Li Qitian looked down suspiciously at the people before him. He naturally knew these people might very well be making excuses to shirk responsibility.

Seeing the Son of Heaven remain silent, the secret agents felt fearful and hurriedly supplemented each other’s accounts urgently.

“Your Majesty, we absolutely dare not deceive Your Majesty. This matter is absolutely true! At that time, that group of people were all skilled fighters, but they carried no weapons on their persons.”

“Exactly. It was clear that group was secretly protecting Princess Zhongshun, but they weren’t familiar with each other or with Prince Zhongshun’s household people.”

“Therefore, this subject suspects they were very likely arranged by another party. Perhaps those who are close to Prince Zhongshun!”

They all knew the Son of Heaven was extremely suspicious. As long as they mentioned Pang Xiao might be colluding with someone, and that someone might be secretly coveting the throne, the Son of Heaven would definitely not focus his attention on them anymore.

Sure enough, Li Qitian lowered his eyes in contemplation, his heart filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Currently in the court, who would conspire with Pang Xiao?

Thinking this way, didn’t those military generals all privately call Pang Xiao “War God Prince”? Their worship of Pang Xiao had almost reached a blind level. Court arguments over matters related to Pang Xiao weren’t just once or twice – how had he overlooked this?

If it were just these people secretly colluding with Pang Xiao, that would be one thing. But what if they were bewitched by Pang Xiao and joined hands to cause trouble?

Now that external troubles and internal strife had just been initially settled, if Pang Xiao gained these people’s support, wouldn’t he take the opportunity to do something “great”?

Li Qitian’s heart rose with concern: “Where are those Pang family people now?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, following your earlier instructions, they’ve been sent to the Ministry of Justice prison.”

“Think carefully – did those people you mentioned have any distinguishing characteristics?”

Everyone’s hearts rose again.

They had brought up these matters to attract Li Qitian’s attention and stop him from always focusing on their causing an uproar when returning to the capital. Who would have thought it would bring them another trouble?

The secret agents, fearing they would be punished doubly if they couldn’t answer, immediately racked their brains to recall the situation at that time.

Doing so, they actually remembered some things.

“Right! Your Majesty, those people wore Great Zhou civilian clothing, but they seemed to be wearing Tatar cowhide boots!”

Being reminded of this, several others who had fought with that group remembered some details and nodded with certainty: “Yes, Your Majesty, those people indeed wore Tatar cowhide cotton boots. That kind of cowhide isn’t available in Great Zhou – it’s a specialty of the Tatar grasslands. They must be Tatars who infiltrated!”

Li Qitian’s gaze darkened as he said word by word: “Ta-tars?!”

“Yes!” Everyone lowered their heads and responded in heavy voices.

Li Qitian paced with his hands behind his back, then smiled mockingly after a moment: “How interesting. I thought Prince Zhongshun was something special, wholeheartedly fighting Tatars, even willing to defy imperial orders. I never imagined he was so hypocritical – appearing to be a hero fighting Tatars on the surface while secretly colluding with the Tatars!”

Hearing this, everyone felt somewhat panicked, because they well knew what consequences causing such a misunderstanding in Li Qitian would bring.

However, that group had indeed worn cowhide boots of distinctive Tatar style and material – this was an indisputable fact. Though the secret agents were loyal to Li Qitian, they greatly admired Pang Xiao in their hearts. Now if they said Pang Xiao was colluding with Tatars, wouldn’t the country be doomed?

“Someone! Draft another imperial edict for me, urgently summoning Prince Zhongshun back to the capital for debriefing!”

“We obey the decree!” Everyone bowed in unison.

The secret agents breathed a sigh of relief and were about to withdraw when Li Qitian said: “Also, keep a close watch on the Qin woman’s group for me. Bring out Pang Zhixi’s children separately. I’ll personally question them later about what deals they’ve secretly made with the Tatars!”

“Yes!” Everyone bowed again.

The dungeon in the depths of winter was even more sinister than usual. The air was filled with a rotting, moldy smell. A small window at the end of the corridor let in little light. Wooden bars as thick as bowls separated Qin Yining from the others.

Bingtang, Ji Yun, and Ziyuan were all confined together with the wet nurses and children. The guards were tied up like dumplings and confined in the farthest position opposite them – only vague human shapes could be seen.

The wet nurses held Xuan Ge’er and Yun Jie’er, gently coaxing them. They had finally managed to lull the children to sleep.

Qin Yining leaned weakly against the wall, her hands bound behind her back, hair disheveled, cheeks dirty, lips bloodstained. Her bright eyes watched the children fall asleep before quietly breathing a sigh of relief, showing some fatigue.

“Princess, how are you?” Bingtang gripped the wooden bars, craning her neck to look toward Qin Yining who was separated by one cell.

Qin Yining shook her head, leaning back against the moldy straw, saying weakly: “I’m fine, I’m alright. Take good care of the children.”

Ji Yun and Bingtang both nodded.

The wet nurse also held the young master and young miss tightly in her arms: “Princess, rest assured. You saved my entire family’s lives. Even if I have to give up my life, I won’t let anything happen to the young master and young miss.”

Qin Yining smiled bitterly. The broken corner of her mouth tore, and another trickle of blood flowed down: “What have I done? The Prince and I went to provide disaster relief – we did what should be done. But now I’ve implicated all of you. If I hadn’t chosen you to come to the mansion as wet nurses, you wouldn’t have become prisoners today. In the end, I’ve dragged you down.”

“Princess, don’t say that!”

“Yes, Princess! If we hadn’t come to the Prince’s mansion as wet nurses that day, we couldn’t have survived at home anyway! The Princess saved our family’s lives and gave us work, allowing us to have silver to support our elderly and young at home. We’re grateful to the Princess – it’s too late for that. The Princess is kind and never mistreats servants. We followed the Princess, eating well and dressing well. There’s no reason to shamelessly accept the good times, then blame you for dragging us down when disaster strikes. What kind of people would that make us!”

The other wet nurse was simpler but also nodded repeatedly in agreement.

These two women in their prime years had been worn down by life’s hardships, looking almost forty years old. But their sincere smiles made them appear more gentle and beautiful.

Qin Yining felt much more at ease and smiled: “Having your help is a blessing for the Prince and me. If I can escape with my life in the future, I’ll thank you properly then.”

Everyone shook their heads repeatedly: “Princess, rest assured. You and the Prince will both be fine.”

But though they said this, everyone felt heavy-hearted.

Because they had personally witnessed along the way how the Emperor treated a meritorious minister’s family, and they knew how the Son of Heaven had summoned the Prince back to the capital after driving out the Tatars.

Connecting these events, anyone with even a bit of sense could understand the cause and effect.

Wasn’t it just the Son of Heaven being wary of meritorious ministers?

They hadn’t had much contact with the Prince, but since following the Princess and caring for the young master and young miss, they had received much care from the Princess. Such a good woman was implicated in this matter.

Men fought wars outside, risking their lives to protect their country, while women and children were arrested and imprisoned with uncertain futures. How ironic was this?

Qin Yining closed her eyes wearily, wanting to sleep a bit while there was nothing happening.

Just then, the sound of opening locks and the clatter of sliding iron chains came from the end of the corridor.

Then came the creak of an iron door being pushed open, followed by a series of mixed footsteps echoing in the long, dark passageway.

A group of people walked quickly down the corridor toward the innermost area.

Xie Yue and others couldn’t help but stand up, huddling together and craning their necks to look inward. Unfortunately, trapped in prison, they couldn’t use their strength even if they had it. They could only crowd together, stretching their necks and trying every way to look toward Qin Yining’s direction.

Led by jailers, secret agents quickly came to stop in front of Qin Yining’s cell. After the jailer opened Qin Yining’s cell door, they casually waved the jailer away.

The jailer retreated several steps to stand in a corner.

Qin Yining squinted, looking at the person before her through scattered hair. She recognized this as the person who had been in charge during their capture, someone even those arrogant Capital Guards showed some respect to. He must be Li Qitian’s confidant.

The other party didn’t speak, so Qin Yining didn’t speak either, quietly sitting in place waiting.

The secret agent laughed: “They say Princess Zhongshun, the Qin woman, comes from a distinguished family, daughter of the wise Pan An, the most beautiful in the capital. Seeing you now, it’s indeed true.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but the Ministry of Justice prison was only so big, and the cells were quite spacious. The surrounding walls created considerable echo, so these frivolous words were immediately heard clearly by everyone.

“Outrageous! Don’t be disrespectful to the Princess!”

“Dog thief, if you have ability, come at us!”

Xie Yue and others were furious, but bound tightly, they could do nothing except glare and shout anxiously.

But Qin Yining remained very calm, still looking at the visitor with neither servility nor arrogance.

The secret agent smiled: “I’ve never seen a woman like you. Clearly a weak, delicate woman, yet with such a backbone. This whole journey of whips and clubs hasn’t broken you.”

He pushed open the cell door and squatted in front of Qin Yining, lifting her disheveled long hair with one hand. Looking at those eyes full of stars and that face still delicate and beautiful despite being dirty, his voice carried some intoxication.

“Born with such looks, if you knew how to use them well, why would you have suffered so much on this journey?” His finger reached toward a whip mark on Qin Yining’s neck.

Qin Yining turned her head to avoid his hand: “Are you here on imperial orders? What are the Emperor’s instructions?”

One sentence made the secret agent’s hand stop in mid-air before slowly dropping.

He shook his head and chuckled mockingly: “You really know how to spoil the mood. Yes, I’m here on imperial orders. The Emperor’s instructions – you probably won’t want to know them.”

Qin Yining pressed her pale lips together. Her lips still had no color, the bloodstain at the corner making her cheeks appear extremely pale.

The secret agent sighed: “The Emperor ordered me to take away your two children. If you’re willing to agree to my request and let me have a taste of your beauty, I’ll treat your two children well. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee they’ll live to see the Emperor. Hmm?”

As he spoke, he raised his hand again, moving closer to Qin Yining’s face.

But Qin Yining’s beautiful eyes widened in fury as she clenched her teeth.

Man is the knife and chopping board, I am the fish and meat. Since being captured, she knew Yun Jie’er and Xuan Ge’er would definitely be taken away. As hostages, Li Qitian would certainly think she carried less weight than the two children.

But now that this moment had truly arrived, how could she bear it!