Chapter 987: Letting a Dragon Into the Sea

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

At the mention of King Li of Zhou, Concubine Lan couldn’t help but hold her breath. She thought of Yue Fei, the King of the North, and a deep sense of fear flashed across her eyes.

Empress Ning sneered. “The emperor hates the Xu Residence deeply. Naturally, if a huge problem in his heart can be eliminated, and there is a proper explanation for the personal expedition to the North back then, if the emperor is satisfied, it’s inevitable that Ning Yuanbo, who has been imprisoned, will be able to make up for his mistakes. When he’s released from the prison, with the help of the ministers, it’s only logical for the emperor to appoint the Second Prince as the heir.”

Although her father and brother had taken all the faults of the crushing defeat in the North, the many details of the crushing defeat in the North were shrouded in fog and had become a taboo in the court.

The court officials did not dare to mention it much, even in private. This matter was left unsettled.

If the culprit was Duke Xu, all of this would be accountable.

Concubine Lan had catered to the emperor’s thoughts and sought favor with the emperor. The emperor would definitely express something. With the persuasion of the ministers, the Second Prince would naturally be appointed. Concubine Lan’s face turned slightly pale, and she subconsciously clenched her fists.

Empress Ning sighed. “After Ning Yuanbo’s residence was locked up, you had no intention of exonerating him at all. You acted as if you were completely at the mercy of the emperor and even claimed that you were guilty. You invited yourself into the cold palace and further gained the emperor’s trust. You paved the way for the Second Prince in the court and paved the way for you to come

out of the cold palace in the future.”

Not long after Concubine Lan entered the cold palace, the Second Prince openly entered and left the Imperial Study, the Hall of Diligent Governance, and other important locations when the emperor dealt with government affairs.

The emperor’s attitude made many ministers in the court treat the Second Prince well, like cats that had smelled fish.

It laid the foundation for the Second Prince’s status in the court.

“But in fact, because of King Li of Zhou’s case, Ning Yuanbo’s residence has gradually lost the emperor’s trust. The case of the imperial examination fraud has completely angered the emperor. At that time, Ning Yuanbo’s power in the court was also crazily suppressed by the cabinet. Ning Yuanbo barely stayed in the court and was also surrounded by enemies. If he was not careful, he would have been doomed.”

The cabinet, led by Xia Yansheng, used the case of King Li of Zhou to eliminate many of Ning Yuanbo’s henchmen in the court.

At that time, Concubine Lan’s faction was already weak.

However, when Ning Yuanbo’s residence was locked up and Concubine Lan invited herself into the cold palace, not only did it stabilize the Second Prince’s precarious status, but it also boosted his reputation.

It was obvious how powerful Concubine Lan’s methods were.

“You were the one who arranged for Ning Yuanbo’s residence to be imprisoned. It was to seek benefits and avoid harm. You secretly held evidence that the Xu family had presumably ‘colluded with the enemy to betray the country’ back then and framed loyal people. You were confident that as long as you produced this evidence, not only would Ning Yuanbo’s residence be cleared of all crimes, but they would also be able to offset their mistakes and return to the royal court to be valued by the emperor again.”

The emperor was afraid of the Xu Residence and hated it deeply. However, because of the old matters of the Ning Residence back then, he had no choice but to tolerate the Xu Residence.

Ning Yuanbo’s residence had proved with its actions that it was still the emperor’s sharpest knife. There was no reason for the emperor to give up on Ning Yuanbo’s residence.

After all, the emperor had single-handedly promoted Ning Yuanbo’s residence until now.

It was indeed a little difficult to give up on Ning Yuanbo’s residence, which he had nurtured for many years. Otherwise, why hadn’t the emperor mentioned a trial after Ning Yuanbo’s residence was locked up?!

Now that Ning Yuanbo had proven his value again, he should be placed in an important position again.

Concubine Lan had seen through the emperor’s thoughts.

Previously, she had worked hard to plan for Yu Shuangbai’s natural phoenix fate and the Fourth Prince’s patrol to the North.

However, the old minister’s advice caused the emperor to come to court. She was caught off guard and the matter of the patrol to the North was left unsettled.

If it weren’t for the fact that “that person” had sent a message to remind her that she could use the reopening of Ning Yuanbo’s case to counterattack and catch the other party off guard, Concubine Lan might really have achieved her goal.

Unfortunately…

Concubine Lan had offended someone she shouldn’t have.

However, Empress Ning did not guess that the real goal of reopening Ning Yuanbo’s case was to force the King of Liang to panic and mobilize his troops to rebel.

Concubine Lan’s body went limp, as if she had lost the last thing she could rely on. She was so cold that she was trembling.

After entering the cold palace, she had been thinking of a way to contact her father’s old subordinates and get them to expose the fact that the Xu family had framed loyal people.

She did not believe that Empress Ning did not want to overturn the case concerning her father and brother!

She didn’t want to clear her father’s and brother’s names?!

Didn’t she want to clear Duke Ning’s name?!

Before the injustice of the Ning Residence was redressed, Empress Ning would definitely not touch her easily. Empress Ning would even protect her.

Empress Ning was deeply involved in her father and brother’s justice, so she couldn’t care less about her.

She still had a chance.

However, her last reliance was gone.

Since Empress Ning could reveal her scheme, she must have control over the evidence of the case concerning her father and brother.

Empress Ning smiled faintly. “Ning Yuanbo’s Residence exposed the Xu

Residence in the name of resolving the rebellion for the Ning Residence. Publicly, other than Imperial Concubine Xu’s side, the Third Prince will definitely be implicated. As for me, I’ve lost my position because of the harem engaged in politics. The Fourth Prince’s background is lowly, so he’s under your control. The Second Prince is no longer a threat in the court. It’s really killing two birds with one stone.”

“Haha, releasing a tiger back to the mountain and letting a dragon return to the sea will cause endless trouble in the future.” Concubine Lan laughed a little sadly. “I’ve planned everything flawlessly, but I’m not a match for the Empress. I’ve planned and won invisibly.”

The old minister’s advice was an opportunity for her to join forces with the ministers to expose the Xu Residence and let the emperor appoint the Second Prince as the heir. However, she never expected that she would be caught off guard by the court bringing up Ning Yuanbo’s case again. However, she did not panic. She might as well carry it through and use this opportunity to expose the old case of the Ning Residence.

However, before everything could be implemented, the Empress Dowager had passed away. As she was deeply involved in Ning Yuanbo’s case, she had lost

the initiative and missed the opportunity to hold the state funeral.

Immediately after, the news of the heir’s tragic death spread to the royal court.

Yu Zongshen returned to the court.

The King of Liang had mobilized his troops!

One disaster after another had completely thrown Ning Yuanbo’s residence into eternal damnation, causing her to miss the opportunity to expose the Xu family again and again.

In the end, she was sent to the cold palace.

“Release a tiger to the mountain, and let a dragon return to the sea.” Empress Ning seemed to have heard a huge joke and almost laughed until tears streamed down her face. “You shouldn’t have said this to me.

Concubine Lan had a bad feeling. “What do you mean?”

“If I had such ability, I wouldn’t have been played by you.” Empress Ning looked like she was crying, yet she also looked like she was laughing. “Someone has already arranged for the end of the Ning Yuanbo Residence.”

“Who?” Concubine Lan’s eyes suddenly widened. “Who is it?”

“Release a tiger to the mountain, let a dragon return to the sea.” Empress Ning laughed silently. She laughed happily.. “What happened to the Marquis of

Changxing, Elder Tian, the Minister of War, and those nobles in the North? How could you be so naive as to think that he would let you off? As the culprit, Hahaha…”

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