The Shen family had already fallen and could no longer stir up any waves. Next, she should wholeheartedly deal with Master Yuanhui, who would soon come looking for her. Song Chuyi had divided things very clearly and calculated very clearly. Which person should be dealt with at which step—everything was proceeding methodically according to plan.
When she truly became angry, she was really frightening. Qing Zhuo felt his arms growing somewhat cold. Standing before Song Chuyi, he obediently lowered his head to report: “Sixth Young Lady, everything has been done according to your instructions. Master Yuanhui surely knows now that you are the one who abducted his mother and sister.”
He always felt that this Sixth Young Lady Song would sooner or later become the Crown Prince’s Consort, so he was particularly attentive to Song Chuyi’s instructions. After thinking it over, he couldn’t help but advise Song Chuyi: “But Sixth Young Lady has no need to put yourself in danger like this. Wouldn’t it be fine to just randomly push someone else forward to say they abducted the people? What if Master Yuanhui becomes so angry his mind becomes confused and he does something—what would we do then?”
These past few days, Qing Zhuo and Han Feng walked with a spring in their step, because from the day the Crown Prince awoke, the winds in the Eastern Palace had begun to shift. The Crown Prince, who had always obeyed Fan Liangdi’s every word, unexpectedly no longer wished to see Fan Liangdi. Fan Liangdi had requested an audience four or five times, and each time the Crown Prince had rejected her without hesitation.
This was truly such a rare occurrence that you couldn’t find it even if you searched with a lantern. If this had been in the past, it would have been simply unimaginable.
No wonder Sixth Young Lady Song said there was no need to worry about Fan Liangdi—the younger Madam Fan and Han Zhi alone would be enough to keep her exhausted running around from now on. At the time, he had been somewhat skeptical, but who would have thought things would indeed turn out this way? Speaking of which, although Han Zhi hadn’t come to pledge allegiance to their own lord yet, he had gone to Fujian. With his temperament, going to Fujian couldn’t possibly be to establish merit and serve the country with his life. The greater possibility was, as their lord had analyzed, that he was going after Fan Shikun.
The Fan family had ruined the younger Madam Fan’s entire life and indirectly caused Han Zhi to play the fool for nearly twenty years. In the end, they even wanted to support the elder Madam Fan in having him killed. If he could swallow this grievance, he wouldn’t be that calculating and meticulous Han Zhi.
Now their lord had already entrusted Young Master Guo to keep a close watch on Han Zhi. As long as he didn’t sabotage Fujian’s overall situation and didn’t collude with the enemy or betray the country, however he wanted to deal with Fan Shikun, he was entirely free to make trouble as he pleased.
Thinking of this, he continued to advise Song Chuyi: “Sixth Young Lady still need not do such risky things. Just directly wrap up these two people and bury them, wouldn’t that do? Even if Master Yuanhui hates us deeply, he couldn’t find evidence proving we did it. What could he do to us?”
Master Yuanhui truly would dare to do something. Such a person had extreme self-control, and moreover, he was far more able to keep his composure than the likes of Han Zhi and the elder Madam Fan, and was even more ruthless and vicious. The moment he dared to speak of a bloody calamity, the next moment he dared to use Prince Duan’s remaining followers through Consort Xian’s hands to try to eliminate her by surprise in her residence. This level of scheming, capability, and ruthlessness was not something an ordinary monk could possess.
What she now had to face was the future Imperial Preceptor. If she didn’t fundamentally strike him down from the root, such incidents would only increase in the future and become more endless—there would never be a moment of peace.
She shook her head at Qing Zhuo, her attitude very clear: “You go back and continue guarding those two hostages together with Ma Changjiang and the others. Don’t let them die either. If they die, this play won’t be able to continue.”
She wanted Master Yuanhui to pay the price he ought to pay. This great monk who always looked at her from on high with a bodhisattva’s eyes, gazing at her with pity and compassion as if looking at a demon, while also wanting to send her to hell—she definitely wouldn’t let him have an easy time.
Even the Crown Prince had told him to obey Sixth Young Lady Song’s commands. Even though he felt what Sixth Young Lady Song was doing was very risky, he could only offer a few words of advice. Since his advice wasn’t being heeded, he could only accept his fate and properly complete the tasks she had assigned. Qing Zhuo nodded and turned to leave, but was called back by Song Chuyi.
“Master Yuanhui is not someone who plays by common logic. Although you deliberately left them clues pointing to my residence where the incident occurred, with his capabilities and methods, he surely knows that isn’t the location where the hostages are hidden. If I haven’t guessed wrong, at this very moment monks have already visited all of our Song family’s villas in Tongzhou under the pretext of seeking alms to investigate.” As Song Chuyi spoke, a trace of contemptuous smile appeared in her eyes: “Be careful yourselves. Don’t expose any flaws. Otherwise, even if you and Han Feng join forces, you may not necessarily be Master Yuanhui’s match.”
Princess Duanhui and Princess Rongcheng also felt that the winds in the Eastern Palace had somewhat shifted. The two of them went to see the Crown Prince several times and immediately detected something amiss. Fan Liangdi, who in the past had always accompanied the Crown Prince everywhere like his shadow, surprisingly wasn’t present a single time during these recent visits. Instead, the one accompanying the Crown Prince was either the Crown Princess or the palace attendants of the Eastern Palace.
This was really rather strange when placed upon the Crown Prince and Fan Liangdi, who had been devoted to each other for these several decades. Princess Rongcheng frowned and told Princess Duanhui privately: “He was already somewhat off on the very first day he woke up. No matter how Mother Empress pressed him about exactly what Madam of Marquis Jinxiang said to him that made him so angry, he simply refused to say. But he also refuses to have Fan Liangdi come explain.”
Since the Crown Prince refused to have the elder Madam Fan come explain, the Empress didn’t dare press too hard either. This matter had just been dragging on like this ever since.
This younger brother of hers had been in extremely poor health since childhood. Even Empress Dowager Rongxian felt he would die young and didn’t take him seriously at all. Having grown up through countless disasters and difficulties, his temperament had been cultivated to be somewhat contrary. He easily refused to listen to others’ advice. No matter what it was, everything had to be according to his own wishes. Sometimes when he became willful, he was just like a child of a dozen or so years old. Moreover, his psychology of worry about gains and losses was particularly severe. If Her Majesty the Empress was even slightly better to Prince Gong, or sent someone to make a trip to Prince Gong’s fiefdom, he could be jealous for a very long time.
With such a contrary temperament, what he liked had to be held up to the heavens, and what he disliked he wouldn’t even glance at. Now the elder Madam Fan had somehow provoked him and made him this angry. Unfortunately, Madam of Marquis Jinxiang had burned herself to death in a fire. This matter had by now become a muddled case. Those with discernment, though they all didn’t ask and all pretended not to know, the whispers in private wouldn’t be few. Watching as it spread more and more absurdly and unpleasantly…
Princess Duanhui also sighed along: “No matter what really happened, there must ultimately be an explanation given. After all, the one who died was a marquis’s madam. Imperial Uncle doesn’t ask now because he’s considerate that the Crown Prince hasn’t yet fully recovered. In a few days when the Crown Prince’s health improves, ultimately things must be made clear.”
This was also what Her Majesty the Empress worried about. The Eastern Palace and the Marquis of Jinxiang’s household had always had an unclear and ambiguous relationship that fundamentally couldn’t be severed. Now Madam of Marquis Jinxiang had made the Crown Prince faint from anger, then burned herself to death. If the Crown Prince didn’t explain the whole story clearly, what would the people of the realm think of him?