Chapter 469: Holding a Small Meeting

Before returning to the Heavenly Prison, Chen Chen Guanlou tried to sneak closer to the Imperial Palace.

He just wanted to take a look.

The Imperial Palace guards were so strict that there truly was a sentry post every three steps and a lookout every five. Anyone entering or exiting had their identity and waist token checked. Everyone wore a solemn expression, as if facing a great enemy.

A eunuch led a group of palace maids walking toward the deep palace.

Chen Chen Guanlou, hiding on the roof, was stunned.

That back, that gait—even if he dug out his own eyeballs, he would not mistake it; it was absolutely Pan Pan Niangzi.

Pan Pan Niangzi entered the palace and became a palace maid?

What kind of joke is this!

His heart pounded wildly inside him, not from infatuation, but purely from nervousness.

He finally understood why Pan Pan Niangzi had come to Jingcheng again.

Pan Pan Niangzi was average at everything else; even in gentleness, she certainly couldn't compare to the women in the palace. What she was best at was actually poisoning, using her own advantages to poison silently and without a trace.

Sneaking into the palace to become a maid, who did she intend to poison?

So, Boss Qi was also involved in this coup. Who exactly was Boss Qi? Was Pan Pan Niangzi really Boss Qi's person? If she wasn't Boss Qi's person, then whose person was she?

Chen Chen Guanlou's mind was a bit confused; he quietly left the Imperial Palace and returned to the Heavenly Prison. His mind was still replaying Pan Pan Niangzi's back.

The water was truly deep, and truly murky.

He gulped down two cups of tea. Seeing the tense situation in the palace, it was likely the old Emperor was not yet dead. But whether he could make decisions or hold the situation together remained uncertain.

Lu Lu Da Tou slacked off and wandered into the public office.

"Does Brother Chen have any worries?"

"Ask the others; who doesn't have worries?"

Chen Chen Guanlou invited Lu Lu Da Tou to drink tea and casually asked, "Is everything settled at home?"

"Thank you for your concern, Brother Chen. I left money to buy grain; now we just need to close the door and live our lives. Those soldiers won't harm ordinary people unless they've lost their minds. If they're going to rob, they should rob the wealthy families."

Chen Chen Guanlou hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Brother Chen is still the best; one person eats full, and the whole family isn't hungry."

Chen Chen Guanlou smiled and lightly tapped the table. "I am worried too; I don't know when things outside will return to normal."

His mind kept dwelling on Pan Pan Niangzi. To say he was dwelling wasn't quite right; it should be speculation. He kept speculating on what Pan Pan Niangzi was doing in the palace and who she intended to poison, to the extent that even chatting with Lu Lu Da Tou made him seem distracted.

The innermost Imperial Palace!

Pan Pan Niangzi, using the alias Li Juan, was led by a eunuch into the Taiji Palace to work as a cleaning maid.

Although someone inside the palace covered for her and made arrangements, entering the Taiji Palace was already the limit. To get close to the old Emperor and investigate his specific condition, she could only rely on herself.

The people in the Taiji Palace could not be bribed just like that.

Take Qiu Qiu Defu, for example; he took plenty of money, but at most he revealed a few unimportant pieces of information. To completely bribe and control him was basically impossible. After all, Qiu Qiu Defu's interests were one with the old Emperor's interests. Making a little extra money was fine, but betrayal was impossible.

Pan Pan Niangzi honestly did the work of a cleaning maid, paying attention to the ministers entering and exiting and observing the expressions on their faces. Before entering the palace, she had undergone crash training in recognizing people. She had memorized and firmly remembered all officials of the Third Rank and above in the court, regardless of their departments. Every official's position, character, stance, origin, education, and family were all in her mind.

The only thing she could confirm now was that the old Emperor was not dead.

But he was definitely injured and temporarily unable to get out of bed.

She saw the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau waiting for orders in the Piandian twenty-four hours a day, with apprentices carrying medicinal materials in and out. Medicinal materials were being delivered to the Taiji Palace by the cartload. Whether it was decocting medicine, boiling medicine, or rolling pills, any work involving the old Emperor's safety was completed entirely within the Taiji Palace.

That meant the imperial physicians were not allowed to leave the Taiji Palace. For any needs, they either sent apprentices or sent eunuchs who understood medicine to run errands.

Precisely because of this, the palace staff in the Taiji Palace suddenly became extremely busy, with a large personnel shortage, which led to an emergency transfer of a batch of palace staff. This was how Pan Pan Niangzi was able to become a cleaning maid in the Taiji Palace.

She also saw several Imperial Princes.

Everyone said the soldiers were fighting in Jingcheng because these Imperial Princes were directing them. Yet right now, all the Imperial Princes were in the Taiji Palace, each with a sorrowful and worried expression; there was no sign of them wanting to fight. They all looked very filial.

Heir Chen Chen Guanfu sat drinking tea in the Piandian, as clean and tidy as ever, with his mental state quite good. Not going home for several days had not affected his outward image at all.

His expression was calm; gazing from afar at that group of Imperial Princes and imperial grandchildren, his lips curled slightly upward, as if watching a joke.

At this moment, a young eunuch walked into the Piandian. "Please invite the Heir of Marquis Pingjiang and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, Lord Chen, to the Zhengdian for a meeting."

"Are all the lords present?"

"Yes. Both Prime Ministers and several department heads are here, along with Duke Zhang, Marquis Zhu, Marquis Zhou, and others."

Chen Chen Guanfu immediately stood up and headed for the Zhengdian.

Inside the Zhengdian, great ministers were gathered in great numbers.

The big shots of both the civil and military ranks were all assembled here. If the First Master were present, everyone would be there.

Chen Chen Guanfu knew clearly that he represented Hou Fu; he was his father's spokesperson. No one present would value his opinion; they only needed him to appear and show his stance.

After all, he was not the First Master, he was young, and in front of a crowd of big shots, he had no say.

If his father were present today, the situation would certainly be different. With his father leading, the nobles united would be enough to sway the situation.

Left Prime Minister Li Li Liangcheng still had gauze wrapped around his head, bandages on his arm, and a cane by his side; he looked utterly miserable. Not dying was truly a stroke of luck.

He spoke first. "Your Majesty has been unconscious for several days, and the situation in Jingcheng shows signs of getting out of control. What should be done next? Let us discuss it together and quickly produce a plan. I remind everyone first that time is short; do not waste it on trivial details. Grab the big things first, then talk about the small ones."

Yu Yu Zhaoan was in better condition; after all, he was a martial artist and young. During the altar explosion, he protected himself very well; his injuries were not too severe, just a small cut on his head. Several days had passed, and the wound had already scabbed over.

He chimed in: "I agree with Prime Minister Li's opinion. Let's set the tone quickly. We cannot just sit here day after day while Your Majesty remains unconscious, watching Jingcheng descend into chaos."

"Before discussing official matters, I have a question. Who ordered the Shenji, Shenshen, and Shenrui three camps to enter Jingcheng?" Chen Chen Guanfu struck first. "Until this question is resolved, talking about anything else is superfluous."

The ministers looked at each other in silence.

Finally, the senior eunuch Qiu Qiu Defu, who was in charge of keeping order and taking notes, stepped forward and said: "Before the Grand Sacrifice to Heaven, Your Majesty had already made arrangements. The entry of the three camps into the capital was all according to Your Majesty's prior orders. If any of you have suspicions, I will have someone bring out the military tally and the imperial edict immediately."

"Please have Eunuch Qiu bring them out; seeing is believing."

"Since it was Your Majesty's arrangement, why did the three camps fight? Could this also be Your Majesty's arrangement?" Chen Chen Guanfu questioned again.