On this day that appeared no different from usual on the surface, but with undercurrents surging beneath, the high officials all kept their mouths shut.

Even the morning court session was harmonious, with no one tactlessly mentioning the Second Prince. But after court was dismissed and they each returned home, they gleefully speculated about how Emperor Wen Xiao would deal with the Second Prince.

It was said that as soon as court was dismissed, Prince Su entered the palace.

Everyone in the capital knew that Prince Su had always despised the Second Prince for once harassing his princess consort. The Second Prince was also aware of this. Every time he saw Prince Su, he would shrink his head like a quail, not daring to make a sound.

So most people guessed that with Prince Su entering the palace at this time, he probably wouldn't put in a good word for the Second Prince.

This time, it seemed the Second Prince was truly done for...

But he only had himself to blame. Of all the things he could have gotten involved in, he just had to be implicated in the sordid business of human trafficking. This was Emperor Wen Xiao's reverse scale. Who knew how furious Emperor Wen Xiao must be right now!

After this incident, the Second Prince was surely finished. Even in the best case, he would be confined for a very long time.

However, the actual situation in the palace was somewhat different from what they imagined. Emperor Wen Xiao was indeed furious to the point of death, but not because of the Second Prince.

In the imperial study, Emperor Wen Xiao tightly furrowed his brows, his usually gentle and refined face filled with gloom.

The eunuchs had already withdrawn. Now only Emperor Wen Xiao and Prince Su remained in the room.

Unlike Emperor Wen Xiao who looked like he was about to faint from anger, Prince Su appeared very calm, even a bit absent-minded.

It was mealtime now. He wondered if Ah Ming would eat properly without him watching over him.

Ever since Ah Ming complained to him the other day that he had fattened him up, he really started controlling his food intake. In the past half month, no matter how he painstakingly tried to feed him, he just refused to eat a bit more. Not an ounce of meat had grown on his princess consort's body!

Prince Su was very distressed about this. He wished he could drag out that loose-lipped Mu Yuanwen who dared to mock his princess consort for being fat and give him a beating!

But if Ah Ming found out, he would probably be angry with him, and might even directly kick him out of bed...

Seeing his imperial brother obviously lost in thought, Emperor Wen Xiao couldn't help but reprimand: "I didn't summon you here to watch you be distracted!"

Prince Su pulled his thoughts back from his princess consort and lowered his eyes expressionlessly. "This imperial brother knows his mistake."

Like hell he did!

Emperor Wen Xiao was already feeling vexed. Seeing Prince Su acting like a block of wood made him even more irritated.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered to quibble with you." Emperor Wen Xiao closed his eyes to calm himself for a moment. When he opened them again, his expression was much more composed as he asked in a deep voice, "Are you certain it was the Fourth Prince who made a move?"

Prince Su replied without even raising his eyes, "Not certain. Imperial brother can investigate it himself."

Upon hearing this, the anger that Emperor Wen Xiao had just managed to suppress instantly surged up again. "What kind of attitude is this!"

Prince Su didn't respond.

Emperor Wen Xiao stared at him for a long time before finally revealing a hint of weariness on his face. He sighed and said, "Imperial brother is not suspecting you, just needs some time to process this."

Last night, the Minister of Justice entered the palace and presented an account book and several letters found in a secret compartment in the Xuzhou governor's residence, including two related to the Second Prince.

With the account book, several previously murky points in the case instantly became clear. After unraveling the entire case, all the various evidence that had been uncovered unanimously pointed to the Second Prince.

So before Prince Su entered the palace, he had already convicted the Second Prince in his heart and even decided on the Second Prince's fate.

For the sake of the imperial family's reputation, the Second Prince's involvement in the Xuzhou human trafficking case must be tightly concealed. On the surface, the highest-ranking official implicated in this case would only be the Xuzhou governor.

But this didn't mean the Second Prince could escape punishment. Very soon, the Second Prince would "fall gravely ill" and be taken into the palace under the pretext of recuperation, imprisoned in the Cold Palace.

Since he had already made up his mind, summoning Prince Su to the palace in such a hurry naturally wasn't to discuss this matter with him.

Although he had steeled his heart, besides being a monarch, he was also a father. Even though he didn't have much affection for the Second Prince, it was still his own flesh and blood after all. In any case, personally sentencing his own son left him feeling extremely fatigued.

At a time like this, he just desperately wanted to see his most trusted biological brother.

Even if this brother wasn't very good at comforting others.

But unexpectedly, as soon as Prince Su entered the palace, he directly stated that the Second Prince had been framed!

Emperor Wen Xiao's first reaction was of course that it was impossible. The evidence in this case was conclusive, with no room for doubt. Besides, with the Second Prince's good-for-nothing character, who would set up such an elaborate scheme against him?

However, the evidence Prince Su presented next actually overturned his speculation.

The Second Prince had indeed been framed.

And this wasn't the first time the mastermind had targeted the Second Prince. Just half a month ago at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering, the Second Prince had nearly been set up.

The reason it was "nearly" was because the Second Prince had narrowly escaped that time.

At the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering, the mastermind had originally planned to use the young master of the Anyuan Marquis Mansion to scheme against the Second Prince.

But as it happened, that young master was a close friend of Prince Su's princess consort. When Prince Su's scouts were routinely investigating Mu Yuanwen, they keenly discovered this matter and reported it to Prince Su, who then took precautions in advance, foiling the mastermind's plan.

But evidently, that mastermind wasn't giving up. In less than half a month, they schemed again, implicating the Second Prince in the Xuzhou human trafficking case.

This case had been under investigation for eighteen days. The Xuzhou governor being imprisoned was a recent development. To be able to fabricate evidence that even the experienced Minister of Justice couldn't see through in such a short time, the mastermind's power and influence clearly wasn't small.

As it turned out, this mastermind was none other than the Fourth Prince, whom he valued the most. No wonder his power was not insignificant.

Emperor Wen Xiao had stayed up all night without sleep, agonizing over the Second Prince's matter. He was already extremely fatigued. Now knowing that another son of his was behind this, he became so angry that his head started to throb.

Emperor Wen Xiao sighed wearily after reviewing the iron-clad evidence presented by Prince Su once again, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me about the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering incident earlier?"

This time, Prince Su actually raised his eyes and, for once, spoke a full sentence earnestly: "Your younger brother thought that the Fourth Prince would stop after learning his lesson, and didn't want to disturb Your Majesty's peace with these trivial matters."

Emperor Wen Xiao had suffered a serious illness before the new year, which had damaged his health. Although he had recovered, his body had not been in good condition since then. Recently, he had inadvertently caught a cold and was still taking medicine prescribed by the imperial physicians, indeed feeling somewhat lacking in energy.

Rarely hearing such considerate words from Prince Su, Emperor Wen Xiao, whose heart had been deeply hurt by his two sons, felt a hint of warmth upon hearing this, and sighed, "If he had any sense, he should have stopped after that incident!"

The Fourth Prince had always been the one among all the princes who best matched his intentions.

This son of his was ambitious but handled matters smoothly and had extremely high emotional intelligence, somewhat similar to his own personality when he was young.

Such a clever person should have cautiously lain low after failing in his first scheme against the Second Prince, instead of risking exposure by making another move in such a short time!

The Fourth Prince's current actions already seemed to be losing a bit of rationality.

"I just can't understand," Emperor Wen Xiao closed the evidence and said solemnly, "what deep hatred exists between the Fourth and the Second, that could make him do these things?"

Prince Su sat in his chair, head lowered as he drank tea, and muttered, "Your younger brother does not know."

If he had raised his head at this moment, Emperor Wen Xiao would have likely seen his evasive gaze at a glance, clearly distracted for some unknown reason.

Emperor Wen Xiao did not expect him to be able to provide any explanation. He wearily propped his head up and pondered silently for a long time before finally speaking, "You may go back first. I will investigate this matter further."

Prince Su immediately stood up and took his leave in a nimble manner, but before leaving, he did say, "Your Majesty, don't forget to have your meal."

Emperor Wen Xiao had no appetite for food at the moment, but with Prince Su showing such consideration twice today, he couldn't bear to refuse, so he said, "Alright, I will have the Imperial Kitchen send up a meal soon. Why don't you stay and dine with me, younger brother?"

Prince Su shook his head and declined with a serious expression, "No, there is someone at home."

Emperor Wen Xiao: "..."

Watching Prince Su's back, which was much taller and broader than his own, Emperor Wen Xiao's eyes revealed a trace of emotion.

In any case, after getting married, his younger brother, who had always lacked any excess feelings, had indeed gained some human touch.

It seemed that his decision back then to arrange the marriage of the eldest son of the Marquis Xinyuan to him, despite the Marquis' pressure and at Prince Su's insistence, was indeed worthwhile.

After returning to his residence, Prince Su heard from the servants that no one in the household had eaten yet, as the Consort had ordered to wait until he returned from the palace before starting the meal.

Prince Su then ordered the kitchen to send the food directly to the bedroom. He quickened his pace to the bedroom, unsurprisingly finding his Consort curled up asleep on the bed.

They had been awakened by Emperor Wen Xiao's urgent letter early this morning and had gotten on the carriage before dawn, even hastily having breakfast in the carriage.

His Ah Ming usually had an extremely regular daily routine. Having his morning sleep disturbed, he would definitely make up for it during the day.

He Yan's sleeping posture was not good. Perhaps feeling a bit cold while sleeping, he had wrapped himself into a ball with the quilt, likely even rolling around on the bed a few times, his hair all messy and stuck to his face.

Prince Su bent down and carefully observed his Consort, who looked incredibly docile with his eyes closed in sleep.

What he had not truthfully told Emperor Wen Xiao was that his subordinate scouts had actually failed to uncover the Fourth Prince's scheme against the Second Prince at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering. It was his Consort who had brought this matter to his attention.

The servants Xie Ming had brought from the Marquis Xinyuan's residence were merely some personal maids and pageboys who stayed within the residence and had no opportunity to go out. He actually did not have anyone capable of gathering information, and even the news of the capital that he usually inquired about came from people within the residence.

So how did Xie Ming, who had been staying in the deep chambers of the residence since their marriage, know about those things that even the scouts he had personally trained could not find out?

Prince Su reached out and brushed away the hair sticking to He Yan's face. Seeing the red mark pressed onto his fair and tender cheek, he kissed it and whispered softly in his ear, "Ah Ming, get up quickly and eat."

Author's Note:

Short skit:

One day, the Consort went out to play with a good friend, leaving Prince Su alone to guard the empty boudoir.

After eating lunch alone, the lonely Prince Su sneakily took out a privately hidden "little item" and secretly admired it.

Just as he was engrossed in appreciation, he heard a noise outside the door, followed by the door being pushed open.

Prince Su had been a bit too absorbed in his admiration and didn't notice the footsteps outside the door, so he was caught red-handed. He only had time to stuff the "little item" in his hand into a nearby box, completely unable to compose himself.

He Yan didn't expect to receive such a "surprise" by returning early. He looked at Prince Su coldly for a while, then walked past him and took out his underwear from the box, which he didn't know when it had been stolen. It had been washed clean, but now there were some wet marks on it for some unknown reason.

He Yan glanced down coldly: "Like it so much? From now on, you can sleep hugging it."

Prince Su: ".................."

No, Consort, listen to my explanation QWQ