The steward said that outside in the pleasure quarters, wine houses, and taverns, everyone was discussing this letter. At this rate, tomorrow the capital’s hottest topic would likely be Left Chancellor Li Mao’s letter.

Back then, to gain the Second Prince’s trust, Li Mao had positioned himself extremely low, even stating directly in the letter that the Second Prince was the most outstanding among the Emperor’s sons and would surely ascend to the throne, and that he was willing to dedicate his life following the Second Prince.

Looking at the contents of this letter now, Li Mao wanted to slap himself several times.

Seeing the white-robed strategist enter and bow, Li Mao quickly said, “Sir, no need for formalities. You must have heard on your way here—this letter has already spread throughout the capital. Tomorrow morning court, someone might ask His Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter!”

The white-robed strategist took the letter from Li Mao’s hand, sat across from him, and carefully read it while listening to Li Mao’s words.

“Making a move against Shuoyang this time was indeed rash!” Li Mao gritted his teeth.

Just as Li Mao finished speaking, Li Mingrui lifted his robes and entered, bowing to Li Mao: “Father!”

Li Mao, sitting under the lamplight with a gloomy expression tinged with fatigue, asked: “Do you know?”

“I know!” Li Mingrui also sat across from Li Mao, took the letter from the white-robed strategist, examined its contents carefully, rubbed the paper with his fingers, and sniffed the ink.

The white-robed strategist looked up at Li Mao: “This should also be a warning from the Princess Zhenguo. Your Excellency… the Duchess Princess is telling us that she indeed holds the letters, wanting us to behave and not push her too far! Otherwise… the Princess Zhenguo wouldn’t have chosen such a letter that leaves room for maneuver!”

Li Mao’s brow furrowed tightly: “Now… how should we handle this?”

“Tomorrow morning court, someone will surely attack the Left Chancellor. Why don’t you… Go confess to His Majesty in advance! After all, when the Second Prince committed treason, the Left Chancellor was a meritorious minister who protected His Majesty!” the white-robed strategist said.

“Father, this letter is spreading like wildfire. Tomorrow, the capital will surely be buzzing with heated discussion. Who can’t see this was deliberately orchestrated!” Li Mingrui looked up, his dark, deep eyes reflecting the flickering firelight as he earnestly said to Li Mao, “Your son thinks Father should deny it… not admit this letter came from Father’s hand! Beg His Majesty to thoroughly investigate those who are framing and slandering Father…”

“Isn’t this the Princess Zhenguo’s doing? If I cry injustice and ask the Emperor to investigate thoroughly… if the investigation leads to the Princess Zhenguo and she hands over all the letters…”

Li Mao felt irritated and interrupted his son’s words, but halfway through, his voice suddenly stopped as he looked at his son.

The Emperor was already deeply wary of the Bai family. If Bai Qingyan directly handed the letters to the Emperor first, that would be one thing, but if she waited until the Emperor investigated her before handing them over, the Emperor would also suspect the Bai family had ulterior motives. Given Bai Qingyan’s way of doing things, she wouldn’t be so foolish.

This was a method that would harm the enemy ten thousand while losing eight thousand of her own. Unless it was an extraordinary time, she wouldn’t use it.

Bai Qingyan’s purpose was to warn him to behave. If she wanted to deal with him, she could just hand the letters to the Crown Prince without causing herself trouble.

“Father has forgotten—back then, you told His Majesty that upon detecting the Second Prince’s suspicious behavior, you infiltrated the Second Prince’s faction, wanting to help His Majesty discover what the Second Prince was plotting. Who knew the Second Prince would force a palace coup! It’s just that Father had only been under the Second Prince for a short time, and when you learned of this, it was too late to notify His Majesty to prepare!”

“I naturally remember. What I fear isn’t this letter… but the other letters! This letter can indeed only show that I once joined the Second Prince’s faction, but back when the Second Prince committed treason…” Li Mao gritted his teeth and didn’t continue.

When the Second Prince committed treason, it was Li Mao who pushed the Second Prince to take that step. Those correspondence records were crystal clear—he feared the letters Bai Qingyan held.

Li Mingrui placed the letter on the wooden table and pushed it toward Li Mao: “The Princess Zhenguo chose this letter, which means… she doesn’t want to put Father to death. Otherwise, what would be spreading throughout the capital wouldn’t be this letter! Father, you’re too nervous because of brother’s broken leg incident last time…”

Li Mingrui understood that his father had developed a fear of the Princess Zhenguo and was losing his composure.

“Father, think about it—how precious is paper? Ordinary noble families mainly use paper for correspondence, and only families with deep foundations use much paper.” Li Mingrui tapped the paper with his finger. “So the source of this paper and ink is relatively easy to trace. The Princess Zhenguo wouldn’t make such a mistake! Perhaps the Princess Zhenguo wants to use our Left Chancellor’s mansion to eliminate someone.”

Li Mao narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. After a long while, he said: “Mingrui, send another person to catch up with Ziyuan… have Ziyuan apologize and make peace with the Princess Zhenguo. Also inform the Princess Zhenguo that our Li mansion will do its best to resolve this matter. If we can’t resolve it, we can only deny it in court to protect ourselves. We ask for the Princess Zhenguo’s understanding, and if the Princess Zhenguo has any orders in the future, our Left Chancellor’s mansion will do everything possible to comply.”

This way, the Left Chancellor’s mansion would also be boarding the Crown Prince’s ship.

“Mingrui understands!” Li Mingrui immediately rose to handle it.

Although Li Mingrui suggested Li Mao cry injustice at the morning court, Li Mao still felt it inappropriate. Tomorrow morning, he should see the Emperor before morning court, explain this letter clearly, and incidentally remind the Emperor that someone was making a big fuss over this letter, seemingly having other motives.

If the Emperor wanted him to cry injustice, he would cry injustice. If the Emperor wanted him to admit it, he would admit it.

After calming down and thinking clearly, Li Mao realized nothing else mattered—he just absolutely couldn’t let the Emperor become suspicious of him.

After Prince Liang’s alchemy affair was exposed and the Emperor ordered him confined to his mansion, the patrol battalion and secret guards were withdrawn, and Prince Liang’s mansion servants could freely come and go.

Prince Liang heard that Li Mao’s correspondence with the Second Prince had been copied and spread, becoming known throughout the capital, and he secretly broke out in a cold sweat for Li Mao.

After all, the people Prince Liang could use were all those left behind by the Second Prince, and Li Mao was among the most powerful and influential.

Moreover, during the recent events in Yanwo, if not for Li Mao’s son Li Mingrui’s open and covert assistance—figuring out that when Father Emperor summoned that woman who claimed to have life-extending elixirs to the palace for questioning, he had developed an interest in immortality and longevity—he wouldn’t have been able to timely find that alchemist master to win Father Emperor’s favor.

The current Prince Liang highly values Li Mingrui. Although he couldn’t compare to Du Zhiwei’s place in his heart, Prince Liang currently had no useful strategists around him and could only rely on Li Mingrui, while harboring some wariness toward the overly clever Li Mingrui.

Therefore, when Bai Jinxiu’s people very smoothly delivered the letter to Prince Liang under the name of Great Yan’s Ninth Prince, claiming to give Prince Liang a favor to help him win over Left Chancellor Li Mao, Prince Liang truly breathed a sigh of relief.