Zhou Manniang was panicking.

She looked up just in time to see Lu Qinghuai stepping down from the stands, giving a few quiet instructions to his attendants.

The imperial physician arrived quickly, but it was unclear at the moment what the condition of Prince Hengguang was.

The people in the stands were tense, as the incident had occurred so suddenly that many hadn’t seen the specifics.

They only saw Lu Hongying swinging her polo mallet.

When Lu Hongying was brought into the hall, she looked pale, her head bowed in silence as the surrounding eyes studied her.

However, despite many witnessing her swinging the mallet, no one spoke out.

They hadn’t forgotten that the Lu family had three renowned generals.

Even if today’s incident was indeed caused by Lu Hongying’s mistake, the Emperor would not demand her life, especially since the condition of Princr Heng Guang was still uncertain.

Lu Qinghuai’s expression remained calm, his handsome face taking on an even colder, more lethal look when he wasn’t smiling.

He quietly asked Lu Hongying, “Before the match, didn’t you say you wanted to wear a black riding outfit? Why did you go to Prince Wei Yang’s side instead?”

Lu Hongying came to her senses.

As her confusion and panic faded, her eyes became clearer.

After recalling the events, her expression changed, “A palace servant told me that Prince Wei Yangwang was short of one person!”

This meant that the incident had not been a coincidence after all.

Someone had deliberately orchestrated it, and it was aimed at their Lu family.

Hearing this, Lu Qinghuai was not surprised.

He simply asked her to recall the appearance and attire of the person who had spoken to her.

Lu Hongying shared everything she remembered, and Lu Qinghuai nodded lightly.

Meanwhile, the imperial physician came out of the hall, and Consort Shu, her face tense, hurriedly asked, “How is His Highness the Prince?”

“Replying to Consort Shu, His Highness has a severe injury to his left leg, the bone is fractured, and there are abrasions and contusions to the ribs. He will need to rest for some time.”

Upon hearing this, Consort Shu let out a long breath.

After a moment of hesitation, she asked, “But His Highness’s leg…”

After all, the horse had gone wild, and King Hengguang had suffered a tremendous impact, leading to him losing consciousness.

More importantly…

There was a longstanding regulation in Great Hui that anyone with a disability could not inherit the throne.

When King Hengguang was brought into the hall, it was clear that his life was not in danger.

However, whether his left leg would recover was the most pressing concern for everyone present.

If Prince Heng Guang lost the ability to recover his leg, he might lose his claim to the throne, and that could shake the entire capital.

To their surprise, the imperial physician answered, “The Prince’s leg is not life-threatening. It’s just a fractured bone. He will need at least six months to fully recover.”

When these words were spoken, Consort Shu paused before showing a relieved expression.

The people in the hall reacted with mixed emotions.

It was Prince Wei Yangwang who spoke up first, “This matter must be explained to my elder brother.”

Normally, he would have been quick to celebrate such a thing, but since Prince Heng Guang was injured while playing polo with him, Prince Wei Yangwang could not escape some blame.

He could not bring himself to rejoice.

His teeth were nearly grinding together as he thought, wondering who had dared to orchestrate such a scheme against him.

Consort Shu paused for a moment, her gaze unintentionally falling on the lowered head of Lu Hongying.

Then, her voice softened as she said, “Hongying didn’t do it on purpose. This must have been an accident…”

Though many had seen Lu Hongying strike the ball, now that Prince Heng Guang seemed to be fine, it was hard to blame the young girl.

Consort Shu even tried to comfort her, “Don’t worry, Hongying. Even when the Prince wakes up, he probably won’t blame you.”

While her words were kind, they also implied that the incident was indeed caused by Lu Hongying.

Zhou Manniang’s face darkened, and she couldn’t help but glance back.

For her, managing the affairs of the Princess’s residence was still manageable, but in such a major matter within the palace, her influence was limited.

She was especially worried that Lu Hongying might be implicated.

Her first thought was to ask Wen Yuesheng for help.

After all, Zhou Manniang had only recently taken charge of various matters and had not yet fully grown into her role.

Prince Wei Yangwang’s expression changed repeatedly. If it was truly an accident, and it was Lu Hongying’s doing, there was little they could do about it.

“So it was really Miss Lu who did it?” Prince Wei Yangwang furrowed his brows.

Lu Qinghuai replied coldly, “Didn’t those who tried to stop Hongying see it clearly?”

The people who had been standing nearby bowed their heads, not daring to speak.

Lu Qinghuai then directly asked, “Look me in the eyes. Did any of you clearly see that the ball was struck by Lu Hongying?”

Zhou Manniang couldn’t help but glance at him.

The Lu Qinghuai before her now was a stark contrast to the one she had come to know in recent days.

He was cold, unapproachable, and carried an air of lethal authority.

The group of men fell silent at his question.

“Answer me!” Lu Qinghuai commanded.

“Replying to the General, we… we didn’t see it clearly,” one man confessed.

“Me neither,” another muttered.

However, one man, the guard who had fallen off his horse before the ball was struck, spoke up, “It was indeed Miss Lu who did it.”

The hall fell silent in an instant.

Lu Qinghuai’s cold eyes fixed on him. “Are you certain?”

The atmosphere in the palace was thick with tension.

The guard, head lowered and avoiding eye contact, spoke in a subdued voice, “I assure you, sir.”

But before he could finish, Lu Qinghuai suddenly exploded in anger, kicking the guard hard in the shoulder. “Stop your nonsense!”

The room fell into an eerie silence, as no one had expected Lu Qinghuai to act so abruptly.

The servant who had been sent out returned swiftly.

“General,” the servant presented something to him.

Prince Wei Yangwang looked over, his eyes narrowing when he realized it was the polo ball they had just played with.

“What’s the matter with this ball?” Prince Weiyang asked, confused.

Before anyone could respond, Lu Qinghuai had already begun to dismantle the ball.

When opened, a small object was revealed inside — a tiny dart.

Prince Wei Yangwang’s face went pale.

So, someone had used a dart to strike the ball amidst the chaos, causing it to hit Prince Heng Guang’s horse.

He had suspected something was off with the force of the shot earlier.

Lu Qinghuai looked coldly at the guard. “Now, tell me again, who is your master?”

The guard didn’t even have time to speak before Lu Qinghuai swiftly dislocated his jaw with a violent strike.

The sickening sound of the jaw coming loose made those nearby wince.

Lu Qinghuai had done this to prevent the guard from taking his own life.

“You didn’t want to speak earlier, and now you won’t have the chance. There are plenty of tortures in the army. You’ll soon get to experience them all,” Lu Qinghuai said coldly.

But just as he said that, the guard unexpectedly swallowed poison, ending his life in an instant.

Lu Qinghuai coldly observed the guard’s body slump to the ground.

Those sent to carry out such deeds were often willing to die for their cause, knowing that death was their only escape from the inevitable torture they would endure.

A deathly silence filled the room.

Meanwhile, Lu Hongying, drained of energy from the earlier chaos, was supported by Zhou Manniang, who spoke with a reddened eye, “I was too frantic earlier. I sent someone to summon the Princess.”

Lu Hongying shook her head.

She knew the trouble was directed at her family, and she didn’t want the Princess to be involved.

At that moment, the carriage of Wen Yuesheng had already arrived at the palace gates.

Just as she was about to enter, she encountered a person dressed in pure white, appearing almost untouched by dust.

Wen Yuesheng raised her eyes and asked, “Master Yan, are you waiting for me here?”

“Yes,” Yan Ling replied, his eyes meeting hers, those deep, serene eyes that seemed like an ocean.

They walked side by side down the long palace path.

The entire area was strangely quiet, with no one around except for the soft autumn breeze rustling the fallen leaves.

“Was today’s incident orchestrated by someone from the royal family?” Wen Yuesheng asked, her voice indifferent.

Yan Ling walked alongside her, his tone casual. “The people of the Xiao family have always acted this way.”

He referred to the royal family as the Xiao family, a statement that, if anyone else had heard it, could have been considered a crime punishable by death.

Only Wen Yuesheng, unfazed, stopped in her tracks.

Yan Ling, distant as ever, spoke, “The Lu family controls three military positions at the border, the Zhao family holds the defense of the capital, and the Sun family has deep ties within the court.”

“The Wen family is closely connected with the Empress Dowager, and then there’s the Princess…”

He looked at her with those glittering eyes, and though there was no strong emotion in them, they were unmistakably clear in their intention.

“From the broken engagement to Zhang Yulin, and Prince Haozhou, you’ve already become inseparable from both the court and the people.”

Wen Yuesheng looked at him, her fingers gently playing with her jade beads, her expression calm. “The Xiao family wants to take the world, but you want to destroy it.”

“Yan Ling, both of you are the roots of chaos. Why do you think I, a fellow Xiao, wouldn’t kill you?”

Yan Ling, however, was unfazed. “The Xiao family has always used any means necessary to seize power, turning on one another, spreading lies. Killing me won’t quell the chaos in the Xiao family.”

“What I want to destroy is not the world, but the Xiao family’s world.”

What had happened today was undoubtedly a scheme by the Xiao family.

And as long as they remained in the capital, in the fertile lands of Dahui, peace would never come.

Today it was the Lu family, tomorrow it could be the Zhang family, and in a few days, they might use Wen Yuesheng to trade for a few moments of peace.

“You want what’s happening right now, don’t you?” Yan Ling’s voice remained detached, but his words were clear: if the Xiao dynasty were to collapse, he would be at the forefront of the reward.

Looking at Prince Hengguang’s current plight was enough to see how things were going.

Yan Ling’s gaze remained cool as he spoke, “I really don’t care about the Xiao dynasty.”

He had never wanted to inherit the Xiao family’s throne.

From the very beginning, all he wanted was to watch the Xiao family, blood relatives and loyal dogs alike, slaughter each other until they were all dead.

For now, everything was going according to plan.

But what changed things was her.

“What you said that day, I return it to you today.”

Yan Ling’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Wen Yue Sheng. “The Princess’ descendants are also of royal blood. As the Princess is of royal blood, you too have the right to fight for power.”

If anyone were to hear this, they would surely think that Yan Ling had gone mad.

He was advising the Princess to enter the Xiao family’s bloodline and fight for the throne alongside the other princes.

He truly had no interest in the Xiao dynasty.

All he cared about was the destruction of the Xiao family’s bloodline.

The solution to saving the Xiao dynasty through diplomacy and peace was futile. Perhaps, only through complete annihilation could peace be achieved.