Shen Xiaohai sensed something was wrong. He held no military command and had no substantive position—being able to accompany the imperial hunting expedition this time was entirely due to the Emperor’s grace toward old established nobility. However, his instincts had always been exceptionally sharp. When Zhang Run started pointing fingers and making accusations recently, he had already noticed something amiss—most of the people Zhang Run implicated were Prince Duan’s men. Having once served under Prince Duan, he still had a vague sense in his heart of who belonged to the prince’s faction.
This calm before the storm was the most frightening. If the Emperor were to lose his temper over Prince Duan’s unstable inner household and issue edicts of reprimand and punishment, that would actually be better. But this suppression and silence, keeping everything under wraps—he always felt something more terrifying was brewing behind the scenes.
Thinking this way, he resented having no real power, unable to grow more eyes and ears. He could only make blind guesses from the periphery, completely unable to touch the core. After mulling it over, he had someone summon Shen Qingrang, who was outside, and after studying him for a moment asked, “How have you been getting along with Second Master Song recently? Did he like the jade chess set I had you deliver last time?”
Originally, he had thought that if he could win over that young girl Song Liu, everything would be settled. But who knew that Song Liu was now completely different from before, not even giving Shen Qingrang a proper glance. Previously, Shen Qingrang only needed to beckon and she would eagerly come forward, but now, somehow, no matter how much effort Shen Qingrang put in, how much he tried to accommodate and yield, he couldn’t move her heart. Since that path was blocked, he could only take another route. Fortunately, Song Liu’s father, Song Yi, still quite liked Shen Qingrang, calling him over for conversations every few days and occasionally creating opportunities for him to spend more time with Song Liu, making his intentions quite obvious.
Thinking of this, Shen Xiaohai’s expression turned serious as he instructed Shen Qingrang, “You must be more attentive toward Second Master Song. He treats you with great affection in daily life, so you should get closer to him more often.”
In recent years, Shen Qingrang had come to understand his father much better. Duke Yingguo’s residence was in the most awkward position—neither rising nor falling. Put nicely, they were old established nobility; put bluntly, they were a declining household on a downward slope. The family could no longer produce any talented individuals—even Shen Xiaohai, the most ambitious one, had no real capability. Neither excelling in civil nor military affairs, he was awkwardly stuck in the middle.
He nodded, shedding his previous ostentatious air, “Your son understands. I’ll visit Uncle Song when we return to the capital.”
Only then did Shen Xiaohai remember that Song Yi hadn’t come along, and he couldn’t help feeling somewhat disappointed—Elder Song and Song Chuyi were like an iron wall; there was no hope of getting any information from them. And Second Master Song hadn’t come along either. Otherwise, he might have been able to extract some information from him—after all, he was also a member of the Song family.
He stood for a while, sighing disappointedly, unable to muster any energy for the entire day. It wasn’t until evening that he received news that shocked him so much he couldn’t even finish his meal—the Imperial Guard had raided the home of Li Ruqi, the Imperial Academy Chancellor far away in the capital. Even the rabbit meat the Emperor had bestowed from the kitchen couldn’t attract his attention in the slightest.
“How? How?” He clenched his fists, feeling as if his very blood had frozen, involuntarily wanting to tremble. Others might not know, but he did—Li Ruqi was Prince Duan’s man. The Li family had a share in the frontier trade. However, after going through the Fang Deng and Xiao Ding incidents, he had withdrawn in time and destroyed the evidence, never daring to get involved again. Apart from framing Song Yi two years ago, the Li family had been quiet and hadn’t stirred up any trouble.
Why, out of nowhere, had the Li family suddenly met with disaster?
“Go, send someone to inquire—” He stood up in panic, then like someone who’d burned his hand, called back Steward Tian who was about to leave, “No, no! Don’t go, don’t go!”
His premonition was correct—another storm was truly about to hit. Those like them who were already outside the storm shouldn’t get involved, lest they be implicated. No matter what, the Li family was Prince Duan’s people. Being implicated meant that Prince Duan couldn’t escape now either. Someone like him who had been involved before absolutely couldn’t touch this matter now.
His heart pounded incessantly. He simply stood up and paced several circles around the tent, but his determination to attach himself to the Song family only grew stronger—he was unwilling to spend his life muddling through on a declining path, watching Duke Yingguo’s residence fall until not even a title remained. But he himself lacked the capability to restore the Duke’s residence to glory, so he had no choice but to find a reliable ship to board.
That Li Ruqi’s matter came to light could only mean that Han Zhi’s actions were truly too fast—shockingly fast.
When Song Jue received the news, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat stunned. Ever since two years ago when the Li family and Song Chuning conspired to find that wealthy gentleman to frame Song Yi, Second Master Li had met with disaster, lost his position, and been imprisoned. The Song and Li families had long since completely torn their relationship apart.
But he never expected that the next time he heard news of them, it would be that the Li family was implicated in Prince Duan’s affairs. However, thinking about it, he felt somewhat relieved. The Li family had risen from the mud—their foundation wasn’t deep to begin with. With three men holding office in the family, if it weren’t for the two daughters-in-law’s dowries being fairly substantial, they would have collapsed years ago. With someone as capable as Song Chuning behind them, it was only natural they would follow Prince Duan into the frontier smuggling business.
But Zhang Run’s accusations this time were truly vicious enough. Not only had he exposed Prince Duan’s maritime line, but he’d also dragged out the frontier line along with it. Song Jue frowned and sighed.
In the end, those who would suffer were still Song Chengru, Elder Chen, and Elder Du, who were serving as chief judges. These three couldn’t avoid having headaches over this matter.
Emperor Jianzhang had previously thought the Crown Prince was too eager for quick success and reaching too far, but now it seemed he could only feel fortunate that the Crown Prince had reached out this time—Prince Duan had been too greedy. Previously, when he requested additional military funds and increased guards, Emperor Jianzhang, because of the frequent pirate troubles in Zhangzhou, felt he had been unfair to him and agreed to everything. But Prince Duan still wasn’t satisfied. His hands reached further and further, even setting his sights on the Maritime Transport Office and frontier smuggling. What exactly was he trying to do? Wasn’t this a case of Sima Zhao’s intentions being obvious to all?
The Yangzhou corruption case was growing larger and larger. This year’s spring hunt would probably end prematurely again. He raised his head to look at the crescent moon hanging in the sky, suddenly feeling somewhat dazed.
It seemed that every time they encountered the spring hunt, something would happen. The previous years had been like this, and this year was the same. He just didn’t know whether this was merely the beginning or had already reached the end.