If I were born again, I would marry a strong but short-lived husband.

Chapter 438 Suing the Queen

The Censorate suddenly produced evidence of Ruan Xinglin and the Queen selling official positions and titles, causing an uproar in the court.

This was something that Emperor Fu had not expected.

He even thought that from now on, the court would belong to the Ruan family, but he didn't expect that there was a ray of hope after all, and Censor Hong actually produced such important evidence.

After Censor Hong's initial complaint, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Huang Xitian also stood up and accused Ruan Xinglin of abusing his position as prime minister to order him to tamper with the disaster relief funds sent to Jiangbei, and of embezzling countless silver coins over the years.

There are account books as evidence for every single incident.

Lord Qi stepped forward at the right time and begged the emperor to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The ministers who were on good terms with Ruan Xinglin looked at each other in bewilderment, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Ruan has been an official for many years and is deeply loved by the people. There is something fishy about this matter, please investigate it before sentencing."

Emperor Fu exhaled a breath of foul air.

He issued two decrees in succession.

Queen Ruan was placed under house arrest, and Prince Chen and Ruan Xinglin were taken to the Dali Temple.

He ordered the Dali Temple and the Censorate to jointly investigate the case of selling official positions and titles.

When the news reached Prince Chen's Palace, the Royal Guards had already surrounded the palace and did not allow anyone to enter or leave.

The Second Prince's faction, which had been almost suppressed to the point of suffocation, suddenly came back to life.

They all began to look for various evidences to prove the guilt of the Queen and Ruan Xinglin.

Emperor Fu wanted to imprison all the members of the Ruan family, but Prince Kang, Duke Dingguo and others submitted a petition to oppose it.

If a prime minister could be convicted based on just one notebook, who else in the entire court could be innocent?

Empress Dowager Mu also disapproved of Emperor Fu's actions.

So in the end, the Ruan family was just sealed off, and just like Prince Chen’s Palace, no one in the mansion was allowed to go out.

"Princess, Shi Qing found out that only the Prime Minister from the Ruan family was imprisoned. Like the prince, he was imprisoned in the Dali Temple." Ningshuang said heavily.

Shen Sui'an nodded gently, "This way, the rest of the Ruan family won't have to suffer, and they won't be framed."

Ning Shuang: "Princess, what should we do next?"

Their news could no longer be spread, and they didn't know what the prince's condition was.

Your Majesty, the situation was clearly going well for you, how could something like this suddenly happen?

It must be the Second Prince's people who set up a trap to frame the Prince.

"We can't do anything now. The Queen Mother and my uncle will never sell official positions or titles. Believe in them." Shen Sui'an said in a low voice.

Although the second prince is disabled and He Zhiyuan's whereabouts are unknown, the power they have built up in the court over the years is still very solid.

Look, he immediately attacked the Queen and the Ruan family, and even did not spare the newly recognized eldest prince, Prince Chen.

Shen Sui'an now finally understood that party struggle is a life-and-death process.

"Princess, Concubine Chen requests to see you." Ban Jian came in and reported.

"Just say I'm not feeling well and let her go back first." Shen Suian sighed. She was not in the mood to deal with Chen Qiong'er.

Chen Qiong'er rushed in without caring about anything.

Her face was full of confusion and anger. "Princess, I gave you that booklet a few days ago. How did it end up in the hands of the Censorate?"

"How do you know that the booklet in the hands of the Censorate is the one you gave me?" Shen Suian asked.

Chen Qiong'er's face turned pale. "Did they copy it? Impossible. How could such a thing be copied?"

"That was given to my father by Prime Minister He. Only my copy is real. Princess, why didn't you burn it? Do you know that if that book falls into the hands of others, it will kill the queen and the prince?"

"The Dali Temple has just begun investigating the case, and there is no conclusion yet. Concubine Chen, all you can do now is stay in the Chixia Courtyard and don't come out to cause trouble." Shen Suian said in a deep voice.

Chen Qiong'er glared at Shen Suian angrily, "You don't care about the prince at all. Even with such a big thing happening, you can still be as calm as a rock. Did you hand over that booklet? You...you..."

Shen Sui'an frowned, "Concubine Chen, what good will it do me to betray the prince!"

"Send Concubine Chen back to Chixia Courtyard."

Chen Qiong'er also didn't want to doubt Shen Suian, as Shen Suian had no reason to betray Fu Jinyuan.

After all, the only person she could rely on in the Southern Dynasty was Fu Jinyuan. If anything happened to Fu Jinyuan, she would not get any benefit.

Fuqiu grabbed Chen Qiong'er's wrist and led her out of the upper room.

"Princess, Concubine Chen doesn't seem to realize that the contents of the booklet are fabricated. She really believes that the Queen and Prime Minister Ruan did those things." Qing Su said.

"That's why she thinks that I betrayed the prince." Shen Sui'an was actually also puzzled. Fu Jinyuan must have known that the contents of the booklet were false, so why did he report it to the Censorate?

Unless, he did it on purpose.

But he hadn't been back to the palace for two days and hadn't explained anything to her.

"Princess, don't worry. The Queen has seen many storms over the years. There were many people who wanted to frame her, but she always managed to escape danger. I'm sure she'll be fine this time too." Qing Su was worried that Shen Sui'an would be scared and nervous, so she hurried to comfort her.

Shen Sui'an hummed softly, "Where's Chao'er? Go and carry him into the house."

The outside world is definitely not stable now, so she would feel more at ease keeping her son by her side these days.

……

Upon hearing that the Queen was under house arrest and Prince Chen and Prime Minister Ruan were imprisoned, Fu Jinyi was so shocked that he spat out the candied haws in his mouth.

"Where is Hong Shilin? I'm going to poke his eyes out." Fu Jinyi howled in anger.

Changfu hugged his waist and said, "My Lord, if you go to quarrel with Censor Hong now, I'm afraid you will be imprisoned too."

Fu Jinyi kicked him away and said, "Then I will be locked up with Big Brother."

"Your Highness, Your Highness, if you are also locked up in the Dali Temple, who will seek justice for the prince and the queen?" Changfu said hurriedly.

"What you said makes sense." Fu Jinyi finally calmed down.

"I have to go find my sister-in-law first. She must be very worried." Fu Jinyi said.

Just as Changfu was about to speak, he heard Fu Jinyi say, "Let's go, let's go to the Cining Palace."

Didn’t you say you were going to see Princess Chen? Why did you go to the Cining Palace again?

Fu Jinyi went to the Cining Palace to ask the Empress Dowager for an imperial decree.

But before he could leave the palace, he was stopped by people sent by Emperor Fu.

"Your Highness, the Emperor has ordered that you stay in the East Palace and are not allowed to leave the palace without being summoned." Liang Zhitao, the commander of the Imperial Guard, looked at Fu Jinyi in embarrassment.

"What kind of crime have I committed that I can't even leave the palace!" Fu Jinyi asked with a gloomy face.

Commander Liang was helpless, "Your Highness, please don't embarrass me."

"Then please ask Commander Liang to take this imperial edict written by the Empress Dowager to the Emperor. It is the Empress Dowager who allows me to leave the palace to relax." Fu Jinyi handed the imperial edict in his hand to Commander Liang.

“……” Commander Liang felt as if he had taken on a hot potato.

The Emperor clearly didn't want anyone to plead for the Empress and Prime Minister Ruan, and he didn't want to see anyone running around for them, so he wanted to stop the Crown Prince.

"Your Highness, I'm sorry." Commander Liang lowered his head, bent down suddenly and lifted Fu Jinyi up.

"You'd better go back to the East Palace. I will pretend that I have never seen this imperial edict."

Fu Jinyi was so angry that he kicked him, "You dare to defy the Queen Mother's order, I will punish you!"

Commander Liang whispered, "You are causing trouble if you leave the palace at this time!"