Zhu Minda looked at Zhu Nanxian, irritation rising to his brow. “You truly are—”
What was he? He had held Su Jin in his heart for so many years, treasuring and cherishing her—was that wrong?
Shen Jing’s heart also felt reluctant. She said gently, “Thirteen, Su Shiyu is still a woman after all. What she thinks and wants in her heart, she may not be willing to tell you completely. After the New Year banquet, the Eastern Palace will have its own New Year celebration. Bring her then, and your sister-in-law will help you ask her again, all right?”
Zhu Nanxian thought for a moment and nodded. “All right.”
The snow filling the sky showed no sign of stopping. Zhu Minda looked up at the sky and said to Shen Jing, “Ah Jing, take Lin’er back to the palace first. Qingyue, Thirteen, and I still have matters to discuss. Later I must also go see Father Emperor.”
Shen Jing nodded, personally cradling the already sleeping Zhu Lin in her arms, and departed with a group of palace maids.
Only then did Zhu Minda exhale deeply and say to Shen Xi, “Qingyue, tomorrow morning, organize the evidence you have of Qian Zhihuan’s embezzlement of tax grain and deliver it to your father. Have him impeach Qian Zhihuan within three days.”
Shen Xi said in surprise, “Why?”
Zhu Minda sneered coldly. “Qian Zhihuan has always doted most on his legitimate son Qian Yu. No matter how Beauty Li’s case is tried, Qian Yu cannot survive. Qian Zhihuan will inevitably be dispirited because of this. If we impeach him at this critical moment, he will surely retreat step by step. Even if Father Emperor does not strip him of his position, I’m afraid he himself will have no will to continue fighting. Without this Minister of Revenue helping him accumulate wealth and raise troops, what will Seventh have left to contend with this palace?”
As he spoke, he added flatly, “At that time, you will become Minister of Revenue.”
However, Shen Xi thought for a moment and said, “That won’t work. Qian Zhihuan cannot be impeached.”
Zhu Minda said with displeasure, “Have you become addicted to leaving people escape routes? You want to help Seventh’s people too?”
Shen Xi had always been grinning and carefree, but now his face bore not even a trace of a smile. The teardrop mole at the corner of his eye was particularly cold.
“Does brother-in-law truly believe tonight’s situation was orchestrated by Zhu Shisi?”
Zhu Minda snorted. “This palace is not that foolish.” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Seventh, Third, Tenth—several others all had a part.”
Shen Xi said, “No, it’s absolutely not that simple.”
After contemplating for a while, he said, “Setting aside the overall situation, speaking only of Lin’er’s wet nurse—brother-in-law, do you still remember her background?”
Zhu Minda said coldly, “The backgrounds of those around Lin’er—this palace naturally has not forgotten.” He paused. “She is from your Shen residence.”
Shen Xi said, “Correct. The Shen residence. Moreover, she was a maid who grew up serving my second and third sisters from childhood. Later, less than a year after marrying, her husband passed away. She was pregnant, so she was selected to be a wet nurse. She was originally a Shen family person. Even so, my father and I still investigated her background, her husband’s family circumstances, and even everyone she had contact with until everything was crystal clear. We even had the Shen family help raise her young child in the residence before we felt assured sending her into the palace. To make such a person commit acts harmful to Lin’er, to have her betray the Eastern Palace—how meticulous the planning and how long the preparation would be required to accomplish this?”
Zhu Minda said, “What are you trying to say?”
“What I’m saying is—since they went to such great lengths to select such a person, since the planning was so meticulous, since they wanted to use Lin’er to provoke discord between you and Thirteen—then why not see it through to the end? Why would they make such a careless mistake as feeding only half the poisoned food out of reluctance, leading to the truth being exposed?”
Shen Xi’s gaze burned intensely as he stared at the accumulated snow beside the path. “There is only one explanation—the real intent lies elsewhere.”
Zhu Minda said in a deep voice, “Then where does it lie?”
Shen Xi shook his head. “This person’s thinking is too deep. I cannot guess.” As he spoke, he suddenly turned and picked up a dead branch from the roadside, drawing a cross in the nearby snow with left and right strokes.
This cross divided the snow before him into four sections.
In three of these sections, Shen Xi wrote “Eastern Palace,” “Seventh Prince,” and “Fourteenth,” then drew a circle in the last section. He said, “Now let’s look at the results of tonight’s situation.”
He first tapped the dead branch on the characters “Fourteenth,” directly crossing them out with a horizontal line. “In tonight’s situation, he can be said to have shouldered all the blame, so this scheme calculated against him.”
The dead branch moved to “Seventh Prince.” “Qian Yu’s death appears beneficial to Seventh Prince on the surface, because this way, Qian Zhihuan need not worry about his son serving in the Feathered Forest Guards and can wholeheartedly devote himself to Zhu Zhaowei without reservation. However, thinking more carefully—Qian Zhihuan watches helplessly as Qian Yu is sentenced to death, while the Seventh Prince he serves remains indifferent. Would he not harbor resentment toward Seventh Prince? Zhu Zhaowei is no fool. He knows I have evidence of Qian Zhihuan’s embezzlement. Wouldn’t he fear that after Qian Yu’s downfall, Qian Zhihuan would be devastated, the Eastern Palace would press the advantage, causing him to lose this Minister of Revenue money tree? Zhu Zhaowei’s power lies in his wealth, his military strength, and his authority to employ people. Why would he painstakingly orchestrate such a scheme that fails to harm the enemy but causes eight hundred losses to himself? Therefore, not only was this scheme not his doing, it severely calculated against him as well.”
As Shen Xi spoke, he crossed out the characters “Seventh Prince.”
He moved the dead branch to “Eastern Palace,” looking up at Zhu Minda. “If Your Highness the Crown Prince were not my brother-in-law, if I did not know how deep your feelings for Lin’er are, I would almost think tonight’s situation was orchestrated by the Eastern Palace.”
He lowered his eyelids, once again looking at the characters “Eastern Palace,” saying softly, “Tonight’s situation—the one who ultimately benefits is the Eastern Palace. The palace situation was a three-way balance between Eastern Palace, Seventh Prince, and Fourteenth. By the end of this scheme, Lin’er escaped danger, Qian Yu was condemned, the Feathered Forest Guards were purged. Even more, Fourteenth will fall because of this, Seventh Prince’s survival hangs on your single thought, brother-in-law. Even if Qian Zhihuan cannot be impeached, Zhu Zhaowei’s future days will not be easy. The only variable is Thirteen—”
Shen Xi paused, turning to glance at Zhu Nanxian. “I’ll speak plainly. From tonight onward, everyone can see that Thirteen has the power to contend for succession. But I know the Eastern Palace will not distrust Thirteen because of this.”
Zhu Minda remained silent for a long time before nodding. “Yes. Thirteen grew up by this palace’s side. His character—this palace knows well.”
Otherwise, if he truly suspected Zhu Nanxian, he would not send him back to Nanchang early, but would find a way to strip him of military authority while he was still in the capital.
He simply did not wish for anyone to exploit their identities as heir apparent, legitimate grandson, and legitimate imperial son all under the same roof.
Zhu Minda’s lifelong weakness was his family.
But not this imperial family beneath the magnificent palace towers—rather his true family in the Eastern Palace: Shen Jing, Zhu Lin, Thirteen, Seventeenth, and Shen Qingyue.
Tonight, Zhu Lin was poisoned within these layers of palace prohibitions, and it frightened him somewhat.
Shen Xi gazed at the lustrous white snow beneath the dead branch, gently crossing out the characters “Eastern Palace” as well. “Though the Eastern Palace gained the most from tonight’s situation, it was not orchestrated by the Eastern Palace. Then it can only be him—” He slid the dead branch downward, pointing to the final circle, looking up at Zhu Minda and Zhu Nanxian. “Who is this person?”
Neither Zhu Minda nor Zhu Nanxian spoke.
After a long while, Zhu Nanxian said, “It could be anyone.”
Shen Xi paused briefly and said softly, “Yes.” Then beneath that circle, he wrote several characters—Three, Four, Nine, Ten, Twelve.
“This scheme is meticulous. From Beauty Li’s death, to Qian Yu’s crime, to Lin’er’s poisoning—suspicion shifting from Thirteen to Consort Qi and finally to Zhu Shisi. How many steps were involved? If one step had gone wrong, everything would have unraveled. So I believe this schemer must have been present. Otherwise, how could he control the overall direction?”
He paused, tossed the dead branch aside, and shook his head again. “Let’s not dwell on who the schemer is, because whoever it is, he definitely does not want the Eastern Palace to benefit. Because you, brother-in-law, are the rightful heir to the throne. And this scheme’s purpose is very clear—to seize succession.”
Shen Xi raised his eyes again to look at Zhu Minda. “Therefore, I speculate this scheme has not yet ended. There are still hidden follow-up moves. If you, brother-in-law, follow the path this scheme has laid out and topple Qian Zhihuan, who knows if you won’t fall into another trap? So I’m thinking, might it be better to leave Seventh Prince an escape route and maintain surface-level balance?”
As he spoke, he lowered his eyelids. In those exceptionally beautiful peach-blossom eyes that perceived worldly affairs, for the first time appeared a trace of confusion. “Naturally, all this is merely my speculation, without basis or evidence. I hope I’m just worrying needlessly.”
Zhu Minda looked at Shen Xi. After a long while, he reached out and patted his left arm, saying warmly, “Qingyue, this palace knows your intelligence is unmatched, beyond what others can compare to. But your heart, after all, is still too soft.”
He clasped his hands behind his back, looking at the snow filling the sky. “Father Emperor implemented the enfeoffment system. Each imperial heir possesses formidable power. The imperial territory appears intact but is actually fragmented. This palace was honored as Crown Prince under such circumstances, knowing early on that the path to ascension would be stained with blood. The road ahead is treacherous, yet time grows short. Now with such an excellent opportunity before me, how can I waste it? Toppling Seventh Prince will at least mean one fewer person raising arms against me after ascension. Even if not for myself, for Lin’er, to spare one stretch of rivers and mountains from becoming scorched earth, I must do this. Even if there truly is a trap—at worst, when soldiers come, we’ll block with generals; when water comes, we’ll cover with earth. How few traps has this palace stepped on until now?”
Having spoken, Zhu Minda sighed again. “Naturally, your words also have merit. Do this: first deliver the evidence of Qian Zhihuan’s embezzlement to the Eastern Palace. After this palace has considered carefully, I will make a decision.”
He glanced again at Zhu Nanxian and said, “Thirteen, come with me to see Father Emperor. Today after the Medical Director examined him, he said the imperial health is compromised and has… greatly deteriorated.”
Zhu Nanxian started, worry rising to his brow. He nodded slightly and followed Zhu Minda away.
On the sparse palace path, in moments, only Shen Xi remained alone.
This palace path had been swept clean, but after Zhu Minda dismissed the palace attendants, heavy snow fell endlessly. In moments, it dyed the black stone pavement before him into vast whiteness once more.
Are you not afraid that one day, someone will overturn the black and white in your heart?
Liu Chaoming’s words rose again in Shen Xi’s mind.
He slowly crouched down in this snowy ground, staring at that dead branch he had used to draw this game board of the realm.
The wind and snow were too fierce. The dead branch had already been buried halfway by accumulated snow. The characters in the snow from moments ago—the perilous situation, the palace power dynamics—had all been swept away without a trace by a gust of night wind.
Shen Xi stared blankly, then suddenly smiled—not his usual carefree grin, but a silent smile that vanished in an instant.
By nature free-spirited, living as he pleased—yet he had to be drawn into this whirlpool.
That would be acceptable, but to also entertain delusions of reversing heaven and earth through his own power and wisdom alone was truly overestimating himself.
Shen Xi thought—perhaps he was merely a stroke to be covered by wind and snow. Many years hence, when all vicissitudes had faded, would he too be relegated to idle conversation among fishermen and woodcutters?
The wind and snow intensified further. Between heaven and earth arose howling sounds.
Shen Xi stared at that dead branch, not knowing how long he watched, until it slowly transformed from a section to a small segment to a tiny black dot.
Staring at this black dot, Shen Xi suddenly realized something.
Yes—if tonight’s scheme linked ring to ring, then there must be a thread connecting these rings, just as a general deploying troops in battle must have a pivot point.
Find the thread connecting all the rings.
Just find this thread.
A flash of inspiration struck Shen Xi’s mind—the wet nurse was the one who fed Zhu Lin poison and also the one who stopped. She was the one who accused Thirteen, later framed Consort Qi, and finally confessed it was Imperial Noble Consort and Zhu Shisi.
Most importantly, Beauty Li died in the evening, but that box of poisoned date-flower pastries had gone to the Palace Audience Hall at noon. Therefore, even if no one else at the Palace Audience Hall had seen Beauty Li, the wet nurse who obtained the pastries from her must have seen her, and when she saw her, Beauty Li was not yet dead.
She had been there from the very beginning of this scheme, not just after the young prince was poisoned.
Every single thing she did was the most critical part of this scheme. Therefore, only she knew who was truly behind this and what the real objective was.
Thinking of this, Shen Xi suddenly stood up from the snow.
The snow accumulated on his shoulders and in his hair was shaken loose by this movement, falling in a flurry.
He stood frozen in place for just an instant, then abruptly turned around and ran recklessly toward the Court of Imperial Clan.
Having received Zhu Minda’s orders, the Court of Imperial Clan was conducting overnight interrogations of various implicated persons from the rear palace. Seeing Shen Xi, an external official, arrive, they initially intended to stop him. But considering his relationship with the Eastern Palace, they turned a blind eye and allowed him to enter.
However, Shen Xi had only taken two steps when he halted.
Because he saw someone carrying out a corpse wrapped in white cloth from inside. He recognized that face—it was Zhu Lin’s wet nurse.