Xiao Rui had just returned to the city from the post station, so he had naturally seen the father-in-law Gao who came from the capital to deliver the decree and was now recuperating. Princess Yan arranged for him to meet the other party, and originally had the intention of asking him to inquire about the news, so it was naturally impossible for him to go in vain.

However, that Gao Gonggong is an old man who has been in the palace for decades, although he is not the most powerful, but he has always been trusted by the king, and of course he is not an open-mouthed person. Even if he knew that Xiao Rui was the son of King Yan and would inherit King Yan's Mansion in the future, not all news would be revealed. Xiao Rui tried his best in front of him, and only found a few simple messages, and nothing else.

These simple messages are: Empress Cao is seriously ill; A large number of subordinate officials of the East Palace were dismissed; Cheng Enhou was reprimanded by the emperor and is currently reflecting behind closed doors, and at the same time there is news of illness; Second Master Cao was released; Lin Zhaoyi was beaten into the cold palace.

Gao Gonggong only said so much, and he refused to make it clear what the specific content of these messages was. Fortunately, he didn't come here alone when he went north this time, and he also brought a small yellow door and several guards with him. Xiao Rui said goodbye to Father-in-law Gao, and after he came out, he started the idea of Xiaohuangmen and the guards. Although the time is too rushed, and the information that can be found is limited, the details of several major events have been largely clarified.

Empress Cao was seriously ill, in fact, after the prince of the East Palace was reprimanded and grounded by the emperor. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the East Palace was reprimanded by the emperor because he was protecting his pregnant concubine Wang, accusing the crown princess of being jealous, intolerant of people, and detrimental to the fetus in Wang's womb. The crown princess Xue claimed to have been wronged and went to ask Empress Cao to uphold justice. Empress Cao was about to take the Wang family to ask for the guilt - anyway, Empress Cao decided that the Wang family loved to make things happen and must be a culprit. But with the protection of the crown prince, the Wang family moved again, and Queen Cao had no choice but to appease the princess.

The crown princess returned to the East Palace aggrieved. The prince thought that his wife had stabbed the matter in front of the queen and almost killed the Wang family, so he slapped her in public. The crown princess suddenly felt embarrassed, and she closed the door crying and didn't want to see anyone, and even asked the queen mother to say goodbye. The queen mother sent someone to ask, and when she learned the truth, she blamed the queen for not teaching the prince well, and connived at the Wang family's troubles. When the emperor learned about this, he also called the prince to reprimand him, scolding him for "spoiling his concubine and destroying his wife".

Who knew that the prince actually contradicted it, claiming that he would spoil his concubine and kill his wife, all of which he learned from his father. If the emperor didn't spoil his concubine and kill his wife, why did Lin Zhaoyi, Xiao Guifei and others disrespect Empress Cao, and the second prince and the third prince tried to seize the throne of the prince? He's just learning from the same thing, and he's not even at the point of his father. Anyway, the crown princess is still the crown princess, and he didn't let the concubine step on her head.

This can poke the hornet's nest.

Where could the emperor tolerate the crown prince saying such things? On the spot, he asked someone to take a ring ruler to beat the prince, which attracted many palace people and courtiers to stop him when they heard the news, and Queen Cao rushed over in the rain to block them. In the end, the emperor only punished the prince for being grounded in the East Palace, but scolded Empress Cao for many godsons who had no way to do so, and dismissed the crown prince and a large number of subordinate officials of the East Palace, thinking that they failed to teach and assist the prince well, which was too dereliction of duty.

Except for the crown prince and the prince and several other respected ministers, almost all the officials in the East Palace are "their own people" arranged by Queen Cao and the Cao family. Empress Cao fell ill after returning to the palace, and she was worried that her son would suffer in the East Palace, and she would not be able to think about it, and she was also worried that the crown princess and the Wang family would have another dispute, and she would not be able to recuperate from her illness with peace of mind. Before Gonggong Gao and his entourage left Beijing, Empress Cao's condition not only did not improve for a long time, but showed signs of getting worse day by day.

After the two incidents of Empress Cao's serious illness and Donggong's reprimand, the situation of the Cao family worsened. The second master Cao had already been imprisoned, his home was also raided, and his wife and children were sent out of the city by the Chengenhou Mansion and placed in Zhuangzi. Everyone thought that the second master Cao would definitely become a victim of the Cao family, but I don't know why, the Dali Temple suddenly gave a surprising trial result: the second master Cao is indeed guilty, but the crime is not serious, after the dismissal and confiscation of part of the family property, it can already be made up, so the person was put back home, and most of the originally confiscated family property was also returned, including real estate, fields and some private belongings.

Although it is inevitable that there will be a great loss, it is already a great blessing that the second master Cao can stay and return home safely, get back the house and land, and live the life of a rich man in peace, who can expect more?

When the family members of the second master Cao heard the news, they immediately rushed back to the city to reunite with him, and even the eldest daughter and son-in-law who married outside also rushed to take care of the seriously ill second master Cao. It is rumored that he fell ill in prison and still has injuries on his body, but they are not serious, and he only needs to recuperate for a few days before he can recover.

But at the same time, Cheng Enhou, who thought that he had escaped the catastrophe after pushing his brother out to block the arrow, was scolded by the emperor at the court meeting, in addition to those who had been crowned on the head of Cao Er's head, the emperor also added to him an extra "lust for profit, no brotherhood", many people understand that he let his brother bear the guilt, and some people wonder if Cao Er's master betrayed him in prison? Otherwise, how could he be released from prison safely, and he had to be sent home to his property, and then there was the drama of Cheng Enhou being scolded?

Cheng Enhou was scolded for being bloody, seeing that several of his allies had suffered, and the people around him were whispering in his ear, saying that his most trusted brother had betrayed him, and when he returned home, he could only close the door, claiming that he was reflecting on his sins. But at the same time, he also claimed that he was sick, and it seemed that he had been hit by his brother's betrayal. There was someone in the second room who came to visit him, but told him to turn him away. Next, the fourth and fifth rooms of the Cao family went to the gate of the second room to scold the street and other gossip news, and the second master of Cao is said to have vomited blood, and he also took the path of his in-laws Jiang family, and invited the imperial doctor to go to the outpatient clinic.

Later, several other members of the Cao family, all of whom had official positions, were dismissed and dismissed, and there were several unlucky in-laws. Even if they are fools, they know that the Cao family is in trouble now, and the emperor looks like he refuses to let them go, but he is afraid that the seriously ill queen in the palace and the grounded prince will also lose their status, and all kinds of gossip are flying all over the sky, and even the Jiang family once reported that Mrs. Jiang wanted to force her eldest son to divorce his wife.

The Cao family was unlucky, but the Lin family didn't get a favor either. They seem to have been defeated earlier than the Cao family. Empress Cao and the crown prince are just unstable, but Lin Zhaoyi and the second prince have already lost.

Lin Zhaoyi didn't know why (Xiao Huangmen didn't know, the guards didn't know, and Gao Gonggong refused to reveal it), angered the emperor and was sent to the cold palace. As for the second prince, it is rumored that the emperor is planning to succeed him!

Hearing this, Xie Mulin was taken aback and interrupted Xiao Rui's words: "Succession? Which palace does the emperor plan to take the second prince to? It can't be the Yanwang Mansion, right?! ”