After Xiao Fubao's life was stolen, he became the favorite of everyone in the capital

Chapter 387 Asking for trouble
The Queen Mother, who was originally not interested in this matter, showed a look of surprise when she heard what Li Shunfu said.

"According to what you said, the person most likely to have attacked the horse should be the Prince of Qi?" asked the Queen Mother.

Li Shunfu nodded hesitantly and explained, "My queen, if the Qi Wangfu wanted to take action against Li Xuan, but they didn't expect an accident to happen and accidentally involved their own child, this is also possible."

The Queen Mother nodded. If the Prince of Qi wanted to do something bad, they would not tell their children openly. After all, the children were young and might let it slip.

However, the probability of this happening is not high.

"If you were from Prince Qi's mansion, wouldn't you have told your children in advance to stay away from you and his horse? After all, if you get too close to a mad horse, you might get into trouble," said the Queen Mother.

Li Shunfu was speechless for a moment.

"Keep investigating, just investigate these two siblings." said the Queen Mother.

Li Shunfu's face showed embarrassment: "Empress Dowager, these two brothers and sisters, the horse slave has committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and his sister is deaf and dumb."

The Queen Mother frowned slightly.

Just like many things in the palace, the investigation came to a deadlock. It was obvious that the person behind the scenes had already planned everything, and it was not easy to dig it out.

"Then let's put the blame on Prince Qi's Mansion first. Their own child has suffered, and their own servants have been implicated. They will definitely try every means to find the real culprit." The Queen Mother said casually.

Li Shunfu bowed and responded.

When the Prince of Qi received the news, the whole family was furious.

"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! Question everyone in the palace three times to see if anyone knows more about the background of those two people!" Prince Qi gave the order.

But when only the father and son were left in his room, he asked his son, "Did you do anything about the horse farm?"

The prince of Qi quickly shook his head and said, "Father, this is not what I did."

Prince Qi was an old and shrewd man. Upon hearing this, he immediately looked at his son with a scrutinizing look and asked, "What did you do behind my back?"

The Prince of Qi lowered his voice and said, "Father, although Li Xuan is well-educated, he is a fool. He is no match for our Shuo'er. Shuo'er's real opponent is the kid from the Luo Palace. The son of the Luo Palace is engaged to the girl from the Queen Mother's family..."

"So you took action against the kid from Prince Luo's Mansion? How did you do it?" Prince Qi asked sternly.

The Prince of Qi nodded and whispered, "My son has bribed the horse slaves at the stable and is going to give the kid from the Luo family a needle in his horse..."

When Prince Qi heard this, his eyes were filled with regret: "You exposed yourself and ended up hurting your own child!"

Prince Qi opened his eyes wide and asked, "So our Shuo'er was harmed by Prince Luo's Mansion?"

Prince Qi snorted coldly and said, "If it's not him, then who else could it be? He originally wanted to divert the blame and accuse our palace of murdering a member of the royal family. Who could have thought that our Shuo'er would plunge into it headfirst."

"Then...then what should we do?" Prince Qi panicked. "Shuo'er has suffered such a great crime. If he is treated properly and has no sequelae, he can still compete for the throne. If he is not treated properly, we should deal with it as soon as possible and stop thinking about it." Prince Qi said.

The prince of Qi was ambitious and could not tolerate such a result. He said, "Father, I have several illegitimate sons under ten years old..."

Prince Qi glared at him and said, "Bastard, you dare to say that! Don't tell me, go to the palace and tell His Majesty directly!"

The Prince of Qi whispered, "You can also ask the Crown Princess to register the illegitimate son under her name..."

Prince Qi sneered and pretended not to hear what he said, and said: "The Luo Palace has always been careful in doing things. It's good if you can find out the result. If you can't find it, think of a way."

The Prince of Qi naturally understood what his father meant. If he couldn't find out the truth, he would frame someone. The Qi Palace, from top to bottom, has always used any means necessary to do anything.

Prince Qi added, "It's a pity that your mother didn't get to see Li Zhaoyi when she entered the palace this time. I don't know what the situation is in the palace now."

The Prince of Qi's Mansion and the Li family had formed an alliance a long time ago. On the surface, the marriage of their children was arranged by the emperor, but in reality, Concubine Li went to the emperor specifically to increase his glory by means of an arranged marriage.

"Father, now that Concubine Li has fallen out of favor and this woman is old and ugly, do we still have to support Li Ziqin like we did in the past?" Although the Prince of Qi was very interested in forming an alliance with the Li family, he could not stand Li Ziqin's arrogance.

Prince Qi scolded in a low voice: "Take a long-term view! This woman didn't rely on her beauty to gain favor in the past. Your Majesty has favored her for a long time. Although she has been demoted and confined, her brother is still valued in the previous dynasty. She can't say when she will make a comeback."

The Prince of Qi then stopped talking.

“Not only should you not fall out with the Li family at this time, you must also treat Li Ziqin more attentively than usual. This is a marriage bestowed by the emperor, and you cannot cancel it. Instead of being a villain who takes advantage of others’ misfortune, it is better to help them in their time of need and let the Li family remember our kindness.” Prince Qi passed on his years of experience to his son.

In Shoukang Palace, the Queen Mother was frowning as she listened to the responses from her subordinates.

"After so many days, the people of the Li family are still running to the Imperial Master?" asked the Queen Mother.

The last time a few young girls went out of the palace for a day, the empress dowager sent someone to keep an eye on the third young lady Li. Since she left the palace, the biggest movement in the Li family was to frequently send people to the Imperial Master's Mansion. Not only did the Li family's housekeeper go there several times, but even Li Ziqin himself went there several times.

The Li family has obviously placed all its chips on the national teacher.

The Queen Mother also couldn't understand why this imperial teacher was so crucial.

Although this man had the title of imperial master, and he would indeed come out to perform rituals during national ceremonies, he was not like the imperial masters of the previous dynasties who liked to make elixirs. He even seldom came in front of the emperor, and most of the time he practiced in seclusion in his own mansion.

"Empress Dowager, this matter is not originally our business, but our people accidentally discovered that Lord Li has been contacting court officials during this period, and it seems that he has made some unusual moves."

After listening to her subordinates' report, the Queen Mother immediately frowned and asked, "What does he want to do?"

It was normal for court officials to have contact outside of official business, but Li Ziqin's frequent banquets, almost without a break every day, were obviously not normal.

"To answer the Queen Mother, they were having a private banquet. We were far away and had no way of finding out the details. We have written down the names of the ministers who had close contact with Lord Li Ziqin during this period."