No one knew who had colluded with the Nühe people. Those who could possess an Imperial Guard token were hardly few within the imperial city.

The most formidable figure at the top of the hierarchy was the current Crown Prince, Zhan Yuheng — but what would Zhan Yuheng gain by sending people to assassinate the Ninth Prince? Was it that he feared the Ninth Prince’s influence at court and worried he might one day compete for the throne?

But His Highness the Crown Prince had only recently been recuperating, and to this day still had not been able to leave his bed — the likelihood of him orchestrating this from behind the scenes was not very high. Moreover, the Crown Prince now had only a little over a hundred thousand Imperial Guards under his command. Without a far more powerful backer, he could not possibly make a rash move against the Ninth Prince.

Once the Ninth Prince fell from power, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Dragon Martial Army under his command would end up in who-knows-whose hands. On top of that, the Nühe people had now made it clear that the next country they intended to occupy was their very own Bei Mu — war was imminent, and at such a time, anyone with even the slightest patriotic heart would not dare make a move against the Ninth Prince.

If it was not Zhan Yuheng, then perhaps it was some of the people under him who had colluded with certain parties and joined hands with the Nühe — but who would be behind those people?

Nanmen Rong? She loved her Ninth Imperial Uncle so deeply — that seemed unlikely.

Nanmen Ye? Now that was a possibility! But leveling accusations without evidence or proof was nothing more than slander, and Feng Jiu’er despised slandering others most of all.

Could it be His Majesty? After all, the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s very existence was a constant threat to the master of the realm. To say that Emperor Qiwen harbored absolutely no wariness toward the Ninth Imperial Uncle was simply impossible.

The mist of uncertainty was thick and heavy, and she could not tell who was truly directing all of this. Throughout the entire afternoon of training, Feng Jiu’er found her mind wandering.

She had not seen Mu Mu the entire day, and their squad had suddenly felt as though it was missing many people. Dan Yidao was gone; Mu Mu had disappeared somewhere unknown; Qiao Mu had originally been assigned to their Dragon Fourth Army, Fourth Second Squad, but that fellow Huo Yan had taken a liking to Qiao Mu’s skills and brought her along specifically to train the students instead.

And so their squad of five had dwindled to just Jiu’er, Xiao Yingtao, and Xing Zizou — only three people remaining.

When training ended in the evening, Xing Zizou caught up to them.

Xiao Yingtao was still trying to think of an excuse to refuse his dinner invitation — she had absolutely no desire to share another meal with him that night — but to her surprise, the person he had come chasing after was not her.

“Jiu’er, a word in private.” Xing Zizou flashed Xiao Yingtao a smile and turned to look at Feng Jiu’er.

Jiu’er glanced at Xiao Yingtao. Xiao Yingtao was only too happy to have the easy way out, and immediately said: “I’ll head back first — don’t wait up for me.”

“Alright.”

After watching Xiao Yingtao leave, Feng Jiu’er and Xing Zizou walked to a deserted corner.

Xing Zizou said, “There was indeed a case of a mountain bandit clan massacre back then. However, there is no record of it in the official case files, and the local government offices of that area kept no documentation of it either — information could only be gathered through word-of-mouth from certain people who were alive at the time.”

Feng Jiu’er was a little taken aback: “You have a reply already? Case files? Government offices? Zizou, your information network truly is far-reaching!”

“Well, my family’s primary business is dealing in information. Without a network of connections, this line of work simply cannot go on.”

Xing Zizou rubbed his nose and smiled: “Never mind where my information comes from for now — there is one thing that is quite obvious: someone must have been working behind the scenes back then to prevent all of this from being entered into the case files and government registers.”

A person capable of that possessed truly formidable influence — otherwise, how could someone manage to settle affairs both inside and outside the palace?

“But my grandfather said that the Empress had been afflicted with a rare poison at the time and had herself barely survived.” If that were the case, then this person could certainly not have been the Empress herself.

Unless what her grandfather said about the Empress being poisoned was false — but Feng Jiu’er felt that the credibility of her grandfather’s words was still very high.

Xing Zizou nodded: “I have also heard of this. There are still some old palace maids and eunuchs within the palace who know of the matter. Back then, Nanmen Rong had indeed nearly lost her life.”

That being the case, the likelihood that the Dragon Family’s annihilation had been Nanmen Rong’s doing was truly not very great.

Xing Zizou continued: “At that time, both the Ninth Prince and the Eighth Prince, as well as the Crown Prince, were no more than young lads — none of them yet possessed that degree of influence. The two greatest forces in court were only His Majesty and the Nanmen Clan.”

“The Dragon Family originally held considerable power. But the Dragon Family was wholeheartedly loyal to the court and had never thought to build up their own influence — they had also let down their guard far too much. And so, after several rounds of framing and slander, their influence gradually weakened.”

The Dragon Family’s power had, in truth, been eaten away piece by piece by both His Majesty and the Nanmen Clan.

Three forces had stood in opposition — until eventually only the Nanmen Clan and His Majesty’s faction remained to check each other. After many years, the war god Ninth Prince had suddenly risen to prominence.

And then came the present day, with the addition of the Crown Prince’s and Eighth Prince’s factions, and now His Majesty quietly scheming to cultivate the Seventh Prince’s influence as well… All in all — a mess.

But throughout all dynasties and all ages, when had court politics ever not been a mess?

“Back then, whether it was His Majesty, Nanmen Ye, or some other force controlling everything — no one can say for certain. But in any case, the Dragon Family’s journey to where it stands today began, without question, with Nanmen Rong.”

Xing Zizou was not trying to plant any hatred in Jiu’er’s heart — he was only stating the facts.

These things, Jiu’er had already come to a profound realization of when she had nearly been beheaded by Nanmen Rong back then.

She said nothing. Xing Zizou continued: “Jiu’er, rest assured — I will continue pursuing the full story of what happened back then. At the very least…”

He hesitated for a moment, then let out a soft sigh, helplessly: “At the very least, I will find the burial place of your family members for you.”

“Thank you, Zizou — the kindness you have shown me, I will repay in days to come without fail!”

She truly did want to know where her family members had been buried. Most importantly, she… wanted to recover their remains. Even if more than a decade had passed and there was now nothing left but bones.

Even if it was only bones — they should be brought back, properly buried, and not left to endure wind and rain in the open, with no peace to rest. This was not a matter of superstition or belief: as their descendant, this was something that simply had to be done.

Xing Zizou smiled faintly, and in his expression there was a sorrow that was difficult to put into words.

“My Xing Family back then…” He smiled again, and said: “The Xing Family also suffered from being implicated in the Dragon Family’s affair…”

Seeing a flash of surprise cross Feng Jiu’er’s eyes, he explained: “I am not here to settle accounts, Jiu’er. Like you, I believe the Dragon Family never harbored any intention of bringing harm to the court — they were framed.”

“Only, the Xing Family truly did suffer because of it. My grandfather spent his days in melancholy and ultimately passed away from illness. My father has spent all these years in a state of despondency, his ambitions unrealized.”

“Jiu’er, I believe in your ability. You are the daughter of General Long — in time, you will certainly accomplish great things. If you would not think less of me for it, I hope that one day I may serve as my grandfather once followed General Long. That is all I wish for.”

He cupped his hands in a formal salute and said earnestly: “I too am a restless soul — I have no desire to remain a man of humble origins forever. If that day comes when you soar like a phoenix to the heavens, please do not forget this helper of yours.”