At the end of August in the third year of Huining, the whole palace was busy with the empress's birth.
　　Dong Lingjiu was also very attentive to her and had to review all the things she took care of. As for the affairs that the little emperor and Zheng Yuheng had managed in the previous dynasty - the implementation of the new policy and the lifting of the ban on "Skillful Craftsmanship" that she had entrusted to them, although Dong Lingjiu did not intervene, she also sat on the sidelines and examined and stared at them with an attitude of assessment. The
　　estimated date of delivery is early September. Good midwives and wet nurses have been selected by the female officials of various departments. In addition, the Imperial Hospital is strictly prepared day and night. In order to welcome the arrival of this child, all parts of the palace are strict, especially the medicine department and the small kitchen. Almost no one is allowed to enter and leave at will. Even when Zheng Yuheng helps to look at the prescription of pregnancy-preserving medicine, he needs to wear the clothes of a medical officer and show himself as an imperial physician.
　　During this period, the Empress Dowager had to manage these palace affairs. Although Dong Lingjiu claimed that she was not talented enough in managing the household affairs, it was actually because she could not focus on the harem. Now that she was relaxed, she managed the palace in an orderly and strict manner, as if she was just doing it casually.
　　Although she took good care of her, she did not often visit Wang Wanrou, but left the visit and comfort to the emperor. The little emperor not only ruled the country himself, but also worried about the birth of his first wife. He wished he had two of himself all day.
　　On August 29, a day off, the little emperor stayed with the queen in Fengzao Palace for a whole day. Therefore, Zheng Yuheng was able to relax and stayed in Cining Palace for a day. The two did not interfere with each other, and there was a tacit understanding that could only be understood but not expressed in words.
　　He was reporting to Dong Lingjiu on the government affairs of the previous dynasty. The two stood in the corridor, in front of them were lotus flowers, some of which were in full bloom, while others had fallen and the remaining lotus leaves were scattered.
　　In the lake in front of the corridor, a palace maid paddled a small boat to pull out the dead lotus and remove the remaining lotus leaves. At this time, the sky was gloomy, with some signs of rain. Dragonflies skimmed the water and the air was a little stuffy.
　　Dong Lingjiu listened to his story while walking with him through the corridor, and said casually: "This is not something that can be accomplished overnight. The final effect and whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages still need long-term observation. Although it can help you establish yourself, it will also delay your efforts for many years in the future. You have to take this matter into consideration."
　　Zheng Yuheng said: "The promotion of any thing is like this. There are occasional reversals and setbacks. As long as Your Majesty and the ministers believe that we are on the right track, then we are on the right track."
　　"That's right," Dong Lingjiu said, "whether it will benefit the present and the future, or have little effect, or even the source of all rebellion starting from you and me, these are all things that cannot be fully predicted. Just stick to your heart and don't change, that's enough."
　　Since she got drunk at the last flower signing banquet, she seemed to have let go a lot.
　　The two walked side by side. Originally, Zheng Yuheng should have followed the etiquette and lagged behind her by half a step. However, he was spoiled and arrogant. As long as Aunt Yuewan was not supervising him, he had lost this awareness. He always followed her quietly, touching her sleeve with his hand, with a little carefully designed temptation.
　　He wanted to hold her hand. Dong Lingjiu had noticed this a long time ago.
　　However, even if they left the Cining Palace for a walk, there were still many servants around them. In addition, it was in broad daylight, so she could only be reserved and solemn, pretending that she didn't see through his thoughts.
　　Doctor Zheng was indeed the "favorite minister" of the emperor and the empress dowager. According to Aunt Yuewan, he was spoiled more and more, and he had no rules in his eyes.
　　Zheng Yuheng said a few words about official business and stopped here. The two turned the corner of the corridor and saw a young eunuch about fourteen or fifteen years old in a hurry. His face showed confusion and anxiety. He was distracted and almost didn't avoid the emperor. When he was almost in front of him, he saw Dong Lingjiu and immediately bowed down in shock, his shoulders shaking.
　　Dong Lingjiu approached and heard him say in a panic: "Your servant asks the Empress Dowager to be kind."
　　"You are..." Empress Dowager Dong thought for a while, "A palace maid in Fengzao Palace?"
　　The young eunuch didn't expect that the Empress Dowager could recognize him. He was very surprised, and then he actually knelt forward a few steps, risking his life to grab Dong Lingjiu's hem, and cried: "Empress Dowager, please be kind! Save Lord Xu, the governor of Xudu!"
　　Xu Xiang?
　　"Your Majesty was dining with our queen when suddenly an impeachment letter came from the previous province. His Majesty was furious when he saw it, and he kept scolding Xu Duzhi for being a lowly person who didn't know his identity. He just issued an imperial decree to have the Purple Guards arrest him and bring him to the emperor for questioning. I, I was secretly released by Chen Duzhi to ask for help from Your Highness..."
　　"Your Highness?" Dong Lingjiu said softly, "Chen Qinghang was so anxious that he lost his mind. Which prince is this related to?"
　　The young eunuch slapped himself in the face and said, "I was wrong. I-"
　　Dong Lingjiu raised his hand and pressed it down, and said to Ruixue behind him, "Go to Fengzao Palace."
　　...
　　Internal Investigation Factory.
　　Xu Xiang picked up a pen and signed his name on the case file after the interrogation. He was taciturn and looked like a solitary pine. But the little maidservant beside him couldn't help but chattering. She smiled and said, "The perch in the restaurant that Bingbi told our prince about last time is really delicious. Her Highness has summoned all the cooks to the palace. She said that when she has time in a few days, she will specially invite you to a banquet to thank Xu Bingbi for his help in asking her for the case files these days."
　　Xu Xiang lowered his head, turned to the next page to sign, and said, "Your Highness is thoughtful, but as a member of the inner factory, it is not convenient for me to enter the princess's mansion."
　　"What's 'convenient' and 'inconvenient'?" The maid smiled and said, "It's just to have a meal together. The princess has been studying with Mr. Wang these days, and it seems boring. If I go to visit her, the princess will definitely be happy... The last time the princess saw you was on the Chinese Valentine's Day a month ago!"
　　Xu Xiang raised his hand to cover his lips and coughed lightly. The little maid realized that she had said something wrong and covered it up, saying, "It's just that the Dali Temple and the Neichang were communicating, and we happened to meet on that day."
　　It would have been better if she didn't explain. Once she explained, it would have made the matter more obvious. Fortunately, there was only one of Xu Xiang's trusted eunuchs around, and no one else, so he didn't say anything else. He completed the borrowing procedure with his name signed, put the records of the trials and punishments in the inner prison in recent years and the facts of the crimes into the box, and handed it to the little maid.
　　Just as the maid was about to thank them, there was a sudden commotion outside the door, and then the door slammed open, and two rows of guards wearing purple-patterned gold robes and carrying swords appeared in front of them. The other eunuchs and officials in the inner factory were separated to the sides, and the purple-pattern guards blocked the light in front of them.
　　"The commander of the purple-pattern guards is Liu Zeyun." The leader was about twenty years old, with a straight back and a handsome face. He showed the badge symbolizing his identity expressionlessly, and with a slight wave of his hand, the purple-pattern guards behind him stepped forward and grabbed Xu Xiang's arms on both sides, tying his hands behind his back.
　　Seeing that Xu Xiang did not resist fiercely, he said the second half of the sentence, "By order of His Majesty, I will arrest you and bring you to the court for trial."
　　The maidservant beside him was horrified. She turned the waist badge of the princess's mansion and put it in a conspicuous place. Then she took a half step forward and asked tentatively in a very good tone: "This Lord Liu, I wonder what crime Xu Duzhi has committed? The case files that our princess needs are still waiting for his approval."
　　Her excuse was reasonable. Liu Zeyun lowered his eyes and glanced at her waist badge. His face was still cold, but he finally answered: "He is suspected of committing crimes and deceiving the emperor. After consulting the Queen Mother, there will be an order to send someone to take over the affairs of the inner factory. You don't have to worry about it."
　　After saying that, he turned around, came and went in a hurry, leaving only the door suddenly closed, like a huge mouth that swallowed the food into its belly.
　　The little maidservant was stunned on the spot, and it took a long time for her to come back to her senses. She hurried out and returned to the carriage of the princess's mansion to report.
　　Just as the carriage of the princess's mansion drove away, Xu Xiang had been escorted into another carriage. As he had not yet been convicted and it seemed that the emperor did not want to spread the rumor, the carriage was relatively hidden, closed on all sides and without windows. The commander, Liu Zeyun, was sitting beside him, holding the chain on Xu Xiang's wrist.
　　The carriage rumbled and the atmosphere was solemn. When it entered the palace and stopped for a while to verify the identity and token, Xu Xiang, who had been silent until then, raised his eyes and asked in a low voice, "But the implementation of the new policy has been hindered and the opposition in the court has surged like a wave. Do we need to kill one to warn the hundred and set an example?"
　　If it were not for Dong Lingjiu's instruction, Xu Xiang himself would actually be considered a relatively conservative and feudal scholar who had been educated by the Four Books and Five Classics. He raised some issues that required strict countermeasures for what Zheng Yuheng and the emperor were promoting... If these issues could not be resolved, then he still felt that the time was not right.
　　However, when he told Zheng Yuheng about these things and Little Zheng told the emperor, he was not punished. Instead, the little emperor thought it made sense, and he thought hard and made some supplements. If it was because of this, then His Majesty's mind was too capricious, so he couldn't even smell a trace of danger.
　　Or it was because...
　　Xu Xiang suppressed his thoughts and tried his best to throw that possibility out of his mind.
　　Unfortunately, things don't go as planned. Liu Zeyun glanced at him, and only when the two of them were facing each other, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "Xu Bingbi, I don't want to arrest and escort you personally."
　　"I don't need to," Xu Xiang said, "I am a humble servant, thank you Lord Liu..."
　　Hearing him say this, Liu Zeyun frowned even more tightly, patted his thigh, twisted his brows, and raised his voice: "You know how humble you are, and you still dare to get close to the princess! I have enough lives for you!"
　　Xu Xiang's heart suddenly turned cold, and then he slowly calmed down as if a heavy burden was relieved. He asked: "What's the reason?"
　　Seeing that he was not surprised or confused at all, Liu Zeyun knew that this was the case. He hated him for seeking death, and gritted his teeth and said: "Wang Yuezhi, the son of Wang Siqing, and now the eldest son of Wang who serves as the Secretary of the Dali Temple, has submitted a petition to impeach you... You... bewitched the princess and deceived the emperor."
　　Serving in the same dynasty, even though Xu Xiang was a eunuch and belonged to the first-class internal officials, because of the special position of the inner factory, the two of them had some friendship. Liu Zeyun was an upright person and he admired him a lot in the past, so he hated him for provoking such a right and wrong that could kill him and ruin his life.
　　Xu Xiang remained silent, thought carefully, and said, "How did Master Wang impeach me?"
　　"That I don't know." Liu Zeyun said, "But this matter is enough to make you lose a hundred heads. It's not a pity to die. If you have any last wishes, you can tell me now."
　　Xu Xiang shook his head, and then said: "Your Majesty is angry, but you can't kill me like this. If I am convicted and imprisoned because of this memorial, wouldn't it be a tarnish on the princess's reputation?"
　　Liu Zeyun opened his eyes wide in surprise and subconsciously said: "You are about to die, and you still care about your highness's reputation?"
　　Xu Xiang misunderstood and whispered: "I really don't have the qualifications... The princess is a golden branch and jade leaf, and she should have nothing to do with people like me. It sounds a bit presumptuous for me to say that I care about her reputation, but I shouldn't let the princess be implicated because of my mistake. She is concentrating on her cultivation and has a big matter in her hands."
　　Liu Zeyun felt as if he had considered these words a long time ago, and couldn't help asking: "Did you know this day would come?"
　　Xu Xiang shook his head and said nothing. After a while, he said: "Your Majesty may not think of this in his anger. Isn't it a loss of the big for the small."
　　"If you have something to say, just say it."
　　"I want to ask Master Liu to go to the Cining Palace to invite..."
　　Before he finished speaking, the carriage stopped and the Purple Guards took him down. Before he entered the palace, he saw the Huagai entourage of the Cining Palace, more than 20 people waiting outside. Xuan Jingyun was also in the queue, looking over here.
　　When Xu Xiang saw this, he suddenly felt relieved and sighed, "Don't bother Master. The one I asked for is already in the palace."