He speculated that perhaps spreading this letter was the work of Great Yan’s Ninth Prince, intended to throw the capital’s court into chaos.

Having him use this letter to win over Left Chancellor Li Mao would give him the capital to contend with the Crown Prince.

But Great Yan’s Ninth Prince didn’t know that Left Chancellor Li Mao was originally the Second Prince’s man. Although he hadn’t openly declared his position now, he was secretly his person.

Even so, Prince Liang still very sincerely thanked Great Yan’s Ninth Prince.

Prince Liang sat on the window-side soft couch, holding the letter and reading it repeatedly. He couldn’t help but remember when the Second Prince had once told Du Zhiwei that Li Mao was honey-mouthed but sword-bellied, inconsistent in word and deed, and extremely slippery. To use such a person… one needed to employ both kindness and severity while firmly grasping Li Mao’s weakness.

Previously, Prince Liang had never known how the Second Prince had grasped Li Mao’s weakness. It seemed… it should be Li Mao’s handwritten letters.

He believed Li Mao’s handwritten letters to the Second Prince were not limited to this one—there must be more fatal ones. But where were all these letters?

Prince Liang thought of Du Zhiwei again. If Du Zhiwei were here, it would be good—he wouldn’t be struggling at every step like this.

Prince Liang stared at the flickering candlelight in the glass lamp, lowered his gaze to look at the letter in his hand, rubbed it with his thumb for a moment, then suddenly called out: “Hong Qiao!”

Hong Qiao responded and entered, bowing to Prince Liang from behind the screen: “Your Highness!”

“Come here…” After making up his mind, Prince Liang watched Hong Qiao walk around the screen and bow, saying, “Hong Qiao, now among those around this prince, you’re the only one I can trust!”

Hearing this, Hong Qiao looked up with reddened eyes and hurriedly knelt before Prince Liang: “If Your Highness has any orders, even if Hong Qiao dies without a burial place, I will do my utmost to complete them!”

“I just thought of Du Zhiwei and Tong Ji, that’s all! Hong Qiao… without them, this prince absolutely cannot have anything happen to you!” Prince Liang said.

Hong Qiao quickly kowtowed, her throat tight and choked, unable to say a word.

Prince Liang handed the letter to Hong Qiao: “I’ll write a copy, do you have confidence to age the new letter to look like this?”

Hong Qiao felt the paper and sniffed its scent, then nodded: “I dare not claim I can make it perfectly similar, but I will certainly achieve eight parts!”

“Eight parts are enough! Go find the same paper. This prince will write… You will age it.” Prince Liang asked again, “How long will it take?”

After carefully examining the letter paper in her hand, Hong Qiao said, “At least three hours.”

“Good! Go handle it!”

Left Chancellor Li Mao didn’t sleep all night. After dressing in his court robes early in the morning, he took the letter the steward had submitted last night and went to the palace. Before morning court, he requested an audience with the Emperor and tremblingly presented the letter.

“Your Majesty knows! When your subject discovered the Second Prince’s improper actions but had no solid evidence, I was forced to join the Second Prince’s faction to investigate for Your Majesty. Who knew that by the time I learned the Second Prince intended rebellion, it was too late. It was fortunate I reacted in time to rescue Your Majesty! But this letter… I don’t know whose hands it fell into to be widely copied and distributed throughout the capital. Your subject… is truly terrified.” Li Mao knelt and bowed to the Emperor.

The Emperor looked up at Li Mao, his gloomy gaze falling back to the letter. The letter only showed Li Mao’s flattery toward the Second Prince, claiming the Second Prince would surely ascend the throne and was more outstanding than the legitimate son, Prince Xin, even saying his wisdom would surpass the Emperor’s. Apart from this, there was indeed nothing else inappropriate.

Li Mao was usually flattering toward the Emperor, too. Not only did this letter seem to come from Li Mao’s hand, but Li Mao also admitted it openly.

If Li Mao had truly only been trying to gain the Second Prince’s trust, it was understandable.

“The Second Prince… would be wiser than I?” The Emperor’s voice was cold and heavy.

Li Mao quickly kowtowed: “Your Majesty! Those were all nonsense your subject spouted to gain the Second Prince’s trust! Your Majesty is a sage ruler of this generation. Although the Second Prince was a dragon’s son, he harbored treasonous thoughts… how could someone so disloyal and unfilial be compared to Your Majesty!”

The Emperor’s fingers rubbed the letter paper as he stared at Li Mao. Back then, to gain the Second Prince’s trust, he had been so flattering—now wasn’t he also flattering to gain his trust as Emperor?

The Emperor narrowed his eyes, staring at Li Mao kneeling in the great hall, even somewhat suspicious… whether Li Mao had been waiting for the Second Prince to rebel. If the Second Prince won, he would have the merit of supporting the dragon; if the Second Prince didn’t win, he would have the merit of rescuing the Emperor. Either way, he could remain invincible.

Later, Li Mao turned sides to rescue the Emperor only when he saw the Second Prince’s uprising was about to fail!

However, Li Mao had indeed been loyal these years, so the Emperor dismissed this thought.

Now seeing this letter and remembering how Li Mao had claimed to discover the Second Prince seemed to intend rebellion, approached the Second Prince, then reported the Second Prince—throughout all this… Li Mao had concealed everything without revealing the slightest hint to him as Emperor.

If he had spoken earlier, he as Emperor would have been prepared and wouldn’t have been forced into the dangerous situation of nearly losing his head.

The Emperor’s expression grew increasingly gloomy, yet he showed nothing: “I understand. You may go!”

“Yes!” Li Mao dared not raise his head, properly withdrawing from the hall, feeling a chill crawl up from his ankles like a thin snake.

He knew that coming to confess to the Emperor today might make this suspicious Emperor doubt him, but if he didn’t come to explain… the Emperor would be even more suspicious.

He had already spoken with the Emperor, but the Emperor hadn’t instructed him how to handle this matter. If censors impeached him later, should he admit it… or deny it?

Before Li Mao could figure it out, the Emperor’s headache returned. Gao Demao hurriedly sent someone to summon Miss Lu to the palace. The Emperor also didn’t hold court, and Li Mao breathed a sigh of relief while learning that the censor’s impeachment memorial had been submitted.

Li Mao’s son Li Mingrui rode in the same carriage with his father, returning to the mansion. On the road, he lowered his voice to inform Li Mao: “Father, on my way to morning court today, Hong Qiao from Prince Liang’s side came to find me, telling me to let Father rest assured… Prince Liang has already obtained all of Father’s letters.”

Li Mao’s heart skipped a beat: “Prince Liang obtained them all?”

Those letters were all from the Princess Zhenguo! How did Prince Liang obtain them?

Li Mao’s brow furrowed tightly. He felt overwhelmed, with one after another claiming to hold his compromising letters.

From the Princess Zhenguo’s side, he had never actually seen her produce the letters.

But Prince Liang was the Second Prince’s once closest brother—if they were with him, there was… some possibility.

“Is this true or false?”

“Still uncertain. In a moment, I will personally go to Prince Liang’s mansion to verify this matter! If the letters were truly all obtained by Prince Liang, I will certainly find a way to destroy them! I won’t let Father have any future worries.” Li Mingrui performed a deep bow to Li Mao.

Although Li Mao didn’t quite believe Prince Liang could obtain those letters from the Princess Zhenguo, everything had exceptions. He still needed Li Mingrui to make the trip and confirm clearly before he could be at ease.