Chapter 54: Bad news comes in threes 2

Imperial palace 

"Your highness, Master Shi and the first master has been arrested!"

"WHAT!!" Imperial Consort Shi slapped her hands on the chaise and sat forward. "What happened! How can a normal court session end like this!"

The little eunuch didn't respond he kowtowed, hurrying his head between his hands. He was familiar with the Imperial consort's temper and didn't want to be here anymore. Imperial Consort Shi never understood the saying of don't shoot the messenger, he silently prayed that the ground would open and swallow him.

Working for the royal family was risky, especially when you worked with a consort as deadly as Imperial consort Shi. One wrong mood could end with your death, the little eunuch shivered while praying silently.

Meanwhile, the imperial consort kicked the maid massaging her feet away with force and stood. She called her court lady "court Lady Yang please find out what is going on".

Her court lady a slightly plump lady, a few years older than her bowed "Yes" and walked to the door. She was nearly at the door when the door was pushed open and the sixth Prince rushed in.

"Mother! We have a problem" he said walking briskly to her side. 

"Xiao Cheng? What happened at court today? Why am I hearing that your grandfather and uncle were arrested?"

"That is only the half of it mother, father Emperor has ordered that the Shi family assets be seized"

"Seized? On what grounds?" Imperial Consort Shi said eyes bulging. Zhongshan Cheng glanced at the kneeling winch and the maids briefly, imperial consort Shi immediately got the hint. She dismissed everyone, when they were all gone she cleared her throat.

Zhongshan Cheng moved closer and said in hushed tones "Our dealings with the foreign opium ring has been discovered. Father Emperor is investigating the Shi family".

Imperial Consort Shi grabbed his arm tightly "what! How did he find out".

"Minister Yao found out about the secret deal"

Imperial Consort Shi fell on her seat and rested her head on her hands "What? Oh no! How bad is it?" 

"Minister Zhu looked into it and the evidence is damning" 

"We can't let him discover about our involvement" Imperial consort Shi hissed. She held her head up, tapping the arm of the chaise thoughtfully. "We can't let this implicate you, we could lose everything if it is discovered".

"I asked around mother and the men reported seeing someone that matched Lu Yaozhu's description around the stall a few weeks ago. I suspect that the Lu family was involved in this"

"What? So far Minister Yao has always stayed neutral. How is that possible, he has criticized the Duke and the crown prince multiple times"

"Minister Yao is a self-righteous prick, Lu Yaozhu must have given him some concrete evidence..."

"LU YAOZHU! Again, it's bad enough that his previous actions cost you the crown Prince position. Now he targets our Shi family'! He needs to be dealt with" imperial consort Shi said balling up her fist.

The Lu family were a thorn in her eyes and has been for years. She couldn't understand why the Emperor kept the Empress around, no matter how she tried to push him to get rid of the empress. The Emperor was already weary of the Lu Family's power specifically the military power on Lu Yaozhu's hands.

The Empress dowager was dead no one would question him if he dethroned the Empress, yet he kept her around. Imperial Consort Shi was forced to bow to the weak Empress. The Emperor's indecision had cost her son the Crown Prince title.

Now it was about to cost her family great harm, she would never let that happen. Imperial Consort Shi wrote down a message on a piece of paper and passed it to her son. "Make haste Xiao Cheng, Give this to your third granduncle".

Zhongshan Cheng accepted the small letter and rushed out of his mother's palace.

*********

Two days later the head of the third branch of the Shi family, confessed to selling opium illegally to cover his gambling debt. He confessed to working alone and keeping his family in the dark. With his confession submitted, Eldest master Shi and first master Shi was released from prison and sent home.

The Shi family could be said to have narrowly escaped getting killed, although Eldest master Shi and first master Shi was found to be innocent, the Shi family lost their importation rights. The opium trade was one of the major sources of income for the Shi family.

Losing the importation rights resulted in the Shi family losing 40% of their incoming, putting a dent in their financial condition. The sixth Prince and Imperial consort Shi was greatly affected by that.

Minister Shi and the Sixth Prince were fined three months income for mismanaging the resources. That day Zhongshan Cheng went straight to Měiróng yuàn after the court session and drank till late in the night.

Zhu Feifei was handling the mansions accounts when a maid reported that Zhongshan Cheng just got in. She looked up from the account books "have the kitchen deliver a light meal to his highness study".

When the maid failed to move from where she stood, Zhu Feifei looked up once again and asked "is my message going to deliver themselves? WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!" 

The Maid was startled when she Shouted but quickly corrected her expression. One would think that after serving the ever explosive princess consort for months, she would have gotten used to her temper. "Forgive my intuition your highness, but his highness the sixth Prince is not at the study".

Zhu Feifei looked at her eyes narrowed, if looks could kill the maid would be dead. "What do you mean? Where is he?" When the maid remained silent Zhu Feifei shut the shut books loudly "ARE YOU DUMB OR SOMETHING! ANSWER ME!!".

The maid took a step back and holding her hands tightly, breathed in and out then replied in a tiny voice "His highness retired to madam Qu's place".

Zhu Feifei exploded as soon as she heard that, she pushed back her seat loudly and pushed everything on her table to the ground. "THAT SLUT!" She screamed.