"Mother, you're back. What's the situation now?"
Ever since Ding Yun entered the palace, Qin Yangxiao had been waiting anxiously at the entrance of the Princess's mansion.
Though young, he was not foolish.
He clearly understood their family's current predicament. It might be an exaggeration to say that a single misstep would lead to eternal damnation, but it was certainly precarious and fraught with danger.
His mother, he surmised, was making one last effort.
Therefore, as soon as Ding Yun returned, he immediately rushed out of the mansion, his voice filled with worry, and inquired.
"Your Imperial Father is well now. Send someone to inform your father and have him bring back the second young master, Yang Hui, and Ah Lan. They no longer need to hide outside."
Since Emperor Pingzhao fell gravely ill, the original host had begun planning for the future. It was unlikely for her to leave the capital herself, and her eldest son, after being enfeoffed as a郡王 (county prince), could not leave the capital without imperial decree. Thus, she could only find an excuse to send her husband, second son, and youngest daughter out of the capital.
She had also arranged many escape routes for them.
If the Crown Prince were to ascend the throne and truly turn hostile, she had a high probability of ensuring their lives. However, from then on, they would likely have to live in anonymity, their identities forever concealed.
But now that Ding Yun had arrived, there was no longer any worry of Emperor Pingzhao dying. The crisis facing their Princess's mansion was thus resolved, meaning the three of them no longer needed to constantly evade and hide.
They could return and live peacefully.
"Mother, is it truly alright?"
"How can you not trust your mother? If I wasn't certain, would I have them return to their deaths? The relevant news should spread soon. Also, Steward Zhang, come with me.
I have some matters to instruct you on."
Ding Yun had previously ordered her son, Qin Yangxiao, to help her with tasks. This was primarily because when she first woke up, only her son was by her side, so it was natural to assign him tasks. But now that Steward Zhang was also present, she immediately switched her subordinate.
This son was far less useful than Steward Zhang. No matter the instruction, Steward Zhang would carry it out directly, never questioning why or even voicing doubt. Ding Yun had many things to attend to and truly had no time to explain things slowly to her son.
As for what needed to be done, it was naturally to weave a convincing tale.
The original host had not studied medicine, nor had she ever perused Daoist scriptures or alchemical texts. In fact, there were no such books in the house. While Emperor Pingzhao was unlikely to specifically investigate if such items existed, it would still be inappropriate if there were none at all. It was necessary to maintain appearances and have some items to display.
In addition, an alchemy furnace and the herbs for refining pills would also need to be collected.
Even the servants and maids in the mansion would need to be warned so they wouldn't let slip any information.
In short, there were many tasks to be done. Ding Yun did not linger at the entrance to speak more with her son. She returned to the inner courtyard with Steward Zhang and immediately began to issue detailed instructions.
Which matters could be handled openly, which must be done in secret, and which were best kept from everyone – all were clearly delineated. After issuing the instructions, she specifically authorized him to mobilize a portion of the Princess's mansion's private guards and, on top of that, allocated him three hundred taels of gold.
Only then did she dismiss Steward Zhang to quickly attend to the tasks.
Following this, Ding Yun had nothing immediate to do.
Mainly, she had to wait. Wait for Steward Zhang to complete his tasks, for the relevant news to spread, for her husband and her other son and daughter to return. And also, for the news to spread, for the number of believers to increase, and for the two skills she had inscribed into the "Refining Illusion into Reality Talisman" to be successfully manifested.
...
Concurrently, the officials and nobles throughout the capital were also far from idle. Some were busy, some were in disarray, some were panicked, some were fearful. The entire court was in chaos.
The reason was quite simple.
Most of them had not been particularly well-behaved recently.
The prevailing consensus among the court officials was that Emperor Pingzhao was likely beyond saving. As the saying goes, "one dynasty, one court." If Emperor Pingzhao were to die, the officials and nobles could not possibly be buried with him.
Whether for themselves or for their descendants, they had to find ways to curry favor with the next emperor, or at the very least, not offend him.
Therefore, during this recent period.
Ministers had frequently pledged their allegiance and shown favor to the Crown Prince.
Some had even acted quite openly, almost as if they were publicly declaring their allegiance to the Crown Prince.
If Emperor Pingzhao had died as they wished, then all of this would have been inconsequential.
But now, Emperor Pingzhao was alive, and he appeared to be in robust health, showing no signs of a dying man's last surge of vitality. Simultaneously, the imperial physicians' diagnosis indicated healthy pulse readings.
All signs of approaching death had vanished, and his lifespan was extended.
This left them utterly bewildered.
Their mental states completely collapsed.
As long as the emperor was healthy, how many would willingly cede power to the Crown Prince? As long as the emperor lived long, how many Crown Princes could ascend the throne peacefully? Would the emperor, upon recovering his health, still trust them after they had so brazenly thrown their support to the Crown Prince while he was still alive?
It would be good enough if they weren't executed.
Consequently, how could those ministers not be astonished, not be panicked, not be fearful?
As for the final outcome, it was naturally to immediately seize the opportunity to demonstrate their loyalty, doing whatever Emperor Pingzhao commanded. They hoped to salvage some of the imperial favor through this.
Of course, this was for the ministers. The other princes, on the other hand, were considerably happier, happier than anyone else.
This was not because they were particularly filial.
The main reason was that those older princes had basically vied with the Second Prince for the position of Crown Prince and for the throne. If the Second Prince were to ascend the throne, what good outcome would await them?
If they were lucky, they might live out their lives as princes. If they were unlucky, he might find some excuse to have them killed.
Now that Emperor Pingzhao had recovered his health.
They naturally breathed a sigh of relief.
Most importantly, they felt that they might have a glimmer of hope again. The Crown Prince's actions this time would undoubtedly displease Emperor Pingzhao, leading to their renewed opportunity in the struggle for succession.
In addition to this, a few far-sighted princes.
They quickly retrieved treasures from their private coffers and sent them to the Princess's mansion. Ostensibly, they were expressing gratitude to their elder sister for saving their father. They had nothing else to offer but to send more gold and silver to their elder sister for medicinal herbs and the like.
In reality, they were seeking to curry favor with Princess Ding Yun.
The Princess was already favored, and now she had saved Emperor Pingzhao from the brink of death. Her future status was unknown, and to not try to win her over now would be foolish. However, they could not openly court her directly, so they could only send gifts to foster closer relations.
Of course, in addition to this, Ding Yun's deeds and the falsehoods she fabricated, with Emperor Pingzhao's enthusiastic assistance, had rapidly spread throughout the capital and were continuing to disseminate outwards.
A large number of ordinary citizens truly believed it to be true.
This greatly accelerated the progress of Ding Yun's "Refining Illusion into Reality" skills.