perhaps he was regretting the marriage decree now.
When Noble Consort Xian received the news, she laughed coldly.
The Emperor had too much free time, snatching away what should have been her responsibility.
She had planned to send people over closer to the wedding, but the Emperor had beaten her to it. Now the palace would gossip that she didn’t care enough about the Seventh Prince.
Noble Consort Xian immediately ordered her lady-in-waiting to select two palace maids to send to the Prince of Yan’s residence.
Yu Jin left the Imperial Palace and instructed Cold Shadow to send a message to Jiang Si, reassuring her about Jiang Qiao. However, shortly after returning to his mansion, he found two beautiful and dignified palace maids standing before him.
Yu Jin, holding his teacup, was shocked. “Where did they come from?”
The mansion’s chief steward bowed and replied, “Your Highness, these are the instructing palace maids sent by His Majesty.”
“Instructing palace maids?” Yu Jin was a bit confused.
There were too many titles in the palace, and he was at a disadvantage having grown up outside. He didn’t immediately understand what it meant.
As royal offspring were crucial to the nation’s fate, this was an important matter that didn’t need to be avoided. The chief steward explained seriously, “They are to instruct Your Highness in bedroom matters—”
Yu Jin spat out a mouthful of tea onto the chief steward’s face.