By the time the imperial carriage returned to the imperial city, the lights had already come on.

As soon as Lu Xian'er returned to the Pepper Room, a female official came to see her and said, "Your Majesty, we need to prepare for the palace banquet for the winter solstice, but His Majesty has not yet sent down the relevant decree."

The winter solstice was considered a major festival in the Great Zhou Dynasty. According to palace tradition, important officials and wives of noble rank were invited to the palace for a banquet. In such an important palace banquet, the emperor and empress had to attend together.

After hearing the female official's report, Lu Xian'er frowned slightly and asked, "Where is His Majesty now?"

"Your Majesty is in Lady Li's Chonghua Palace." the female official replied.

Lu Xian'er sighed slightly upon hearing this, and then said to her personal maid beside her: "Luzhi, tell them to get ready. I am about to leave for Chonghua Palace."

After a while, the palace servants were ready. Lu Xian'er got on the sedan chair and waited in front of Chonghua Palace. Luzhi stepped forward and ordered someone to pass the message inside. After waiting for a long time, the palace servant came out and said, "Your Majesty is having dinner with Madam Li. His Majesty asked the Queen to go back first. His Majesty said that he would not be able to see the Queen today."

Hearing this, Luzhi asked immediately, "Do you want His Majesty to know that the Queen is meeting His Majesty for the Winter Solstice Palace Banquet?"

"I have already reported this to His Majesty." The palace maid replied in a serious tone, "His Majesty only said that he was not available, but did not give any clear instructions."

"But, the winter solstice is still five days away." Luzhi said unwillingly.

"Forget it." Lu Xian'er said, "Since His Majesty is not free, let's go back to the palace first."

Luzhi had no choice but to give up and turned around to tell the palace maid to go back to the palace. After entering the palace, the little maid could no longer hold back her anger and approached Lu Xian'er and said, "Your Majesty, the Winter Solstice Banquet is a major event in the palace. What does His Majesty mean by this attitude?"

She guessed hesitantly, "Is His Majesty not going to accompany you to the Winter Solstice Banquet?"

Lu Xian'er smiled bitterly; "I really can't figure out what he means."

As she spoke, she muttered to herself, "I also want to get closer to him, but he doesn't intend to give me this opportunity at all."

"Your Majesty is really going too far." Luzhi could no longer hold back her anger: "Your Majesty, why don't you go talk to the Queen Mother about this matter and ask her to make the decision for you."

"What's the point of saying it?" Lu Xian'er sighed, "At present, there is already a rift between His Majesty and the Queen Mother and her son. If I say this in front of the Queen Mother, wouldn't it make her even more sad? Besides, if I complain too much, His Majesty will probably be even more annoyed."

"What should we do then?" The little maid looked worried.

Lu Xian'er sighed helplessly: "Let's take it one step at a time."

In Chonghua Palace.

Zhao Pan had just finished his dinner with Lady Li when a eunuch came in to report: "Your Majesty, Prince Shen is here and is waiting for you in the back hall."

Zhao Pan stood up immediately upon hearing this. Just as he was about to walk out, Madam Li hurriedly caught up with him: "Your Majesty——"

Zhao Pan paused again and turned around: "I have something important to tell you."

"I know your Majesty is busy." Madam Li frowned slightly, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. After a while, she asked tentatively, "Will your Majesty come over again later?"

Zhao Pan raised his hand and held the concubine's hand, with a smile on his face: "You never concealed your obsession with me before, why did you suddenly change your temper in the past few days?"

Madam Li lowered her head slightly, with a look of worry between her eyebrows: "I am just a little scared."

"What are you afraid of?" Zhao Pan said, "There's nothing to be afraid of." Before Zhao Pan could finish, Madam Li said anxiously, "I am worried that if the Queen Mother knew about this, she would not tolerate me. Besides, Your Majesty already has a Queen. If this matter were known to others, the Queen Mother would not agree."

Zhao Pan's brows darkened when he heard this: "My beloved concubine, don't worry about these things. I will take care of them myself."

After pacifying the concubine, Zhao Pan walked to the back hall. Prince Shen had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Zhao Pan, he immediately stood up and saluted, but was stopped by Zhao Pan: "Uncle, there is no need to be polite."

This Prince Shen was also a member of the Zhao family, but he was not a direct descendant.

"How's the matter I asked you to investigate going?" Zhao Pan asked directly.

Upon hearing this, Prince Shen replied, "I have already found out that the one who killed Prince Jian was Lu Ji."

"Is it really him?!"

Zhao Pan frowned upon hearing this, and after a pause, he asked Prince Shen: "But why did Lu Ji kill him for no reason?"

"Your Majesty." Prince Shen stepped forward and continued, "Although the captured assassin said that he was bribed by Prince Jian's enemy, this matter is clearly very suspicious. Prince Jian is just an idle prince, how could he have any enemies?"

Prince Shen cleared his throat and whispered, "After a thorough investigation, I found that Lu Ji had indeed ordered this to happen."

"I have written all the evidence here. Your Majesty, please take a look." As he said this, Prince Jian took out a few pages of paper from his sleeve pocket and handed them to Zhao Pan.

Zhao Pan took it and looked through it, his expression changed slightly. He waved his hand to dismiss Prince Shen, and then ordered someone to call his personal guards.

After a while, a man in black came in and bowed to Zhao Pan: "Your Majesty, is it about those dead soldiers?"

Seeing Zhao Pan nod, the man in black asked again: "Your Majesty, are you going to use someone now?"

Zhao Pan said: "Not for now, but we have to prepare for it."

The man in black said, "I dare not deceive your majesty. With the abilities of these assassins, we are not sure if we can assassinate the regent."

He knelt down and clasped his fists: "But please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my best to train these people."

Zhao Pan remained silent upon hearing this. He sat in the chair for a long time in silence, lost in thought, and then he muttered to himself, "Could it be that he is so omnipresent that he knows even such trivial matters?"

"Your Majesty, who are you talking about?" asked the man in black.

Zhao Pan came back to his senses and said to his confidant, "That Prince Jian may appear to be an idle prince, but in private, he is my man."

"A month ago, I entrusted him with a task, asking him to secretly investigate for evidence of Lu Ji's corruption and abuse of power. Who would have thought that within a few days, he would be found dead on the street."

As he spoke, Zhao Pan could not help but feel sad: "Lu Ji has all the power in his hands, and I don't have many people I can use."

He sighed heavily: "It's rare that this Prince Jian has the heart to support the Zhao family. Alas! What a pity."

The man in black said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. Although Lu Ji holds all the power, the Zhao family has a long history and many branches. The people in the Zhao family will definitely do their best to help Your Majesty regain power."

Zhao Pan couldn't help but sigh when he heard this: "When my father was alive, he excluded many people from the Zhao family, leaving only the virtuous prince. Now that treacherous people are in power, we still have to rely on the descendants of the Zhao family to defend the family business." (End of this chapter)