Su Zhen pulled Little Zhou aside and lowered her voice: “Where did your usual cleverness go? Think about it – the death row prisoners are threatened, Philanthropist Liao and Young Master Cheng are nearly watertight. Needless to say, with Quan Feitong knowing His Majesty takes this seriously and guessing he would come, Huang Tianba prepared long ago. Don’t mention medicines stored in old shops – even if we check his branch stores one by one, what could we find? Don’t listen to me – these veteran experts’ investigations are just futile. Princess Imperial and the others aren’t necessarily unaware of this. They’re just doing something, which is better than nothing.”

After Little Zhou’s initial surprise, she pursed her lips, obviously acquiescing to Su Zhen’s words, though her mouth remained unforgiving: “I was confused by caring – friendly enough, right?”

Su Zhen rolled her eyes: “You’re afraid His Majesty will fire me, I’ll have nowhere to go, and disaster will strike the fish in the pond.”

Little Zhou, her thoughts exposed, flew into a rage and chased after her to hit her.

The scene of everyone leaving fell into the eyes of a man in the wine shop across the street.

This person was none other than Quan Feitong.

He sipped his cup and asked lightly: “What, has Lian Yu finally released you? Who won the chess game?”

This was directed at one of the men walking up behind him.

Two people had come. One was Huang Tianba, the other Li Zhaoting.

The question reminded Li Zhaoting of the earlier scene.

When the chess game was halfway through, Lian Yu suddenly stood up with an ambiguous smile and said: “Let’s not continue this game. It’s too difficult for Minister Li. You have to consider both how to let me win and how to do it unobtrusively. Otherwise, if your chess skill is weak, I’ll look down on you; if it’s strong, I won’t like it.”

Li Zhaoting tensed and knelt: “This subject dares not.”

“Minister Li, let’s be frank. I think you are promising talent. If you hadn’t studied under Prime Minister Quan, you might have been my student. Your background puts you in an impossible situation from the start. But I believe it’s never too late to mend – when you see the rabbit, it’s not too late to call the hounds; when you’ve lost the sheep, it’s not too late to repair the fold.”

“Even if Prime Minister Quan succeeds, his methods are vicious and perverse. There’s a saying about… rebels and traitors… I have a feeling that if you and I become true monarch and subject, there would be something like the relationship between the late emperor and Prime Minister Quan.”

Lian Yu’s voice came from above. Li Zhaoting, usually calm and composed, couldn’t help feeling somewhat alarmed: Was this inducement to surrender or sowing discord?

Indeed, if not for his true identity, Lian Yu’s words sounded tempting. After all, as Lian Yu said, even if Quan Feitong’s conspiracy succeeded, Lian Yu represented legitimacy. Of course, the victor writes history, but Quan Feitong’s methods were undeniably extreme and might not be well-regarded by the world.

Lian Yu also expressed another level of meaning – a promise of highest ministerial rank, quite attractive.

After brief consideration, Li Zhaoting answered: “Thank Your Majesty for your great kindness. This subject has always believed this honor belongs to Minister Li.”

He didn’t answer directly, deflecting the question.

Only when he realized what he had asked did his heart sink.

But that day’s scene seemed to play before his eyes. Feng Suzhen had rejected Lian Yu, and Lian Yu had indeed developed a hunting curiosity toward her, which was beyond his expectations.

Lian Yu was obviously surprised by this question, but Li Zhaoting only heard him laugh lightly: “Prime Minister Quan seems to know some things about Li Huaisu.”

Li Zhaoting knew that “some things” referred to gender.

“You’re Prime Minister Quan’s favored general – you couldn’t not know this.”

Li Zhaoting thought coldly: Of course.

“You heard what Li Huaisu said that day and should know about our relationship. I emphasize this point to explain that between her and me, speaking of a romantic relationship would be more reasonable. Of course, our relationship no longer exists. And I don’t think she can give me any political surprises.”

Lian Yu stood sideways – his expression couldn’t be seen, but his tone held calm cruelty.

Li Zhaoting thought the letter to that foolish girl was given correctly. Lian Yu might have once had some interest, but it was merely curiosity as he had predicted. What Lian Yu truly fancied was still Shuangcheng. The cloak Lian Yu gave Shuangcheng had never been retrieved.

He was the one tying himself in knots. His renewed reminder about Feng Suzhen would probably inevitably lead to future entanglements.

“Zhaoting?”

Quan Feitong seemed to notice his distraction.

Li Zhaoting had already calculated in his heart and spoke directly: “The chess game was undecided. Senior Brother, His Majesty hopes I will ‘abandon darkness for light.'”

“Oh?” Quan Feitong raised an eyebrow. After initial surprise, he smiled broadly: “What a Lian Yu – quite clever. What did you answer?”

“I indicated I needed time to consider.”

“Very good. Later you might as well agree and use this to our advantage.”

Li Zhaoting took the wine ladle, scooped a cup of wine, and handed it to Huang Tianba, laughing: “I’m afraid he only wants to create discord, making you suspicious and causing us to turn against each other. If I truly defect, he won’t believe it either.”

Quan Feitong was quite interested: “I think it’s an opportunity. In his view, you’re quite famous among literati and scholars. Your helping me comes from fellow student loyalty, but inevitably damages your reputation. If you help him, you gain both position and reputation. Whether he believes or not, you might as well go and then decide.”

Regardless of whether Lian Yu intended to create suspicion between the two, since he had told Quan Feitong first, suspicion was temporarily dispelled. He wasn’t anxious to answer, only saying: “This matter requires long-term consideration. Let Senior Brother discuss business with Magistrate Huang first.”

Huang Tianba thanked Li Zhaoting. His expression was sinister as he smiled coldly: “Prime Minister Quan, Lian Yu has sent people to watch this subordinate. Contact with you, Prime Minister, is nothing, but if I liaise with Liao, Cheng and others, his people will arrest on the spot. Fortunately, I’ve already warned everyone – now I won’t seek them out at all. If he wants to find flaws, it won’t be easy.”

Quan Feitong nodded: “Correct, this is exactly what I wanted to say. As long as Magistrate Huang doesn’t panic, they can’t do anything. I’ll also arrange for court ministers to appeal to neutrals, ensuring most officials petition Xiao An to recall Lian Yu to handle state affairs.”

“Magistrate Huang can rest assured – Lian Yu won’t stay much longer.” Quan Feitong was astute, naturally knowing Huang Tianba’s thoughts. “Once Lian Yu’s case fails and he leaves, Magistrate Huang can do whatever he wants without current constraints.”

“Thank you, Prime Minister.” Huang Tianba bowed: “Yesterday I received uncle’s letter mentioning Prime Minister Quan and Minister Li’s great kindness – the Huang family will never forget. When you return to the capital, uncle will surely host a banquet for you both.”

Quan Feitong’s lips curved: “Then Quan thanks you in advance.”

Li Zhaoting thought this was a mutually beneficial game. But he felt helping Huang Tianba to make Huang Zhongyue grateful and switch sides… Quan Feitong’s thinking wasn’t that simple.

Returning to the inn, he looked at the unfinished chess game Lian Yu had left and suddenly felt moved. To lure Lian Yu deep into his territory, he had used one area as bait, but actually this was to make Lian Yu fall into a trap, allowing himself to capture more of his pieces.

Of course, he would never make that next move in front of Lian Yu. But this move reminded him of something.

Maximum benefit.

He quickly wrote a letter and instructed Xiao Si to send it back to the capital.

Xiao Si gladly accepted the order and immediately left.

The inkstone reflected the color in Li Zhaoting’s eyes, as deep as thick ink flowing from a brush tip.

He played with the wolf-hair brush in his hand, remembering what Minister Feng had once said.

Let the world be as it is. If you also join this strife and no one is willing to yield, with three great forces, the outcome will probably be extremely tragic.

At that moment, Minister Feng’s expression showed unusual seriousness.

He had asked: Minister Feng, who do you think will be the final winner?

Minister Feng smiled and said: How about I write a silk pouch and bury it behind my house? If in several years you dig it up to look, we’ll see if my prediction is accurate.

If it’s reasonably accurate, please treat my foolish daughter well. She’s sincere toward you.

Young Master, perhaps no one will treat you this way again in the future.

He had indeed been benevolent and righteous toward Feng Suzhen. But he was quite interested in this person’s final answer.

And at this moment, he had a certainty – he was getting closer and closer to that answer.

Meanwhile, Su Zhen’s group had arrived at the academy teacher’s home.

The third case was the corpse at the lake bottom. Old man’s daughter Fang Rui was engaged to the academy teacher, but the old man, greedy for money, married her to two men. Later, wealthy household Gu De married her. The academy teacher, indignant, went to argue, angering the old man, who killed him and sank the body.

When asked about that day’s events, Academy Teacher He Shu’s parents exchanged glances. He Shu’s mother wiped tears while his father choked out: “Our two families were always quite close. Fang girl was beautiful – quite a few came to propose marriage. If the old man were greedy for money, he would have married Fang Rui off long ago. The old man treated our He Shu very well and had tacitly approved the engagement between Fang girl and our family. It’s just that Fang girl lost her mother young, and the old man, being both father and mother, raised the child and couldn’t bear to part with her, wanting to keep his daughter two more years before marriage. We absolutely don’t believe the old man would kill anyone. Even if villagers fear the Gu family and dare not speak, we can’t say things against our conscience. We just don’t know why the old man confessed. The one who killed my son was probably Gu De.”

Speaking of this, sharp hatred flashed in He Shu’s father’s eyes.

Thank you for reading. See you next chapter.