Seventh watch, three quarters.

A single lamp like a bean.

“Your Highness, the Old Prince says…”

Shen Chong glanced at the Crown Prince’s expression and steeled himself. “The person in the portrait… bears some resemblance to the Deposed Crown Prince.”

How could it be the Deposed Crown Prince?

Zhao Yishi shot to his feet, his voice and expression severe. “His eyes are dim with age and his mind muddled. Could he have seen wrong?”

Shen Chong’s throat bobbed several times before he answered with difficulty:

“The Old Prince looked for a long time. He said the eyebrows and eyes are very similar. His Majesty probably noticed this too, which is why he invited her to the palace, why he spoke only with her, why he warned her that ‘in the high halls of the court, there are demonic winds; in the distant rivers and lakes, there is life.'”

Each word fell like a thunderclap in Zhao Yishi’s ears. His face changed dramatically.

“You mean… the Deposed Crown Prince truly has descendants living in this world?”

Shen Chong considered carefully in his heart. “Your Highness, it should be an absolute certainty.”

Zhao Yishi collapsed into his chair. After a long moment, he pointed with trembling finger toward the capital, murmuring:

“I… I… didn’t wrong the Zheng family. Didn’t wrong Zheng Yu. They harbored the Deposed Crown Prince’s orphan—they deserved death ten thousand times over!”

Yes.

The Mid-Autumn Festival of the seventh year of Yonghe—Zhao Yishi would never forget that day.

The palace held a family banquet. Father was supported by palace servants, limping as he entered.

After paying respects, the Emperor gave him a cold glance and continued talking with the imperial clan members.

Father sat alone at his table, lonely. No one spoke with him.

The imperial clan members weren’t blind.

The Emperor’s disgust for the Crown Prince had reached the point where he didn’t even want to speak an extra word to him. He was just waiting for Prince Han to return victorious from war so he’d have a legitimate reason to depose the Crown Prince.

During the banquet, halfway through the singing and dancing, it should have been Father leading the toast to the Emperor.

Father was corpulent and had trouble with his legs. When he stood up, his wide sleeves swept the plates and dishes from the table to the floor.

Among them was a plate containing longans. Those longans rolled with a rumble, rolling right to Father’s feet, and he just happened to step on one…

The dignified heir apparent fell to the ground in front of everyone. Mocking laughter rang out all around. That laughter was like needles piercing Zhao Yishi’s ears.

Father was the Crown Prince—how dare they laugh at the current Crown Prince?

That reunion feast, he and Father both ate as if sitting on pins and needles.

When the banquet ended, as usual he went to take the Emperor’s hand and accompany him to the sleeping chamber. However, Prince Han’s legitimate son Zhao Yixian spoke up first.

“Imperial Grandfather, let me accompany you back today?”

The Emperor looked at him, then at Zhao Yixian, and reached out his hand toward Zhao Yixian.

He watched the tall and short silhouettes of grandfather and grandson, watched the strange looks cast from all around. Though he tried hard to control himself, his face still turned pale, and his fingertips hidden in his sleeve dug hard into his palm.

As pain struck, he thought of the words his mother told him every few days.

“Son, your father’s position as Crown Prince now depends entirely on you. By the Emperor’s side, you must be obedient, observant, and able to make His Majesty happy. If you lose favor, our Crown Prince’s Manor will never have another chance to rise again.”

When Mother said these words, her face showed both pride and melancholy. She had long since lost favor with Father—her only hope was him. And he had always coaxed the Emperor very well.

Just as an emperor’s mouth doesn’t open carelessly, an emperor’s hand doesn’t extend casually either.

Every word and deed carries deep meaning.

So, had he lost favor with Imperial Grandfather?

After the family banquet ended, Father left the palace by sedan chair. He followed behind, walking with heavy thoughts, gradually falling far behind.

“After contending for so long, in the end Prince Han still won the Emperor’s heart.”

“I don’t pity others, only the Imperial Grandson. If Prince Han takes the throne, the first one he won’t tolerate is him.”

“Not just the Imperial Grandson—I’m afraid everyone in the Eastern Pavilion Palace will…”

Two young eunuchs by the palace lantern huddled together whispering. When they looked up and saw him, they fell to their knees in fright.

He kept a straight face and ignored them, walking out the palace gate and into the carriage. Only when the curtain fell did his face darken.

Imperial Grandfather had once told him—

Born into the imperial family, once you start playing the game of power, there’s no chance to leave the table unless you fail or die. Otherwise you must keep playing. This is a road of no return—you cannot turn back.

He didn’t want to die. He could only find another way.

After thinking deeply all night, he thought of one person—Xie Daozhi.

This man was the Emperor’s cabinet minister, truly of high position and great authority. But every time he saw Father, he would bow respectfully.

A person can hide very well, but the eyes will always reveal something. From Xie Daozhi’s eyes, he could see respect and reverence for Father.

Three days later, in a secret chamber.

He lifted his robe and personally knelt before Xie Daozhi, begging him to save Father, to save the Crown Prince’s Manor.

Xie Daozhi remained silent for an entire cup of tea’s worth of time before finally nodding in agreement.

After a night of secret discussion, they decided on a plan, starting with both Prince Han and the Zheng family.

Gradually, the suspicious matter of the twins at the Zheng family’s Begonia Courtyard surfaced before them.

At this point, he and Xie Daozhi had a disagreement—they had no concrete evidence, only speculation and assumptions.

Xie Daozhi’s view was that they absolutely had to have concrete evidence before secretly reporting the matter to the Emperor.

He couldn’t wait.

Having grown up at the Emperor’s side since childhood, he understood too well the power of catching wind and shadow. More importantly, the war situation in the north wouldn’t allow them to continue investigating in detail.

Prince Han had lost three battles and would inevitably swallow his pride and hand military authority over to the Old General.

The Old General had fought on battlefields his entire life—how could he not defeat even the small Tartar tribes? Moreover, he had the Zheng family army behind him.

After three days of consideration, Xie Daozhi finally agreed to secretly report this matter to the Emperor.

But he, young and unable to contain himself, secretly sent someone to deliver news of the Zheng family’s massacre to the Old General.

When Xie Daozhi learned of this, after a long pause, he only said one thing: “Your Highness, this empire is surnamed Zhao, and you’re also surnamed Zhao.”

The empire was indeed surnamed Zhao, but if Father didn’t inherit it, what connection did this empire have to him?

He sent that message to Zheng Yu’s ears precisely to disturb military morale, to make Zheng Yu lose the battle, to ensure everything went perfectly.

That year, he had just turned thirteen.

From that point on, Xie Daozhi looked at him with some wariness. He knew what Xie Daozhi was thinking: The Imperial Grandson at such a young age already has such ruthless methods—is this fortune or disaster?

So he used a palace banquet to befriend Pei Xiao, the eldest son of the Pei family, and through him eventually connected with Third Master Xie.

Everyone has a weakness. Xie Daozhi’s weakness was his third son.

He wanted to tell Xie Daozhi—

I, Zhao Yishi, indeed have ruthless methods, but if you don’t betray me, not only will I not betray you, I’ll repay you doubly. You help me seize power and ascend the throne, and I’ll return two generations of glory and wealth to the Xie family.

From that point on, Xie Daozhi turned a blind eye to his association with Third Master Xie, though openly and covertly Xie Daozhi always spoke up for Father.

Regarding the Zheng family matter back then, both men felt guilty and tacitly chose not to mention it. But they never imagined the Deposed Crown Prince truly had an orphan living in the world.

Past events like wind, gently brushing by.

Zhao Yishi gradually calmed down, raised his head to look at Shen Chong with confusion, and suddenly asked:

“Why would it be Yan Sanhe?”