The few people present understood the purpose of these princes and princesses.
Sheng Lengshuang clicked her tongue, "These princes and princesses are getting impatient. Their mothers have been punished and are about to lose favor, so they have to come and build a relationship with my son."
Before this, these princes and princesses rarely appeared before Xiao Feng, nor did they try to curry favor with him, so as not to displease His Majesty.
Now, except for a few princes and princesses, the rest have all shown up.
Zi Cheng was a little impatient but asked Xiao Feng for his opinion, "Xiao Feng, do you want to play with these people?"
Xiao Feng's original intention was not to play with them one by one. He clearly understood their purpose in seeking him out. It was like how the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were always trying to please and flatter him.
"Imperial Brother, if I avoid them this time, will they still come looking for me next time?"
Zi Cheng nodded, "That's indeed the case. As long as you remain in favor and possess enough power, these people will try every means to win you over and use you until your usefulness is completely squeezed out."
Xiao Feng was truly annoyed by this, but as his Imperial Brother said, if he refused once or twice, they would come for him a third or fourth time, until they could use him.
"Then I'll go out and take a look."
Zi Cheng smiled, "Go ahead. Don't be polite, just do as you please."
Xiao Feng said with some grievance, "Imperial Brother says it nicely. If I really do that, it will be no different from making enemies, and they will resent me even more."
Zi Cheng burst into laughter and glanced at the chief eunuch.
The chief eunuch bowed respectfully and followed Xiao Feng out.
"In any case, Xiao Feng has to adapt to these things." No matter how much Sheng Lengshuang doted on him or was unwilling, she would not stop him.
Mo Lingxi put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, "Think of the bright side. With His Majesty around, they wouldn't dare to do anything to Xiao Feng."
Zi Cheng: "..." Forget it, he had been 'used' by his uncle more than once or twice, and he was already used to it.
Sheng Lengshuang chuckled, "Let's continue discussing important matters. Children's affairs should be handled by children themselves; we elders should interfere less."
This was also a form of training for Xiao Feng.
Zi Cheng put away his smile and nodded, "Uncle and Aunt would never have imagined how many people are involved in this matter."
Sheng Lengshuang asked him to continue.
Zi Cheng held up his hands and waved them, "Ten imperial consorts! Except for Noble Lady Zhang, all of them are of relatively high rank, and among them are two imperial consorts of the highest rank."
"I have to suspect that the opponent's goal is to drag all the high-ranking imperial consorts down with them, so that they can ascend to higher positions themselves."
Sheng Lengshuang looked at Mo Lingxi.
Mo Lingxi explained, "According to the rules, once there are too many vacancies among the high-ranking imperial consorts, they must be filled. This can be done through selection of new consorts or promotion of existing ones."
"Generally, it's the promotion of existing imperial consorts. It's basically impossible for consorts selected through the selection process to have high ranks immediately upon entering the palace."
Sheng Lengshuang understood and mused, "I must say, this move is quite ruthless, killing multiple birds with one stone. So many imperial consorts have been implicated, yet the real culprit cannot be found."
Mo Lingxi chimed in, "It's His Majesty who is too useless, unable to manage his harem properly."
The current Emperor did not speak and snorted at Mo Lingxi.
Sheng Lengshuang hummed, "Now that so many imperial consorts are involved, how does His Majesty plan to deal with them? If he doesn't punish them, it's not right, but if he does, it plays into the opponent's hands."
Zi Cheng had already thought of this, "It's impossible for me to deal with so many imperial consorts at once. Moreover, after dealing with two previously, it's not advisable to make any moves now."
"Therefore, I've decided to have all these imperial consorts go to the royal temple for a period of ascetic cultivation, without any attendants, and to support themselves."
Sheng Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi gave him a thumbs-up, "Impressive!"
This move was truly brilliant.
Zi Cheng chuckled, "I think it won't be long before we find useful clues. Even if we don't, the imperial consorts in ascetic cultivation won't have the extra time to do things they shouldn't."
Sheng Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi both agreed with this punishment. One of the reasons these imperial consorts resorted to scheming was that they were too idle. Once they were no longer idle and were busy with eating and drinking every day, they would not have time to scheme.
"What about the princes and princesses? Your Majesty, some princes and princesses are of a good age, and their temperaments can be corrected." Sheng Lengshuang said, recalling something, "I once read a story in a travelogue."
"There was a large family, and to prevent their wives and concubines from corrupting their descendants or instilling bad ideas into them, all the children born were uniformly taken to a courtyard to be raised.
It was stipulated that the mother could see them a few times a month, and with whom she could see them. I think Your Majesty could learn from this."
Mo Lingxi pondered, "This is a good idea. The children of the harem, if born to consorts of low rank, would be raised by those of high rank, or those of high rank could raise them themselves. If they were all taught uniformly, it could prevent many issues."
Zi Cheng also thought this idea was excellent, "Children themselves do not know good from evil; they become so through the teachings of others."
"Let fair and upright people uniformly raise these children. If anyone does something they shouldn't, they will be severely punished."
Sheng Lengshuang did not participate in the rest. The reason she brought this up was for Xiao Feng's future. She did not want her son to be schemed against and used by these people.
Moreover, no one knew what attitude the next emperor would have.
If it were a fair and upright emperor, it would be fine. But if it were a bad one, their family would face disaster.
Zi Cheng informed Mo Lingxi and Sheng Lengshuang and then went to attend to this matter. He wanted to get it done quickly to prevent those imperial consorts from using the children to cause trouble.
Sheng Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi then went about their own business, waiting for Xiao Feng to return.
However, before Xiao Feng returned, Zi Cheng came again.
Sheng Lengshuang saw Zi Cheng's hurried demeanor and asked, "What's wrong, Your Majesty?"
"Aunt, Uncle, something has happened!" Zi Cheng exhaled, "The head of the merchant guild has been murdered, and his body was thrown into the granary, his blood staining countless grains."
"The key point is that the name of Aunt was written on the ground with blood, and now this matter has caused a huge uproar."
Sheng Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi immediately knew it was the work of the hidden hand.
"This is aimed at me," Sheng Lengshuang said, confused about some things, "Why kill the head of the merchant guild? Is this head important?"
Zi Cheng shook his head, "Not particularly important, mainly responsible for managing the affairs of the merchant guild, he is the direct superior of the merchants. But causing such an incident has caused panic among the merchant guild, and it has a certain impact."
Mo Lingxi took over, "The merchant guild is in a panic, and some shops will not open for business temporarily, which will have a certain impact on the common people."