"Your Highness!" The people from the Second Prince's Mansion hurried forward to support him, glaring at the Fourth Prince: "Your Highness, my Prince is your elder brother, you are going too far…"
"Who are you to bark at my Highness?"
The Fourth Prince spoke without restraint, and the contempt in his words made the faces of those watching the excitement change. The Second Prince, who had been trying to persuade them in a kind way, also turned cold.
"Xie Guangzheng, stop it!"
The second prince stood aside, frowning, and said in a deep voice: "I'm giving you kind advice for your own good. What good will it do to make a fuss about today's incident?"
"Although Mr. Zheng was wrong, his crime is not punishable by death. You have already taught him a lesson. Do you really want to beat him to death? Besides, what they said is not glorious. Do you want to make it known to everyone?"
"What did you say?" The Fourth Prince glared at him.
The Second Prince did not back down at all, and was unusually tough: "You should know what I am saying. There are many people here, and if you continue to make trouble, you will not only lose face. If you are impeached by the censor, will you have to explain what they said to others in the court? If the emperor knew, he would be furious."
"Are you using our father to threaten me?" the fourth prince asked coldly.
The second prince frowned: "I'm not threatening you. I'm just speaking reason to you."
The Fourth Prince did not appreciate the words at all. Instead, he felt that Xie Pingjia was deliberately humiliating him. He looked at the Second Prince viciously, and his anger grew even stronger.
He was the legitimate son of the Empress and had the support of a noble family, but Xie Pingjia was born to a lowly maid and had no status in the palace. In the past, when Xie Pingjia saw him, he would always greet him with a smile, depend on him in every way, and keep his head down. How could he dare to speak like this in front of him?
Now that he had only lost some power, he dared to act like an elder brother and teach him a lesson in front of him. The Fourth Prince wished he could tear the man in front of him to pieces, and his eyes turned red with anger as he clenched his fists.
The two sides confronted each other, the atmosphere was extremely stagnant, and the people around dared not breathe, but at this moment, a voice came from behind.
"What are you doing, Your Highness?"
Everyone in the corridor turned around and saw Xiao Yan appear behind them at some point, and everyone in the crowd was surprised.
The Second Prince did not seem to have expected to see Xiao Yan here, and he quickly suppressed his anger, calmed down his expression and took the initiative to greet him, "Lord Governor Xiao."
Xiao Yan said calmly, "What happened?" He looked down at the person curled up on the ground, "But someone has offended the two princes. Do you want me to take that person back?"
The second prince quickly said: "No, it's just some misunderstandings."
"Your Highness the Fourth Prince?" Xiao Yan looked at the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince originally had no intention of letting those people go. If it were any other time, he would have definitely smashed their mouths. However, the appearance of Xiao Yan was like a basin of cold water, instantly calming his anger.
Today, Xiao Yan suddenly asked him out for some reason, and he didn't know whether he was an enemy or a friend. He had suffered repeated setbacks during this period, and even his mother was trapped in Fengxi Palace.
If this Zheng guy really entered the Privy Council and made a scene in the court, then the matter that he had suppressed with great difficulty would be known to everyone, and he would be embarrassed.
The anger in the fourth prince's eyes subsided: "It's a misunderstanding."
Those people all breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Yes, yes, it was a misunderstanding. We were drunk and accidentally bumped into the Fourth Prince. Now we have explained it clearly."
Xiao Yan frowned when he heard this: "Since it's a misunderstanding, let's just let it go."
Those people looked at the Fourth Prince with some trembling eyes, and when they saw that he didn't say anything, obviously agreeing with Xiao Yan's words, they felt as if they had been pardoned, and hurriedly helped the man on the ground up with pale faces and trotted away.
Xiao Yan raised his eyes and looked around. The people who were watching the fun nearby felt their scalps tighten and they all dispersed.
After the two people left, the Second Prince said eagerly, "It's a rare opportunity to meet Governor Xiao outside the palace. It's such a coincidence, why don't I treat you to tea?"
Xiao Yan said indifferently: "Unfortunately, I have an appointment with the Fourth Prince."
The Second Prince paused for a moment, and even though he quickly returned to normal, he was still caught by the Fourth Prince. He said, "I see. Since you have an appointment with Fourth Brother, I don't want to disturb you. I will treat you next time when Governor Xiao is free."
"We'll talk about it later."
The perfunctory response, which anyone could hear, made the Second Prince's expression slightly stiff. A hint of anger flashed across his eyes, but he didn't say much out of consideration for Xiao Yan's identity. However, his expression was not very good when he turned around and left.
The Fourth Prince was originally very upset because of what happened just now, but when he saw the Second Prince's appearance, he immediately felt relieved.
The son of a lowly maid, what good is it even if he is a prince? Even a eunuch looks down on him and actually wants to compete with him!
The fourth prince turned to Xiao Yan and said in a much more friendly manner: "Superintendent Xiao rarely has time to spare. I should have invited him to have tea..."
"I don't like tea."
The fourth prince: "…"
"This governor is also busy."
The Fourth Prince, who had just been happy, became expressionless and the atmosphere suddenly became cold.
Xiao Yan seemed to have not noticed the Fourth Prince's expression at all, and simply said, "If the Fourth Prince wants to drink tea, he can find someone else. I came to see Your Highness today because of His Majesty's order."
Father?
Although the Fourth Prince was humiliated by Xiao Yan, he still held his temper because of Emperor An's order. After he followed Xiao Yan to a private room, he found that there was someone else inside.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Tang Ning bowed.
The fourth prince was stunned for a moment, and then asked uncertainly, "Song Tangning?"
Tang Ning said: "I am no longer a member of the Song family, Your Highness can call me Yi Yang."
The fourth prince looked surprised.
He had met Tang Ning before. After she got engaged to the Lu family, she would often go in and out of Fengxi Palace and the Lu family. The Fourth Prince had also seen her several times, but he had never spoken to her much.
In his impression, although Song Tangning was good-looking, her personality was not very likable. Moreover, Old Madam Lu looked down on her and occasionally mentioned her with disdain. As a result, the Fourth Prince also had a bad impression of her.
After the Song family got into trouble, Tang Ning never entered the palace again, and the Fourth Prince hadn't seen her for a long time. When he first saw the little girl with a straight back and a calm expression in front of him, he almost didn't recognize her.
"Master Xiao, what is she doing?"
"What I want to discuss with Your Highness has something to do with her, so I called her here as well."
The Fourth Prince frowned upon hearing this. Since it was something his father had asked about and it was related to Song Tangning, he felt something was amiss. After sitting down, he asked directly, "What did Governor Xiao want to talk about?"
Xiao Yan gestured for Tang Ning to sit beside him before he spoke: "Your Highness should know that I am investigating the collusion between Prince Cheng's Mansion and the Lu family."
The fourth prince nodded.
"Then did the Queen tell Your Highness that Prince Cheng was secretly having an affair with the women of the Lu family, and that Xie Yin is of the Lu family's bloodline?"
The fourth prince stood up with a look of shock on his face: "What did you say?!"
Xiao Yan frowned: "Didn't the Queen tell you?"
The fourth prince opened his mouth and asked: "Does the queen mother know?"
Xiao Yan frowned, "I told the Queen a few days ago. She begged me to keep it secret for the time being and let her investigate the matter secretly and try to distance herself from Your Highness, but she didn't tell Your Highness..."
He raised his head and glanced at the Fourth Prince, his expression showing an indescribable strangeness.
"Your Highness, did you secretly meet with Lu Zhongshu yesterday? No wonder His Majesty was so furious with you after learning about the Lu family's affairs."
The fourth prince's face turned pale instantly. Did his father also know about this?
But the Queen Mother...why?