Prince Dongping felt somewhat apologetic toward Han Zhi and Han Yueheng. Although the rewards Grand Madam Fan had sent down could truly be called generous, he still couldn’t forget his mother’s gloomy smile and that strange mocking twist at the corner of her mouth when she spoke of his aunt. From childhood to adulthood, he had always thought his mother and aunt had a good relationship—his uncle and aunt had been good to him since he was small, incomparably good, the kind of good where they would give him the stars in the sky but absolutely not the moon. His uncle was even willing to manage affairs in the northwest for so many years for the sake of his throne, shouldering so many risks.
But recently, his mother’s behavior had completely overturned all his previous presumptions. He didn’t know if there were hidden circumstances and secrets he was unaware of. It was as if he carried a stone in his heart, weighing so heavily it made him panic.
The matter Han Zhi brought up first was indeed about Han Yueheng. A trace of confusion flickered between his brows: “Is there truly no way to change the matter of Yueheng accompanying the dowry? She’s been crying herself to death at home, and she also said that before His Majesty issued the decree, the aunt had already summoned her to talk for a whole night, telling her to go accompany the dowry with peace of mind…”
If Fan Liangdi had known early that Han Yueheng would accompany the dowry, why didn’t she tell Madam Little Fan or tell him? Why didn’t she think of a solution for Han Yueheng? Instead, why would she privately summon Han Yueheng and try to persuade this young girl who had no capabilities whatsoever?
The space between Prince Dongping’s eyebrows twitched. He didn’t know there had been such a thing. He had thought his mother simply refused to extend a helping hand, but he never imagined that the entire affair had actually been orchestrated by his mother. Even with his mature and steady nature, he couldn’t help but blush all the way to the back of his neck. After racking his brains, he finally came up with a clumsy excuse to exonerate Grand Madam Fan: “Mother probably received news that Celestial Master Zhang had also entered the palace to burn petitions for Grandfather Emperor, and therefore knew that Cousin, as the Ninth Princess’s reading companion, would certainly be chosen to accompany the dowry. She wanted to prepare Cousin in advance.”
Han Zhi didn’t continue questioning. The more one asked about many matters, the more disheartening they became. As for what exactly had happened, he naturally had ways to investigate. He was silent for a while, then brought up Jia Yingxin and Xu Liang: “Your Highness usually interacted frequently with these two men. It’s hard to say whether some tokens or such have fallen into their hands. Now, to protect themselves, they’ll say anything…”
This was also what Prince Dongping worried about. Now that Xu Liang and Jia Yingxin had committed such a monstrous crime, and the ones investigating the case were precisely Emperor Jianzhang’s trusted confidants—that impervious Lai Chenglong and Ye Jingkuan—even if he wanted to intervene, he was at a complete loss. If Jia Yingxin and Xu Liang, in order to save their lives, implicated him, then things would truly become troublesome.
He sighed and, after hesitating repeatedly, finally confessed everything to Han Zhi: “Their two shops in the capital give me thirty percent of the profits each year. It’s impossible they haven’t kept account books and records of this… I’ve been unable to eat or sleep over this matter.”
Upon hearing this, Han Zhi couldn’t help but be shocked and alarmed. For the first time in his life, he wanted to scold his cousin the prince—the business in the northwest, and now the sea transport and salt transport in Yangzhou, both Grand Madam Fan and Prince Dongping wanted to get involved. Over these years they had made a fortune in the northwest relying on Yang Xuan to smuggle warhorses. Then there were those silks and satins, medicinal materials and implements, not to mention the annual benefits received from border commanders and the wealth Elder Chen had scraped together through the hands of the Tatar Grand Preceptor.
Yet even with all this, they still felt it wasn’t enough. They set their sights on the south that had always been controlled by Prince Duan and Prince Gong, wanting to move on this line in Yangzhou. Prince Duan was one thing—using the Song family’s hand, they had essentially completely eradicated that malignant tumor and need not fear his revenge. But Prince Gong was currently watching like a tiger eyeing its prey, bearing a grudge for that arrow. If Prince Gong learned of this matter, how could he possibly not make a huge fuss over it?!
He frantically searched through his mind for all the news of various sizes that Song Chuning had told him, meticulously combing through every detail, but couldn’t find any information related to this downfall of Jia Yingxin and Xu Liang among all that intelligence. Logically speaking, if there were such a major event, Song Chuning couldn’t possibly not tell him. She had made detailed lists of events that would occur each year according to the timeline. But now, many things had deviated from that list’s trajectory, developing in unknowable directions.
The Imperial Guard had already thoroughly ransacked Xu Liang and Jia Yingxin’s homes that very night. If there truly was any evidence, it would now be in the hands of Ye Jingkuan and Lai Chenglong.
Neither of these two men was easy to deal with—Lai Chenglong had a special background as Emperor Jianzhang’s trusted confidant. Normally, he hadn’t heard of him having any particular preferences or hobbies. He had once tried to win over this Imperial Guard Commander through Xu Liang and Jia Yingxin, but in the end it had been fruitless. Ye Jingkuan need not even be mentioned—as the husband of Emperor Jianzhang’s most beloved daughter, he had always been utterly loyal to Emperor Jianzhang.
But no matter how difficult to deal with they were, he had to find a way to handle them. Han Zhi looked at Prince Dongping: “Then what does Your Highness plan to do now?”
He had already sent someone to find Elder Chen. Last time he had helped Elder Chen—this time Elder Chen surely couldn’t just stretch out his neck to watch the excitement, standing aside doing nothing, could he? Prince Dongping told this to Han Zhi, then hesitated for a while: “I also want to try and see if I can probe for any information from Commander Lai.”
Han Zhi recalled how Lai Chenglong had risen to power—an Imperial Guard Commander who had climbed up by stepping on the corpses of Chen Xiang, Jia Yingxin, and Xu Liang probably wouldn’t be content to become anyone’s puppet except Emperor Jianzhang’s. This kind of person’s desire for power was extremely strong; cultivating a relationship with him might not be useful.
He pondered for a while, then suggested Prince Dongping first seek out Princess Rongcheng: “Although they usually have a good relationship with the Grand Heir, Your Highness is equally their nephew. The palm and back of the hand are both flesh—just as the Empress cannot completely make a choice between you and the Grand Heir, Princess and the Prince Consort are the same. You might as well try approaching them—perhaps it will be useful.”
He paused, then added: “As for Lai Chenglong, I’ll think of a way.”
Prince Dongping immediately felt the stone on his heart lighten considerably. Han Zhi always acted steadily and reliably. Even if Lai Chenglong didn’t give him face, he could think of other methods. Thinking this, he nodded without hesitation: “In that case, I’ll pay a visit to my aunt and uncle tomorrow.”
Even if Ye Jingkuan and Princess Rongcheng didn’t consider him as their nephew, they would still have to think of the Crown Prince. Having a son with close relations to the Imperial Guard Commander—what kind of image would the Eastern Palace’s Crown Prince have in Emperor Jianzhang’s eyes? They would surely weigh this carefully.