Ye Chongming’s anxious heart finally returned to its proper place. He immediately ordered oxen slaughtered and sheep butchered to feed the entire traveling party.

Ye Yaming, however, had no appetite. She pulled Ye Chongming into his study and asked, “What’s happening in the capital?”

She didn’t need to ask about the safety of the Ye family members. She had already seen everyone who came to welcome her, and they all appeared to be in good order. As for Ye Hongsheng, who wasn’t home, Madam Yin had explained that he was at the tea garden. Since they didn’t know she would return today, he hadn’t come down from the mountain.

Ye Chongming said, “Not only has there been no news in Lin’an city, but even those in the know in the capital are few. Manager Huang said he had been on edge, sleeping poorly, which is why he vaguely heard some commotion that night. It seemed that soldiers were chasing someone, but the sounds disappeared after a moment.”

Seeing that he didn’t continue, Ye Yaming understood that the movements of the upper ruling class were not something that commoners like them could know about, so she didn’t ask further.

She planned to inquire about the situation when she met with Qi Ji later.

Qi Zhipei was a government official who knew in advance that changes would occur. He should know about the developments in the capital.

During this trip to Fujian, spending half a year with Qi Ji and facing hardships together, their relationship had become as close as siblings.

After resting for two days, Ye Yaming sent a letter to Qi Ji, inviting him to the teahouse to discuss matters.

Qi Ji arrived as agreed and said, “If you hadn’t invited me, I had planned to come over and tell you about the situation in the capital anyway.”

Ye Yaming quickly poured him a cup of tea, placed it before him, and urged, “Tell me quickly.”

Ye Chongming also stared intently at Qi Ji.

Qi Ji picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then dropped a bombshell: “The Emperor has deposed the Empress.”

“What?” Ye Chongming was shocked.

Ye Yaming wasn’t surprised. Not only the Crown Prince but even the Emperor himself was dissatisfied with Duke Weiguo’s household.

To deal with Duke Weiguo’s household, the ultimate result would inevitably be deposing the Empress. If the Emperor didn’t depose her but eliminated her father, one day the Empress might poison the Emperor to avenge her father and put her son on the throne. The Emperor would be a fool to leave such a danger.

Qi Ji continued, “As you probably know, the court has been divided into two factions, one led by the Crown Prince and the other by the Fourth Prince. Regarding border issues, the Crown Prince advocates for normal tea-horse trade with the Jin Dynasty, while the Fourth Prince’s faction claims that, with the recent rampant smuggling of tea, the tea-horse markets should be closed to investigate. The two sides have been arguing endlessly in court over this.”

Because the closure of the tea-horse markets at the border affected Lin’an tea merchants to some extent, Ye Chongming was aware of this situation.

He nodded.

Qi Ji lowered his voice and said, “These past two years, the Crown Prince has been investigating the Fourth Prince’s relationship with the Jin Dynasty.”

“What?” Ye Chongming was startled, also keeping his voice low. “Did he commit treason? Why?”

He knew that the Fourth Prince’s birth mother was Duke Weiguo’s daughter. Even commoners like them needed a reason to divorce a properly married wife, or neither the government nor the public would support or recognize it, let alone when it concerned the mother of the nation.

Connecting this to what Qi Ji had said, it must be that the Fourth Prince had colluded with a foreign country, angering the Emperor, which led to the Empress being deposed and the Fourth Prince being severely punished.

Qi Ji gave Ye Chongming a thumbs up and said, “He knew that while the Emperor appeared to rely heavily on his mother and Duke Weiguo’s household, he was guarding against them. The Emperor would never depose the Crown Prince to make him the Crown Prince.”

“So Duke Weiguo’s household contacted Bater from the Jin Dynasty.”

At this point, he explained, “Bater is the half-brother of the Jin King, who has always wanted to seize power.”

Seeing Ye Chongming and Ye Yaming nod, he continued, “Duke Weiguo wanted to support Bater in seizing power, then have Bater use the closure of the tea-horse markets as a pretext to attack the Jin Dynasty. Since Duke Weiguo’s heir, Shi Kun, controlled the military in the northwest, they used this to pressure the Emperor to depose the Crown Prince and install the Fourth Prince as Crown Prince.”

Ye Yaming frowned, “Why do I feel this is the same pattern as when the Emperor married his second Empress?”

Qi Ji slapped the table, “You’re right!”

His action startled Ye Chongming.

Ye Yaming glared at him, “Speak properly.”

Qi Ji smiled apologetically at Ye Chongming and said, “In recent years, the Marquis of Xianwu, that is, Zi Mo’s father, married a woman from the Shi family. He was also formidable in battle and rose quickly through the ranks, becoming an important figure in Duke Weiguo’s camp. Taking advantage of this, he planted some people in Duke Weiguo’s household and gained the Duke’s trust. Those men discovered the Duke’s secret place for keeping messages and confirmed those letters.”

“When the time was right, the Crown Prince created some incidents to distract the second Empress and Duke Weiguo, while the Emperor’s men infiltrated the Duke’s residence and obtained the letters Bater had written to Duke Weiguo over the years. The Marquis of Xianwu immediately arrested Shi Kun at the border, Duke Weiguo was captured, the second Empress was deposed, and the Fourth Prince was also confined.”

In just a few sentences, Ye Chongming sensed the heart-stopping tension of that moment.

He murmured, “No wonder Manager Huang heard commotion that night.”

Qi Ji nodded, “Duke Weiguo was indeed powerful. When the Emperor moved to eliminate him, he couldn’t help but resist. He tried to lead troops directly into the imperial palace to assassinate the Emperor and put the Fourth Prince on the throne, but was killed on the spot by the imperial guards.”

He looked at Ye Yaming, “After the Emperor deposed the Empress, the Marquis of Xianwu immediately announced his divorce from his wife.”

Hearing this, Ye Chongming was overjoyed and said to Ye Yaming, “Now we no longer need to be afraid.”

During this period, they had been on edge, fearing that Lu Guanyi’s stepmother might harm them. If Lu Guanyi couldn’t deal with his stepmother within the promised two years, Ye Chongming wouldn’t feel comfortable marrying his granddaughter to him.

Even someone as small as Meng Chengwei was frightening when enraged, let alone Duke Weiguo’s household. Considering how Madam Shi had ruthlessly dealt with Lu Guanyi as her stepson, completely disregarding her status, one could imagine her madness and flamboyance.

“But Duke Weiguo’s household still has remnants,” Qi Ji said with a serious face, “and Madam Shi’s son, Zi Mo’s half-brother, is still alive. If he learns of your engagement, he might target you to vent his anger. So I think it’s best to continue keeping this engagement secret.”

Ye Chongming and Ye Yaming both nodded repeatedly.

“Don’t worry, we won’t say anything,” Ye Chongming promised.

Qi Ji nodded, picked up his teacup, and drank, clearly indicating that this topic was now concluded.

Ye Yaming hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Is Lu Guanyi doing well at the border?”

Although she was engaged to Lu Guanyi, she didn’t think of him much. However, as they were now betrothed, it would seem cold-hearted if she didn’t ask about him. Even if they weren’t engaged, as partners or friends, she should still inquire after him.